Grilled Chipotle Chicken with Poblano Peppers

Grilled chipotle chicken with poblano peppers is a fast, fun, and healthy meal with minimal prep and cook time. Marination is optional for the chicken but always helps with rubs.

Print Pin

Grilled Chipotle Chicken

Simple, spicy, grilled, and full of flavor

Course Main Course

Cuisine Latin, Mexican

Keyword chipotle, chipotle chicken, chipotle pepper, Grilled Chicken, Grilled Chicken recipe, spicy chicken, spicy foods

Cook Time 15 minutes

Marination 3 hours

Ingredients

• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 1 tsp ground chipotle chile
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp chile powder
• ½ tsp garlic powder

Instructions

• Add spices and olive oil to a bowl with the chicken
• Rub spices into chicken, coating fully
• Let marinate for 1 to 3 hours
• Preheat grill to medium high
• Add chicken to grill. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, flipping chicken halfway through. The chicken should reach an internal temperature of 170°F.

Serve grilled chipotle chicken with cheese-filled poblano peppers (recipe below), garlic lime rice, or corn on the cob.

Print Pin

Grilled Poblano Peppers

Grilled poblanos filled with cheese

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Latin, Mexican

Keyword Cheese, Grill, grill recipes, pepper, poblano, poblano pepper

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

• 2 poblano peppers
• 4 tbsp mozarella cheese (or more depending on the size of the peppers)
• cotija cheese (to taste)
• olive oil (to taste)
• ground chipotle chile powder (to taste)

Instructions

• Cut the poblano peppers in half and remove the stem and seeds (if desired, leave seeds)
• Preheat grill to medium; if you're concerned about your grates, you may want to light grease a piece of aluminum foil and place on grill prior to peppers
• Place the pepper, cut side down and let them cook, covered, for about 6 to 7 minutes (peppers should be lightly charred)
• Flip peppers and drizzle with olive oil and chipotle pepper, letting them cook for 6 to 7 minutes
• Add cheese, filling peppers and melt cheese for an additional 4-6 minutes
• Remove from heat carefully, top with red pepper flakes if desired

Ingredient Notes

Poblano Peppers

Poblano peppers are a dark green pepper, slightly smaller and flatter than a bell pepper, but larger than a jalapeno. This is an apt comparison to apply to their spice level as well; they sit in the mild territory, but are capable of hitting medium. Popular in Mexico and as a part of Mexican cuisine, they are the pepper typically used in the popular chile relleno dish, and once dried, are known as ancho peppers. If you have trouble finding a poblano locally or want to play with heat, substitute these with a similarly-sized pepper. For a pepper with less heat, shift to a bell pepper; for a touch more heat, try an anaheim pepper. More info here.

Chipotle Powder

Chipotles are smoked and dried jalapeños. The red color is a result of extending the time the chile spends on the vine. Due to the additional cultivation and smoking process, they are especially fragrant and flavorful. Chipotles have a medium heat and come dried and whole, canned in adobo sauce, or as a powder. For more on chipotles, visit Food Republic or check out this abstract describing optimal smoking experiments.

Cotija Cheese

A cheese of Mexican origin, Cotija is a salty cow milk cheese that crumbles nicely. It is a specialty cheese with a limited time frame for production that is available as a round. Alternatively, use feta or queso fresco.