Why You’ll Love This Recipe ❤️
- Quick and easy: This simple Mexican meal comes together in about 15 minutes, making it perfect for busy days.
- Full of flavor: The tomato-chile sauce, roasted poblano, and panela cheese make every bite flavorful and satisfying.
- Great meatless meal: You won’t miss the meat! Serve it with warm tortillas and your favorite Mexican sides for a filling lunch or dinner.
- Easy to customize: Adjust the jalapeño to make the salsa as mild or spicy as you like.
- Perfect for leftovers: Make the salsa ahead of time and you’ll have an even faster meal when you’re short on time.
A Quick Meal for Busy Days
As a busy working mom and business owner, I spend a lot of my day taking care of everyone else. I’m feeding people, running businesses, answering emails, solving problems—and somehow, when lunchtime rolls around, I realize I haven’t even thought about what I’m going to eat.
That’s one reason I love this Queso con Chile so much. It’s fast enough for those days when I need to get back to work, but it still feels like a real homemade meal. If I already have the salsa made, it comes together especially quickly. The panela cheese holds up beautifully in the sauce, and all I need are a few warm tortillas to turn it into a filling lunch.
It’s one of those simple Mexican recipes I come back to again and again because it makes feeding myself a little easier. And sometimes, I need recipes that remind me to take care of me, too.
Ingredients
These are all the ingredients you will need to make this recipe.
Queso panela is a semi-soft cheese made from cow’s milk and easily found in most grocery stores. Or buy it online.
When it’s heated as in this recipe, it gets SQUISHY. The texture when it is cooked is almost like firm tofu.
🥫 How to Make the Tomato Sauce
- Add the tomatoes, jalapeno, water, garlic, and salt into a blender.
- Blend until smooth.
🌶️ How To Adjust The Heat
How to adjust the heat is very simple. Blend everything with one jalapeno. Taste it. If you want it spicier, add another jalapeno.
Another trick to bringing down the heat is removing the seeds and the veins from inside the pepper. Just be careful NOT to touch your eyes because they will BURN.
- Saute the onion.
- Add the roasted and diced poblano pepper.
- Pour in the tomato sauce.
- Cook for 5 minutes.
Everything needs to cook for a few minutes to develop the flavors.
If needed, here is a video tutorial on How to Roast a Poblano Pepper. Not a fan of poblanos? Swap it out for a mild can of green chiles
- Cube the panela cheese into 1-inch pieces.
- Add to the skillet.
This recipe is very similar to Queso en Salsa. The difference is that this recipe uses salsa AND poblano peppers, and the other recipe only uses salsa.
Panela cheese is a very popular ingredient used in many recipes like Calabacitas con Queso and a yummy addition to Sopa de Fideo.
- Cover the cheese with the salsa.
- Cook until the cheese is heated through. About 2 minutes.
Do not overcook the cheese, or it will melt and lose some of its texture. 2 minutes, maybe 3.
See how easy that was?! That’s why it’s the perfect quick lunch, ideal for busy weeknights, and great for Meatless Mondays.
🙋🏻♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
Queso con Chile is a simple Mexican dish made with queso panela cooked in a flavorful tomato and chile sauce. This version also includes roasted poblano peppers for extra flavor.
Queso panela is the best choice for this recipe because it holds its shape when heated. It becomes soft and slightly squishy without melting completely, making it perfect for simmering in salsa.
Yes, but choose a cheese that holds its shape when heated. Queso fresco or other soft Mexican cheeses may not have the same texture and can break apart more easily.
You can easily adjust the heat. Start with one jalapeño for a milder version and add a second jalapeño if you want more spice. Removing the seeds and veins from the jalapeño will also reduce the heat.
You can prepare the tomato sauce ahead of time and refrigerate it until you’re ready to make the dish. For the best texture, add the panela cheese when you’re ready to serve and heat it just until warmed through.
Don’t overcook it. Once you add the panela to the hot salsa, cover the skillet and cook for about 2–3 minutes, just until the cheese is heated through. Cooking it too long can cause it to lose its texture.
More Meatless Mexican Recipes
If you need a quick Mexican meal that doesn’t require much effort, Queso con Chile is a great one to keep in your back pocket. The panela cheese stays soft and hearty while the tomato, poblano, and chile sauce adds plenty of flavor.
Serve it with warm tortillas, friojoles de la olla, or ensalada de nopales for an easy lunch or meatless dinner. And if you already have the salsa prepared, you’ll have a delicious homemade meal on the table in no time.
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Queso con Chile
Ingredients
- 2 tomatoes quartered
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 jalapeno rough chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ onion diced
- 1 poblano pepper roasted, peeled, seeded, and diced
- 14 oz panela cheese diced into 1-inch pieces
Instructions
- Add the tomatoes, garlic, jalapeno, salt, and water to a blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Heat olive oil in a skillet.
- Add the onion.
- Cook for 1 minute.
- Add the poblano pepper.
- Cook for 1 minute.
- Add the tomato sauce.
- Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the panela cheese.
- Cover and cook for 2 minutes, or until cheese is heated.
- Serve and enjoy!
A delicious recipe that my family loves!
That’s awesome! My family loves this recipe too.
Yum, we always love having homey meals at home, and this was so easy to make too!
Yes. Thank you. Hope you give it a try.
That tomato sauce totally send this queso con chile over the top! We will definitely be making this soon!
It’s always great to hear positive feedback from those who have tried my recipes. Hope you enjoy making it again soon!
delicious!
Thank you!
So spicy and flavorful!
I like it spicy. 🙂 Thank you!
The spicy sauce and creamy panela are perfect together!
I couldn’t agree more! The combination of spicy sauce and queso panela is definitely a match made in heaven.
Hello, happy hour appetizer. Thanks for posting this recipe I have tried this before and it didn’t work out and your recipe is a winner.
Hope you try to make it again, it’s delicious, and I know you will love it. Enjoy!
My family loved this recipe.
Glad to hear that your family loved it. Made my day!!
Your step by step instructions and pictures are so handy! Can’t wait to try this recipe
I’m glad you found them useful. Thank you for your comment!
I agree, total comfort food. Delicious!!
Thank you! 🙂