How to Prepare Hatch Chili Peppers

Green chiles come in many varieties.

Chile fans wait for August and the annual Hatch chile crop to hit stores and restaurants. Hatch chiles add savory heat to Mexican recipes like green chile soup, enchiladas and salsa. Hatch chiles come from Hatch, New Mexico, where botanists and growers developed their own pepper, the Hatch chile pepper. Because the harvest season, August to September, is short, Hatch pepper lovers stock up on as many chiles as they can get and freeze them for use in the coming year.

Things You'll Need

• Gloves
• Toaster oven or oven
• Baking sheet
• Hatch chile peppers
• Tongs
• 1 qt. plastic freezer bags

Instructions

1. Put on a pair of protective rubber or latex gloves. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

2. Arrange fresh Hatch chiles on a toaster oven pan or on a baking sheet. Place the pan or sheet in the preheated oven.

3. Check frequently for browning and blistering peppers. Use tongs to turn browned peppers and brown-turned sides.

4. Remove the fully blistered peppers from the oven and allow them to cool. Pull the stems from the peppers and throw them away.

5. Fill plastic freezer bags with five or six cooled and stemmed peppers. Press excess air from the bags as you close them. Write the date on the bags.

Tips & Warnings

• Remove blistered skins after defrosting and before preparing Hatch chiles.

• Remove seeds or not before freezing; prep according to your preference.

References

• Route 66 Beef Jerky: Famous Hatch, New Mexico Green Chile Peppers Red or Green?
• What's Cooking America: Hatch Chile Peppers

Resources

• New Mexico Chili: Why Hatch Chile?
• New Mexico Chili: Recipes for Hatch, NM Chili/Chile