This Keto Chiles en Nogada is a low carb take on the traditional Mexican dish. These are stuffed poblano chilies that are served with a creamy walnut sauce. It is a festive dish that’s colors represent the Mexican flag and is typically served during the month of September for Mexican Independence Day.
Ingredients
This flavorful dish has a ton of ingredients. We’ve simplified the recipe slightly to lower the carb content in order to fit within the keto diet. This dish is made with Mexican produce that’s available during the late season harvest.
While there are slight variations of this recipe, most recipes include fruit in the picadillo. The fruit mixture is usually pears, apples, raisins and sometimes peaches. We’ve left out the fruit in our keto recipe to lower the carb content. However in the recipe below, we do include optional raisins as this does add a nice texture to this dish. See below for the nutritional information.
Since we are leaving out the fruit, we’ve decided to add chopped zucchini and carrot to the mixture. Zucchini is a low carb veggie that compliments this dish and has a similar texture to the fruit. We’ve also added in carrot and sweetener to the mixture to help with the sweetness that the fruit would have added to the dish.
The Method
Start by roasting your poblano chilies over a gas flame or in a preheated oven. Once they are done roasting, put the chilies in bowl and cover with saran wrap for about 10 minutes. This will sweat the chilies and make it easier to remove the skin. Do not leave them covered for more than 10 minutes, otherwise the chilies can become too mushy.
The filling (picadillo) is very simple to make. Start by sautéing the onions, followed by the ground pork. Once the ground pork is brown on all sides, add the remaining ingredients and spices. Simmer until the the filling is tender and cooked through. Allow the filling to slightly cool before stuffing the poblano chilies.
Picadillo (the filling)
Creamy Walnut Sauce (Nogada)
Depending on the walnuts that you have access to, the sauce can take the most time to make. But this is the star of the dish and cannot be skipped! It is said that in the original recipe, they use green walnuts and peeled the green skin off of them. This process can be the most time consuming. For this recipe we use regular store bought walnuts. These don’t have the green skin on them and therefore don’t need to be peeled. Add all ingredients to the blender and pulse until combined.
Keto Chiles en Nogada (Chilies in Walnut Sauce)
Ingredients
- 6 Large Poblano Peppers
- 50 Grams White Onion Diced.
- 1 Lbs Ground Pork
- 150 Grams Tomatoes About 1 large tomato, diced.
- 150 Grams Zucchini Diced.
- 100 Grams Carrot About 1 large Carrot, diced.
- 1/4 Cup Blanched Almonds Chopped.
- 1/4 Cup Raisins Optional, if not following a strict keto diet.
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Tsp Salt
- 1 Tsp Sweetener Granulated stevia, swerve, erythritol etc.
- 1 Tsp Mexican Oregano
- 1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
- 1/4 Tsp Black Pepper
- 1/4 Tsp Cloves
Walnut Sauce
Garnish
- 1/4 Cup Pomegranate Seeds Don't skip this ingredient!
- Fresh Parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (If you don't have a gas stove).
- Roast the poblano peppers in the oven for 20-30 minutes. Alternatively, you can roast the peppers over the open flame on the gas burner.
- Place the charred chiles in a plastic bag and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes.
- Peel off the skin and cut a slit lengthwise into each chili. Carefully remove the seeds. Set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large pot or pan over medium-high heat.
- Add diced onions and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the ground pork and cook until brown, about 5 minutes.
- Add the diced tomatoes, carrot and zucchini to the pot.
- Add salt, pepper, sweetener, cinnamon, cloves and oregano.
- Mix in the blanched almonds and optional raisins.
- Simmer until the filling is cooked through and the flavors are developed, about 10-15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the walnut sauce.
- Combine all ingredients into a blender and pulse until walnut sauce is smooth and creamy.
- Once the filling is cooked through, carefully stuff the peppers.
- Pour the creamy walnut sauce over the stuffed peppers.
- Top with pomegranate seeds and fresh parsley.
- Enjoy!
Note: This dish is meant to be served at room temperature.
Notes
- 494 Calories
- 17.4g Carbohydrates
- 6.1g Fiber
- 32.1g Fat
- 25.7g Protein
*Not including optional raisins* Nutritional Information with Raisins (6 Servings):
- 476 Calories
- 22.6g Carbohydrates
- 6.4g Fiber
- 32.6g Fat
- 25.8g Protein
Let us know in the comments below if you’ve tried our Keto Chiles en Nogada! This is a special dish that’s not only beautiful to look at, but is equally as flavorful. If you’re looking for more keto recipes, visit our recipe page!
