Chiles Toreados Recipe: Mexican Blistered Peppers

Chiles Toreados Recipe (Mexican Blistered Peppers)

If you've ever been to a local Mexican restaurant, you may have seen "Chiles Toreados" on the menu. They're usually listed under "sides", though sometimes they're not listed at all.

Even if they aren't on the menu, you can ask for them and any good Mexican taqueria will be able to make them for you.

I love them deeply and can't really enjoy my tacos or burritos without them. The cooks at my local taqueria start making them when they see me walk in the door. I love it.

NOTE: Recently updated with new photos, retested recipe notes, the story behind the name, and how to dial the heat up or down.

What are Chiles Toreados?

Chiles toreados are chili peppers that are blistered and fried up in a hot pan or on the grill with a bit of oil. Most Mexican restaurant use jalapeno peppers, though some use serrano peppers, or both.

They often come with onions as well, though many places will ask whether you want onions or just the peppers. 

After the peppers are fried, they are finished with salt, a few squeezes of lime juice, and sometimes soy sauce or maggi sauce, though that seems to vary from recipe to recipe.

I’ve seen many recipes call for it.

I don’t believe they use soy sauce in the Mexican restaurants near me, just lime juice and salt. Either way is great.

I am usually asked if I would like onions with mine, but not always. Some places add onion, some don’t. Each restaurant is different. 

Why They're Called Chiles Toreados

The name comes from "toreador," the Spanish word for bullfighter. When you blister these peppers in hot oil, the charred dark spots that form on the skin are said to look like the scars and bruises a bullfighter picks up in the ring.

Some people say to "torear" the pepper means to bully it, since some cooks roll the chiles between their palms before cooking to bruise the flesh and inner ribs and force more heat out. Either way, the name fits. These peppers come out marked up, fierce, and biting back.

Let's talk about how we make chiles toreados, shall we?

Chiles Toreados Ingredients

• Olive Oil. Or vegetable oil.
• Large Jalapeno Peppers. Or serrano peppers, or use a combination of both.
• Small Onion. Sliced (optional).
• Lime Juice. Or use lemon.
• Soy Sauce. Optional. You can also use maggi jugo/seasoning sauce, liquid aminos, or even a bit of dark beer.
• Salt.

How to Make Chiles Toreados - the Recipe Method

First, heat the oil in a medium skillet to medium-high heat.

Add the peppers and cook, stirring often, until the skins char and blister all over. Turn them to get all the sides evenly. Notice how the skins char and blister up.

Add the onion (if using) and cook for another minute. If you like your onions ore caramelized, add them when you add the peppers. Remove from heat.

Stir in the lime juice (or lemon juice) and soy sauce, if using. Toss to coat.

Season with a bit of salt to taste and serve.

Boom! That's it my friends! Super easy to make. I make these fried chili peppers all the time, probably 2 to 3 times a week. I pop them over everything. They're insanely delicious for such a simple thing. Simple is best, isn't it?

Mexican Restaurant Style: Dry or Saucy?

There's a real fork in the road with chiles toreados, and it depends on where you've eaten them. Most of the taquerias I go to make them dry style, with just oil, blistered peppers, lime, and salt. Maybe a splash of soy sauce at the end. The chiles do the talking.

But there's another popular version in northern Mexico and at cookouts, that leans saucy. You blister the peppers the same way, but finish them in a pool of soy sauce, Maggi seasoning, and a splash of Worcestershire or oyster sauce. The peppers soak it up, and you've got a salty, tangy cooking liquid you can spoon right over your tacos, your steak, your rice, whatever's on the plate.

Both versions are delicious. For the saucy version, double the soy sauce in my recipe below to 2 tablespoons, add 1 tablespoon of Maggi seasoning (or liquid aminos), and a teaspoon of Worcestershire or oyster sauce. Pull the pan off the heat right after you toss everything so the sauce doesn't reduce all the way down. You want it pooled at the bottom of the bowl, ready to drizzle.

How Spicy Are Chiles Toreados?

Medium-Hot. We're talking blistered jalapenos (2,500 to 8,000 SHU) or serranos (10,000 to 23,000 SHU), but the cooking process actually concentrates the capsaicin. Even if you usually think jalapenos aren't spicy, a chile toreado might surprise you. The blistering breaks down the cell walls in the innards and ribs and releases more heat than you'd expect from a raw pepper.

To make them hotter:

• Use serranos instead of jalapenos, or mix both
• Leave the peppers whole instead of slicing them open, so all the heat stays trapped inside
• Roll the peppers between your palms for 10 to 15 seconds before cooking. This bruises the seeds and ribs and releases more capsaicin during the blistering. Classic taqueria trick, and it's where the "torear" (to bully) idea comes from.
• Skip removing any seeds or veins

To make them milder:

• Use jalapenos only, or mix in some milder chile güeros
• Slice the peppers in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds and white ribs before cooking
• Skip the palm-rolling step
• Add an extra squeeze of lime at the end. The acid cuts the burn a little.

I like to make them hot. The whole point of chiles toreados is the fire, and dialing them way down kind of misses what makes the dish special. But you do you.

What to Serve with Chiles Toreados

Carne asada is the classic pairing. In Mexico, your carne asada cookout is incomplete without a platter of toreados and cebollitas (charred knob onions) on the side. If you're grilling steak this weekend, throw a few green onions on the grill and serve them with the grilled chiles. So good.

Beyond carne asada, chiles toreados go with pretty much any Mexican cuisine:

• Tacos, especially carne asada, al pastor, and barbacoa
• Burritos and tortas
• Grilled or pan-seared steak, like Mexican arrachera (skirt steak) or tacos al carbon
• Mexican rice and beans
• Quesadillas
• Mexican breakfast plates with eggs and chorizo (chorizo con huevos) or huevos a la Mexicana

You can also chop them up and use them as a topping on guacamole or stir them into a fresh salsa for extra smoky heat. I've thrown a few into a batch of pico de gallo before, and it really wakes the whole thing up.

Storage & Leftovers

Storing your Chiles Toreados in an airtight container in the fridge may allow you to store the leftovers for up to 3-4 days.

To maximize the storage life, make sure to refrigerate them promptly.

I hope you enjoy them. Let me know if you make them.

More Mexican Side Dish Recipes to Try

• Taqueria-Style Pickled Jalapenos and Carrots
• Salsa Roja
• Salsa Verde
• Ranchero Sauce
• Easy Refried Beans
• Easy Perfect Guacamole
• Check out all of my Mexican Recipes