It’s that time of year! Hatch Chile Peppers are making their ways to store shelves, and thanks to a hotter season in Hatch, New Mexico, it’s a couple of weeks early. Who is planning on attending a roasting? Keep reading for info on where you can find them here in Southern California! (I’m so excited that we now have a couple to choose from out here in the Inland Empire, including Rancho Cucamonga.)

hatch chile pepper seasonings from melissa's produce

Earlier this week, I attended a media event for foodies at Melissa’s Produce in Vernon. As always, we were treated to tasty dishes made by their chef, Tom Fraker, and his team, and we watched a demo while eating an amazing Hatch Chile Pepper ice cream. (Trust me, it works!) Highlight of the day though? This Hatch Chile Pepper roasting demo! These beauties went from crate to fully-roasted in about five minutes! It smelled so good.

We came home with a box full of goodies, including these Hatch Chile Pepper seasonings. Hatch pepper fans look forward every year to their arrival on the shelves, and we find ways to sneak them into existing recipes as well as creating new dishes.

My Hatch Chile Pepper Stuffed Cabbage Recipe!

My first new recipe this year is my take on an old classic recipe, Stuffed Cabbage. It is a very small twist on the original recipe, and only requires three additional ingredients. Keep in mind, stuffed cabbage takes 60-90 minutes of baking, so if you’re planning on making it for dinner, give yourself that extra time or you’ll end up with cabbage that may require a knife to cut.

Find out here where you can purchase your own Hatch Chile Peppers locally!

A couple of tips before I dive into the recipe!

Hatch Chile Peppers come in a few levels of heat. I used mild in this recipe, so we benefited from the flavor and slight crunch of the pepper without too much heat. They come in mild, medium, hot, and extra hot. I prefer the hot the most, and I’ve never tried the extra hot. Check the boxes when you buy them in-store, as they should be labeled. (They are also the only chile pepper in four levels of heat!)
Don’t wait on buying them. They sell out of some stores, and their window of availability is only about six weeks long. They come only from the Chile pepper capital in Hatch, New Mexico, where they host a yearly festival on Labor Day where 30,000 people travel from around the world to celebrate this incredible pepper! Unsure what it tastes like? It’s considered the grandfather of the year-round Anaheim chile!
You can buy them roasted or unroasted. My suggestion is to get some of each. You can roast them and store in your freezer (sealed plastic bags) for well over a year! The roasting stations all over SoCal get busy, so go early or you may have to wait a little. You can buy them in bulk, depending on how many you think you’ll need. I use fresh Hatch Chile Peppers in many recipes, like this stuffed cabbage version, but we roast them and pull them out for salmon burgers, “lasagna” and other variations of recipes we like to spice up.
Wear gloves when handling them. Even the mild versions can leave residual heat on your hands.

As far as the cabbage portion of this recipe, one big tip: boil the entire cabbage head for 2-4 minutes before you make this meal, and do it early enough to give it a little time to be cool enough to handle. To use the individual cabbage leaves for the rolls, you’ll need the cabbage to be pliable, so be sure to submerge the entire cabbage head in boiling water. You should see the leaves start to pull away. This last time, I only boiled for four minutes and I should have gone a little longer, as the head was a big one; it resulted in leaves towards the center being less pliable, especially the ends closer to the core. When it’s done boiling, let it sit until you can touch it safely, and then begin to pull each leaf off on its own; set aside until you have a big pile. My recipe made enough for almost 18 rolls!

Hatch Chile Pepper Stuffed Cabbage Recipe

Servings 4 (up to 6 servings of 2-3)

Ingredients

1 head green cabbage Boiled, leaves removed.
2 tbsp olive oil
1 whole onion, chopped
3 tbsp minced garlic
2 Hatch Chile Peppers, seeded and diced
1 pound ground turkey
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 24 oz can tomato sauce
1.5 cups cooked rice
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp Hatch Pepper Seasoning
1 tbsp Hatch Chile powder

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Heat olive oil in pan. Add Hatch Chile peppers and onion into pan. Saute for 4-5 minutes, until onions are translucent.
Add ground turkey to same pan; break up as much as possible.
Add minced garlic and mix. Keep on stove, stirring as necessary, until meat is thoroughly cooked.
Pour diced tomatoes, and juices, into meat mixture. Stir. Let cook 1-3 more minutes.
While meat mixture is cooking, add powdered garlic, cooked rice, salt and pepper to the tomato sauce. Cover the bottom of an oiled 9 x 13 pan with the sauce.
Add 1/2 cup of tomato sauce to the meat mixture. Stir thoroughly.
Remove meat pan from stove. (You may need to let the meat mixture cool in order to be able to handle.)Take one cabbage leaf, place meat mixture inside and roll up to seal ends and side as best as possible. Place rolled cabbage into pan.
Fill pan with cabbage rolls. Top with remaining meat mixture and a little more of the tomato sauce, depending on your preference.
Cover pan with foil and bake for 75-90 minutes. Serve.

ground turkey and veggies for hatch chile pepper stuffed cabbage recipe

To make things easier, I use an Instant Pot to make my rice. (I use two cups of rice to three and a quarter cups of water, cooked on the Meat option for 10 minutes.) I do this earlier so it’s ready when I combine everything.

If you like things a little spicy, add more of the Hatch Chile Pepper seasoning. I love the kick of heat the spices and peppers add to this dish! It’s a one-pot meal that is super simple, and if you let everything cool before assembling, it’s a fun thing to make with the family. It also has protein and veggies in one dish, so you don’t need to make anything else. This dish also packs really well for a to-go lunch at work and is a great addition to a potluck.

melissa's produce hatch chile pepper powder

Hatch Chile Pepper recipes are all over the internet, but the cookbooks from Melissa’s Produce are pretty incredible. You can get them on their website. We use ours all the time! You’ll find ways to use Hatch Chile Peppers in all kinds of things, from apps to snacks to entrees and even desserts. We love the unique flavor and kick of spice. Follow #HatchChileChamps on social for a lot more recipes!