Green Spaghetti (Espagueti Verde with Creamy Roasted Poblano Sauce)

This green spaghetti — espagueti verde, the creamy Mexican poblano pasta that shows up at every party and potluck I have ever been to in Texas — is spaghetti tossed in a sauce of charred poblanos blended with cream cheese, Mexican crema, garlic, onion and a big handful of cilantro, finished with a snowfall of cotija. It is smoky and rich rather than spicy, it takes 35 minutes including charring the peppers, and once you have made it you will understand why it is the first pan emptied at any gathering. It has become my answer to the question of what to cook when I want something as comforting as baked feta pasta but with more personality, and it sits right next to Turkish pasta on my list of pastas that taste like somewhere else.

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Why this green spaghetti recipe tastes like the real thing.

• The poblanos get charred black, then steamed. The smoky depth of espagueti verde comes entirely from the peppers. Broiling them until the skins are blistered and black, then steaming them under a lid so the skins slip off, gives a sweet, roasted flavor you cannot get from raw or sauteed poblanos.
• Cream cheese and crema, not just cream. Heavy cream makes a thin sauce that slides off the noodles. Blending softened cream cheese with Mexican crema gives the green spaghetti body and a slight tang, so the sauce clings to every strand the way a good alfredo does.
• Chicken bouillon is the quiet secret. Every Mexican home cook I know adds a spoon of Knorr chicken bouillon to the blender. It seasons the sauce from the inside and adds a savory depth that plain salt does not. It is the difference between good and exactly-like-my-friend’s-mom’s.

Here's what you'll need.

Twelve ingredients, all from a regular grocery store: spaghetti, poblano peppers, cream cheese, Mexican crema (or sour cream), milk, garlic, white onion, cilantro, chicken bouillon, cotija cheese, butter and salt.

Here's how it all comes together.

STEP 1 — Char the poblanos.

Set the oven to broil with a rack 4 to 5 inches from the element. Lay the poblanos on a sheet pan and broil 5 to 6 minutes a side, turning with tongs, until the skins are blistered and mostly black all over. A gas burner works too — just turn them over the flame.

STEP 2 — Steam, peel and seed.

Pile the hot peppers in a bowl, cover with a plate or plastic wrap and leave them 10 minutes. The steam loosens the skins so they rub right off with your fingers. Pull out the stems and seeds — do not rinse them or you wash away the smoky flavor.

STEP 3 — Blend the green sauce.

Put the peeled poblanos in a blender with the cream cheese, crema, milk, garlic, onion, cilantro and chicken bouillon. Blend on high until completely smooth and pale green, about 1 minute. Taste for salt.

STEP 4 — Boil the spaghetti.

Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of well-salted water until just al dente, 1 minute short of the package time. Reserve a cup of the pasta water before draining — the sauce is thick and will want loosening.

STEP 5 — Simmer the sauce in butter.

Melt the butter in a large deep skillet over medium heat. Pour in the poblano sauce and let it simmer gently for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring often, until it thickens slightly and turns a shade darker. Do not let it boil hard or the cream cheese can split.

STEP 6 — Toss the spaghetti in the sauce.

Add the drained spaghetti to the skillet and toss with tongs until every strand is coated, adding splashes of pasta water until the sauce is glossy and clings rather than pools. Top with crumbled cotija and more cilantro and serve right away.

If roasted vegetables turned into a sauce is your kind of cooking, there are dozens more dinners built the same simple way in the Ultimate Slow Cooker Mediterranean Diet Cookbook.

Things I learned while testing this recipe.

• Char the peppers more than feels right. Pale, lightly blistered poblanos peel badly and taste grassy. You want them mostly black. The flesh underneath stays sweet and silky.
• Taste a poblano before you blend. Poblanos are usually mild, but one in ten has real heat. If a pepper tastes hot, blend it with the others anyway but skip the optional jalapeño and add a little extra crema.
• Soften the cream cheese. Cold cream cheese leaves white flecks in the sauce. Cube it and let it sit while the peppers char and it will blend perfectly smooth.
• Reserve more pasta water than you think. This sauce thickens fast as it sits. A cup of starchy water, added a splash at a time, keeps it glossy instead of pasty, especially when you reheat leftovers.

Why green spaghetti is on repeat at my house.

• A vegetable-based sauce that eats like comfort food. Four whole poblanos, onion, garlic and a bunch of cilantro go into every batch, so this is one of the few pastas where the sauce is mostly vegetables. The 18g protein a serving comes from the cheese and pasta; stir in shredded rotisserie chicken or garlic butter chicken bites and you are past 35g — check your own target with the protein calculator.
• It is a potluck legend. This is the dish that gets asked about by name. It travels well in a foil pan, reheats beautifully with a splash of milk and feeds a crowd for a few dollars.
• It is an easy side for taco night. In Mexican homes espagueti verde is often served alongside grilled meat. It is wonderful next to birria tacos or air fryer chicken fajitas.

Here's what I'd serve with this.

• Air fryer chicken fajitas — the classic pairing — spaghetti verde alongside grilled chicken
• Slow cooker birria tacos — make it a Mexican feast
• Ground turkey taco skillet — spoon it over the top for a protein boost
• Smashed cucumber salad — cold and crunchy against the creamy pasta
• Salmon sushi bake — also new today — a creamy, scoopable salmon dinner for another night

Just in case you have leftovers.

Storing: Cool and refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days. The sauce thickens considerably in the fridge; that is normal. You can also make the blended sauce alone up to 3 days ahead and keep it in a jar, or freeze the sauce (not the finished pasta) for up to 2 months.

Reheating: Warm in a skillet over medium-low with a generous splash of milk or water, tossing until loose and creamy again, about 5 minutes. In the microwave, add a spoonful of milk, cover and heat at 70% power in 60-second bursts, stirring between each. Top with fresh cotija after reheating.

More easy dinner recipes...

Baked feta pasta Turkish pasta Creamy Cajun chicken pasta Cheesy chicken enchilada casserole

Also new today: creamy butternut squash pasta — another vegetable-blended sauce, this one roasted and sweet with crispy sage, and penne alla vodka for the nights you want classic blush-pink pasta.

Vegetables doing the heavy lifting, dinner after dinner

If a sauce built from roasted peppers is your idea of a good dinner, the Ultimate Slow Cooker Mediterranean Diet Cookbook is full of simple, vegetable-forward meals with olive oil and big flavor that cook while you get on with your day.

Get the cookbook on Amazon

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