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My son is a picky eater. He recently regressed to his baby days when I couldn’t feed him anything but chicken nuggets.
Somehow I knew he would eat Espagueti Verde, and he did!
Spaghetti tossed in a creamy poblano sauce and topped with cheese .. Who can say no to that?! I know I can’t.
Pollo al Poblano, Carne con Rajas, Shrimp Poblano Quesadillas
What is green pasta?
Green pasta (or Espagueti Verde) is a creamy and mildly spicy dish. Pasta mixed in a rich poblano sauce.
Ingredients
- Roasted poblano peppers
- Cream Cheese
- Crema Mexicana (or you can use whole milk)
- Garlic
- Onion
- Salt
The cream cheese will add a lot of creaminess to the dish. However, you can swap it for more crema mexicana.
A substitute for crema mexicana is sour cream, whole milk, or half and half.
It starts with roasting the poblano peppers. You can check out my instructional video on how to roast a poblano pepper.
- Roast the poblano peppers.
- Steam them.
- Remove the skin, stem, seeds.
- Set aside until ready to use.
I used 3 peppers. The rest I stuck in the freezer for later. That might be a lot for some of you.
However, don’t be afraid of poblanos. They are low on the Scoville Scale.
They are also not very spicy and combined with cream cheese and crema mexicana, there is only a mild kick to the sauce.
- Boil water in a large pot.
- Add salt.
- Cook the spaghetti, according to the package instructions.
“Espagueti” in Spanish means “spaghetti.” “Verde” means “green.”
Literally, this dish translated means “Green Spaghetti.”
We use pasta in other Mexican recipes like Espagueti a la Crema, Sopa de Fideo, Fideo con Carne
Italian Mexicans
Although Espagueti Verde is considered a traditional Mexican recipe, this dish is a blend of the New and Old Worlds.
There was a big surge of Italian immigrants to Mexico in the late 19th century. They introduced spaghetti to us.
- Add the roasted poblanos, crema mexicana, garlic, and onion to a blender.
- Blend until smooth.
- Set aside until ready to use.
You can also add the salt at this point. I do it at the end so I can adjust if needed.
Word to the Wise: If you add the cream cheese to the blender at this stage in the game, the sauce will be too thick. Leave it for the end instead.
For my fellow sneaky moms, here’s an idea:
Add spinach, cooked broccoli, even peas to the blender. The kiddos will never know the difference.
- Add butter to a large stock pot.
- Pour in the poblano sauce.
- Add the cream cheese and salt.
- Stir frequently until the cream cheese melt.
This is also the time to taste for salt. Also, consider adding shrimp or chicken to make this dish a complete meal.
Great Idea: Make extra sauce and store it in the freezer for later. Defrost and use again when you’re in a pinch and need to make a quick Mexican meal.
It makes getting dinner on the table a lot faster.
- Add the cooked spaghetti.
- Turn off the heat. You want to make sure every noodle is covered with the sauce.
There’s something so beautiful about a big bowl of spaghetti. However, you can use any type of pasta – penne, elbow, whatever your heart desires.
How To Store the Sauce for Espagueti Verde:
- The sauce will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
- If you are going to freeze it, it will keep up to 5 months. Make sure you use a freezer bag and remove as much air as possible.
Top the Espagueti Verde with Mexican cheese – queso fresco, queso añejo, cotija. You can also add chopped cilantro.
The only thing left is to grab a fork and dig in. Hope you enjoy!
Espagueti Verde
Ingredients
Instructions
- Roast the poblano peppers.
- Remove the stem, skin, and seeds.
- Rough chop or slice the poblanos.
- To a blender, add the roasted poblanos, garlic, onion, and crema mexicana.
- Blend until smooth. Set aside.
- Bring water to a boil in a large stock pot.
- Add 1 teaspoon of salt.
- Cook the spaghetti according to the package instructions.
- Drain the cooked spaghetti.
- In a stock pot, melt the butter.
- Add the poblano sauce, salt, and cream cheese.
- Stir frequently until the cream cheese melts. About 5 minutes.
- Taste for salt.
- Add the cooked spaghetti.
- Toss the spaghetti with the poblano sauce.
- Make sure the sauce covers all the noodles.
- Serve and top with cheese.
Video
Notes
- The sauce will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
- If you are going to freeze it, it will keep up to 5 months.
Your spaghetti dish looks soooooo good! I’m sure I would want more than seconds and I bet the leftovers are even better!! Mmmm.
I’m loving the colors and flavors in this kicked-up version of my favorite dish; thanks for sharing – I just wish I had been there to taste this dish!
This sauce sounds so amazing! I love its green color! I have never cooked with poblanos at home before, but you have convinced me that I can do it! I will be making this soon!
I’ve never had this before but it looks and sounds absolutely delicious! I love how creamy it is…I know this is a dish I would love 😀
Being Italian I’ve had spaghetti in sooo many ways, but never like that! The poblano sauce sounds intriguing and very tasty 🙂 .
I so love poblanos and pasta but never thought to merge them! This sounds delish and looks so good!
Poblanos are positively one of my favorite peppers. So much flavor and I love when they are roasted just like in this recipe. What a fun way to switch up the usual pasta night, can’t wait to try!
This is such a healthy and fun recipe for kids! Always looking for recipes that introduce new flavours and foods while being healthy for my little one.
The flavors of the poblano pepper really take this pasta dish up the next level.
I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am for this recipe!!! This sauce has everything I love—cream cheese is where it’s at for sure!!! And the peppers? Always a hit in our house!
Yeah, I definitely can’t say no to this!! I also can’t resist anything with pasta, so you know my weakness!
All your in process shots make following this pasta dish so easy! And sounds super delicious too!!!
That’s awesome! So glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
I’m so excited to try this recipe, my son absolutely does not like tomato spaghetti, so I’m excited to try this for him.. sound so delish!!! Creamy spaghetti definitely gonna throw some spinach in there too. Thank you for your amazing recipes!
So glad you enjoyed this Giselle!
The best
Thanks for all the tips
Glad you enjoyed this Ingrid!
Thank you!!!Cata!
Glad you enjoyed this! Hope you try it.