This Mexican espagueti verde (green spaghetti) will knock your socks off! The roasted poblano cheese sauce is so delicious and creamy! Add jalapeño if you like the heat, and shrimp or chicken if you want meat!

Green Spaghetti

If you’ve never had espagueti verde you are in for a flavorful dinner! It’s like alfredo sauce with a Mexican twist!

Poblano peppers are roasted and blended to create a creamy green sauce with garlic, onions and cilantro. Plus, there’s Mexican sour cream and cream cheese to make it extra smooth and velvety.

If you’re tired of the same spaghetti, our other great pasta dishes such as Chicken Spaghetti with Rotel and Easy Baked Spaghetti.

I love this spaghetti verde all by itself as a vegetarian meal, but it would also be bomb with sautéed shrimp or grilled chicken.

How to make espagueti verde

The star of the show is the roasted poblano peppers. These are mostly mild pepper.

Occasionally you’ll get a spicy one, but combined with the dairy products they are as mild as green bell peppers.

If you’d like to add some heat, you can also use a serrano or jalapeño pepper.

Four poblano peppers on a baking tray for roasting

Place chiles on foil lined cookie sheet

There are many ways you can roast peppers. The most common would be on the stove or under the broiler, but you could also fire roast them on the grill.

Gas stove: they can be roasted directly over the open flame. Place the peppers on the grates. Use tongs to turn peppers until they are charred all over.
Electric stove: broil them in the oven. Place on a cookie sheet, line with aluminum foil, and broil at high heat, turning with tongs every so often until charred and blistered all over.

Broil, turn and roast until charred

After the chiles have been roasted, place in a zip-lock bag or in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap so they can steam for about 5-10 minutes.

Roasted poblano peppers steaming in ziplock bag

Steam chiles in a bag

After steaming they will be easy to peel. Then, remove the blackened skin, stems and seeds.

Peel skin off chiles

Espagueti verde recipe notes:

If desired, you can leave out the cream cheese (or use less). The sauce won’t be as thick or cheesy, but it will still be creamy.

You can also thicken with an avocado.

Another trick I like to do is add a few handfuls of baby spinach. A sneaky way to get in extra veggies!

Note about crema Mexicana:

Crema Mexican is widely available in my area; I can find it at Walmart. You may need to go to a Hispanic market to get it, or you can substitute sour cream or crème fraiche.

Mexican cream is less sour than American sour cream. It’s also thinner.

You may also see Crema Salvadoreña, which is more sour than American sour cream.

Any of these will work. Just use less if it’s too tangy or thin with water or milk if the sauce is too thick.

Espagueti Verde (Green Spaghetti)

Name: Espagueti Verde (Green Spaghetti)
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 1 lb spaghetti; 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil; 4 poblano peppers; 1 cup cilantro (leaves only); ½ onion, roughly chopped; 1 cup crema Mexicana or sour cream; 1 box (8 oz) cream cheese; 3 cloves of garlic; 1 cube chicken (or veggie) bouillon; ½-1 cup milk or water; 1-2 serrano or jalapeño peppers (optional); Cotija cheese, for garnish

Yield: 8 servings

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Espagueti Verde - Mexican green spaghetti with a creamy, roasted poblano sauce!

Ingredients

1 lb spaghetti
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
4 poblano peppers
1 cup cilantro (leaves only)
½ onion, roughly chopped
1 cup crema Mexicana or sour cream
1 box (8 oz) cream cheese
3 cloves of garlic
1 cube chicken (or veggie) bouillon
½-1 cup milk or water
1-2 serrano or jalapeño peppers (optional)
Cotija cheese, for garnish

Instructions

Cook the spaghetti according to the package instructions and drain, reserving some of the pasta water for later. Toss noodles with butter or olive oil so they don't stick together.
While the spaghetti is cooking, roast the poblanos (see notes below or post above for instructions). If using serrano or jalapeño peppers these can be roasted as well, or left raw.
Place the peppers in a blender along with the, cilantro, onion, crema, cream cheese, garlic, chicken bouillon and ½ cup of milk or reserved pasta water (and serranos or jalapeños, if using). Blend until smooth and creamy.
Pour into large pot over medium-low heat and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, then add spaghetti and stir to coat. Add additional milk or pasta water if it gets too thick. Serve with cotija cheese, if desired.

Notes

How to roast peppers

Gas stove: they can be roasted directly over the open flame. Place the peppers on the grates. Use tongs to turn peppers until they are charred all over.

Electric stove: broil them in the oven. Place on a cookie sheet, line with aluminum foil, and broil at high heat, turning with tongs every so often until charred and blistered all over.

After the peppers have been roasted, place in a ziplock bag or in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap so they can steam for about 5-10 minutes. Then, remove the blackened skin, stems and seeds.

Try these too!

Enchilada Pasta

Enchilada Pasta with Chicken! Super quick and easy one pot dinner.

Elote Recipe (Authentic Mexican Corn)

Elotes recipe - Mexican Corn on the cob with cheese, mayo and chile. Enjoy this street food anytime with this easy recipe!

Amy

Tuesday 22nd of October 2024

I just made this and it’s so delicious! My only question is why use only the leaves of cilantro? The stems have just as much flavor and blend beautifully into the sauce.

Rebekah

Monday 28th of October 2024

You can use them if you want. I always remove the bottom stems.

Alex

Thursday 1st of August 2024

Can I freeze the sauce for later use? Or will it not reheat well?

I don't think this one will reheat well, but I've never tried personally! If you try it please let us know the results.

Jasmine

Wednesday 28th of February 2024

Okay I did the recipe plus cooked chicken in a cast iron skillet and heated the sauce in there after taking the chicken out. Added chicken knorr seasoning to the pasta water. Then added a little muenster cheese to the finished product. SOOOOOO GOOOOD!

Enid

Friday 10th of March 2023

Creme Mexicana is a brand name. My Walmart has Creme Mexicana table cream and sour cream. It's not 100% clear to me which this recipe is calling for. Can't wait to try it though - sounds delicious

Tuesday 21st of March 2023

@Rebekah, Thanks for clearing that up. I made it the first time with the table cream and it was actually very good. I bought the sour cream and will now try it the correct way.

Hi Enid, the crema mexicana I'm referring to is Mexican-style sour cream and it's found in the refrigerated section. It may say agria/cultured/sour cream, not to be confused with media crema, which is table cream and is thick but not sour. You can use it as a substitute. Media crema can be found in the refrigerated or canned section (Nestle makes a popular one). Hope that helps!

Christopher

Friday 2nd of December 2022

I will be trying 2 versions of this. First, Substitute all dairy with can of Prego Alfredo, add peppers and cilantro mix. Second, I have soy cream cheese and soy sour cream and make as listed. I will let you know how it works out.

Hey I think that sounds like a great idea! I haven't worked with vegan cream cheese or sour cream but the sauce is so flavorful as long as you get the texture you want.

Espagueti Verde (Green Spaghetti)