Mexican Green Spaghetti (Espagueti Verde)

Mexican Green Spaghetti tosses cooked spaghetti pasta (I used trofie, a twisted pasta shape) with a creamy poblano sauce made from roasted poblanos, Mexican crema, garlic, cilantro, and queso fresco.

If you need dinner ready pronto, one of the best strategies is to have a sauce like this on hand already made. Other sauces I like to have hanging around my refrigerator are a Gribiche Sauce, Smoky Spicy Roasted Tomato Sauce and an Avocado Cream Sauce (for tacos!).

They can be tossed with pasta, grains, legumes or vegetables during the week for easy healthy lunches and dinners.

🤷‍♀️ What are poblano peppers?

This recipe calls for poblano peppers. If you're unfamiliar with them, they're a large dark green pepper, oblong, and heart-shaped. When eaten raw, they're spicy, IMO, even though I've read reports that call them mild.

They're typically roasted or grilled whole and peeled. But there are lots of recipes that call for them to be chopped and sautéed. The longer they're roasted, the milder they become.

In some parts of the world, including the United States, they are sometimes referred to as pasilla peppers.

In my experience, if you're at a Farmers market where they roast them on site, they're not very deeply roasted and will be pretty spicy. This happened to me in Santa Fe for a dinner I was making that night for a party, and had to add a LOT of cheese to balance the heat.

🌶 What's a good substitute for poblano peppers?

If you can't find poblanos (or pasilla chile peppers), you can substitute Anaheim or Hatch chile peppers. Anaheim peppers are slightly less spicy than poblanos. Hatch chiles have a big range of spiciness, but are typically spicier than their sister Anaheim pepper.

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

• Flexible use. The sauce can be used for veggies dishes such as cauliflower and potatoes, or tossed with grains such as rice or farro.
• Super easy recipe. Most of the time is used to roast and peel the poblano peppers.
• Make ahead options. Make the sauce ahead to turn this recipe into one that can easily be made in less than 30 minutes.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.

📝 Instructions Overview

Detailed instructions for making this Mexican Green Spaghetti pasta dish are in the recipe card below, but here's a quick overview!

Step 1

Cook the pasta. Cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Step 2

Roast the peppers. Roast, stem, seed and peel the poblano peppers.

Step 3

Blend the peppers. Blend the roasted peppers with the cilantro, crema and milk in a countertop blender.

Step 4

Make the sauce. Combine the remaining ingredients except the queso fresco in a skillet and fold in the cooked pasta. Serve with crumbled queso fresco on top.

I have a whole jar of this now that I'm putting on roasted potatoes, farro tossed with roasted tomatoes, and I've even used it with queso fresco over a salad with a little white wine vinegar.

🥩 For the Meat Eaters at the Table

Add either roast chicken or sautéed shrimp.

📇 More Vegetable Pasta Dishes For You

Another pasta dish that super easy and delicious is tossing cooked pasta with this sun dried tomato pesto that's also vegan. Just top the pasta with freshly grated Parmesan cheese (there are some very good Parmesan style cheeses now that are vegan), and serve with crusty bread.

Or if you want a slightly hardier pasta, make this romanesco pasta recipe. It's all tossed in a creamy cauliflower soup that's vegan. The pectin in cauliflower helps to make a creamy sauce without any dairy at all.

And if you grew up with chicken tetrazzini as a kid and loved it, I recommend checking out this vegetarian tetrazzini with cauliflower, kicked up with poblano peppers. I love it so much, I included a version of it in my cookbook!

Another approach to pasta is to mix spaghetti noodles with a pasta sauce, and then layer with cheese in a casserole, like this Baked Spaghetti Casserole.

Lastly, if you want something uber-simple, go with this classic spaghetti alla vodka.

Print Recipe

4.73 from 29 votes

Mexican Green Spaghetti (Espagueti Verde)

Trofie twisted pasta (or spaghetti) tossed with a creamy poblano sauce made from roasted poblanos and Mexican crema, modified from La Cocina de Leslie blog.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time32 mins

Pepper resting time10 mins

Total Time47 mins

Course: Pasta, vegetarian main

Cuisine: American, Mexican

Keyword: espagueti verde

Servings: 4

Calories: 459.7kcal

Author: The Wimpy Vegetarian

Equipment

• baking sheet
• Parchment paper
• countertop blender
• Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot
• fine mesh strainer
• Large skillet

Ingredients

• 4 poblano peppers
• 8 ounces uncooked pasta I used trofie
• ½ cup cilantro leaves rinsed and patted dry
• 1 cup Mexican crema
• ½ cup milk
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 vegetable bouillon cube or 1 teaspoon Better Than Bouillon Roasted Vegetables
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• ½ cup crumbled queso fresco

Instructions

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and place the whole peppers on it. Broil until blackened, occasionally turning the peppers to blacken them on all sides.

  Place them in a plastic bag or zip-lok container for 10 minutes. Remove the blistered skins, stems and seeds.

  Transfer the peppers to a blender.
• Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package directions. Remove from heat and strain.
• Add the cilantro, crema, and milk to the peppers in the blender and puree until smooth.
• Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds. Stir in the poblano puree, the bouillon cube, salt, and black pepper. Fold in the pasta and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until heated through. Remove from heat.
• Toss with crumbled queso fresco.

Nutrition

Calories: 459.7kcal | Carbohydrates: 54.3g | Protein: 14.3g | Fat: 20.8g | Saturated Fat: 6.4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2.7g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 60.5mg | Sodium: 839.4mg | Potassium: 419.9mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 8.1g | Vitamin A: 1188.8IU | Vitamin C: 96.7mg | Calcium: 248.5mg | Iron: 1.2mg

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