Espagueti verde (Mexican green spaghetti)

This easy pasta dish combines spaghetti with a wonderfully creamy roast poblano pepper sauce. Easy, comforting and flavorful.

Prep time: PT10M

Cook time: PT20M

Total time: PT30M

Rating

4 stars (4 reviews)

Keywords

espagueti verde, green pasta, Mexican green spaghetti, pasta verde

Ingredients

2 poblano peppers (medium-small, less if large)
5 stems cilantro
1/2 cup Mexican crema ((see notes for alternatives))
1 clove garlic (small)
1/2 tsp bouillon powder (stock (1/2tsp powder is 1/2 a stock cube))
1/2 tbsp butter
4 oz spaghetti
2 tbsp cotija cheese (or queso fresco (approx))

Cuisine

Mexican

Steps

Roast the poblano peppers whole using your preferred method - you can char them over a gas flame (either grill or stovetop, taking care holding the peppers with tongs). Alternatively, place them on a baking sheet/tray and roast in the oven at 400F/200C or under the broiler/overhead grill. In all cases, turn the peppers regularly so that the skin blisters and blackens evenly. Cooking time will vary depending on cooking method and size of peppers, so keep a close eye on them.
Once the peppers are well softened and have patches of black all over, remove from the heat. Place them in a plastic bag and fold over the top so that you create a steam packet. (Alternatively, you can place peppers on a plate and cover with cling wrap/cling film but a bag is less wasteful as you can wash and re-use after). Leave the peppers to steam and cool for around 10 minutes.
Remove the peppers from the bag, then peel off the skin - you can use a knife to get it started but your fingers are often easiest to do the peeling. Open up the pepper and remove the core and seeds. Don't worry if the pepper breaks up, strips are fine. At this point, you can store the roasted peppers in the fridge to make the sauce later, if you prefer.
Place the peppers, cilantro, Mexican crema, garlic and stock/bouillon powder in a food processor or blender. Blend everything together until well broken up and mixed.
Cook your pasta until al dente (just tender). When it is almost ready, warm the butter over a medium-low heat in a skillet/frying pan or saute pan large enough to hold the pasta, then add the sauce. Cook, stirring regularly, to warm through and thicken slightly.
When the pasta is ready, add it directly into the sauce and toss to coat the pasta all over. If it is too thick, add a little of the pasta cooking water.
Serve, topped with a sprinkling of cotija or queso fresco cheese (and some additional cilantro to garnish, if you like).

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 416 kcal
Carbohydrates: 53 g
Protein: 13 g
Fat: 17 g
Saturated Fat: 4 g
Trans Fat: 0.1 g
Cholesterol: 55 mg
Sodium: 607 mg
Sugar: 6 g
Unsaturated Fat: 3 g

Reviews

Ian on 2026-06-30 (5 stars):
Super good! The Poblano peppers gave it a mild smoky taste, and the sauce was creamy and flavorful!
do not wish to share on 2025-10-05 (1 stars):
This was easy to make and I liked the portion size, however, I was anticipating this to have a little more heat and flavor and found it to be bland. Definitely needs more poblanos (double), and other flavoring.
Susie on 2024-07-08 (5 stars):
This was really good! Since I wanted to use the entire 1# box of spaghetti, I quadrupled the other ingredients EXCEPT for the poblanos, only used three of those and it's plenty spicy. I also subbed lite sour cream, plain low-fat yogurt and a little neufchatel cheese for the crema.
Lima Ekram on 2023-09-26 (5 stars):
The sauce is so tasty - the whole family loved it!