This Mexican spaghetti is made with a creamy green poblano sauce. It’s a budget-friendly dinner recipe that’s packed with flavor! Serve it as a side dish, or as a simple vegetarian dinner.
If you’re a pasta lover and haven’t tried Mexican spaghetti, what are you waiting for??
This version, espagueti verde, tosses noodles in a creamy green poblano sauce. It’s to die for! The best part? It’s budget-friendly and comes together in about 45 minutes! And since poblanos are not a spicy pepper, this recipe is completely family-friendly.
Ingredients
- Noodles – Spaghetti noodles are standard, but you can substitute elbow macaroni or bow-tie pasta if you’d prefer.
- Onion – I think a white onion has the best flavor for this, but you could substitute a yellow onion.
- Garlic – Fresh garlic is ideal, I use a garlic press to quickly mince it.
- Poblano peppers – I used large poblanos. If you can only find small or medium sized ones you may want to increase the amount.
- Cream cheese – I recommend using regular full-fat cream cheese for the best flavor, though you could substitute ⅓ fat if you’d prefer.
- Cilantro – We’ll need fresh cilantro for the the sauce and a little more for garnish. No need to de-stem for the sauce, it gets thrown in the blender and the stems have great flavor!
- Olive oil – Olive oil is preferred, though avocado oil makes a great substitute.
- Butter – Use real, unsalted butter for the best flavor.
- Chicken bouillon – Chicken bouillon adds seasoning and a bit of savory flavor. You can substitute salt if you’d prefer.
- Bay leaves – You can use fresh or dried bay leaves. Both are fine.
- Queso Fresco – This is a mild Mexican cheese made from cow’s milk. It’s crumbled and used as a topping. Parmesan would be a good substitute for this recipe.
Tips
- If you want to make your spaghetti taste extra good, always add a slice of onion and a couple of cloves of garlic to the pasta water. Boil for a minute or two before adding the pasta, then cook the pasta according to the package directions.
- If you don’t want to broil and peel the poblanos, you can use canned chilis. They have a different taste and will somewhat alter the flavor, but it will still be good.
- To save leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days.
What to serve with Mexican spaghetti
For a beverage, how about a Meyer Lemon margarita, lime sherbet margarita, or green juice margarita?
Want to serve it as a side dish? Try pairing it with blackened chicken or a steak.
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Mexican Spaghetti
Spaghetti noodles in a green, creamy poblano sauce.
Ingredients
- ½ pound spaghetti noodles
- 1 slice + ¼ cup grated white onion, divided
- 4 garlic cloves, divided – two whole, two grated
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 poblanos, deseeded and cut open
- 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons packed cilantro, stems and all, divided (2 Tablespoons minced)
- 1 8 ounce bar cream cheese
- 1 Tablespoon chicken bouillon
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup milk
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ¼ cup queso Fresco, crumbled
Instructions
- Fill a large pan with water for boiling the spaghetti. Add the slice of onion, 2 whole garlic cloves, salt and bay leaves. Boil for 2 minutes, then add the spaghetti and cook according to the package directions. This is usually about 8 to 10 minutes. Taste a piece of spaghetti to see if it is fully cooked. Discard the onion, garlic and bay leaves.
- Remove the spaghetti from the water, and reserve ½ cup of the spaghetti water.
- Preheat the broiler to 500°. Place the poblanos, skin side up on the cookie sheet on the highest rack directly under the broiler. Broil till the skins are blackened and bubbled, between 3 and 5 minutes.
- Remove and place in a bag to steam for 5 minutes. Remove and peel the skins off. Cut into strips.
- In a large pan, melt the butter and add the olive oil to heat. Add the grated onion and garlic and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the sliced poblanos and sauté for an additional 5 minutes.
- Place the cilantro, cream cheese, chicken bouillon, cream, milk, and poblanos in the blender. Blend till smooth, then pour into the pan and cook for 5 to 10 minutes until very smooth. If the sauce gets too thick, add some of the reserved spaghetti water to the sauce.
- Add the spaghetti and toss to coat. Serve with a sprinkle of queso fresco and some chopped cilantro.
Nutrition
Calories: 460kcal (23%), Carbohydrates: 55g (18%), Protein: 13g (26%), Fat: 23g (35%), Sugar: 4.6g (5%)
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