Mexican Spaghetti

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. 

Print

Mexican Spaghetti

Spaghetti noodles in a green, creamy poblano sauce.

• Author: Jessica Pinney
• Prep Time: 20 Minutes
• Cook Time: 25 Minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 4
• Category: Main Dish
• Cuisine: Mexican

Print Recipe

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

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: 460
• Sugar: 4.6g
• Fat: 23g
• Carbohydrates: 55g
• Protein: 13g