This Poblano Sauce is creamy and so addicting. The poblanos are fire roasted and charred, then peeled and blended into a variety of Mexican flavors. This Mexican sauce is really versatile and can be used to add flavor to nachos, enchiladas, tacos, and much more!
This Poblano Cream Sauce is absolutely ridiculous on nachos..like eat the whole tray kind of good. I know because I attempted it and I was successful.
This Mexican sauce has almost a salsa verde or tomatillo salsa type of vibe. The poblanos aren't spicy, so I added just a bit of heat with the seasonings, jalapeño, and hot sauce. It's still pretty mild in heat, but loaded with flavor and delicious!
If you're crazy about poblanos like me, make sure to check out my rajas con crema recipe too. It is fire roasted poblanos in a creamy queso cheese sauce.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe:
- Big on Taste. It adds the best flavor to Mexican dishes
- Simple to Make. The recipe is super quick and easy
- Easy to Find Ingredients & Budget Friendly. This Poblano Sauce combines simple & fresh ingredients that are low on cost too.
- Versatile. Top this sauce over tacos, nachos, enchiladas, or any Mexican dishes. Try it with these Crockpot Chicken Enchiladas or with Vegetarian Nachos.
Ingredients:
Poblanos: A pretty mild & dark green pepper that is fantastic in sauces. Cooking the poblanos make the heat even more mild and bring out some of the sweetness in the peppers. In this recipe, we fire roast the poblanos and peel off the skin, which can be on the tougher side. They are then pureed into poblano sauce.
Note: If you allow the poblanos to sit longer, they usually get a bit spicier than when they are fresh.
Sour Cream: Used to make the sauce a bit thicker and adds a creamy texture.
Lime Juice: Brings in a citrus flavor and a little acidity into the mix.
Red Onion: Only a little bit is used to add in a touch of flavor. Red onions have a mild flavor and are great in Mexican sauces, fresh salsas and pico, like this Pineapple Pico de Gallo.
Jalapeño: Diced and added for flavor and heat.
Cilantro: One my absolute favorite herbs. Cilantro brings the ultimate freshness element into Mexican dishes. I'm a huge fan of the boost in flavor in provides.
Garlic, Cumin, Chili Powder, Salt, and Hot Sauce: Combined for maximum flavor and to add a little more heat and smoky flavor to the sauce. For the hot sauce, I love the Green Pepper Cholula. It actually combines Poblanos and Jalapeño, which makes it perfect for this recipe.
See the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions & Variations:
Want extra heat? Try adding double the hot sauce and a full tablespoon of diced jalapeño.
Don't want a lot heat? Remove the jalapeño, hot sauce and chili powder from the recipe.
Don't have any red onions? Feel free to use a white or yellow onion instead.
If you would rather use Mexican crema, you can substitute it for the sour cream. It is a little thicker, so you can add a splash of water or chicken stock into the blender if you need to.
Hate Cilantro? Leave it out.
How to Make Poblano Sauce (Step by Step Instructions):
Step 1: Fire Roast the Poblanos.
On a gas stove, turn the burner onto medium. Place the poblanos directly over the open flame and roast until the skin is blistered. Use tongs to rotate the peppers once blistered, to get every surface charred.
Note: Make sure to get them really charred on every portion of the pepper. This will help them to peel really easily.
Alternate cooking method: If you don't have a gas stove, turn the oven on broil and roast them on the top rack until charred, rotating to get all sides blistered.
Step 2: Steam the Peppers
Seal the peppers in a large ziplock or bowl with plastic wrap covering the top for 15 minutes. This will build up a lot of steam and allow the skins to peel off easier.
Step 3: Peel & Deseed the Poblanos
Remove the poblanos from the bag. Peel the skin off with your hands, slice off the stems, and remove all the seeds. It's ok if a few small pieces of the skin remain.
Step 4: Combine Ingredients for Poblano Sauce
Add the poblanos to a blender along with cilantro, lime, garlic, sour cream, red onion, jalapeño, cumin, chili powder and salt.
Step 5: Blend Sauce
Pulse the ingredients in a blender or food processor on high until smooth. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the blender a few times and blend again.
Enjoy this delicious sauce on nachos, tacos, enchiladas and more!
Expert Tips:
- The more charred the outside of the poblanos are, the easier they will be to peel.
- Don't skip on the steaming time for the poblanos. It's really important and the skin will be difficult to get off if you skip that step.
- Wash your hands really well after peeling the poblanos. Sometimes they can have a bit of heat to them, so be sure to scrub all the oils off your hands and under your nails.
Recipe FAQs:
They are usually pretty mild in spice and land somewhere between a bell pepper and jalapeño. You can get one once in a while that has a bit of heat, but in general, they are not too spicy. One thing to watch for- if the skin has started to shrivel up a bit and the seeds look a bit darker, they may be older and have gotten more spicy. If this is the case, you may want to leave out the jalapeño if you are concerned about heat.
You want to make sure most of the skin is off the poblano because it can be on the tougher side and won't puree as well. However, if a tiny bit of skin gets in the blender, it will be fine.
Poblanos are much bigger than jalapeños and are flatter and wider too. They are dark green in color. I prefer the biggest poblanos I can find because they are easier to roast over the open flame on my stovetop without falling through the grates.
Storing:
Store the poblano sauce in a jar or sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days. It has sour cream in the recipe, so it won't stay good much longer.
More Mexican Recipes You Will Enjoy:
If you tried this Poblano Sauce Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
PrintRecipe
The Best Poblano Sauce (Creamy Recipe)
- Total Time: 30 Minutes
- Yield: 1.5 cups 1x
Description
This Poblano Sauce is creamy and so addicting. The poblanos are fire roasted, then peeled and blended into a variety of Mexican flavors.
Ingredients
- 3 large poblanos, rinsed and dried
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro
- juice from 1 lime
- ⅔ cup sour cream
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ⅛ cup red onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon jalapeno, minced
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Fire Roast the Poblanos: On a gas stove, turn the burner onto medium. Place the poblanos directly over the open flame and roast until the skin is blistered. Use tongs to rotate the peppers once blistered, to get every surface.
- Steam the Peppers: Seal the peppers in a large ziplock or bowl with plastic wrap covering the top for 15 minutes. This will build up a lot of steam and allow the skins to peel off easier.
- Peel & Deseed the Poblanos: Remove the poblanos from the bag. Peel the skin off with your hands, slice off the stems, and remove all the seeds.
- Combine Ingredients for Poblano Sauce: Add the poblanos to a blender along with cilantro, lime, garlic, sour cream, red onion, jalapeño, cumin, chili powder and salt.
- Blend Sauce: Pulse the ingredients in a blender or food processor on high until smooth. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the blender a few times and blend again.
- Enjoy this poblano sauce on tacos, enchiladas, nachos and more!
Notes
- Alternate cooking method for fire roasting poblanos: If you don't have a gas stove, turn the oven on broil and roast them on the top rack until charred, rotating to get all sides blistered.
- The more charred the outside of the poblanos are, the easier they will be to peel.
- Don't skip on the steaming time for the poblanos. It's really important and the skin will be difficult to get off if you skip that step.
- Wash your hands really well after peeling the poblanos. Sometimes they can have a little bit of heat to them, so be sure to scrub all the oils off your hands and under your nails.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Steam Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 Minutes
- Category: sauce
- Method: roasted
- Cuisine: Mexican
Payton
This sauce is soooo good! I kept dipping tortilla chips in it.
Tara Smithson
Thanks Payton! I did the same thing! So yummy!