This insanely delicious green sauce is made with six simple ingredients! Poblano peppers, sour cream, garlic, salt, fresh cilantro and lime juice. It's the perfect topping for your favorite tacos, enchiladas, burritos and tostadas. You can also mix this sauce into noodles to make a tasty poblano pasta (top with protein like grilled chicken, shrimp or salmon). An easy sauce recipe is always a great way to add lots of flavor to your favorite foods!
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This healthy, homemade condiment is one of my favorites. It's even gluten free, low sugar, low carb and low calorie (especially when made with light sour cream).
And, if you love this recipe, I would highly recommend checking out my delicious Baja Sauce. You can't go wrong with either one of these mouthwatering options!
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Ingredients & Substitutions
- Poblano chilies: these beautiful, hearty, dark green peppers are available at many grocery stores year round, though their peak seasons are summer and fall! (source: foodreference).
- Light sour cream: full fat also works. Two reasons I prefer light? It's lower in calories and generally a little thinner. If you use a full fat option, your sauce may turn out a bit thicker.
- Garlic: fresh, aromatic cloves (one large or two small).
- Salt: simple spice to add depth and flavor.
- Fresh lime juice: for a bit of zing. You can use bottled in a pinch.
- Cilantro: bright, fresh, healthy greens!
How To Roast & Peel Poblano Peppers
Poblano sauce doesn't take long to make. The most time consuming part is roasting your peppers (you can do this ahead of time and store roasted peppers for later use, if desired)!
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Remove stems and seeds from peppers and cut them in half.
- Line peppers evenly on a large baking sheet, leaving a little space between each.
- Roast peppers for 25-30 minutes until skin is blistered (no need to flip)!
- Allow peppers to cool down enough that you can comfortably handle them and then transfer halves to a plastic bag. You can also use plastic wrap if you don't have baggies. This allows peppers to steam and will further loosen tough outer skin.
- Peel skin from peppers and that's it. Super easy! Make your poblano sauce immediately or place peppers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3-5 days.
How To Make Poblano Pepper Cream Sauce
Keep scrolling for the full recipe card and measurements. We’ll start here with a quick overview!
Step 1: measure sour cream, garlic cloves, cilantro, salt and lime juice into a food processor.
Step 2: add roasted/peeled poblano pepper halves.
Step 3: puree ingredients on high speed for 30-60 seconds.
Step 4: transfer sauce to a serving dish and enjoy!
Expert Tips
Food processor vs blender: if you don't have a food processor, you can also make this sauce using a blender. Note that the final texture will likely be smoother if you go this route!
What Is This Sauce Used On?
The options are endless, my friends! I love drizzling this sauce on tons of different recipes. Here's some inspiration to get your going:
This sauce also goes great with proteins like grilled steak, chicken, shrimp or fish. Use it as a dip for soft pretzels and veggies, a dressing for salad or as topping for fried eggs and bacon.
Savory poblano pasta is also a popular use for this sauce. Stir it into noodles to make a delicious, Mexican spaghetti!
I also really enjoy serving plain, crispy tortilla chips with poblano sauce. It's always fun to make a few different dips, too! Homemade guacamole, fresh pico salsa, and baja sauce are always crowd pleasers.
Variations
Add some heat: Poblano peppers aren't really that hot. If you like spicy food and want to add some heat, I recommend roasting a few jalapeno peppers along with your poblanos and including them in your sauce. Or, you can simply add red pepper flakes/cayenne pepper to taste!
Make it extra mild: if you really aren't a fan of heat, you can make this sauce even more mild by using half poblano peppers and half green bell peppers.
Experiment with spices: try your sauce with a little ground cumin, chili powder, black pepper or onion powder. Love garlic? add in another clove! Ranch seasonings are another popular addition to this sauce if you want to get more outside the box. Feel free to play around with ingredients to match your personal preferences.
Greek yogurt: instead of sour cream use plain, nonfat Greek yogurt. It tastes really similar and is super low calorie (even more so than light sour cream). Greek yogurt is also high in protein!
Add ins: make it cheesy with some shredded parmesan or cheddar! Toss in some sautéed tomatillos and onions, avocado slices or a handful of spinach for extra nutrients.
Consistency: this sauce is pretty thick. If you want it to be thinner, add a tablespoon of water and puree. Repeat until you get the desired / right consistency!
Storage
Store extra poblano sauce in an airtight, food-storage container for up to 3-5 days in the refrigerator!
Frequently Asked Questions
It's a delicious, thick & savory, green sauce made from roasted poblano peppers, light sour cream, garlic, cilantro, salt and lime juice.
This sauce is fresh, creamy and mild (not spicy)! Poblano peppers taste similar to green bell peppers. They're slightly hotter, but not by much.
Many large grocery store chains sell store-bought poblano sauce including Walmart, Kroger and Safeway. You can also get it on Amazon!
Poblanos are a mild pepper. They're low on the Scoville scale, ranging from 1000 to 2500 SVU (Scoville heat units). For reference, bell peppers measure at 0 SVU and jalapenos fall between 2500-10,000 SVU!
Poblano peppers are similar to green bell peppers in taste and texture with a tough outer skin and hearty flesh. They're dark green, triangular in shape and a bit spicier than a bell pepper.
Poblano peppers are high in fiber and nutrient packed. They're particularly high in vitamin C and contain lots of antioxidants which may be beneficial to the body in many ways! (Source: healthline.com)
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Roasted Poblano Cream Sauce Recipe (Only 6 Ingredients)!
Equipment
- Food processor *A blender will also work, sauce will likely be smoother if you go this route.
Ingredients
- 4 poblano peppers
- 1 large clove of garlic *or two smaller
- 1 cup light sour cream *see note below
- 1 small lime *juiced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup chopped cilantro leaves *loosely packed
Recipe notes:
Light sour cream: full fat also works but will likely result in a thicker sauce. I like using light sour cream because it has less calories! Greek yogurt can also be used, and is even lower cal. than light sour cream.Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Remove stems and seeds from peppers and cut them in half.
- Line peppers evenly on a large baking sheet, leaving a little space between each.
- Roast peppers for 25-30 minutes until skin is blistered. No need to flip the peppers over halfway, you can just leave them be.
- Remove baking sheet from the oven and allow peppers to cool down enough that you can comfortably handle them.
- Transfer roasted halves to a plastic bag. You can also use plastic wrap if you don't have baggies. This allows peppers to steam and will further loosen tough outer skin.
- Remove peppers from the bag and peel outer skin away. Thorough is good, perfect is unnecessary. A few bits of unpeeled skin will be fine!
- Add roasted/peeled poblano peppers, sour cream, garlic clove, cilantro, salt and lime juice to a food processor.
- Puree ingredients on high speed for 30-60 seconds.
- Transfer sauce to a serving dish and enjoy!
Storage instructions:
- Transfer leftovers to an air-tight, food storage container and store in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
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