Poblano Cream Sauce (Roasted Poblano Crema)

Roasted poblano sauce (also called poblano crema) is an ultra-creamy and delicious sauce made from roasted poblano peppers and just a few other ingredients. It is really easy to make (just 5 minutes to blend after roasting the peppers) and the perfect addition to any Mexican meal.

Roasted poblano sauce is perfect on tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and quesadillas or used as a dip for veggies, and tortilla chips. This sauce is not spicy (since poblano peppers are mild peppers) but it does have a distinct bold delicious flavor that I just love.

This poblano sauce comes from my recipe for poblano quesadillas where I roast poblano peppers for the quesadilla and the sauce at the same time.

We grow lots of these peppers and this is my favorite way to put them to good use.

This sauce is made up of sour cream, roasted poblanos, salt, cilantro, onion, lime and garlic and is so easy to make.

Most of the flavor in this poblano sauce comes from the poblano peppers being roasted in the oven. The additional ingredients just help accent the delicious poblano flavor.

What you will need

• Roasted poblano peppers. If you have not roasted peppers before, it is easy and I will show you how to do it. Roasting the peppers brings out so much flavor in the peppers.
• Sour cream or Mexican crema. I prefer using a full-fat sour cream. If you prefer, you can use a low-fat sour cream but try to avoid fat-free since it has very little flavor.
• Roasted garlic. This roasts alongside the peppers and adds so much flavor to the creamy sauce.
• Roasted Onion. You roast the onions at the same time as the peppers and add another layer of flavor to the sauce.
• Fresh cilantro. Make sure to use fresh cilantro and not dried for this recipe. The fresh cilantro is vibrant and really wakes up the flavors of this cream sauce.
• Olive oil. Anu type of olive oil works well.
• Lime Juice. You can use fresh or bottled lime juice.

Recipe Note: Try to find large poblano peppers to roast for this sauce which will not be spicy. Smaller poblanos will have a little heat.

The Steps

Making this creamy sauce is also very easy. It is just blending it all together.

• Roast the poblano peppers under the broiler: The roasted peppers will take the longest and will be done when they are charred on the outside. I like to use the oven broiler for this but you can also do this over your stovetop burners or on an outside grill.
• Sweat the peppers: Once the peppers are roasted, you want to add them to a bowl and sweat off the skins by covering the bowl with plastic wrap. After about 30 minutes (or once the peppers come to room temperature) you can easily peel the skins off the peppers.

• Blend ingredients in a food processor: Once you are done peeling the skins off of your peppers, you can begin adding all of the ingredients to a food processor and begin to make the cream sauce.

How to use poblano cream sauce

• As a dip for burritos or quesadillas.
• This poblano sauce makes a great dip for veggies like our roasted broccoli and potatoes.
• Serve it alongside a delicious pulled pork rice bowl.
• It makes a great dip for tortilla chips, especially when paired with homemade pico de gallo.
• Serve it over grilled chicken or fish.

For more delicious sauces

We love making homemade sauce so we have lots of them. Here are some broken down by category: