Have you tried this Roasted Poblano Soup yet?!
It's one of my favorite recipes on the site, and I've been gobbling it up over the past couple weeks.
It's bursting with flavor and yes, it's spicy so consider yourself warned! That's what keeps me coming back to it 🙂
How To Make Poblano Soup
Not pictured is the smell of roasted poblanos wafting through your house. But trust me, it's included with this recipe and it has the ability to instantly change your mood.
4-5 poblanos seems to be the sweet spot for this recipe. Poblanos don't have much heat, but when you use a bunch of them it adds up!
This photographed version used 6 poblanos and was right on the threshold of too spicy for most of us. If you want a milder version I would recommend roasting all of the poblanos but only adding half or two-thirds of them to the pan to start with. Once blended, take a taste, and if you want more heat simply add more poblano. Are Poblano Peppers Hot?
Give the poblanos a good rinse and roast them in the oven at 400F. 15 minutes later they'll look like this:
I usually give them a flip after the first 15 minutes and then put them back in the oven for as long as my stomach will wait:
So that's about 25 minutes total in the oven.
In the old days I would put these in a bag and let them steam up so the skin comes off easier, but not anymore! Most of the skin will come off as is, and I've found that it doesn't affect the flavor if you leave some behind.
Note: it can be beneficial to remove the skin when serving the Poblanos in strips like in Rajas, but mostly for texture purposes and not flavor.
Meanwhile, get a chopped onion sweating in 3 tablespoons of butter until softened.
Add 3 cloves of minced garlic and saute briefly.
To thicken up the soup, we'll add 3 tablespoons of flour and combine well. Giving this mixture a couple minutes over the heat will ensure you don't taste the flour in the final product.
Next we'll add:
4 cups stock
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano (optional)
pinch of cumin (optional)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
freshly cracked black pepper
Let simmer for 7-8 minutes or so.
You really don't need much beyond the poblano-butter-onion-stock combo, so you can consider the Mexican oregano optional if not available. More info on Mexican Oregano.
Once you've pulled off as much skin as you can, de-stem and de-seed the Poblanos.
Then roughly chop the Poblano pieces and add them to the simmering mixture in the saucepan.
Bring everything to a uniform temp and then combine well in a blender. Be sure to use caution when blending hot liquids!
Return the soup to the saucepan and give it a taste! I'm always amazed how complete it tastes given such a simple ingredient list.
I used a batch of zero-sodium homemade chicken stock so I added another 1/4 teaspoon of salt at this point. If you're using store-bought stock you probably won't need to add as much salt as I did.
You're left with a pan full of velvety goodness that already tastes good, but don't forget to garnish as it will give you an awesome bump in flavor.
It's amazing what a hint of acidity does to this soup.
I'm using a few drops of Valentina hot sauce, but vinegar or lemon/lime juice would have a similar effect. The acidity brightens up the flavor and makes everything pop.
So good!
I'm also using:
Mexican Crema
freshly cracked black pepper
finely chopped cilantro stems
The flavor burst from the cilantro stems is a real treat in this soup -- it also adds a bit of texture to each bite and that's something I'm more cognizant of lately.
I also wanted to mention that I've tried this recipe with cream mixed into the soup and found that it dulled the flavor of the poblanos too much!
But garnishing with cream and snagging a bit of it for each bite works wonders, so I always drizzle some on top.
That means that once you make your way through the top layer of garnish you have full permission to add another 🙂
Buen Provecho.
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Roasted Poblano Soup
Ingredients
- 4-5 poblano peppers
- 1 onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 4 cups stock
- 2 teaspoons Mexican oregano (optional)
- pinch of cumin (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (plus more to taste)
- freshly ground black pepper
For the garnish (optional):
- finely chopped cilantro stems
- Mexican Crema (or heavy cream)
- hot sauce
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Rinse the poblanos and roast them in the oven at 400F. Give them a flip after 15 minutes. They'll be mostly roasted in another 10-15 minutes, so 25-30 minutes total roasting time in the oven.
- Add 3 tablespoons butter to a saucepan on medium heat. Roughly chop an onion and add it to the saucepan, cooking for 5-7 minutes or until softened. Mince 4 garlic cloves and add to the onion, cooking for a minute or so.
- Add 3 tablespoons flour to the onion mixture and combine well. Add 4 cups of stock along with 2 teaspoons Mexican oregano (optional), a pinch of cumin (optional), 1/2 teaspoon salt, and freshly cracked black pepper. Stir well. Simmer for 7-8 minutes.
- Once the poblano peppers have cooled a bit, pull off as much skin as you can but don't worry about getting rid of all of it. Then de-stem and de-seed the poblanos. Roughly chop the poblano pieces and add them to the saucepan.
- Cook until everything is at a uniform temp and then combine the mixture in a blender. Be sure to use caution when blending hot liquids -- I usually just hold a paper towel over any openings just in case you get a geyser.
- Return mixture to the saucepan and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Salt to taste. I added another 1/4 teaspoon of salt but keep in mind the salt level will depend on which stock you use.
- Serve immediately but don't forget to garnish! I used Crema, finely chopped cilantro stems, freshly ground pepper, and a couple dashes of Valentina hot sauce.
- The acidity of the hot sauce pairs well with the poblanos so feel free to re-garnish once you make your way through the top layer. Other options for acidity: lemon/lime juice or vinegars.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.
Notes
Got leftover Poblanos? Make some Rajas! Or check out these Poblano Pepper Recipes.
Our latest post is this delicious Avocado Soup.
Still hungry?!
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Cindy
Please sign me up for your recipes. Heading today for poblanos
Patrick
Done! Hope this soup treats you well, it's one of my favs on the site. Cheers.
Willa
This is the best Poblano Soup I have ever eaten, and I am a snowbird 😊! It was my first time making it, and I did not stray. I love the way you lay out your recipe as well, contextually. I had gotten halfway through the first bowl before I added the crema. I almost added some leftover bacon from the fridge that I'd fried a few weeks ago. After all, everything's better with bacon! The soup is so delicious, I decided to let it stand alone. Thank you so much!
Patrick
Ahh good to know, so glad you tried out this soup Willa! Cheers.
Wendy Nelson
This soup is absolutely delicious! I made it exactly as written. It was perfect. Not too hot for me. The only thing I might change when I make it again (next week?) is I might add a bit of a roux. There is nothing else I would dream of changing. I used 5 pretty large poblanos. Thank you Patrick for your recipe!
Wendy
Patrick
Ahh good to hear, so glad this one is a keeper for you Wendy! Cheers.
Julie
Thank you for sharing. If you are looking for something different to top it off with you can try corn tortilla strips and cubes of mozzarella cheese. You won’t regret it.
Patrick
🙂
Desire
Has anyone tried throwing in cream cheese? Leaving the recipe the way it is, but throwing in cream cheese. Just curious if anyone has tried and what the outcome was.
Chuck G
For some reason my locale Walmart and Kroger do not have any poblanos do you think substituting Anaheim peppers would be any good?
Patrick
Hmmm it probably won't be the same when using Anaheims. Also FYI a strange thing happens in the States where big supermarket chains label Poblanos as Pasilla peppers. So if either of those grocers have Pasillas that look like Poblanos then they are definitely Poblanos 🙂
Sheetal
This soup turned out amazing and it was a big hit, my 12 year old also loved it. We had this in Costa Rica, loved it and so started looking for a recipe. I picked this recipe to try coz of the simple 6 ingredients and it’s going to be a keeper with my family!
Patrick
Ahh good to hear, so glad this soup is a hit with the fam! Cheers.
Chad
This receipt is a very small batch need to triple the receipt to feed a family of five
Marsha
This is an excellent recipe, I followed it exactly and it came out just right. I started out with 6 poblanos but only used 5. Excellent soup, thank you so much. I will be back, but don't want to receive emails. Already too many now..
Patrick
Thanks Marsha, so glad you tried out this recipe! I hope you find lots of keepers on my site. Cheers.
Lacha
This was excellent. I couldn't believe the complexity of flavor considering the simple ingredients. I used 3 poblanos which was enough for me. I didn't use oregano. I did use better than boullion, vegetarian version. A teaspoon of it. I used the stick blender to blend it. Then in added some frozen corn and cooked for about 5 more min. When I served. I put some chopped green onions, a sprinkle of half and half. And I had a jicama/mango slaw I had gotten last night at Trader Joe's so added that for some color.
Patrick
Hey thanks for mentioning your adjustments Lacha, super helpful! Cheers.