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Soup garnished with fresh cilantro and cotija cheese

Poblano Soup

A creamy and vitamin-packed chile pepper soup.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Course Soup
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 8 servings

Equipment

  • 1 Soup pot
  • 1 Immersion blender and/or regular blender
  • 1 Baking tray or baking dish
  • 1 Sieve or food mill A food mill is really nice to have for making smooth soups and sauces
  • 1 Cheese grater

Ingredients
  

Main Ingredients

  • 7 - 10 Poblano pepper
  • 1 Tbsp Butter (14g)
  • 1 large Onion diced
  • 4 cloves Garlic
  • 1 handful Cilantro chopped
  • 1 tsp Cumin ground
  • 48 oz Chicken stock (1.4L) (add more if you want to make more soup)
  • 2 Bay leaves
  • Salt, to taste (use less if adding cheese)

Creamy Ingredients

  • 1 cup Heavy cream (237mL)
  • — or —
  • 12 - 16 oz Mexican cheese (such as Chihuahua, Asadero, Queso Quesadilla, or even Monterey Jack) (340g - 454g) freshly shredded
  • 1/2 slice American cheese for the sodium citrate (melting salt)

Thickening Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp Flour (8g) for roux
  • — or —
  • 1 tsp Cornstarch (4g) whisked with water to create slurry

Instructions
 

Roasting Peppers

  • Preheat oven to 450°F (232°C).
  • Roast peppers for 15 – 20 minutes, flip, and roast for another 10 minutes.
  • Sweat peppers in a Ziploc bag for 20 minutes, then remove skins, seeds, and seeds (a large bowl of cold water helps speed this up).

Making Base Soup

  • Place pot on medium heat, and add diced onions, garlic, chopped cilantro, and ground cumin. Sauté for 5 – 6 minutes until onions are softened.
    If you want to thicken the soup with roux, add 1Tbsp flour now and stir until incorporated.
  • Add chicken stock and 2 bay leaves, bring soup to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.  Cook for 20 minutes.
  • Use immersion blender and/or regular blender and blend soup until smooth.
  • For added smoothness, pass soup through a sieve or a food mill.  Return soup to pot.

Choosing Cream

  • If you choose to add cream, add 1 cup cream and stir until incorporated.  Salt to taste.

Choosing Cheese

  • If you choose to add cheese, add ½ slice of American cheese to soup and stir.
  • Grate cheese and add a little at a time while stirring until it’s all incorporated.  You probably won’t need to add any salt in this case.

Thickening Soup

  • If you want a thicker soup at this point, add cornstarch slurry or some roux.

Serving

  • Serve garnished with fresh cilantro and crumbled cotija cheese.
Keyword soup