Rajas con Crema is a creamy Mexican dish that features roasted poblano peppers in a decadent cream sauce. It can be served as an appetizer, a quesadilla filling, or a vegetarian taco option.
Rajas con crema is a Mexican dish from the southern and central regions of Mexico. The mild spiciness of the poblano peppers is contrasted with the creaminess of Mexican crema (a condiment made with cream).
The first time I had rajas con crema was when my mother-in-law Marlene's neighbor, Eva, brought some over. We had spent the day sorting through Marlene's things (she had recently passed) so Eva's delicious appetizer was a welcome distraction during a very difficult time.
Although Eva's English was limited, my sister-in-law, Tami, managed to scribble down the basic ingredients because we all HAD to have the recipe. Unfortunately, like most recipes scribbled on a piece of paper, it got misplaced over the years.
Recently, while flipping through a magazine, I came across a picture of a rajas con crema recipe. Although Eva never shared the name of the recipe, I immediately recognized it as the same dish.
I could almost taste the smokey poblanos nestled in the velvety sauce. It was then that I decided the time had come to recreate Eva's dish, or at least my version of it...
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🧐 Why This Recipe Works
- Rajas con crema is a simple recipe with a few short steps. The hardest step (honestly, calling it hard is a stretch) is roasting and peeling the poblano peppers.
- You can find most of the recipe's ingredients at your local grocery store.
- Serve rajas con crema as an appetizer for the big game (similar to queso) or for lunch or dinner!
- Whether you serve it in warm tortillas, over Mexican rice, or in enchiladas, one thing is for sure, everyone will love it!
🛒 What You Need For This Recipe
🔖 Ingredients And Substitutions
- Peppers: Traditionally, poblano chiles are used to make this dish. I decided to sneak in an anaheim pepper (because I had one) and a couple of serranos. If you don't want the added spice, you can leave them out. To make the dish milder you can use bell peppers or anaheim peppers.
- Sauce: Since I don't know where to find crema in Montana, I used a mixture of cream cheese, sour cream, half and half, and a splash of lime juice to make the sauce creamy.
- Cheese: If you want the sauce cheesier (and who could blame you) try adding Oaxaca cheese (if you can find it), Monterey jack cheese, or mozzarella cheese.
- Corn: I added frozen corn but fresh corn would be even better and canned corn would be acceptable.
- Butter: I used butter to saute the veggies but you can also use olive oil.
- Seasoning: The only seasoning you'll need is salt and pepper.
*A full list of ingredients and precise measurements can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
🌶 How To Make Rajas Con Crema
Step 1: Place peppers on a baking tray and broil on the top rack on high for 2-3 minutes on each side or until charred. Add to a Ziploc bag, seal, and sweat for 10 minutes.
Step 2: Meanwhile, slice onions, and mince garlic. Melt butter in a pan or a cast-iron skillet and saute the onions over low to medium heat for approximately 5 minutes. Add corn and saute for a few more minutes. Remove from heat.
Step 3: Peel the charred skin from the poblanos and anehime chile, then deseed. Slice peppers into long strips. Next, peel and chop serrano peppers. Add all the peppers to the pan and saute for a couple of minutes.
Pro Tip: If you prefer, you can cover the pan with foil or plastic wrap to sweat the peppers. I like to use the bag as a receptacle to discard the charred poblano skins, seeds, stems, and garlic skins.
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Step 4: Add minced garlic to the pan and mix to combine. Saute for one minute then add the cubed cream cheese, sour cream, half and half, lime juice, salt, and black pepper. Stir with a wooden spoon until the cheese melts then simmer over low heat for a few minutes so the flavors can come together.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
Serve immediately with warmed corn tortillas or cotija cheese. Another option is to serve rajas con crema as a dip with tortilla chips. When serving it as a dip, I recommend chopping the peppers instead of leaving them in long strips so that it's easier to scoop up with the tortilla chips!
Recipe Variations
If you search for rajas con crema recipes online you'll notice many variations of the recipe. Sometimes corn is added, as in this recipe, other times diced tomatoes are added instead. Still, other recipes only have poblano peppers, onion, and garlic.
The ingredient used to add creaminess to the dish vary greatly also. The most authentic option is Mexican crema, however, crème fraîche, heavy cream, and buttermilk are other popular options.
There is yet another way to prepare this tasty and versatile dish. Pollo en rajas con crema is prepared in a similar fashion to rajas con crema except shredded chicken is added to make it a heartier dish.
🤷🏻♀️ Recipe FAQs
Rajas con crema is a Mexican dish comprised of roasted poblano peppers sliced into strips and mixed with a white creamy sauce. Most recipes also include onion, corn, and garlic. It is served as an appetizer or wrapped in flour or corn tortillas.
"Rajas" means "strips" in Spanish so "rajas con crema" translates to "strips with cream."
How do you roast poblano peppers?
Roasting poblano peppers is really simple and can be accomplished in a variety of ways including roasting in the oven, broiling, charring on the grill, or over a gas range.
Once charred, the peppers are usually sealed in a bag or covered with aluminum foil to give them a chance to sweat for at least 10 minutes. This extra step ensures that the charred skin is easier to peel off.
To peel off the blistered and charred skin, you can simply pull it off. Some people like to use paper towels to wipe the skin off while others prefer a vegetable scrubber. But whatever you do, don't run the peppers under cold running water. I mean, why would you want to wash away all that smokey flavor?
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- A teaspoon of Mexican oregano can be a great addition to this recipe.
- For a heartier meal, mix in a few cups of cooked shredded chicken. Rotisserie chicken would be a great choice! Once you have the filling, use it to make enchiladas, yum!
- To make rajas con crema as a dip, dice the onion and peppers (after roasting them) so that they're easier to scoop up with corn chips.
- Rajas con crema leftovers can be stored in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 5 days.
- I don't recommend freezing the leftovers since most cream-based sauces will separate after freezing.
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📖 Recipe
Rajas Con Crema | Creamy Roasted Poblanos
Ingredients
- 3 poblano peppers
- 1 anaheim pepper (or use 4 poblanos instead)
- 2 Serrano peppers
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 cup corn
- 5 cloves garlic
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- ½ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup half and half
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper (or white pepper)
Instructions
- Place peppers on a baking tray and broil on the top rack on high for 2-3 minutes on each side or until charred. Add to a Ziploc bag, seal, and sweat for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, slice onions, and mince garlic. Melt butter in a pan or a cast-iron skillet and saute the onions over low to medium heat for approximately 5 minutes. Add corn and saute for a few more minutes. Remove from heat.
- Peel the charred skin from the poblanos and anehime chile, then deseed. Slice peppers into long strips. Next, peel and chop serrano peppers. Add all the peppers to the pan and saute for a couple of minutes.
- Add minced garlic to the pan and mix to combine. Saute for one minute then add the cubed cream cheese, sour cream, half and half, lime juice, salt, and black pepper. Stir with a wooden spoon until the cheese melts then simmer over low heat for a few minutes so the flavors can come together.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve immediately with warmed corn tortillas or cotija cheese. Another option is to serve rajas con crema as a dip with tortilla chips. When serving it as a dip, I recommend chopping the peppers instead of leaving them in long strips so that it's easier to scoop up with the tortilla chips!
Notes
- If you prefer, you can cover the pan with foil or plastic wrap to sweat the peppers. I like to use the bag as a receptacle to discard the charred poblano skins, seeds, stems, and garlic skins.
- A teaspoon of Mexican oregano can be a great addition to this recipe.
- For a heartier meal, mix in a few cups of cooked shredded chicken. Rotisserie chicken would be a great choice! Once you have the filling, use it to make enchiladas, yum!
- To make rajas con crema as a dip, dice the onion and peppers (after roasting them) so that they're easier to scoop up with corn chips.
- Rajas con crema leftovers can be stored in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 5 days.
- I don't recommend freezing the leftovers since most cream-based sauces will separate after freezing.
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