Creamy Mexican Spaghetti (Espagueti rojo) is a creamy tomato, onion, garlic sauce simmered to perfection with cream cheese and sour cream over cooked spaghetti noodles. You can easily make it your entire meal by adding 10 minute juicy pan-fried chicken.
Why This Creamy Spaghetti Wins at Dinner Time
- The Magic Sauce: The sauce is loaded with flavor without stealing your valuable evening time.
- Super Fast: Boiling tomatoes with pasta noodles in the same pot might sound weird but it’s a true time saver because the tomatoes have to boil anyway!
- Ultra-Creamy Comfort: The secret is using a mix of cream cheese and Mexican crema. It cuts the acidity of the tomatoes and makes a velvety, mild sauce that kids obsess over.
- This velvety sauce also makes for a kid favorite since it blends smooth with no chunks of tomatoes or onions for picky eaters.
Ingredients You'll Need
Roma Tomatoes: The heart of the traditional Mexican espagueti rojo sauce. Boiling and blending these makes for a naturally sweet, fresh tomato base.
White Onion: A must-have aromatic blended directly into the sauce to build a deep, authentic flavor.
Garlic: When you boil the garlic, it adds a nutty and sweet note that balances the richness of the dairy.
Spaghetti Noodles: Cooking them to a perfect al dente allows the pasta to hold onto the heavy cream sauce beautifully.
Butter: Melted in the pan to create a rich, savory base for simmering and concentrating the blended tomato mixture.
Cream Cheese: The secret to an ultra-velvety texture, adding a creamy thickness and a subtle, tang.
Sour Cream (Room Temp): Mimics traditional media crema or crema Mexicana to give the sauce its signature light pink color and silky mouthfeel. Using room temperature sour cream ensures a smooth blend without curdling.
Chicken Bouillon: A staple flavor enhancer in Mexican home cooking, introducing a deeply savory umami undertone that outperforms standard salt.
How to Make Creamy Mexican Spaghetti (Espagueti Rojo)
In a stock pot, boil salted water and add spaghetti noodles, tomatoes, onion.
With a sharp knife, cut off the tip of a whole garlic head and add to boiling ingredients.
When tomato skins start peeling (about 10-12 minutes) take out tomatoes and onion with a slotted spoon. Place ingredients in your blender.
When you take out the garlic, squeeze cloves out of skin into your blender (you decide how many garlic cloves you like- I’m a garlic girl so watch me squeeze the whole head of garlic!) The cooked garlic will add sweetness and a nuttier note to my sauce.
Once garlic is added, blend sauce together and set aside.
In a large pan (I like to use the same one), melt half a stick of butter over low heat (you don’t want it to burn). Once butter is melted add blended tomato sauce. Simmer for a few moments until combined.
Once butter and tomato sauce are incorporated, add your room temperature cream cheese and crema (sour cream). If the cream cheese or sour cream hasn’t been tempered, you will see little cheese curdles in your sauce. It will not affect flavor but your sauce won’t be velvety smooth.
Once dairy is combined into your sauce, add chicken bouillon and taste for seasoning.
Add noodles and combine into sauce.
How to Serve Creamy Mexican Spaghetti (Espagueti Rojo)
Storing Creamy Mexican Spaghetti (Espagueti Rojo)
I love using my favorite prep containers for storing the sauce! If kept in the refrigerator, the sauce will last 3–5 days. If frozen, it will last up to 4 weeks (possibly longer, but my family loves this meal so much that it never lasts that long!).
To help prevent freezer burn, fill the container as close to the top as possible and be sure to remove as much air as you can before sealing.
You can also store the sauce in a glass jar. Just be sure to leave about 2 inches of space at the top to allow for expansion, and don’t tighten the lid all the way while freezing.
Creamy Mexican Spaghetti (Espagueti Rojo)
Ingredients
- 5 Roma tomatoes
- 1/2 White Onion
- 4 Garlic Cloves
- 1 16oz spaghetti noodles
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1/2 block Cream cheese room temperature
- 3/4 cup Sour cream room temperature
- 1 tbsp chicken bouillon
- 1 tsp salt to taste
Instructions
- In a stock pot, boil salted water and add spaghetti noodles, tomatoes, onion.
- With a sharp knife, cut off the tip of a whole garlic head and add to boiling ingredients.
- When tomato skins start peeling take out tomatoes and onion with a slotted spoon. Place tomatoes and onion in your blender and let cool for a few minutes.
- When you take out the garlic, squeeze cloves out of skin into your blender (you decide how many garlic cloves you like- I’m a garlic girl so watch me add the whole head of garlic to add sweetness and a nuttier note to my sauce. Plus it’s satisfying!) Let cool with other ingredients.
- Place noodles in strainer and in the same pot where everything boil, melt your butter on low heat.
- Now that tomatoes, onion and garlic had a few moments to cool, blend sauce together and pour over your melted butter.
- While sauce combines on a low simmer, add your room temperature cream cheese and sour cream, stir.
- Once cream cheese and sour cream are integrated into sauce, add your chicken bouillon and melt to combine. Taste for salt.
Notes
Pro Tip
Set your cream cheese and sour cream near the boiling pot so they can come to room temperature faster!
