Creamy Roasted Poblano Soup

This recipe balances creaminess with the flavor of roasted poblanos.

I've been searching for the perfect creamy roasted poblano soup recipe. Most of the ones I found called for using corn, and I believe corn ruins many soups because it powerfully and sweetly takes over the taste profile. I mean, unless it's corn chowder I guess. But I knew I wanted the main flavor profile to be roasted poblano peppers. 

The first time I tried this recipe, I did what I normally do. I read through several recipes to see what proportions were being used - how many peppers, how much broth, etc. - as well as how the creaminess was happening. Was it heavy cream or milk? Was it a roux? Are we adding sour cream at the end? 

After reviewing many recipes, I tried doing a base similar to my Tomato Bisque soup recipe: onion sautéed in butter and olive oil then add a few tablespoons of flour and make a roux. After that, I added in 2 cups broth (vegetable or chicken) and 2 cups milk. What I failed to do, however, was thoroughly drain my can of black beans! This resulted in an inedible greyish color that I then had to doctor with bright yellow food coloring to make it something that anyone would want to eat. Result: pretty good but not creamy enough, and still a bit of a weird color.😒

I decided this time I would do things differently with the recipe. Again I reviewed those highly-rated roasted poblano soup recipes and decided I would do another roux but with 1/4 cup butter to 1/4 cup flour. I sautéed the onions and added the flour once the onions turned clear. I cooked that a few minutes and then added in 5 cups of broth, deciding to use heavy cream at the end and a healthy amount of cheese to make it creamy. It worked and voila! Here is my creamy roasted poblano soup recipe.

Ingredients 

• 3-4 poblano peppers, roasted
• 1-2 jalapeno peppers, roasted
• 1 medium onion, diced (I used half a Vidalia)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 5 cups vegetable or chicken broth or stock
• 1 can black beans, thoroughly drained and rinsed 3x
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 medium potato, chopped
• 2 green onions, diced and divided between white and green parts
• 2/3 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
• 1/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar or cheddar jack
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F or use a convection roast setting of 400°F. Both my oven and my air fryer have convection roast, so I used the latter setting.
2. Line a jelly roll tray or cookie sheet with parchment paper. Brush olive oil and sprinkle salt on whole poblanos and jalapenos and place on the tray.

3. Roast for anywhere from 12-15 minutes if using an official roast setting. For conventional oven you may need to do up to 20 minutes. You want your peppers to have some char on them, as shown in the image above. You don't want them mushy, but pliable.
4. While the peppers are roasting, chop up the onion, red pepper, green onions, and triple rinse the black beans.
5. After roasting the peppers, I removed the thin, blistered skin on the outside, just to be sure I wasn't adding any bitterness. It peels right off easily on both the poblanos and jalapenos. Chop them up and set aside as they will be added into the soup at a later step.
6. Add 1/4 cup butter to a soup pot or Dutch oven on medium heat. As it melts, add in the diced onion plus the white parts of the green onions.
7. Once the onions turn clear, sprinkle in the flour and stir in so that it incorporates with the butter and onion. Cook for about 2 minutes.
8. Add in the broth, black beans, red pepper, potato, cumin and cayenne. Bring to boil and then simmer until potatoes are cooked through and soft, about 10 minutes.
9. Remove the pot from the stove and whisk in the cheese until it melts into the soup. Then add the cream and stir that in as well.
10. Use the green parts of the green onions as garnish when serving. 

Enjoy! 😁