Are you ready to spice up your pasta night with a dish that is absolutely bursting with vibrant color and bold, complex, and exciting flavor? This incredible, from-scratch Six Pepper Pasta is a fiery and festive celebration of sweet and spicy peppers, all tossed with tender fettuccine in a luscious, smoky, and unbelievably creamy chipotle-tequila sauce. It’s a stunning, restaurant-quality meal that is surprisingly easy to make at home.
This isn’t just another pasta recipe; it’s a guide to your new favorite dinner for a special weeknight or a fun dinner party. We’ll show you the simple secrets to building a deep, rich, and sophisticated pan sauce that has the perfect balance of sweet, savory, smoky, and spicy. This is the kind of show-stopping dish that is as fun to make as it is to eat, and it is guaranteed to impress.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Recipe Overview: A Bold and Vibrant Pasta Night
What makes this Six Pepper Pasta so spectacularly delicious is its incredible, multi-layered flavor profile that comes from a beautiful medley of six different types of peppers. The sauce is a true masterpiece of flavor-building: a colorful array of sweet and spicy peppers are sautéed to bring out their sweetness, then the pan is deglazed with a splash of tequila. The sauce is made rich and creamy with heavy cream, and gets its signature smoky kick from adobo sauce. Tossed with classic fettuccine, this is a hearty, satisfying, and completely unforgettable vegetarian pasta dish.
| Metric | Time / Level |
| Total Time | 40 minutes |
| Active Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Difficulty Level | Easy |
| Servings | 4-6 |
The Essential Ingredients for This Spicy Pasta
This iconic dish uses a handful of fresh, high-impact ingredients to create its signature bold and vibrant flavor.
- The “Six Pepper” Medley: This is the heart and soul of the dish, providing a wonderful spectrum of sweet and spicy flavors.
- The Sweet Peppers: A colorful combination of mini sweet peppers, a red bell pepper, and an orange bell pepper provide a wonderful, sweet, and fruity base.
- The Mildly Spicy Pepper: A poblano pepper adds a fantastic, rich, and earthy flavor with a very mild, gentle heat.
- The Spicy Pepper: A fresh jalapeño pepper adds that classic, bright, and forward kick of heat.
- The Smoky & Spicy Pepper: The adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers is the secret weapon! This rich, smoky, and tangy sauce adds a deep, complex, and smoky spiciness that is absolutely incredible.
- The Creamy Tequila-Chipotle Sauce:
- Tequila: A splash of clear, blanco or silver tequila is used to deglaze the pan. It adds a wonderful, subtle, agave-sweet and earthy flavor that is a perfect match for the peppers.
- Heavy Cream: The key to a truly rich, luscious, and satisfying sauce that perfectly balances the spice from the chiles.
- The Pasta: Long, flat, and wide fettuccine noodles are the perfect, classic choice for catching and holding onto every last drop of this rich, creamy sauce.
Step-by-Step to the Best Six Pepper Pasta
This delicious, one-pan sauce meal is incredibly simple to prepare.
Step 1: Cook the Pasta and Sauté the Pepper Medley
Step 1: First, bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Cook your 1 pound of fettuccine according to the package instructions until it is al dente. Drain the cooked pasta and set it aside.
Step 2: While the pasta is cooking, heat the 2 tablespoons of butter and the 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Step 3: Add all of your sliced peppers and the diced onion to the hot skillet: the mini sweet peppers, the red and orange bell peppers, the poblano pepper, and the jalapeño. Season the vegetables with a generous pinch of salt and pepper.
Step 4: Cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes, until the onions and the peppers have begun to soften and get some beautiful, dark, caramelized edges.
Step 5: Transfer the cooked vegetables to a plate and set them aside. Do not wipe out the skillet!
Part 2: Build the Creamy Tequila-Chipotle Sauce
Step 1: Return the skillet to the heat and allow it to come back up to temperature.
Step 2 (The Fun Part!): For safety, turn the heat off for a moment. Carefully pour the 1/2 cup of tequila into the hot skillet. Turn the heat back on and let the tequila cook for about 1 minute, using a wooden spoon to scrape up all the delicious, flavorful browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Let the tequila reduce slightly.
Step 3: Add the 2 cups of vegetable broth to the skillet. Bring the mixture to a simmer and let it simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, until the liquid has reduced slightly.
Step 4: Reduce the heat to medium-low and pour in the 1 cup of heavy cream. Add the 3 tablespoons of adobo sauce, stirring it constantly. Let the sauce cook for another 4 to 5 minutes, until it has started to thicken.
Part 3: Combine and Serve
Step 1: Add the cooked vegetables back to the skillet with the sauce, making sure to include all the delicious juices that have drained onto the plate. Stir and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until the mixture is hot and bubbly.
Step 2: Give the sauce a final taste and add any more salt, pepper, or adobo sauce if you think it needs it.
Step 3: Add the drained, cooked pasta to the sauce and toss everything together until the fettuccine is beautifully and generously coated in the creamy sauce.
Transfer the pasta to warm, shallow bowls and garnish with fresh, chopped cilantro and a few of the reserved mini pepper rings.
The Best Creamy & Spicy Six Pepper Pasta
A spicy and creamy vegetarian pasta dish featuring fettuccine tossed with a medley of six different types of peppers. A colorful mix of sweet mini peppers, bell peppers, poblano, and jalapeño are sautéed with onion and garlic. A rich pan sauce is then created in the same skillet by deglazing with tequila and simmering with vegetable broth, heavy cream, and smoky adobo sauce. The cooked pasta and sautéed vegetables are tossed in the finished sauce for a vibrant and flavorful meal.
Ingredients
- Kosher salt
- 1 pound fettuccine
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 multi-colored mini sweet peppers, sliced into rounds
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 orange bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 poblano pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup clear tequila
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons adobo sauce from canned chipotle peppers
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the fettuccine according to package instructions until al dente. Drain and set aside.
- While the pasta cooks, heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the mini sweet peppers, garlic, onion, red and orange bell peppers, poblano, and jalapeno to the skillet. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes, until the vegetables begin to darken.
- Transfer the cooked vegetables to a plate and set them aside.
- Return the skillet to the heat. Turn off the heat and carefully pour in the tequila. Turn the heat back on and cook for 1 minute, scraping the bottom of the skillet to loosen any browned bits, until the tequila has reduced.
- Add the vegetable broth, bring to a simmer, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until slightly reduced.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and pour in the heavy cream. Add the adobo sauce, stirring constantly. Cook for another 4 to 5 minutes, until the sauce starts to thicken.
- Add the cooked vegetables back to the skillet, including any juices from the plate. Stir and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until the mixture is hot and bubbly.
- Add the drained pasta to the sauce and toss to combine.
- Transfer to bowls and garnish with fresh cilantro.
Notes
- This recipe uses a variety of six different peppers for a complex, layered flavor and beautiful color.
- Turning off the heat before adding the tequila is an important safety step to prevent the alcohol from flaring up.
- Deglazing the pan with tequila is a key technique that incorporates all the flavorful browned bits from the sautéed vegetables into the sauce.
Storage and Make-Ahead Tips
This elegant pasta dish is at its absolute best when it is served fresh, right after it has been made.
- Make-Ahead: For a super-fast and impressive meal, you can prepare the entire creamy pepper sauce completely up to 3 days in advance. Let it cool and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. When you are ready to eat, simply reheat the sauce gently on the stovetop while you cook your pasta.
- Storage: Store any leftover pasta in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Reheating: To reheat, it is best to do so gently in a skillet on the stovetop over a low heat. You will likely need to add a generous splash of milk, cream, or broth to loosen up the sauce and bring back its creamy consistency.
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Creative Recipe Variations
- Add a Savory Protein: For a heartier, all-in-one meal, this creamy pasta is absolutely fantastic when tossed with some sautéed shrimp, some sliced, browned Italian sausage, or some shredded rotisserie chicken.
- Make it Even Cheesier: For a delicious, cheesy finish, you can stir about 1/2 to 1 cup of shredded Monterey Jack, pepper jack, or crumbled cotija cheese into the sauce at the very end, along with the pasta.
- Make it a Milder Version: This dish has a good amount of heat. For a much milder, but still incredibly smoky and flavorful version, you can omit the fresh jalapeño pepper and reduce the amount of adobo sauce to just 1 or 2 teaspoons.
Enjoy Your New Favorite Pasta Night!
You’ve just created a truly special pasta dish that is a perfect harmony of rich, creamy, and sophisticated flavors. This Six Pepper Pasta is a testament to the power of a simple, from-scratch meal to bring excitement to your dinner table. It’s a rewarding and deeply satisfying recipe that is sure to become a new favorite for special occasions.
We hope you enjoy every last, perfect, and delicious bite!
If you enjoyed making this recipe, please leave a comment below or share it with a friend who loves an impressive pasta dish!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1: What is the adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers?
Canned chipotle peppers in adobo are a fantastic secret weapon ingredient in Mexican and Tex-Mex cooking. The chipotle peppers are smoked and dried jalapeños. The adobo sauce that they are packed in is a rich, tangy, and slightly sweet purée made from tomatoes, vinegar, and other spices. The sauce on its own is a brilliant way to add a huge amount of smoky flavor and a moderate amount of heat to any dish.
Q2: What is the difference between a poblano pepper and a jalapeño pepper?
A poblano pepper is a very large, dark green chile pepper that is very mild in terms of heat. When it is cooked, it has a wonderful, rich, and earthy flavor. A jalapeño pepper is much smaller and has a much more significant amount of heat, along with a bright, grassy flavor.
Q3: Can I make this sauce ahead of time?
Yes, this is a perfect make-ahead sauce! You can prepare the entire creamy pepper sauce completely and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. This turns the final meal into a very quick, 15-minute dinner of just boiling your pasta and reheating the sauce.
Q4: What is the best kind of tequila to use for cooking?
For a savory cooking application like this one, you want to use a 100% agave, un-aged tequila, which will be labeled as either “blanco” or “silver.” There is no need to use a very expensive, top-shelf tequila. If you prefer to cook without alcohol, you can simply substitute the tequila with an equal amount of chicken or vegetable broth.
Q5: Can I use a different kind of pasta instead of fettuccine?
Of course! This rich and creamy sauce is fantastic with any medium to large pasta shape that can hold onto the sauce. Try it with pappardelle, linguine, or a tubular pasta shape like rigatoni or penne