Chili Verde

This chili verde recipe is made with tender pork shoulder cooked low and slow in a rich verde sauce of roasted tomatillos, poblanos and jalapeno peppers.

Chili Verde Ingredients

• FOR THE VERDE SAUCE
• Tomatillos.
• Poblano Peppers. Anaheim peppers are a good use here as well, as are any of the Hatch Chile varieties.
• Jalapeno Peppers.
• FOR THE CHILI VERDE
• Olive Oil. For cooking.
• Pork Shoulder. You can use other pork roasts as well.
• Seasonings. Ancho chili powder, cumin, Mexican oregano, salt and pepper. Use “green chili powder”, like Hatch, for more green color to your final chili.
• Onion and Garlic.
• Chicken Stock.
• Cilantro.
• Lime Juice.
• For Serving. Extra limes sliced jalapeno peppers, fresh chopped cilantro, crumbly white cheese, spicy chili flakes, sour cream.

How to Make Chili Verde

Make the Chile Verde Sauce. Preheat your oven to broil.

Slice the peeled and rinsed tomatillos in half through the horizontal center (not up and down) and arrange on a lightly oiled baking dish with the skin sides up.

Place the poblano chiles and jalapeno peppers on a separate lightly oiled baking sheet skin sides up.

Roast the Peppers and Tomatillos. Bake the peppers and tomatillos about 12 – 15 minutes until skin side is blistering on both the tomatillos and peppers.  Rotate the baking sheets if needed.

You may need up to 20 minutes, depending on your proximity to the heat element.

Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Peel off the pepper skins and discard them.

Learn more about How to Roast Tomatillos and How to Roast Chili Peppers.

Add the tomatillos and peppers to a food processor. Process until smooth.

Make the Chili Verde. For making the chili verde, heat a large pot to medium-high heat and add a bit of olive oil. I like to use my Dutch oven for this.

Sear the Pork Shoulder. Season the pork shoulder with ancho powder, cumin, salt and pepper, then add the pork. Sear the cubes 2-3 minutes to brown the pork on all sides, until each side is nicely browned, stirring here and there.

I like to get a good crust seared into the meat. Do this in batches if you need to.

Onions and Garlic. Add the onions and stir. Cook them down about 5 minutes to soften.

Stir in the garlic and Mexican oregano and cook another minute.

Time to Simmer. Add the reserved verde sauce along with ½ cup chicken stock, or up to a cup if you’d like a thinner chili verde. Bring to a quick boil, then reduce the heat and cover. Simmer for 2 hours (you may need longer), until the pork is fork tender. It’s SO good when slow cooked.

Remove the chili verde from the heat and stir in the chopped cilantro and juice from 1 lime.

Serve It Up! Serve it up in bowls and top with your fixings – Extra limes, sliced jalapeno peppers, fresh chopped cilantro, crumbly white cheese, spicy chili flakes. Whatever you like!

Recipe Tips

Slow Cooker Chili Verde. I most often use my Dutch oven to make this recipe, but it can be made in a slow cooker or crock pot. If you’d like to make it in a slow cooker, follow the seasoning instructions and still sear the cubed pork in a pan, then add it to the slow cooker.

Also, it is best to still make the salsa verde per the recipe, then add that to the slow cooker. Then, cook the whole thing on low for 6-8 hours, or until the pork is extremely tender.

Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot) Chili Verde. You can also make chili verde in a pressure cooker or instant pot very easily.

Simply season and brown the cubed pork along with the vegetables in the pot, then cover and pressure cook on high for 30 minutes. Naturally release the pressure, then stir up your chili. It is extremely easy and delicious.

Freezing Chili Verde. You can easily freeze your leftover chili by transferring it to sealable freezer containers and setting them into the freezer.

Frozen chili will last 6 months easily this way.

How to Thicken Chili Verde. If your chili is too thin, a great way to thicken it is to stir a tablespoon or two of cornstarch in water and swirl it into the pot.

Simmer until it thickens up. If your sauce is too thick, swirl in some chicken broth.

About the Chili Verde Seasonings

A lot of chili verde recipes forego any additional seasonings and let the dish gain its flavor entirely from the pork and the verde sauce, which truly is delicious. However, I like to add in a bit of cumin and particularly ancho powder for additional flavor.

You know me, I LOVE big flavor, and these seasonings bring this dish to the TOP for me. Feel free to incorporate other seasonings to your own preference.

Serving Chili Verde

You can serve up your chili verde in a bowl on its own and you’ll love it. Or, serve it over a bit of rice to help absorb all that verde sauce.

Try serving it with tortillas so you can enjoy it as tacos. It’s also great served over chips as sort of a chili verde nacho bowl.

Enjoy!