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 Recipe
It's "Chili Madness" in the Chili Pepper Madness household lately. I've been going gangbusters making chili because the weather has turned here and the only thing I like about the cold is warm soups and chili.
A good chili can warm up those chilly bones, and to be honest, not much else can hit the spot like a good bowl of chili.
Right? Chili! I love the stuff!
Most people think of a big bowl of RED when it comes to chili - like my Chili Colorado Recipe - but a really good chili can also be GREEN. Like this one.
We're talking Chili Verde, my friends! And it's some pretty dang GREAT stuff!
About Chili Verde
Chili verde is a green chili made with tender pork shoulder that has been seasoned and seared, then cooked low and slow in a rich "verde sauce", or "green sauce".
The verde sauce is KEY here, made from roasted tomatillos, poblanos and jalapeno peppers, very much like salsa verde, which can definitely be used to make this recipe.
Pork is traditional with chili verde, though you can make it with other meats. Chicken is particularly good.
The Name "Chili Verde" - What does it mean?
The name simply means "green chili". Some people have come to call chili verde "Colorado Green Chili", because the cooking method is somewhat similar to Chili Colorado, with the meat simmering away slowly in sauce until it becomes super tender and flavorful.
It's funny, though, because "Chili Colorado" literally translates to "Chili Colored Red", so what they're really saying is "Red Green Chili".
Chili Verde is definitely one of my favorites, and I think it will be one of your favorites as well.
Let's talk about how to make chili verde! Authentic Chili Verde coming your way.
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 - The Recipe Method
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.
Like so.
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. They will look like this.
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. Set aside for now.
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!
BOOM! DONE! I hope you love your pork chile verde recipe!
It's so good, isn't it? I love this stuff!
Recipe Tips & Notes
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!
Try Some of My Other Popular Chili Recipes
- Classic Chili Recipe
- Chili Colorado
- Chili con Carne
- Texas Chili
- Slow Cooker Southwest Beef Chili
- White Bean Chicken Chili
- Homemade Roasted Tomatillo Pork Chili
- Pork Chili with Roasted Red Hatch Chili Peppers
- "Real Deal" Turkey Chili
- Crockpot Chili
- Chunky Vegetarian Chili Recipe
- Carne Adovada
- Green Chicken Chili
If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you'll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don't forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I'll be sure to share! Thanks! -- Mike H.
Chili Verde Recipe
Ingredients
FOR THE VERDE SAUCE
- 2 pounds tomatillos husked and rinsed
- 2 poblano peppers stemmed and sliced in half lengthwise
- 3-4 jalapeno peppers stemmed and sliced in half lengthwise
FOR THE CHILI
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 pound boneless pork shoulder cubed (do bite sized cubes)
- 2 tablespoon ancho chili powder optional
- 1 teaspoon cumin optional
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 large onion chopped (white or yellow)
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
- ½ - 1 cup chicken stock
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- Juice from 1 large lime
FOR SERVING
- Extra limes sliced jalapeno peppers, fresh chopped cilantro, crumbly white cheese, spicy chili flakes
Instructions
- Make your verde sauce first. 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 peppers on a separate lightly oiled baking sheet skin sides up.
- 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.
- Add the tomatillos and peppers to a food processor. Process until smooth. Set aside for now.
FOR THE CHILI
- Heat a large pot to medium heat and add the olive oil.
- Season the pork shoulder with ancho powder, cumin, salt and pepper, then sear the cubes a minute or 2-3 on each side, or until each side is nicely browned. I like to get a good crust seared into them. Do this in batches if needed to not overcrowd the pan.
- Add the onions and stir. Cook them down about 5 minutes to soften.
- Stir in the garlic and Mexican oregano and cook another minute.
- 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.
- Remove the chili verde from the heat and stir in the chopped cilantro and juice from 1 lime.
- Serve in bowls and top with your fixings - Extra limes, sliced jalapeno peppers, fresh chopped cilantro, crumbly white cheese, spicy chili flakes
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
NOTE: This recipe was updated on 10/7/22 to include new information and video. It was originally published on 11/23/18.
Ryan Rzepka says
What about marinading the meat overnight after searing in the salsa verde? Then when ready to cook adding the chicken stock?
Mike Hultquist says
You can give that a try, Ryan, though I haven't tested it. You might save some of the verde for adding later, but let me know how it turns out if you try it.
Kathleen Sweeney says
This is the 2nd time I've made this recipe. The first time, I couldn't peel the peppers, it was a mess. Then I found a site you had on roasting peppers in which you mentioned putting them in a plastic bag, seal and let them steam for 10 minutes to make it easier to peel. Well, it worked, I'm glad.
however, I notice that on neither this recipe or the other one you never mentioned de-seeding the peppers. so, you use the seeds and all? just checking. I do love this recipe!
Mike H. says
Great to hear my tip helped, Kathleen. For the seeds, it depends on how hot you like your chili. If you like extra heat or texture, you could leave a few in, but it’s typically not required to use the seeds if you are on the milder side. For example, I seeded the poblanos, but not the jalapeño peppers.
Norm Crocker says
If I wanted to use Hatch peppers instead of the poblanos, how many Hatch peppers would you recommend I use? Also, should I eliminate the jalapenos?
Mike Hultquist says
Norm, you can pretty much use the same amount of Hatch peppers, though sizes can vary a bit. You can leave in the jalapenos if you'd like, or just use extra Hatch. Enjoy!
Mike Reitano says
Love the green chili I also add a can of rinsed and drained White beans and I deglaze the pan from searing the pork with dry vermouth
Mike Hultquist says
Sounds great, Mike! I love it!
Phil says
Hello, my wife and I are excited to make this recipe. If we needed to do it in a Slow Cooker, would it work and what changes should be made? Thanks!
Mike Hultquist says
Hi, Phil. I have this in the Recipe Notes section. FYI. "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." Enjoy!
Mia says
This was so flavorful and good. After living in AZ for 16 years, we love true Mexican food. This was it. The pork turned out so tender and the spices were spot on. For me personally, the jalapeno overpowered the tomatillo flavor but the men in my life loved it. Next time I will seed a few of them for a little less heat. Thank you for easy and precise instructions. It's a keeper!
Mike Hultquist says
Thank you so much for sharing this, Mia! VERY happy you all enjoyed it!
Louisa Davis says
Sorry I did not read all of your positive comments about this recipe. What do I do to make the red sauce version of the dish? I would love to make this but am not a chef like you so I need help. Thank you
Louisa
Mike H. says
Louisa, no problem! This chili gains its reddish hue from the red chili powder that I like to use. So go with that and avoid using green chili powders. That should do it!
Louisa Davis says
The photos show chili verde with a red sauce that looks delicious then there is one photo of it being green which does not resemble the other two photos at all. The red sause looks delicious the green not so much.
Mike H. says
=) Louisa, you can alter the color with different chili powders. So much fun, too!
Roni Keller says
Hi. I just can't stay away from your delicious recipes. Just had to resubscribe. I see you.
Mike H. says
I see you, too, Roni - thanks a bunch for your support and welcome to CPM!
Celeste says
I'm going to be trying this today. If I wanted to put in beans also, which type would you suggest?
Mike H. says
Go for great northern beans - they will be good here. Also, some of my readers reported using a mix of dry beans or black beans, and they loved the result, too. Let me know the type of beans you will end up with and enjoy the recipe!
Keith says
This is my go to Chili Verde recipe. I've made this too many times to count. Don't change a thing! Thank you!!
Mike Hultquist says
Yes!! Thanks so much, Keith! Very happy you're enjoying it.
Chad says
Just fantastic. My favorite chili recipe of all time. I’ve made this 3 times in the last 2 weeks. Time to start making bigger batches!
Mike Hultquist says
Excellent! Glad you enjoyed it, Chad!