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.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
If you enjoy green chili, you'll love my hearty Pork Chili Verde. This is a Mexican-style dish I've been making for well over a decade, and it rivals any of my favorite Mexican restaurants.
The pork is so tender from the low and slow cooking, and the verde sauce is perfection, everything you want in an authentic chili verde.
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.
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, or other green chile.
- Jalapeno Peppers.
- FOR THE CHILE 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 - Step by Step
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 green chiles. 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. Season to taste with salt. 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. Drain excess fat if needed as well.
Onions and Garlic. Add the onions and stir in a pinch of salt. Cook them down about 5 minutes to soften.
Stir in the garlic cloves and Mexican oregano and cook another minute.
Time to Simmer. Add the reserved tomatillo 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!
I love to serve it with warm flour tortillas.
BOOM! DONE! I hope you love your pork chile verde recipe! It's the perfect Mexican stew.
Recipe Tips & Notes
Slow Cooker Chili Verde. If you'd like to make it in a slow cooker or crockpot, follow the seasoning instructions and still sear the cubed pork in a pan, then add it to the slow cooker.
Make the salsa verde per the recipe, then add that to the slow cooker. Then, cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until the pork is fork 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.
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.
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 (or vegetable oil or lard)
- 3 pound boneless pork shoulder cubed (do bite sized cubes)
- 2 tablespoon green chili powder optional (or use ancho powder, though it can affect the final "green" color)
- 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
Try Some of My Other Popular Chili Recipes
NOTE: This recipe was updated on 10/13/25 to include new information and photos. It was originally published on 11/23/18.
Jeffrey Silvers says
Love the recipe. I used regular chile powder instead of ancho chile powder and regular oregano instead of Mexican. I am from California and I can taste the difference with those substitutions. It was really delicious but a little too gringo chile verde with those substitutions. Next time I will follow it exactly and I think that it will be totally amazing. Can't wait to try some other recipes. Next year I will start using my chile peppers sooner and in new ways. Thanks
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks so much, Jeffrey! I appreciate it!
Gonefission says
Absolutely great. I live more than forty miles from a halfway decent source of chiles so I stock up when I visit there. I was down to my last three poblanos so I used them in this recipe. It turned out perfect. On my next chile buying trip I will make sure to get extra poblanos so I can make this one again (and again). I live in a heavily wooded area and don't get enough sun to do a good job at raising chiles or tomatoes. I can raise a few on my deck but not enough to make much of a dent in my needs. Is there any way to extend the "shelf life" of purchased fresh chiles?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent, thanks. Check out my Preserving Chili Peppers section of the site for ideas to preserve them. Freezing would probably be your best method. You can roast then freeze them, too. You might also purchase dried poblano peppers (ancho peppers), which last a very long time and have HUGE flavor. Good luck!
Sharon T says
Do you take out the seeds of the poblano and jalapeños?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Sharon, I seeded the poblanos, but not the jalapeno peppers. However, you can deseed them if you'd like.
Sharon T says
Thank you for the quick response, Michael! The chili turned out fantastic! While I was in the other room my husband came home and helped himself to a tortilla and chili right before dinner! Grrrr... but he still had plenty more at dinner time. Ha! I took out the seeds of the jalapeños and it was still a bit spicy so I topped it with sour cream... yummy! I also could not find the ancho chili powder at the store so I used 1 tablespoon of reg. Chili powder. 🙂
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Awesome! Thanks, Sharon!!
Yvonne says
Loved it, however it was a bit too spicy for me family. I only used 2 jalapeños (no seeds). Is there a way to tone it down?
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Yvonne. To tame the heat, you can add a dairy, such as milk or sour cream. Or, make another batch without any jalapeno peppers and combine them to dilute the overall heat. I hope this helps!
Cathy says
Michael, my mouth is salivating with this recipe, I lovee, lovvvvve Chili Verde and honestly it's the best with pork and pork shoulder, even better. Excellent recipe!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Yes! Soooo good. I love it, too.
Stef says
I love when I learn something and get a great recipe! I had no idea that Colorado meant colored Red! That was fascinating! Anyway, I can't wait to try this! Thanks!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Stef!
cheflolaskitchen says
perfect thing to kill my spice love Mike! Way to go!
cheflolaskitchen says
Perfect recipe for my Indian, spice loving friends. Amazingly described recipe, way to go!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Loving the sauce, although I would skip the chilli as I'm veggie.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
You can make this without the pork as a vegetarian version. You can add in extra sliced roasted poblano peppers to add more substance to it. I think that would be GREAT.
Luci says
Yum, I haven't tried a green chili before only with the red. Will have to give this a try.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
I do believe you'll love it!
Katie says
This recipe looks so delicious! I love the spiciness of the peppers and chili, and the brightness of the lime. Can't wait to make this!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
It's easy to adjust the spices, too, which I love. Extra spicy for me, please!
Krissy Allori says
This looks like the perfect recipe for my spicey food loving friends!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
I think so, too! Thanks, Krissy!
Jeremie says
Hey Mike! One more time, a great recipe, realy tasty, I loved the lime touch. I just used bacon instead of shoulder.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent, Jeremie! Sounds pretty awesome with bacon. Glad you enjoyed it.