This authentic pork chile verde recipe will rival any you find in a Mexican restaurant! Tender pieces of pork slow cooked with a fantastic homemade green chile sauce (salsa verde). Serve this delicious stew alongside warm tortillas, rice and beans.
Start with trimming your pork of fat and cutting it into 1” pieces. Season with salt and pepper, and sear it in a very hot pan until browned on all sides. Set aside.
Brown the onion. Add garlic, spices, pork and chicken broth to the pot. Cover with lid and simmer everything for 2-4 hours. Slow cooking the pork makes it extra tender and delicious.
I prefer cooking everything in a cast iron pan because I think it preserves the flavor better, from sautéing everything in the same pan. But, you could place the browned pork, onions, spices, chicken broth into your slow cooker and cook on low for several hours, if you’d like.
While the pork cooks, make the salsa verde. This is my favorite part. This sauce is SO incredible. I love all of the fresh ingredients that blend together to make such bold flavor.
Wash the peppers and tomatillos, and slice them all in half. Remove the stems and seeds from the peppers. If you like things spicier, you could leave one of the jalapeños with seeds in it.
Place all of the peppers, face down, on a baking sheet and broil them. This was a tip I learned in Mexico for creating that great “roasted pepper” flavor.
When the peppers are browned on the top, remove them from the oven and tie them in a plastic bag. This allows them to steam, which softens their outer layer of skin. After they steam you should be able to easily peel off the very outer layer of skin, and discard it.
Broil the tomatillos in the same way. You can peel the skin off after, or just leave it (I usually leave the skin on the tomatillos. It purees easily in the blender).
Add the tomatillos and both types of peppers to the blender, along with fresh cilantro. Blend until no large chunks remain.
Add the sauce to the pot with the pork, and cook everything together for another 30-45 minutes. This allows the delicious flavors from the sauce to blend and simmer into the tender pork.
Now give yourself a huge pat on the back for making such an incredible, flavorful Mexican stew, right in your own kitchen.
I like to serve chile verde with warm flour tortillas, a side of beans and authentic Mexican rice. WOW…sooo good. Hope you all enjoy it as much as me!
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Chile Verde Pork
Video
Ingredients
- 3 pounds pork loin or pork shoulder , trimmed of fat and cut into 1’’ pieces
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons oil (vegetable or canola oil)
- 1 large yellow onion , chopped
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/2 Tablespoon ground cumin
- 1/2 Tablespoon dried oregano leaves
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 4 fresh poblano chiles , seeded and sliced in half
- 2 fresh jalapeño peppers , seeded and sliced in half (*see note)
- 1.5 pounds fresh tomatillos , husks removed
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro , coarsely chopped
Instructions
- Season pork pieces on all sides with salt and pepper.
- Heat a large stock pot over high heat. Add oil. Once hot, sear the pork pieces until browned on all sides.
- Remove the pork from the pot. Add a little additional oil to pan, if needed.
- Add onion and saute until tender. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Stir in the cumin and oregano. Return pork to the pot and add the chicken broth.
- Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 2-4 hours.
- Meanwhile, make the sauce.
- Place rack on second to top level of oven and turn the oven to high broil.
- Lightly spray a jelly roll pan with cooking oil. Wash the poblano peppers, jalapeños and tomatillos.
- Slice the tomatillo and both types of peppers in half, and remove stems. Seed the peppers and remove the white veins inside if if you do not want the chile verde to be very spicy. (See my note below about spice level). Do not seed the tomatillos.
- Place the poblano peppers, jalapeño and tomatillos on baking sheets cut side down. Broil for about 7-10 minutes or until browned.
- Immediately place peppers in a plastic bag and tie the bag. Allow them to steam for 5 minutes, and then peel off their outer layer of skin. (It should come off easily)
- Add the peppers, tomatillos and cilantro to a blender and puree.
- Add mixture to the pot with the pork and cook everything together for an additional 30 to 45 minutes.
- Serve with tortillas, and a side of Mexican rice and beans.
Ash says
Looks amazing! Can you cook it with chicken instead? And how will that change the cooking times?
Lisa says
Wow! This is the best Chile Verde I have ever made, and it definitely rivals a restaurant version as well. Just like with all recipes I read, sometimes I follow the instructions verbatim, and sometimes I veer off a little bit depending on my own preferences. I love garlic, so I put in 8 cloves, and used 2 Poblanos and 5 Anaheim chilies along with the other ingredients. This combination made a lot of sauce, so I ended up using only what I felt was necessary since I don’t like my Chile Verde too soupy. Believe me, the leftover Salsa Verde will not go to waste! I simmered the pork mixture in the broth for 1 hour, then added enough sauce to generously coat the pork well and simmered it for an additional hour. It came out perfectly tender, and the flavors are exactly was I was looking for. I am so grateful to you Lauren for posting this recipe. Even though I tweaked it a bit with my preferences, following your base recipe and techniques gave me the perfect Chile Verde. This will be the only recipe I use in the future!