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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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.
- 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
- 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.
Recipe Video
Jalapeno spice level:
Very Hot: do not remove seeds and veins from jalapeños.
Medium-hot: leave the seeds and veins in one whole jalapeños.
Mild: leave seeds and veins in half of a jalapeños.
Extra mild: remove all seeds and veins from jalapeños.
To Make Ahead:
Make through step 6. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep chilled. When ready to eat, add salsa verde and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 30-45 minutes.
Can be made 3 days ahead.
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE this recipe and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
Mary F. says
This is my husband’s favorite thing to order at a Mexican restaurant, so I decided to make it for dinner tonight. It turned out incredible. Everyone raved and raved. Thank you for another great recipe.
Tracie Cochran says
Made this last night and it was delicious, would have kept some of the seeds to give it a bit of spice.. Next time, I will. Plus added a tablespoon full of sour cream and a few extra picese of cilantro.
Glenn says
Please clarify in your text you make reference to Tomatoes? But in the recipe you list tomatillos. I’ve always used tomatillos. Our recipes are similar but I also use Yellow guéri and Serrano’s with the poblano or Anaheim chili’s in the mix all fire roasted first. But looks good.
Yoly Lybarger says
Delicious! Served it with mashed potatoes.
Lauren Allen says
Sounds perfect! I’m really happy you liked it 🙂
Charlotte A French says
Sorry to mess up your reasoning but it is no the seeds which make the heat; it is the seams or the white pithy veins. Remove them before roasting.
Contrawise says
In my experience, both the seeds and the veins are hot. Leaving either or both in the dish will increase the heat.
I sometimes pick up a pepper seed from the counter and pop it in my mouth when I’m making Mexican food. Chew it up for a little explosion of heat. Did that with a Scotch Bonnet seed once, when I thought I was picking up a seed from a much milder pepper. That little seed was *REALLY HOT!*
Dawn says
Amazing! This is one of my favorite dishes to order when at a restaurant, and all the fresh ingredients just make it even more amazing! Thank you for the recipe, I’m definitely keeping it and will make again!
Lauren Allen says
Thanks Dawn, I am so happy you liked it!
Jeanie says
This is delicious! So good. I will definitely make again…and again. Made beans and custard cornbread for sides. Better than the local taquerias. Froze the leftovers for an easy dinner when the weather cools.
Michele K says
We grilled everything and then threw it in the pot and it turned out so good! Thank you, this one’s a keeper.
Cheryl says
The best Chili Verde I’ve ever eaten!
Lauren Allen says
Thanks Cheryl! I’m so happy to hear that 🙂
Jess says
I used the recipe and it came out really good. I left the seeds for the extra spice it was perfect!!!!
Patricia says
Hello im new to the tomatillos can you tell me what you mean by remove husk? I watched video but disnt see anything removed any help would be appreciated thank you
Lauren Allen says
Often times the tomatillos have a shell/husk around them, so if they do, just peel it off. Depending on your store, they may not.
Susan Le Blanc says
Just made this– it was much better then the chile verde I have had in restaurants over the past 30 years! Exactly what I wanted!
Lauren Allen says
Thanks so much for commenting Susan. I’m so glad you liked the recipe!
Ivy says
So I have been trying to find a great chili verde recipe for a while now– and I finally found one! Thank you so much, this was amazing, best yet!!
However, I did do a wee bit of tinkering with it for my own personal taste:
1. I made it in a slow cooker, putting it on high for about 6 hours. I added the verde sauce about 4 hours into the cook time.
2. I used a LOT of peppers– 4 Anaheim, 3 Poblanos, and THREE Jalapenos with all the seeds and veins intact. Because I love heat and I like to suffer.
3. I don’t have an oven, so I Pan-roasted the peppers and tomatillos (a dry frying pan on high heat). I couldn’t peel the skins off, so I just left them on and pureed them in. It didn’t take away from the flavor at all, nor were the skins any problem to eat.
4. I made a roux of corn and wheat flour with canola oil and added that to thicken it up a little.
All in all, this is a GREAT recipe and I’ve pretty much eaten the whole batch myself over the last couple days!!
Lauren Allen says
I’m so happy to hear it, and thanks for sharing all of your adaptions!
Elizabeth says
How well does it freeze? Just curious if anyone has had any success with freezing it and thawing for later use. Thanks!!
Michelle Moore says
I make a version very similar and it freezes EXTREMELY well!
Randy Bailey says
The best chili Verde recipe I’ve ever used in I’ve been cooking chili Verde for about 45 years
But what I was really impressed with how you can Controls how spicy you watch your chili Verde
I never had a clue how to control the spice English but with your footnotes letting you how to make a mild medium hot or extra hot really changes the game
Beky says
This the best recipe. I actually prefer this to restaurant offerings. I will be making it often.
Lauren Allen says
Thanks so much for commenting! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Bc says
Thank you for this easy to read and prepare Chile Verde. It is my first time ever to try Chile Verde and it’s going to be a hit.
Randy says
I tried this recipe tonight for Chicken Verde Burritos.
I just substituted the pork for chicken.
I also fire roasted the tomatillos (kept burnt skin on for flavor) Also fire roasted the jalapenos.
I used 4 jalapenos (Removed seeds and veins from 2 of them) and added 2 Serrano Peppers with seeds and veins.
The spice was nice, but I think it is best to not remove any of them (In my opinion).
Also I used 3 lbs of chicken breasts. Next time I will use 6 lbs. You use more chicken with burritos and less sauce.
The flavor of this was amazing though. I couldn’t stop eating this… It definitely will rise as my one of my favorites.
Thanks for sharing this great recipe
Laura says
Just made this for my family and it was amazing! I love to order Chili Verde at Mexican restaurants and had always wanted to make it myself. After searching multiple recipes I landed on this one and it did not disappoint. Tasted exactly like what I get at the restaurant. Thank you! Modifications I would make next time is a little more salt and I did one half of a jalapeno with seeds and veins and we could have had it a bit spicier, so next time I will do one whole. Served it over rice and it was a huge hit with everyone.
jerry beall says
I am having a party tomorrow if I make this recipe today, will it be just as good reheated tomorrow? I guess my question is, does it need to be made fresh? Sometimes recipes are just as good or better second time around.
Lauren Allen says
I like it best fresh, but I definitely think it’s still good reheated 🙂