Chile Verde (Mexican Pork Chili)
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Chile verde is a Mexican pork chili with tender meat in a spicy green broth. Make this recipe today for a fantastic pork verde tonight!
Mexican cuisine is full of slow cooking stews and braised dishes, and I can’t stop making them. From asado to Instant Pot barbacoa and tinga de pollo to caldo de res, the meat ends up fork tender, moist, and incredibly delicious.
This Mexican pork chili known as chile verde is a dish that you simply have to taste to grasp just how delicious it is. The eyes don’t see everything here.
With tender chunks of boneless pork shoulder, roasted tomatillos, onion, and three types of spicy chiles, this is another in that long list of incredible Mexican foods. Whether you want to call it pork verde, green chile pork, or chili verde, it’s pure, unadulterated comfort food!
Chile Verde Ingredients and Substitutions
- Pork shoulder – This cut also goes by the name pork butt. Boneless pork shoulder is almost always sold wrapped in cotton netting to hold the pieces together. You can use boneless pork loin (not to be confused with pork tenderloin) if necessary, but the meat won’t be as tender.
- Tomatillos – Although these are sometimes called Mexican green tomatoes, they really aren’t tomatoes at all. However, if you absolutely cannot find them in the store, you could use under ripe (green) tomatoes.
- Anaheim green chiles – or you can use poblano chiles
- Jalapeños
- Serrano chiles – to make the dish less spicy, replace the serranos with more Anaheim green chiles. Or replace both peppers with poblano chiles instead.
- Onion
- Garlic – substitute 2-3 teaspoons minced garlic
- Cilantro – Parsley works as a substitute, but not a great one
- Vegetable oil – or another oil with a high smoke point, like canola or avocado oil
- Spices – ground cumin, salt, black pepper
For a heartier green chili stew, consider adding cubed red potatoes or some black beans.
Boil the potatoes until they are fork tender, then add at the end with the remaining chile verde puree. The cooked beans should be added at the end as well.
Video: Making Chili Verde
To see the process of making this recipe from start to finish, just watch the video in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step by step instructions
- Prep the ingredients.
First, cube and season the pork. Slice all the peppers in half and remove the seeds. Also, remove the outer skin from the tomatillos, onion, and garlic, and cut the onion in half for easier blending.
- Blend the tomatillo-chile puree.
Next, boil the tomatillos, chiles, and onion. Or you can char them on a grill or under a broiler for added flavor. Transfer to a blender or food processor along with the garlic and cilantro. Blend until smooth, then set aside.
Reminder: Reserve a cup of puree to add to the chili verde at the end of the cooking time.
Sustainability Tip:
Cilantro stems are full of flavor, so there’s no need to remove them. Rinse the entire bunch of cilantro, pat it dry with paper toweling, then include both leaves and stems in the puree.
- Sear the pork and simmer the chile verde.
Brown the pork in batches. It’s very important to get a good sear on the pork, because that’s where a lot of the tenderness and flavor of the meat come from.
It takes about 3 hours for the chili to finish cooking. To speed the process up, look in the recipe card for Instant Pot instructions!
When the meat is tender, stir in the reserved puree. At this point, you could also add in cooked beans or potatoes if you’d like to make a heartier meal.
Recipe Notes
- It’s best to wear gloves when handling chile peppers, especially when seeding. The oils can burn when transferred to the skin or eyes, and it’s easy to miss some spots when washing with soap and water.
- You can also make Mexican pork chili in an Instant Pot. Instructions for this green chile stew can be found in the recipe card below.
Chile Verde FAQ
A chile verde sauce is typically made with green tomatillos rather than dried red chile, as opposed to a chile colorado sauce. Because of its deep red color, the sauce is known by the Spanish word for colorado, which translates as “red.”
Yes! Let the dish cool completely, then transfer to an airtight container. Freezer bags will also work, but make sure to squeeze all of the air out before storing. Chili verde keeps well in the freezer for 3-4 months.
When you’re ready to use, let it thaw in the refrigerator for at least a few hours or overnight. Reheat in the microwave or in a pot on the stove over medium heat until warmed all the way through.
The dish of Chile Verde refers to a Mexican stew made with green chiles. Originated in Northern Mexico, the dish was originally made with pork, but is now made with a variety of different meats depending on preference.
This post, first published on Kevin Is Cooking Sept. 2, 2015, was last updated with new content on Sept. 9, 2021.
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Chile Verde (Mexican Pork Chili) + Video
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless pork shoulder cut into 1-2-inch cubes (See Note 1)
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 lbs tomatillos husks removed
- 6 Anaheim green chiles or poblanos
- 2 jalapeños
- 2 Serrano chiles
- 1 large onion
- 5 cloves garlic
- 2 cups cilantro about 1 bunch
Instructions
- Cut the pork shoulder (pork butt) into chunks, about 1-2 inches. Season all over with cumin, salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Peel the outer skins off the tomatillos, onion and garlic. Cut the stems off the peppers and slice in half lengthwise. Cut the onion in half. (See Note 1)
- In the Dutch oven or large stock pot bring 6 cups of water to a boil. Add the tomatillos, chiles and onion. Cook for 8 minutes. (See Note 2)
- Carefully remove with a slotted spoon and place all the peppers, tomatillos, onion, garlic and cilantro in a food processor, blender or Vitamix, and process until smooth. Reserve 1 cup, set aside.
- In a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium high heat add the oil. When oil shimmers, add the pork and, working in batches so they brown and not steam, cook on all sides.
- Add all the cooked pork back to the Dutch oven and pour the pureed tomatillo green pepper sauce over and mix together completely to incorporate. Bring to a quick boil, close the lid and cook on low for 3 hours or until fork tender, stirring occasionally.
- After 3 hours, stir in remaining 1 cup cilantro infused chile verde puree (See Note 3). Serve hot with warmed tortillas or biscuits to sop up the amazing chile verde gravy.
Instant Pot Method
- This could easily be cooked in the Instant Pot, too. Just brown the pork as directed on the Sauté setting (in batches to brown, NOT steam) and pour the vegetable chile puree on top. Close the lid and press the Manual setting on High for about 20 minutes. Allow for a Natural release and you're ready to eat. (See Note 3)
Video
Notes
- Pork shoulder is also known as pork butt. When boneless, it’s often sold wrapped in cloth netting.
- If you prefer, you can grill or place the tomatillos, chiles and onion under the broiler for a charred flavor instead of boiling.
- Optional ingredients to add to this to make it go further are fork tender, cubed and boiled red potatoes or cooked beans. Add after the 3 hour mark, stir in cooked potatoes or beans with remaining cup of chile verde puree, cover and heat to warm through.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This is by far the most authentic chili Verde I have ever made. So pleased with the flaver, and the ingredien s are available at all grocery stores. My Granddaughter whom is turning 13 tomorrow has requested this for her Birthday Dinner. Thank you Kevin!!
I am so glad you enjoy it! I love that she requested it! Thank you!
Wow I have to say this was amazing we had it for dinner last night and also had her for lunch today wow
Seriously!!! Kevin you did it again. My favorite Quarantine dish this far!!
WOW!!! What an amazing pot of meat <3 Made this as a double batch with an 8# bone in shoulder, stove top in a Dutch oven. There was a lot of cleaning of excess fat and then cubing – but make sure you take the time and brown your meat not steam – makes all the difference. I made this with a very mixed bag of chili's (Anaheim, Poblano, Jalapeno and Cubanelle) as the stores I went to didn't have much to choose from. I also used a whole head of garlic as i can't get enough of it. So happy with the end result! I split the dish with my cousin and her husband – he said that if he had to make a request, this would be his last meal. Thanks Kevin!!!
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it! Thank you for taking the time to tell me this! I hope you try more recipes!
Made this last night! This is going on the must have often list. I think I will double the recipe next time. I used fresh chiles from my garden. This recipe is a 🏆
Then my work is done! Thanks so much Heather! 🙂
I enjoyed making this dish! Next time I will need to go the oven top route for sure, my purée needed a reduction. Ran out of cumin mid RX :/
Sometimes I’ll even add cooked pinto beans at the end. It’s great also to fill enchiladas Peter!
Seriously, I wish we were neighbors Kev! How much fun would we have eating at each others houses?! This look amazing!
I so agree Mary Ann. Hopefully one of these days we can finally meet in person, too.
The depth of flavor in this dish is just beyond and that pork looks SO tender!! Must try!!
We have been making this for YEARS, so, so good Marissa. 🙂
Hi Kevin, do you have an approximate weight for the tomatillos? I have a little box of purple and green heirloom tomatillos from my CSA, but the tomatillos are TINY! Like, 1″ or smaller tiny. I just counted 31 of them, but I think it would take me at least the entire box to come close to matching your 16.
I’ve already made plenty of (purple/)green salsa; thanks for inspiring me to make something different!
Hi Madeline! I recently made this (last Tuesday!) and I used a pound and a half of tomatillos. I updated the recipe to reflect. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoy this, too! 🙂
Thank you! I made your pork with passionfruit and orange for my lunches last week. So good!!!
Always makes me smile to read about a satisfied result! Thanks for reminding me of that one, too. Might have to happen this week. Thanks Madeline!
Hello – I’m happy to have found your recipe, and I’m planning to make it today. Can you clarify whether I should use 1 or 1.5lbs of tomatillos? I’m looking at the recipe, which shows 1lb, but reading the comment above, you recommended 1.5lbs. Maybe it was updated again since. Thanks!
You can use 1 1/2 pounds of the tomatillos Heather. Thanks for the reminder!
Wow, nice simple recipe, awesome photos! I chose this recipe for these two reasons. I am making this today to take camping on our chilly rainy day! (Why go camping in the rain, you may think–it is fall run salmon season! ) Thanks for sharing. I will also check our your other recipes. Keep up the nice work!
Michelle, thanks for the kind words. I have plenty of great recipes here on the site when you get back with that salmon. Have fun and thanks for stopping by. 🙂