When your week calls for something warm and comforting, answer with a big pot of Chile Verde Pork Stew. Made with pork roast that’s simmered until it’s fall-apart tender and simple, fresh ingredients, each spoonful is loaded with bold, restaurant-quality flavor that eats like a big hug.
What is Chile Verde?
Chile Verde is an incredible, authentic Mexican pork stew made with tender, slow cooked pieces of pork shoulder roast and a zesty green chile sauce made from poblano peppers, tomatillos, cilantro and jalapeño peppers. It’s warm, homey and a completely welcoming comfort food.
How To Serve Chile Verde
Serve this Pork Chile Verde over a spoon or two of my Green Chile Rice recipe and a warm plate of my Homemade Flour Tortillas, Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread Muffins or even bag of tortilla chips!
Invite friends or family over and make it a party by adding these dishes too: Mexican Street Corn Foil Packets, Easy Charro Beans and finishing with a Dreamy Coconut Pineapple Trifle.
Don’t forget the toppings!
- Cotija cheese (or feta, if that’s what you have available)
- sliced radishes
- pickled red onions
- jalapeno slices
- avocado
- more cilantro
- sour cream
- spritz of lime
Recipe Ingredients & Overview
I’ll walk through an overview of ingredients & steps in these next sections along with helpful tips!
Look for specifics at the end of the post in the recipe card.
- pork shoulder roast
- poblano peppers
- jalapeño peppers
- tomatillos
- cilantro
- lime
- yellow onion
- chicken broth or stock
- minced garlic
- ground cumin
- dried oregano
- salt & black pepper
- all purpose flour
- olive oil
Recipe Substitutions/ Variations: Instead of pork roast, try using boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
Want to add a starch? Add potatoes and corn (but you might want to serve it over rice instead).
These additions and substitutions make the chile verde less traditional but are still delicious, especially if they fit the needs of feeding your family!
How to Make Chile Verde
Prep the Pork. Trim the fat from the roast and cut it into 1 inch pieces. Dice ½ of the onion.
Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the pork, salt and pepper. Toss to season and let the pork sear on all sides. When the pork is lightly browned, turn the heat to medium. Add the onions and let them sweat for about 3-5 minutes.
Sprinkle the flour over the pork and onions. Stir until everything is coated. Continue to stir and cook the flour for about 3 minutes. Pour in 2 cups of chicken broth. Stir until no flour lumps are left and any browned bits from the bottom of the pan are stirred in. Simmer the pork on medium low for 30 minutes while you prepare the salsa verde (the green sauce). Don’t forget to go back and stir every now and then to keep it from sticking.
Make the Salsa Verde. Remove the tops of the peppers and slice them in half length-wise. Remove the seeds and membranes. Remove the husks from the tomatillos and slice them in halves. Quarter the rest of the onion. Place the vegetables flesh side down on lined baking sheets and pop under your oven’s broiler for 5-7 minutes until the skins of the peppers and tomatillos are nice and charred.
Remove from oven and cover pans tightly with aluminum foil for 5 minutes, creating steam to make removing the pepper skins easier. Uncover, peel away and discard the skins.
Place peppers, tomatillos, onions, cilantro, garlic, lime juice and 1 cup of chicken broth in a blender. Blend until smooth.
Let it All Cook. Add the salsa verde, cumin and oregano to the pork. Taste to see if additional salt is needed. Turn heat to high to bring the sauce up to a boil, then turn down to medium low and allow the sauce to cook down (lid off) for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Top with your favorite toppings and serve!
Tips for Making the Best Chile Verde
- Tomatillos can be a bit sticky under their husks. Running cold water over them as you remove the husks can help.
- But avoid the temptation to do the same when removing the pepper skins. You’ll end up rinsing away the flavor you created under the broiler.
- Take your time to brown the pork. This build flavor.
- The char on the vegetables builds flavor too. It only takes 5-7 minutes under a high heat broiler. So no need to rush there either.
- This dish takes a little time (2 hrs). But that’s ok. Some things you cook do, especially if they’re good things. That’s just part of cooking. Plan to make Chile Verde on a day you can enjoy the process.
Make Ahead, Storage & Leftover Ideas
Make Ahead. You can make the Salsa Verde (green chile sauce) up to 2 days in advance. If you want to make a double batch, one batch can even be frozen for 2 months so you can have Chile Verde later too! When you’re ready to make your stew, just add the sauce to the pork and simmer 45-60 minutes.
Storage. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Leftovers. Reheat individual servings in the microwave or the whole pot on the stovetop over medium heat. Or turn those leftovers into a whole new dish by shredding the pork and making soft tacos, burritos or stuffed baked potatoes!
Favorite Make-At-Home Mexican Dishes
Chile Verde Pork Stew
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 pounds pork shoulder roast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 large yellow onion
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 3 cups chicken broth or stock
- 5 poblano peppers
- 2 jalapeno peppers
- 1.5 pounds tomatillos
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
Pork
- Trim the large pieces of fat from the pork roast, and cut the roast into 1 inch pieces. Dice ½ of the onion.
- Add the olive oil to dutch oven on the stove top over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the pork, salt and pepper. Toss to season and sear on all sides. When the pork is lightly browned, turn down the heat to medium. Add the onions and let them sweat for about 3-5 minutes.
- Sprinkle the flour over the pork. Stir until everything is coated. Continue to stir and cook the flour for 2-3 minutes. Pour in 2 cups of chicken broth. Stir until no flour lumps are left and any browned bits from the bottom of the pan are stirred in. Simmer the pork on medium-low for 30 minutes while you prepare the salsa verde (the green sauce). Don't forget to go back and stir ocassionally to keep it from sticking.
Salsa Verde
- Remove the tops of the peppers and slice them in half length-wise. Remove the seeds and membranes. Remove the husks from the tomatillos and slice them in halves. Quarter the rest of the onion. Place the vegetables flesh side down on lined baking sheets and pop under your oven's broiler for 5-7 minutes until the skins of the peppers and tomatillos are charred.
- Remove from oven and cover pans tightly with aluminum foil for 5 minutes, creating steam to make removing the pepper skins easier. Uncover, remove skins from the peppers and discard skins.
- Place peppers, tomatillos, onions, cilantro, garlic, lime juice and 1 cup of chicken broth in a blender. Blend until smooth.
Chile Verde
- Pour the salsa verde into to simmering pork. Add cumin and oregano. Taste to see if additional salt is needed. Turn heat to high to bring the sauce up to a boil, then turn down to medium low and allow the sauce to cook down (lid off) for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Top with your favorite toppings and serve!
Notes
- Tomatillos can be a bit sticky under their husks. Running cold water over them as you remove the husks can help.
- But avoid the temptation to do the same when removing the pepper skins. You’ll end up rinsing away the flavor you created under the broiler.
- Take your time to brown the pork. This build flavor.
- The char on the vegetables builds flavor too. It only takes 5-7 minutes under a high heat broiler. So no need to rush there either.
- This dish takes a little time (2 hrs). But that’s ok. Some things you cook do, especially if they’re good things. That’s just part of cooking. Plan to make Chile Verde on a day you can enjoy the process.
Nutrition
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