Chili Verde is a blend of savory delicious flavors with a spicy finish and is cooked until it’s melt in your mouth tender. This Mexican cuisine is excellent when served by itself or with beans, rice and fresh tortillas.

What is Chili Verde?

You may ask, what is Chili Verde made of? Chili Verde is a Mexican stew made with tender pieces of pork and a spicy tomatillo sauce. The Spanish meaning of Verde is “green”. Our Chili Verde stew is made with a two step process that combines slow cooked pork with a homemade roasted tomatillo “green” sauce. This simple Chili Verde sauce is so delicious!

Here is the ingredient lists for both steps:

Fresh Ingredients for Step 1 – the Tomatillo Sauce

• Fresh Tomatillos
• Garlic cloves
• Anaheim chilis or Poblano chiles
• Jalapeno peppers
• One bunch of cilantro leaves

Ingredients for Step 2 – the Pork

• Pork shoulder or pork butt, trimmed of fat
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• Yellow onion
• Garlic cloves
• Chicken stock
• Fresh oregano
• Ground Cumin
• Ground clove

How to make Chili Verde from scratch

We have several steps to make our pork Chili Verde recipe.

First step: Make the tomatillo sauce. This can be made ahead of time. We like to make it the day before.

Second step: Brown pork chunks in batches, next sautéing the onions, garlic and adding in all other ingredients. Lastly, add broth and the prepared Tomatillo sauce to the pan with the pork mixture. Mix together and add spices to taste.

Cook for 3 to 4 hours until fork tender.

Instructions for homemade Tomatillo Sauce

• Remove the papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well. Cut tomatillos in half and place a single layer cut side down on a baking sheet lined with foil.
• Broil tomatillos and unpeeled garlic cloves in the oven on high for 5-7 minutes, until the tomatillos are lightly blackened and the skin is charred. Remove from the oven. Let rest until cool enough to handle. Reserve all the juices.
• Meanwhile, line another baking sheet with foil. After removing tomatillos from the oven, broil whole Anaheim chilis in the oven, (or over a gas flame), turning at least once until blackened on both sides and skin appears to lift. This will take about 3-5 minutes per side. Let cool slightly but while still warm remove the skin, seeds, and stems.
• Halve the jalapenos, remove seeds and ribs, and roughly chop. Clean, dry and remove stems from cilantro. Set aside.
• Remove skin from roasted garlic and add to a blender or food processor. Place roasted tomatillos with skin and accumulated juices into the blender. Add the green chiles, fresh peppers and cilantro and blend well.
• This original recipe for green chili sauce can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for several days or you can set aside while you are preparing the pork.

Method for making Chili Verde Recipe

• Season cubed pork with salt and pepper.
• In a 6-quart large pot or cast iron large Dutch oven heat olive oil over medium heat and sear pork cubes on all sides. Work in batches and do not crowd to allow browning on all sides (rather than steaming). Use tongs to remove the browned pork cubes from the pan and set them aside in a bowl.
• Pour off the excess fat and leave about 1 tablespoon in the pan. In the same pan sauté the onions over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are limp and translucent, about 5 minutes. Then add garlic and sauté for an additional 1 minute.
• Add the pork and any remaining juices from the bowl, next add reserved tomatillo sauce and enough chicken broth to fully cover the meat mixture. Add oregano, cumin, and a pinch of cloves. Stir well to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 3-4 hours uncovered until the pork is tender enough to easily cut with a fork. The longer cooking time will give you a more tender pork stew.
• During simmering stir occasionally and taste to adjust seasonings. If needed add more salt, pepper, or cumin to taste.
• Serve with Spanish rice, beans and fresh warm flour tortillas or corn tortillas.

How to adjust spice level to taste

• Very hot and spicy – Do not remove the seeds and veins from the jalapenos in the sauce.
• Medium hot and spice – Leave the seeds and veins in just one of the two jalapenos in the sauce.
• Medium mild spice – Leave the seed and veins in just one half of one jalapeno in the sauce.
• Extra mild – Remove all of the seeds and veins from the jalapenos in the sauce.

With a spoon remove seeds and veins.

Enjoy these great recipes on our site

• Homemade Spanish Rice
• Mini Taco Salad Cups
• Chile Colorado Recipe
• Carne Asada Recipe
• Authentic Carnitas Recipe

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Chili Verde Recipe

This Authentic Chili Verde Recipe is made with slow cooked pork in a homemade spicy tomatillo sauce. Chili Verde is a blend of savory flavors with a spicy finish and is cooked until it is melt in your mouth tender.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time 4 hours hours

Total Time 4 hours hours 40 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Calories 309kcal

Author Jayne Harter

Ingredients

Ingredients for Sauce

• 1 ½ pounds tomatillos
• 6 whole garlic cloves, skin left on
• 3 whole Anaheim chilis
• 2 whole jalapenos, seeded, ribs removed
• 1 bunch cilantro leaves, cleaned, stems removed

Ingredients for Pork

• 4 pounds pork shoulder or pork butt, trimmed of fat cut into 2 inch cubes
• salt
• pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 whole yellow onions, diced small
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 2½ cups chicken stock
• 2 tbsp fresh oregano
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 pinch ground clove

Instructions

Instructions for Chili Verde Sauce:

• Remove the papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well. Cut tomatillos in half and place cut side down on a baking sheet lined with foil.
• Broil tomatillos and unpeeled garlic cloves in the oven on high for 5-7 minutes, until the tomatillos are lightly blackened and the skin is charred. Remove from the oven. Let rest until cool enough to handle. Reserve the juices.
• Meanwhile, line another baking sheet with foil. When tomatillos are done broil whole Anaheim chilis in the oven, (or over a gas flame), turning at least once until blackened on both sides and skin appears to lift. About 3-5 minutes per side. Let cool slightly but while still warm remove skin, seeds, and stems.
• Halve the jalapenos, remove seeds and ribs, and roughly chop. Clean, dry and remove stems from cilantro.
• Place roasted tomatillos and accumulated juices into the blender. Remove skin from roasted garlic and add to the blender.

  Add the cilantro, Anaheim chiles, and jalapenos and blend well until you have a smooth sauce.
• The sauce can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for several days or you can set aside while you are preparing the pork.

Method for making Chili Verde:

• Season pork cubes with salt and pepper.

  In a 6-quart cast iron dutch oven heat olive oil over medium heat and sear pork cubes on all sides. Work in batches and do not crowd to allow browning on all sides (rather than steaming). Use tongs to remove cubes from the pan and set them aside in a bowl.
• Pour off the excess fat and leave about 1 tablespoon in the pan. Add the onions and saute over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are limp and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for an additional 1 minute.
• Add the pork and any juices from the bowl, then add tomatillo sauce and enough chicken broth to fully cover the meat mixture. Add oregano, cumin, and a pinch of cloves. Stir well to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 3-4 hours uncovered or until the pork is tender enough to easily cut with a fork.
• During simmering stir occasionally and taste to adjust seasonings. If needed add more salt, pepper, or cumin to taste.
• Serve with Spanish rice, beans and fresh tortillas.

SLOW COOKER METHOD:

• Add seared pork and sauce, along with broth and spices to a slow cooker. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-7 hours.

Notes

• The sauce can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for several days or frozen for up to 3-months
• Completed recipe can be stored in airtight containers and frozen for up to 3 months or refrigerated for up to 4 days
• Want to adjust the spice level?
• Very hot and spicy
  • Do not remove the seeds and veins from the jalapenos in the sauce.
• Medium hot and spicy
  • Leave the seeds and veins in just one of the two jalapenos in the sauce.
  •  
• Medium mild spice
  • Leave the seed and veins in just one-half of one jalapeno in the sauce.
• Extra mild
  • Remove all of the seeds and veins from the jalapenos in the sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 309kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 44g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 111mg | Sodium: 189mg | Potassium: 981mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 171IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 4mg