One of the very first dishes I ever learnt to make was this pig chili verde. It tastes fine whether you brown the beef or not, but I always do it since I believe it always adds more flavor.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 2 hrs 10 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 40 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste, divided
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 10 fresh tomatillos, removed from husks and rinsed
- 3 jalapeño chile peppers, seeded
- 1 poblano chile pepper, seeded
- 6 cloves peeled garlic
- ½ cup packed cilantro leaves
- 2 ½ cups chicken stock, or as needed
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 ½ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, quartered
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup pickled red onions (Optional)
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pot over high heat until nearly smoking. Add pork cubes in a single layer. Let sear until brown on one side, 4 to 5 minutes. Mix, turning pieces over to brown on the other side, 4 to 5 minutes. Add onion and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Cook and stir until onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Add oregano, cumin, coriander, and cayenne; cook and stir until seasonings are fragrant, about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to low.
- Cut tomatillos into quarters. Place into a blender with chili peppers, garlic, and cilantro. Add chicken stock. Pulse on and off until pieces start to break down, then blend until mixture has liquefied, about 30 seconds.
- Stir sauce into pork mixture. Add 1 teaspoon kosher salt and bay leaf. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and maintain a slow but steady simmer for about 1 hour. Add potatoes, remaining 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and black pepper. If the mixture has reduced to where potatoes are not immersed, add more broth to cover. Simmer until pork and potatoes are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Garnish individual servings with a dollop of sour cream, some pickled red onions, and cilantro.
- Regarding the pickled red onions on top of my chili, I was going to save this for a video, but they’re so simple to make that I’ll just tell you right now. Slice some red onions, add a pinch of salt, and cover with red wine vinegar. Let sit overnight in your fridge, and the next day, you’ll be looking at one of the most gorgeous garnishes ever.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 513 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 28 g |
| Cholesterol | 109 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 32 g |
| Saturated Fat | 10 g |
| Sodium | 517 mg |
| Sugars | 5 g |
| Fat | 31 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I didn’t care for the potatoes so I omitted them the second through the tenth time I made this very good recipe. My wife wrapped the mixture in flour tortillas with Jack cheese and baked them for a bit. Everyone we have made them for has loved them, even our grandkids.
So far so good. Next time I will try roasting the veggies before blending them. Just to see the difference, as suggested below. But overall a very good recipe. Will keep this on in the books.
This dish tastes authentic! The flavors are incredible! Made it just as Chef John said and it is an absolute favorite in my family!!! This will be served to family and friends in the near future! I did add a couple of serrano peppers as well.
Another fabulous recipe from Chef John!
This chili is a powerhouse of flavor. The unique taste of the tomatillo combined with the pleasant heat from the peppers made for an addictive winter dinner. As another review suggested, I charred the tomatillos and peppers before putting them in the blender. On my first cook, I did not cook the meat and potatoes long enough. I put it in the Instapot the next day and mashed it all up a bit and it was even better! I may cook the whole thing in the Instapot next time. I topped with crème fraîche and pickled red onions (I added a pinch of sugar to Chef John’s recipe) and a wedge of lime. It really added a nice brightness to the chili. This makes a large amount which was great for the husband to take to work. Thanks, Chef John!
This is the Real Deal.
I use fresh cilantro instead of the dry coriander. I also boil my tomatillos before I throw them in the blender with all the other ingredients.
I’ve made this several times, pretty much as written. My family loves it and wonders how I became such a good cook!!!
Chef John always comes through. Have made this multiple times, despite some changes to which peppers and spices are used due to availability, this pork chili verde never disappoints! Regular repertoire now! Thank you for sharing Chef!
Excellent, it will be my go to Chile Verde Recipe. I had been using canned chile peppers and canned green chile sauce. No more….fresh ingredients make all the difference, but I pulsed the processor as I like it kinda chunky. I used pulled pork from my Traeger and didn’t add the potatoes as we wanted to roll the ingredients into tortillas for a burrito treat with cheese on top . The leftovers got more broth, the potatoes, some carrots, a couple of tomatoes and made an outstanding stew!
I made this recipe to the T but I also added my own touches to it, to start I followed other reviews and roasted the peppers and garlic at 375 degrees for about 30 min until they were slightly browned and soft, I added canned green chilies to the blender mixture, I used leftover smoked pork butt I also added tajin seasoning, smoked chipotle, and chili powder to the meat and onion mixture. I personally felt like potatoes in a chili was a weird combo (as much as I love potatoes) so I omitted them and added white beans instead. Since the meat was already cooked I only simmered it for about 45 min. I topped this with pepper Jack cheese, avocado, cilantro, and fritos (for my kids) they loved it! They are picky with spicy foods and they didnt complain once about it. All in all this was the best chili I have EVER had, i will definitely be making it again and again.
Scratch the Poblano and Jolliepeenos and substitute Hatch Green Chili, either fresh or 505 Brand, which is 99% as good. Hatch peppers are the choice of chili afficiandos everywhere. I also used teeny tiny baby potatoes and a lot more cilantro. Delecious!!!
We made extra and froze some. The first time we had this dish it was fantastic. The next time we defrosted the leftovers and made wet burritos out of it and they were some of the best I have ever had.
I loved this recipe. I did soak the potatoes in salted water while the meat was cooking the first hour. I had to double it on the fly as I couldn’t find a smaller pork butt.
Disclosure: Had to substitute canned tomatillos and jalapenos for fresh, but followed the rest of the recipe as written. It was delicious. I was hoping this would approximate the dish I was getting from our very good local Mexican deli. My partner said this was even better. Can’t wait to make this again when I can get a hold of fresh tomatillos. Thank you, Chef John!
Loved this one!!
Very delicious!
I made this recipe last night, and it was a big hit. Even my picky 8yr old likes it. I followed advice of reviewers and roasted them free vegetables before blending. Great one Chef J! Will make again!
this recipe was exactly what i’ve been looking for. i loved the texture flavor and spice Donna
I made this for my family of 8- I just doubled everything except I used a tall can of cream of mushroom soup and a small can. I used 2 envelopes of the dried onion soup. This made plenty and enough for leftovers. I will definitely make this again.
Doubled the recipe. I roasted the tomatillos, onions and jalapeños and added some roasted hatch chilies instead of poblano. Amazing and love the flavor profile!