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This authentic Mexican chile verde is made of tender pieces of pork simmered in a flavorful tomatillo and green chile salsa. This stew is a staple all over Mexico and is best served in a bowl over rice or with homemade tortillas for a real traditional Mexican meal.
A Note from Isabel
Chile verde will always hold a special place in my heart. When I was young, my dad often greeted me after school with a fresh batch of homemade flour tortillas and a bowl of chile verde that had been braising all afternoon. It’s one of my favorite childhood memories.
It’s still a family favorite today (much like my Mom’s chile colorado and carne guisada), and I hope it quickly becomes one for you, too.
What Is Chile Verde?
Chile verde is a traditional Mexican stew made with slow-cooked pork braised in a sauce made from a combination of tomatillos, onions, jalapeños, poblanos, lime juice, cilantro, and garlic.
Roasting the tomatillos, onions, and chiles adds a smokey depth to the sauce that is further enhanced by slowly braising the pork shoulder for a few hours. It’s an explosion of flavor and is incredibly popular throughout Mexico and the southern United States.
It’s a very versatile dish and can be served as a stew, over Mexican rice and pinto beans, or even as tacos or burritos in flour tortillas or corn tortillas.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Tomatillos: The star of the sauce. Once you husk, rinse, and roast them, they give the chile verde that tangy, almost citrusy flavor that makes it what it is.
- Jalapeño peppers: It’s not chile verde if it’s not at least a little spicy. Adjust your spice level according to your tastes by leaving in or removing the seeds.
- Poblano peppers: Poblanos add a nice green pepper flavor without too much heat. Of course, some peppers are spicier than others, so feel free to remove the seeds if yours are on the spicier side.
- Serrano pepper: Like the jalapeños, the serrano helps add heat to the chile verde sauce. Skip it if you want things milder.
- Onions and garlic: Since everything gets blended anyway, you can just halve the onions and toss in whole garlic cloves. No fine chopping needed. Some folks skip the garlic, but I never do. It adds a savory depth to the sauce that’s worth it.
- Boneless pork shoulder: Pork shoulder is a very fatty and easy-to-cook cut of meat. It will easily stand up to the long cooking time of this recipe, and by the end, it will be fork-tender and should fall apart and melt in your mouth. As you’re cubing the meat, trim some of the larger fat caps/deposits, as they’re not likely to render down anyway.
- Lime juice and cilantro: Both go in at the very end to freshen everything up. The stew gets rich and savory as it braises, so a good squeeze of lime and a handful of cilantro brighten it right back up. These are optional, but I highly recommend stirring them in.
How to Make Chile Verde
Roast the tomatillos and peppers. Place them on a baking sheet and stick them under the broiler for about 10-15 minutes, flipping the vegetables halfway through.
Cover, steam, and peel. Cover the peppers with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and let them sit for 10 minutes to steam and soften. Peel off and discard as much of the skin as possible. You can also remove the seeds from any of them if you don’t want it too spicy.
Blend and simmer. Add the tomatillos, peppers, onions, and garlic into a large blender and blend until smooth. Brown the pork in a pot, then stir in the blended salsa, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to get all the browned bits.
Stir in cilantro and lime juice. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the lime juice and cilantro. Taste and season with more salt, if needed, then serve.
Recipe Tips
- Too thick? If the chile verde is too thick after simmering on the stove, stir in ½ cup of water or chicken stock at a time until it has reached your desired consistency.
- It’s even better the next day. If you have time, make it a day ahead. The flavors settle and deepen overnight, and honestly it tastes even better reheated. It’s one of those dishes that only gets better sitting in the fridge.
Serving Suggestions
My favorite way to eat chile verde is in a bowl topped with a little cotija cheese or queso fresco, diced white onions, and a couple of warm flour tortillas or tortilla chips on the side. Yum! Here are a few other ideas:
- on a plate with Mexican rice and refried beans
- in a burrito with pinto beans and cheese
- in tacos, gorditas, sopes, or huaraches
- you can also shred the meat and add it to your morning eggs
Storing and Reheating
- To store, keep leftover chile verde in an airtight container in the fridge for 5 to 7 days. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave until warmed through.
- To freeze, place in freezer-safe storage bags or containers and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, let the frozen container thaw completely in the refrigerator or defrost in the microwave. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave until completely warm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Fresh is best here because roasting them is where so much of the flavor comes from. Canned tomatillos are already cooked, so you lose that roasted depth. If canned is all you can find, though, go with those.
Yes! Make the sauce as the recipe says, then add it and the pork to the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours, until the pork is fall-apart tender.
Yes. Pork shoulder is traditional and stays the most tender, but chicken thighs work great if that’s what you have. I’ve got a whole chicken chile verde recipe if you want to go that route. Just don’t use lean cuts like pork loin or chicken breast for the long braise. They tend to dry out.
Pork Chile Verde
Ingredients
- Cooking spray or olive oil, for greasing
- 12-16 ounces tomatillos, husked and rinsed
- 3 jalapeño peppers, stemmed
- 2 large poblano peppers, stemmed
- 1 serrano pepper, stemmed
- 2 medium onions, halved
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 ½ pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into bite sized chunks
- kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons lime juice (about 1 lime)
- ⅓ cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray or grease with oil. Place the tomatillos, jalapeños, poblanos, and serrano peppers on the baking sheet and place under the broiler. Broil on high for 10 minutes, flipping the vegetables over halfway through.
- Remove the baking sheet from the broiler and cover it with aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Uncover and remove as much of the skin from the peppers as possible. At this point, you can also remove the seeds from any of the peppers if you don’t want it too spicy.
- Add the tomatillos, peppers, onions, and garlic into a large blender and blend until smooth. Set aside until ready to use.
- Heat the cooking oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the pork and season generously with salt and black pepper. Cook the meat on all sides until browned, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the blended tomatillo salsa verde, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon so you get all the brown bits. Cover, reduce the heat to low, simmer, and cook for 2 ½ to 3 hours until the pork is tender.
- Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the lime juice and cilantro. Taste and season with more salt, if needed.
- Serve over cilantro lime rice or in a bowl with tortilla chips or warm flour tortillas.
Video
Notes
- Slow cooker version: Follow the instructions for making the sauce, then add the sauce and pork to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.
- Instant Pot version: Make the sauce as directed, then set the Instant Pot to Sauté and brown the pork in the oil. Stir in the blended salsa, scraping up the browned bits. Lock the lid, set the valve to seal, and pressure cook on high for 35 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Thickness: If the chile verde is too thick after simmering on the stove, stir in 1/2 cup of water at a time until it has reached your desired consistency.
- Storing: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 5 to 7 days.
- Freezing: Freeze in freezer-safe bags or containers for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge or microwave, then reheat on the stove or in the microwave until warmed through.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More Mexican Recipes To Make
This post was originally published in February 2018 and has been updated with new photos and more helpful tips.
Photography by Ashley McLaughlin and Isabel Orozco-Moore.
I tried chili verde at a Mexican restaurant in southern Arizona recently, and I have never been the same! I primarily cook Indian food but am always looking to expand my repertoire. You made my wish of attempting this dish at home possible. This recipe was so easy to follow, and it turned out absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing, Isabel! 🙂
I used chicken stock instead of water, and subbed Hatch green Chilis for the jalapeños (care package from home). It turned out great! I’m originally from Arizona and you can’t get green chili gravy that tastes as good as the Arizona/New Mexico style here in east Texas. Thanks for the recipe!
This was amazing!! A definite repeat! Thank you!
Yay! I’m so happy you liked it.
Can I use hatch chiles instead? A co worker brought me a couple pounds.
Yes, you can! I’ve never used Hatch chiles in this recipe so I can’t say for sure because the overall flavor will be a little different, but it should still be good!
Hi when do u add the water,lime juice, and cilantro?
Hi Brenda, it’s at the very end of the cooking time.
I normally cheat and use canned green salsa (and it’s not bad, but not great) This recipe is less intimidating the a lot of the recipe’s that I find online. I like making braised dishes in the oven (because I’m lazy and don’t want to watch the pot too closely). Do you think that 325 for the same amount of time would result in a good dish, or should I reduce the oven temp to 275? We live in California and have really good Mexican food nearby, but I really love to cook and making a dish better than our favorite restaurant makes me happy. (Okay, I’m lazy and competitive). Let me know if the oven idea seems good, or if I should just follow the recipe as listed.
Thank you
Brenda – AKA Bjhqueen
Hi Brenda, this recipe has never been tested by braising it in the oven so we can’t say for certain that that temperature will work. Sorry we can’t be of more help! If you try it, please let us know how it goes!
Brenda try it in a big pot on the stove top. Once you have added all the veges to the meat cover it, simmer and go relax. Just give it a stir every 20 minutes or so.
Hi Isabel!
We make and can our own verde salsa, wondering if it would be ok to use what I have made or better to cook it up fresh? I just put this on my menu for this week, so looking forward to it.
I think you can use your own salsa verde if you have some! I’m not quite sure how much you would need, though. Just make sure there’s enough to cover most of the meat.
So my Nana used to make this when I was kid. She would help pick grapes in the fields near her house to get grape leaves for tolmas and the labors in the fields traded her Armenian recipes for their Mexican recipes. The recipe she used was lost but this one…..this one is amazing and every time I make it I think of my Nana.
Thank you so much, Rose! I’m so honored that my recipe makes you think of your Nana. Such a special memory.
Can you just boil the tomatillos and chili’s instead of roasting?
Yes! The roasting will add a little deeper flavor, but you could also boil them and it will still be good.
I quartered the tomatillos in a fry pan. Browned the outside and softened them 2 before I added sweated onion and then to the food processor with the other goodies..
YYAAASSSSS! No Mexican restaurants near me serve this so I took matters into my own hands tonight and made this! It was so good and way simpler than I ever imagined! Thank you thank you thank you!
Woo woo! So happy you liked it, Jonathan!
Hands-down the best Chile verde I’ve ever had. I added some oregano and cumin. Thank you for this recipe, Isabel!
Thank you so much for the high praise, Robin! I’m so glad you love this recipe!!