Chili Verde!
Oh tomatillos. They are everywhere. In my kitchen at least. It was a pretty full harvest from my garden and now I am elbow deep in them while trying to find the best salsa recipe. But before that, let me tell you about my most favorite stew. Chile Verde it’s called, and I just go bananas for it. There’s tomatillos, chiles, pork, cilantro… it’s a delicious thing. Since Seattle is slightly lacking in the Mexican food department, I’m long overdue for a bowl.
I started by roasting the tomatillos under the broiler with some garlic.
Then I roasted until black some chiles over the flame of my stove.
Lots of pork was diced up.
And browned in a wide shallow pot. Afterwards some onions were added to get nice and soft.
Then I pureed those toasted tomatillos, garlic and chiles with some fresh jalapenos and cilantro.
I added the puree to my pork and onions with some chicken stock and let her simmer for 3 hours. And then we ate ourselves silly.
CHILE VERDE RECIPE:
2 lb tomatillos
6 garlic cloves, not peeled
3 Anaheim or Poblano chiles
3 Jalapeños, seeds removed, chopped
1 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped
4½ lb pork shoulder, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1 to 2-inch cubes
Olive oil
2 small yellow onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBSP dried oregano
3 cups chicken stock
– Remove papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well. Cut in half and place cut side down, along with 6 garlic cloves, on a baking sheet. Place under a broiler for about 5-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skin. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
– Roast the Anaheim chiles over a gas flame or under the broiler until blackened all around. Let cool and remove the skin, seeds, and stem. Roughly chop.
– Place tomatillos, skins included, into a food processor. Remove the roasted garlic cloves from their skins and add them. Add chopped Jalapeño peppers, Anaheim chilies, and cilantro. Pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed.
– Season the pork cubes generously with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed dutch oven over medium high heat and brown the pork chunks well on all sides. Work in batches so that the pork is not crowded in the pan. Using tongs, lift the browned pork out and place in bowl. Set aside.
– Pour off excess fat, leaving 1 or 2 tablespoons. Place the onions in the same dutch oven and season with salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until limp, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute. Add the pork back to the pan. Add the oregano, the tomatillo puree, and the chicken stock. Bring to a boil and reduce to a slight simmer. Cook for 2½ – 3 hours uncovered, until the pork is tender.
– Adjust the seasoning to taste with salt. Serve with rice and warmed flour or corn tortillas.
I made that! 
I would pay big money to try your chile verde. That’s my favorite Mexican dish…
I’ve got a bunch of recipes clipped out of various sources that include tomatillos, but haven’t ever tried them before. Google informs me (thanks google) that they aren’t just green tomatoes. What are they like?
Tomatillos are yummy. It’s the green sauce you receive when you have chips and salsa at Mexican Restaurants. I had never used them, but when I did, I use them all of the time. Add them to your chicken enchiladas, salsas, etc. They are delicious!
Brandi…that my friend looks AMAZING!! Wish I were a fly on your wall to say the least.
For all of you newbies to tomatillos: Tomatillos have a definite citrus note. When shopping for them, buy a mixture of less and more mature. (from green to almost yellow) though you will see purple/green ones too. The yellow ones are more lemony.
This is especially nice to give your sauce or salsa more range.
I want to make this. Immediately.
I made this last week and it was amazing! Thanks for the great recipe, it’s going to become a staple in my repertoire.
Your blog and recipes are inspiring. . . I would love to do what you are doing one day.
Hey Brandi! I was at the cooking class at Delancey last night so imagine my delight to see your blog highlighted on Food 52 today. Such great photos and recipes, and I absolutely love your writing voice. So glad to have found this space!
Ridiculous! Tomatillos, fire-roasted peppers and pork, oh my.
No way!!! I have a whole bunch of tomatillos that I grew sitting in my fridge at the moment because I had no idea what to do with them. And I was being kind of lazy about hunting for a recipe blind. I assumed I was going to end up roasting them, but I love this idea of a chili verde with pork. My other idea was to roast them with a few bell peppers and regular tomatoes that I have and top a couple of pan-seared steaks with them.
I will be making this tomorrow with the remaining chiles from our garden. Having always loved chile verde, it’s funny that happening upon your blog has finally given my the incentive to make my own!
BTW, your blog is lovely! It’s so refreshing to find beautiful recipes without a bunch of ads. I will be returning for more =)
Man this looks amazing. I haven’t had chili verde in forevah! Yours looks perfect.
Wow this is good stuff. Just made it, but with skinless chicken thighs (removing the bone AFTER cooking) and stuck it in my enamel dutch oven into the oven on 350 for about 1 1/2 hours. Amazing.
goshhhh, it looks very delicious….
thanks for recipe. i will try it later 🙂
My husband and I made your recipe last night. The only change we made was to add a little ground cumin. Amazing dinner! We’re looking forward to eating the leftovers!
[…] blog. I am basically trying to make everything on this site because she’s flipping amazing. Tonight was chili verde. Her directions are basically idiot proof, as evidenced by me being able to use […]
Loving the. Recipes! can’t wait to try the chilli but will have to use canned to tomatillos as we cannot get fresh in the uk.
This was delicious! GREAT JOB with the pics! Thanks so much for posting
[…] Chile Verde Look I Made That! […]
This is a really good recipe!!I made a few variations– I added 1 tbsp of lime juice and 2 tsp of honey to the tomatillo sauce. I added an extra garlic clove when cooking with the onion. Lastly, I added 2 tsp of chipotle powder, 2 tsp of cumin and 1 cinnamon stick to the chicken stock.
I didn’t make enough! 🙂 Thank you so much for posting this recipe. I made it last night for dinner having no idea how over the top good (scratch that, GREAT) it was going to be. Not only has it been added to our favorites but I’m going to the grocery store to get the ingredients to make it again.
I am making this right now and its smelling AMAZING in here! I will let you all know the results!
Your recipe calls for Oregano. It doesn’t say if it’s Mediterranean or Mexican…there is a difference. Of course Mexican Oregano is the correct choice.
So glad to hear that you navigated your way through that tricky decision, it sounded like a doozy 🙂
Chili Verde is my favorite Mexican dish. I must confess I’m kind of fanatical when it comes to Chili Verde it’s kind of the Holy Grail of Mexican food for me and Posole being a close second. Most of the restaurants in my area use canned verde sauce and even though I’m a “gringo” I can always tell.
I followed your recipe it the T about a month ago and it came out fantastic! Will be making it again for Cinco de Mayo party along with homemade tortillas
Many Thanks!
Joe P
I made this for a party of 50. Made beans and rice served with corn tortillas. Chips salsa guacamole was delish
Made it three times now …have everyone practically licking the bowl…but politely using their tortillas!
D
G
Thank you!
How do we prepare the onions? Halved, quartered, sliced, diced, chopped?
I had an abundance of Tomatillos, jalapenos and chilis from my garden and not sure what to do with them. Found your recipe and great pictures. I just finished making this . It is amazing! Thank you!
Missy
I did this and is so good my family fool in love with it….
I’ve made this recipe and followed it as stated! Have to say it was the best Chili Verde I’ve ever had and that includes restaurants. Making it again tonight! Thanks for the recipe!
Delicious recipe! I also added some cumin and substituted a 24 ounce jar of salsa Verde for the fresh tomatillos. Note: Canned tomatillos are very salty so eliminate additional salt to this recipe if using canned.
Can I substitute chicken instead?? How long would it need to cook in the crockpot
This was really delicious and tender. I just wish that the salt was actually quantified, because I added way too much, thinking I had to put it directly on each piece of pork, which adds up to a lot of salt. You should only use a teaspoon at most.
about how many servings is this?
Just made this tonight and it tasted fantastic. Used pork loin instead of shoulder, but the flavor or the sauce was amazing. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
This is a great recipe with great pictures and instructions! I make chili verde all the time and the ingredient that most don’t know is the chicken stock. It’s what really gives chili verde the best taste!
I made this recipe….it was wonderful!!!! Froze half and it was delicious too. I was afraid after freezing it it might change the flavor….but it froze wonderfully!!!! Getting ready to make a double batch tomorrow for a dinner party next weekend!!!
Labor intensive but worth every minute put into making this fabulous chili verde. Thank you for sharing🤗