How To Make Pork Chile Verde

Pork Chili Verde

Pork Chile Verde is a delicious dish combining the flavors of pork and fresh poblano chiles. At the end of summer the poblano peppers come in abundantly at the Farmers Market and this is a great way to use some of them. There is quite a bit of prep involved as there are many ingredients to cut up but this is an easy dish to make other than that.

We just love to come home from the Farmers Market on Saturdays with a big pile of poblano chiles. As the season gets later the chiles get meatier, some of them get a little spice and we can even find some sweet red poblanos.

This recipe is naturally gluten free.

Photo shows a pile of poblano chiles
Fresh Poblanos

Watch a Video

Here is a video of 2 Cooks in the Kitchen making Pork Chile Verde. Mr Cook appears to have somewhat of a cold when this was filmed. This is a comforting meal when you are under the weather. Better than chicken soup.

The Ingredients

  • 6 Poblano peppers, peeled and seeded, stems removed
  • 1 1/2 lbs Pork Shoulder, cubed
  • 14 oz can of Crushed Tomatoes
  • 1/2 Russet Potato, Peeled and Grated
  • 1 large Onion, Chopped
  • 8 Cloves Garlic, Chopped
  • 2 Carrots, Cut in 1/2 inch slices
  • 4 Jalapenos, seeds removed and chopped
  • 2 Serranos, chopped
  • 1 Cherry Bomb chile, chopped (optional)
  • 1 1/2 tsp Dried Oregano
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 2 Cups Chicken Broth

When we bring the poblanos home we know we will be spending some time getting them ready to use. We roast them on the grill and then peel them and remove the seeds. This does take a while. We usually make twice this amount so that means at least 12 chiles. We usually have a few more for the freezer too. You might get the idea that we really like chiles.

Roast the Poblanos

Roast the chiles to blacken the skins. We like to do this on the barbecue but you can use the oven broiler or an open flame. Turn them from time to time to get all sides of the chile darkened. We put the barbecue on high and close the lid. When it gets up over 300 degrees in there they cook well. Do be careful that they don’t burn. When that happens the skin sticks to the chiles.

Photo shows chiles darkening on the grill for our pork chile verde
Roasting the Chiles On the Grill

Steam the Poblanos

Put the chiles into a large soup pot with a lid when the skins are darkened all over. This allows them to steam a while as they cool, making the skins easier to remove.

Photo shows charred chile going into a soup pot with lid.
Put the Chiles in the Pot

Remove the Stems and Seeds

Let the chiles cool until you can handle them and remove the stems, seeds and peels. Since we are cutting these up you don’t have to be careful to keep them whole like you do if you are stuffing them.

Photo shows peeled chile with a small slit for removing the seeds.
Remove the Peel, stem and Seeds

Cut Vegetables and Hot Chiles

While the chiles are cooling it’s a good time to cut up the other ingredients. Cut up the onion, garlic, carrots, serranos and cherry bomb if using. Put them all in the same bowl. We leave the onion pieces a little large as we are going to cook this for a long time and don’t want it all to just turn to mush. The cherry bomb is optional and if you want a little extra heat you could use a habañero instead or just leave it out altogether. Remove the seeds from the jalapeños, chop them and put them in the same bowl.

Photo shows a bowl full of chopped vegetables and chiles for our pork chile verde
Put All the Vegetables and Chiles In a Bowl

Grate the Potato and Cut the Pork

Grate the potato and reserve. Cut the pork into cubes the size of a large bite. It’s nice to get a substantial piece of pork in a bite while eating this dish. Add the oregano to the pork.

Photo shows pork cut up with oregano added
Cut the Pork

Cook the Vegetables and Hot Chiles

Heat 1/4 cup of oil in a large soup pot over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add the chopped vegetables and chiles and cook until everything has softened, about 10 minutes. Add the pork and oregano and stir. Mexican Oregano is good to use if you can find it. It is available here on Amazon.com

Photo shows pork being added to the pot
Add the Pork

Cook the Pork

We’ll cook this until the pork isn’t pink anymore, about 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

Photo shows pork in the pan all pink cooked out.
Cook Until the Pork Is Not Pink

Add Stock, Tomato, Salt and Potato

Add the chicken stock, tomato, salt and grated potato. Turn the heat up, bring the pot to a boil and then turn the heat down and let the pork chile verde simmer for 45 minutes.

Photo shows grated potato going in  the pot.
Put In the Grated Potato

Add the Poblanos

Cut the poblanos into 1 inch X 1 1/2 inch pieces. After 45 minutes add the chiles. Let simmer for 2 hours to get all the flavors married.

Photo shows cut up chiles going into the pot.
Add the Chiles

Serve In Bowls

This now ready to serve. We like to have a big bowl of Pork Chile Verde with a couple pieces of cornbread soaked in butter and honey. Cornbread is the thing Mr Cook misses most since his celiac diagnosis. He loved his Famous Dave’s. We here at 2 Cooks in the Kitchen are working tirelessly to find a good gluten free cornbread. So far we have found one that works okay even if it’s not fantastic. A little dab of Mexican Crema and some cheddar cheese finish off the plating, or bowling, or whatever.

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Photo shows a beautiful bowl of pork chili verde garnished with flowers.

Pork Chili Verde

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  • Author: 2 Cooks in the Kitchen
  • Prep Time: 2 hours
  • Cook Time: 3 1/2 hours
  • Total Time: 5 1/2 hours
  • Yield: 8 servings 1x
  • Cuisine: Mexican
  • Diet: Gluten Free

Description

A delicious dish combining the flavors of pork and fresh poblano chiles.


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 6 Poblano peppers, peeled and seeded, stems removed
  • 1 1/2 lbs Pork Shoulder, cubed
  • 14 oz can of Crushed Tomatoes
  • 1/2 Russet Potato, Peeled and Grated
  • 1 large Onion, Chopped
  • 8 Cloves Garlic, Chopped
  • 2 Carrots, Cut in 1/2 inch slices
  • 4 Jalapenos, seeds removed and chopped
  • 2 Serranos, chopped
  • 1 Cherry Bomb chile, chopped (optional)
  • 1 1/2 tsp Dried Oregano
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 2 cups Chicken Broth

Instructions

  1. Roast the poblanos on the grill until the skins are charred all over. Place them in a pot, covered while they steam and cool. Remove the skins, stems and seeds. Cut them into 1″ x 1 1/2″ pieces.
  2. Cut the onions, garlic, carrots, jalapeños, serranos and cherry bomb if using.
  3. Grate the potato
  4. Cut up the pork into large bite size cubes.
  5. Heat oil in a large soup pot on medium high heat.
  6. Add the onions, garlic, carrots, jalapeños, serranos and cherry bomb if using. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
  7. Add the pork and oregano. Cook, stirring frequently until the meat is browned, about 20 minutes.
  8. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, salt and potato. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and let simmer for 45 minutes.
  9. Add the poblanos. Let simmer on low heat for 2 hours.
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