How To Make Pork Chile 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Cook the Pork

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

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.

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.

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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Here are some other Mexican inspired recipes:

• Enchiladas
• Molé Enchiladas
• Tinga de Pollo
• Molé Manchamanteles With Chicken
• Molé Amarillo With Chicken and Vegetables
• Al Pastor Tacos
• Pork Chile Verde
• Shrimp Stuffed Poblanos With Colorado Sauce
• Chile Rellenos
• Lacquered Chicken

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