Slow Cooker Chile Verde is spicy tender pork, wonderful just wrapped in a tortilla!
My dad’s been here often visiting from California, so I know his eating habits well. He’s always ordering chile verde when we go out for Mexican (and fish and chips EVERYWHERE else).
Maybe I’ve been blind my whole life, but I’ve never acknowledged chile verde on menus until recently. It’s very spicy and flavorful, and great on tortillas, doesn’t even need toppings. I tested out this recipe so I’ll be ready the next time my dad visits, though this recipe makes a lot and I’ll have to invite the rest of my family.
How to Make Slow Cooker Chile Verde:
You will need these ingredients:
- Pork shoulder
- Cooking oil
- All-purpose flour
- Poblano peppers
- Anaheim peppers
- Jalapenos
- Garlic
- Tomatillos
- White onion
- Cilantro
- Salt and pepper
- Cumin
- Oregano
- Chicken broth
Start by roasting peppers, garlic, tomatillos and onion in the oven under the broiler.
Until they are roasted and tender and slightly charred.
Then I blend up those veggies and that makes a green salsa that I pour over the pork. I also add seasonings and a touch of chicken broth. Below is what the chile verde looks like before cooking.
How long to cook:
I cook this chile verde for 9 hours low. After 9 hours the pork is very tender and the sauce has simmered to a beautiful perfection.
Is chile verde spicy?
Yes! I would say on a scale to 1 to 10 that this recipe is an eight in heat. It has a very good kick to it. To tone down the spiciness I suggest serving with rice, cheese and sour cream.
How to serve:
- on warmed tortillas
- great as is or topped with cheese, sour cream and diced onion
- wrap in flour tortillas for burritos
- great for nachos
Equipment
- Slow Cooker- 6 quart or larger
Ingredients
- 3 lbs. pork shoulder, trimed and cubed
- 2 Tbsp. cooking oil (approximate amount)
- 2 Tbsp. all purpose flour
- 2 poblano peppers
- 2 Anaheim peppers
- 2 jalapenos
- 4 garlic cloves
- 6 tomatillos, husks removed
- 1 large white onion, peeled and quartered
- 1 bunch cilantro, bulk of stems removed
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- 1/2 tsp. oregano
- 1 cup chicken broth
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place the peppers, tomatillos, garlic, and onion onto a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the oven 2 racks down from the broiler. Let the veggies roast for 20-25 minutes or until the veggies are charred, keep an eye on them so they don’t overcook. Let cool down a bit before moving on to step 2.
- Place the veggies into a blender and place the cilantro on top. Place on lid on blender. Pulse until a fine salsa forms, you can make this any texture you desire. If your salsa is too thick to blend up properly, add a splash of the chicken broth from the recipe.
- On a baking sheet or in a ziplock bag coat the pork with the flour. Set a large skillet to medium high heat. Add the enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. When the pan and oil are hot, brown the flour coated pork on all sides, no need to cook through. You may need to cook the pork in batches if your pan isn’t large enough to do all at the same time.
- Add the meat to the slow cooker. Pour over the salsa, add the salt, pepper, cumin and oregano. Pour over the chicken broth and stir.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 9 hours without opening the lid during the cooking time.
- Serve over tortillas with desired toppings, enjoy!
Hi Sarah! What would be an alternative to the pork shoulder if I don’t eat pork?
I would do boneless chicken thighs
Hi, do you think I can cook on HIGH for half the time instead?
Yes, I think that would work fine.
Thank you! I just threw everything in the crockpot. I can’t wait! Smells amazing already
How did it turn out?
What peppers can I use so that it does not turn out so spicy (hot) but yet it still has flavor?
When you pick your jalapenos, or any peppers, pick ones with rounded bottoms. Avoid poiny tips, ones with little cracks, or ones that have different colors like yellow and red. You could also toss in a green pepper, and make sure to remove all seeds from all peppers, as seeds are super spicy. Hope that helps!
Actually most of the capsaicin is in the ribs (placenta), not the seeds. After roasting the chiles I like to cut them in half and remove the seeds and ribs (wear gloves if you’re sensitive to heat). I’ve done jalapenos this way and the dish didn’t end up spicy. Most recipes recommend removing the skin from the chiles after roasting as well, though I’m not sure why.
Could you prep the Verde salsa the night before?
Yes!
Made this yesterday…came out Uh-Mazing!!! I cut the pork into thick slices for pan frying bused coconut oil on medium heat. Didn’t cut it up any more, left them in 5 big slices. After 9 hours, it just pulls apart. I did, however, empty the juice before I pulled it apart. Then add juice to your desired consistency. I didn’t want soup! Excellent recipe, highly recommend!
About how many did they serve? I have very hungry boys
This makes a lot. But my advise is to use as much pork as you think you would need. There is plenty of liquid to cover a lot.
I used 3 lbs. It came out amazingly well. I invited My sister, Brother in law, nephew. It made about 10 small burritos. There wasn’t any more meat left. If i were to do it again i would definitely cook 6 lbs and have leftovers. There was plenty of liquid left to have covered another 3 lbs. Hope this helps.
doing this tonight for hubs pot luck tomorrow. wish me luck… I have never made chili verde before.
Any ideas on time if using an Instant Pot?
Made it in my Instant Pot and it came out amazing. Did everything the same; cook on high for 45 min and let it release pressure for 10 min.
Thank you for the info Jennifer! I will have to try.
OHMYGOSH this turned out SOOOO good! Just the right amount of spice! The only seasoning I used was salt and it was DELISH!
My sauce came out super thick and pretty much burned in the crockpot. Any suggestions on thinnning the sauce
water or chicken broth would do great.
My sauce is thinner than I would like ideas on something that will thicken it?
You could leave the lid off for a bit, or you could mix a few tablespoons of cornstarch with water and stir in.
Adding some (2-3 tablespoons? ) of corn meal might work well, too thicken; I’ve done that with some taco-like soups. Just add to simmering soup and let cook a bit. — Getting ready to make the chili for tomorrow!! — Anyone ever add a can of pinto bean to this recipe…I’m feeling compelled to try??
To go along with the Cuban theme try adding a rinsed can of black beans.
This feels like a silly question, but did you remove stems before you threw this in the blender?
Yes, thanks for asking!
What about the seeds?
If you want less heat, remove them 🙂
Any way to make the verde not spicy? Could switch out for different types of peppers?
You could try using bell pepper peppers and anaheims, though anaheims do have some heat.
I used anaheim, pasillas, and jalapenos. I just took off top and seeds and wasnt hot at all. I made sure to blacken all ghe peppers
This is by far one of my most favorite recipes I’ve ever made in the slow cooker. Mouth watering delicious!. Since I was pressed for time I opted for the 4.5 hours on high and it STILL came out perfect.
This was easy to make and sooo delicious!! Thank you for sharing!!p
I followed this recipe closely with two minor changes. I live in Arizona, so having my oven on at 450 deg. for a half hour was out of the question. Instead, I placed all the veggies in my cast iron frying pan with a touch of olive oil. Worked very well. Instead of using a cup of chicken broth, I poured the entire 14 oz. can in because I liked the consistency. Turned out wonderful, except it’s really spicy!!! Will experiment with what peppers I use next time to tone that down, but this is an amazing recipe.
Thank you for the tips Kathy! I hate running my oven this time of year too.
Not what I was looking for. I love chili verde because of the bright tangy green sauce, but mine just tasted like stew when it was done. No tang whatsoever. The sauce was also super watery.
Try using double the amount of tomatillos. I boiled mine for about 7-10 mins making sure they didn’t pop. I also used 1 can of chicken broth and it wasn’t watery at all. However, i took the lid off after 5 hours, so that the liquid could reduce. It was perfect!
Could I use a pork tenderloin? I have one that needs used up.
Yes, I think that would work fine.
Could you make this without cubing and searing the pork?
Yes, will work fine without. You will need to degrease the sauce after cooking though. I lay a paper towel over the sauce then discard it.
It’s not necessary to remove the skins on the peppers? The paper towel to remove excess grease is genius! Thank You!
If you want to remove some heat from the jalapeno, just clean and soak in 7-Up (not diet) for 30 min. We are following a low carb diet so we used coconut flour and ate as a stew without the tortilla wraps. What a great meal.
Can you use skinless boneless chicken breasts?
Yes, that would work great. May need some extra salt at the end.
You might tell your fans that if the chile (or stew or beans or whatever) is too spicy, peel and quarter a couple of potatoes and put them in the pot, cooking for an additional 20-25 minutes. The potatoes will absorb some of the capsacin. DO NOT TRY TO EAT THE POTATOES!
Thank you for the tip! I forgot about that one.
This was excellent. I will be making this recipe again. Super easy and had great flavor. The only thing I would add is more salt and hotter chilies because like our food a little spicier.
Thank you for this great slower cooker recipe!