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
Slow Cooker Chile Verde
Equipment Needed:
- 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!
Best Chile Verde I have ever had!
Can you use pork chops in this recipe
I don’t see why not.
I am about to start this and I’m a bit confused. I roast poblanos for many Mexican recipes but always remove the charred skin after roasting and before using. There is nothing in the instructions that mentions removing the skin. Will the charred skin taste bitter in the salsa?
You can remove it, but I don’t. It tastes great still.
My family loved this as a filler in soft tacos with toppings. I think I’ll try this recipe with chicken.
I’m cooking this now!! I can’t wait to try it! I took the seeds out of the jalepenos to tone it down. My husband can add fresh peppers if he wants it spicy!!
Can I use a boneless pork loin cause I couldn’t find pork shoulder..
You can, though it can be very lean. It will work though.
I love the recipe and I want to try it but I don’t have a slow cooker. I do have a dutch oven with lid (Cocotte) that I think would work well but I have no idea how long I can safely leave it on. Would the burner all the way at the low setting even work? Seems like it would be pretty difficult to get it right using a burner but I’d gladly cook it 9 hours if I could this way. I also like the idea of browning the pork in the same dutch oven to get the fond.
Hi Matt! It won’t take as long on the burner, check out this stove top version. https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chile_verde/ You’ll have to keep an eye on it and stir often I’m sure.
Can the salsa be made in advance and kept in the refrigerator or freezer?
Yes, that will work great.
Ugh i really wish this recipe had ingredient amounts listed!! I made due but bought a little more than needed. Please list ingredient amounts next time, thanksss
There is a full recipe in a card at the bottom. It’s printable if needed.
How can you alter this for a pressure cooker instead of a slow cooker?
Hi! I think there is plenty of liquid to do this in the pressure cooker. Use a roast setting and it should do great.
I noticed you didn’t remove the seeds from the peppers. Doesn’t it make it too spicy?
Chile verde is very spicy. Yes, it is spicy but that’s what most like about it. You can take the seeds out if you want to tone it down.
Has anybody made this?
Yes! Love this recipe, a little time consuming, but so good
Can use chicken instead? If so do you think it will take 9hr?
You can probably get away with 7-8 hours with chicken
Just wanted to say “Thank You” for sharing this with us (Came across YouTube video first) -my mouth was just watering – I’m a huge fan of Latin food.
I cannot wait to make this for the family.
Good day.
This recipe is ridiculous. The purpose of a Slow cooker is not getting everything in the kitchen dirty. I just threw everything in the cooker and forget all the rest of the cooking up in the oven and on the stove. Silly
I don’t know how yours turned out, but the comment was funny as hell 🙂
I have many dump and go recipes. And some more complicated and true to their original recipe. No matter what I do someone will complain.
I love this recipe . Everyone always complains about something lol
That is a stupid review. The purpose of a slow cooker has nothing to do with how dirty your kitchen gets
Can I cook this on high for 4.5 hrs if I need it by a certain time?
Yes, that should do fine. Keep the lid on the entire time.
I use dutch oven to cook the meat quicker much faster than crockpot on high.