Make Slow Cooker Chile Verde for dinner tonight! It has tender pork cooked in a spicy green chile tomatillo sauce. Excellent with tortillas or just over rice.
Green chile recipes are made perfect in the slow cooker. We also make, Salsa Verde Chicken, Green Chile Pork Loin, Salsa Beef Verde and Green Chile Cheesy Chicken.
Can pork verde be made in the slow cooker?
Yes, and it is one of the best things you can make in it too! The low and slow cooking time creates very tender pork chunks, and the flavor of the green chile sauce only gets better the longer it is cooked.
Recipe Ingredients
- Pork shoulder – Use cubed pork shoulder (often called pork butt).
- All-purpose flour – This is used to coat the pork cubes; it will thicken the sauce.
- Cooking oil – For browning the meat.
- Peppers – Poblano peppers, Anaheim peppers, and jalapeno peppers.
- Other vegetables – White onion, garlic, tomatillos, and cilantro.
- Seasonings – Salt, pepper, cumin, and oregano.
- Chicken broth – This thins the sauce. I choose not to use water, for that can dilute the flavor of the sauce. You can use chicken stock if that is what you have on hand.
Step-by-Step Directions
Step One – Start by roasting peppers, garlic, tomatillos, and onion in the oven under the broiler on a baking sheet.
Step Two – Cook until they are roasted and tender and slightly charred. Next add the cubed pork to a ziplock bag and add the flour. Shake. Add oil to a pan set to medium high heat on the stovetop. Brown the pork, then add to the slow cooker.
Step Three – Add the roasted chile peppers, onion, garlic cloves, tomatillos, and cilantro to a blender (or can use a food processor), and that makes a green salsa. Pour that chile verde sauce over the pork. I also add seasonings and a touch of chicken broth. Below is what the chile verde looks like before cooking.
Step Four – I cook this chile verde for 9 hours low. After 9 hours, the pork is very tender, and the sauce has simmered to beautiful perfection. If you have excess fat or grease on top, soak it up with a paper towel.
How to serve:
- Tacos – Make classic pork chile verde tacos by putting the filling on warmed corn tortillas.
- Burritos – Wrap the green chili pork in flour tortillas along with rice and beans.
- Nachos – Great for nachos. Spread out chips on a sheet pan. Spoon over the pork and sauce, top with cheese, then broil until the cheese is bubbly.
- Toppings – Great as is or topped with cheese, sour cream, diced onion, chopped cilantro, avocado, and a squeeze of lime.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! I would say on a scale of 1 to 10 that this chile verde recipe is an 8 in heat. It has a perfect kick to it. To tone down the spiciness, I suggest serving with rice, cheese, and sour cream.
You can use green bell pepper in place of most of the peppers. The jalapenos and poblanos are the hottest.
Suppose you are short on time, use two 16-ounce jars of salsa verde instead of the fresh vegetables. It will do in a pinch if you are craving chile verde.
You can add sliced carrots and quartered gold potatoes to this recipe at the beginning of the cooking time for a beautiful and flavorful green chile stew.
Chile verde in the slow cooker is very flexible. You can cook a few more hours and it only gets more flavorful and the pork even more tender. Though eventual you can burn it if left too long.
This recipe has added flour that will make a nice thick sauce. After your dish is completed and you want a thicker sauce, make a cornstarh slurry with two tablespoons of cold water and two tablespoons of cornstarch. Add to the hot sauce and cook for 15 minutes longer.
This is the BEST chile verde recipe, great for any day of the week, get togehters and even parties!
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Slow Cooker Chile Verde Recipe
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs. pork shoulder, trimmed 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!
How to Video:
Sarah’s Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
Sally says
What do you recommend if you don’t want it spicy?
Sarah Olson says
You’ll want to use more anaheim peppers than the others.
Sally says
We LOVE this recipe! However, the next time I make it I’ll double the salsa because it’s fantastic by itself with chips. Thank you for posting this recipe!
Jessen Hembree says
Making now? I’m ready to turn on the slow cooker but I didn’t debone and cut mine up first. I missed that instruction and don’t see it. Did anyone else cook bone in?
Robbie says
I slow cooked this on normal for 6 hours and it was amazing! I used a leftover pork shoulder and added a bit more spices than the recipe called for and a bulb of garlic. I didn’t find it overky spicy either. Highly recommend!
Gary Hendricks says
Best Chile Verde I have ever had!
Richard says
Can you use pork chops in this recipe
Sarah Olson says
I don’t see why not.
Lee Uerkwitz says
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?
Sarah Olson says
You can remove it, but I don’t. It tastes great still.
Betsy says
My family loved this as a filler in soft tacos with toppings. I think I’ll try this recipe with chicken.
Amy G says
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!!
Julie says
Can I use a boneless pork loin cause I couldn’t find pork shoulder..
Sarah Olson says
You can, though it can be very lean. It will work though.
Matt Herold says
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.
Sarah Olson says
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.
Doug says
I’ve done this in a cast iron dutch oven, in an oven. 225 for 8 or 9 hours. If your pot is really heavy, it’s almost impossible to overcook it.
I don’t blend the veggies ahead of time either. I put it all in the dutch oven, pork on the bottom, with maybe half a cup of water, and let it all roast all night long. Slow and low. Then I take out the pork, which is falling apart at this point, and blend up all the veggies with a stick blender. If the veggies are on top, they take on a sort of roasted flavor anyway. Shred the pork, toss it back in the sauce, stir it all up, spice it all up until it tastes good, and simmer for a while to meld it all together. It tastes great!
Doug says
I should have added to my comment above, my cast iron dutch oven has a tight fitting lid. That’s key. Don’t do this without it.
N/A says
Can the salsa be made in advance and kept in the refrigerator or freezer?
Sarah Olson says
Yes, that will work great.