Pork Chili Verde: 3 Dishes 1 Recipe

This recipe for Pork Chili Verde should be in everyone’s arsenal. Not only is it a cinch to make and deeply flavorful, but it also transforms into 3 different dishes in a snap.  Keep scrolling down for the video!

Pork Chili Verde, Pork Chili Verde Soup, Pork Chili Verde Tacos

What is Pork Chili Verde?

In a nutshell, chili verde is a salsa made with tomatillos, onion, garlic, cumin, chicken broth (or chicken stock) and some limes.

Ingredients: tomatillos, pork, cumin, garlic, onion, olive oil, salt, lime, chicken broth, cilantro and butter

In this recipe, I roast the tomatillos to deepen the flavor and bring out their delicious tangy flavor.  My favorite bit about this recipe is breaking out the blender! Any recipe, I can break out the blender is a plus!  I love cooking with my blender.  It’s just so much FUN!  Pork Chili Verde is simply pork slowly simmered in this scrumptious chili verde sauce.

First the the paper off the tomatillos and wash them. Then rub them with olive before roasting them in the oven.

Pork Chile Verde Recipe

1. Take the paper off 2 pounds of tomatillos, wash them and rub them with olive oil
2. Roast tomatillos on a baking sheet in the oven at 350F until they burst and char up (about 20-30 min)
3. While they’re in the oven, cut a pork loin (or pork shoulder) into 2 inch squares and cook them over medium high heat until they are browned on all sides
4. Add the tomatillos, their liquid, a chopped onion, 1 tablespoon cumin, 1/2 tablespoon salt and 1 cup of chicken broth into a food processor and BLITZ away!
5. Pour salsa over pork and simmer until fork tender (about 30 minutes to 2 hours).  The longer you simmer, the more tender the pork!

1) Fresh tomatillos, unwrapped, washed and oiled; 2) Roasted tomatillos; 3) In the blender; 4) Pouring salsa over pork; 5) Simmering pork in salsa verde

YouTube Video

If you’re like me and love recipe videos, here’s my video of this recipe.  Don’t mind my butter fingers.  I kept dropping things all throughout the video!  Ugh!  What a day! Lol ?

3 easy and delicious dishes 

1. Tacos – The first time I had pork chili verde was with soft corn tortillas, rice, and refried beans. Turn your kitchen counter into a taco bar! Pull out the tortillas, rice, sour cream or Mexican crema (oh so good!), cheese, and avocados and make your own Pork Chili Verde Tacos.  
2. Soup – It’s excellent as a soup. If the sauce is a little thick, add chicken broth until you get soup consistency you like.  
3. Main Dish – Sometimes I’ll cut the pork into larger pieces (2 inch cubes) and let them simmer in the sauce like that. Then I’ll serve them for dinner over white rice with a cucumber avocado salad. 

Can you make Chili Verde without pork?

You bet you can! Chicken Chili Verde is just as lip smackin’ tasty as its pork brethren. A great hack is to simply use a store bought rotisserie chicken and add that and it’s juices to your simmering salsa verde. Since it’s already cooked, it doesn’t have to simmer long. This Chili Verde recipe without meat is simply a roasted Salsa Verde. Let it cool completely, chill it in the refrigerator and serve it up with tortilla chips. You’ll have a big hit!

Can you freeze it?

No matter if you’ve made a roasted Salsa Verde, Chicken or Pork Chili Verde, they all FREEZE exceptionally well!  Label a 1 gallon freezer bags (with a zipper), fill them (not too full) and freeze them laying down.   

After they’re rock solid, stand them up vertically in your freezer.  That makes it easy to pull one out like a book on a shelf.  

Label the ziplock and make sure to date it too.

What’s the best way to thaw it out?

There are a couple ways to defrost it.  My favorite way is to pull it out of the freezer and drop it right into my sous vide bath at 145F.  I can literally forget about it for hours until we’re ready to eat! 

You can also thaw it under hot water and pour into a pot on the stove to simmer or zap it in the microwave.  For long cold weekends, put it in a slow cooker and dip into all day.

What goes well with Pork Chili Verde?

When our Mexican exchange son, Juanig, was living with us, he used to make a cucumber salad with salt, lime and cilantro.  I love serving this salad with Pork Chili Verde because the lime flavors in both dishes really compliment each other.

Tortillas or rice do a beautiful job sopping up the roasted verde sauce.

A side of Turmeric Honey Glazed Carrots, corn sprinkled with Tajin (Trader Joe’s has a chili lime spice very close to this) and fresh sliced tomatoes both go great.

Tajin is also great on salads, chili, pork, grilled veggies, chicken, etc.

If you’re looking for a most refreshing beverage to partner along side try a hibiscus tea, a green crisp wine like Vinho Verde or a crisp beer with a bite like an English Blond Ale (Black Lab and Newcastle make nice ones).  Actually a Corona Light with a wedge of lime and a shot of Jose Cuervo hits the spot too.

5 from 1 vote

Print

Pork Chili Verde

Pork Chili Verde Recipe - Authentic Mexican flavors made easy in your own kitchen. It gets eaten up so fast! | www.lakesidetable.com

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 2 hours

Servings 6 people

Calories 350 kcal

Author Madalaine McDaniel

Ingredients

• 2 pounds pork loin browned and cubed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 large onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 pound fresh tomatillos washed with husks removed
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
• 2 limes

Equipment

• large skillet or soup pot with lid
• cuisine art or blender
• cookie sheet
• knife and cutting board
• measuring cups and spoons
• tongs

Instructions

Roasted Salsa Verde

1. Use 1 tablespoon olive oil and rub the washed and husked tomatillos.  Place them on a cookie sheet.  Put them on the top rack and bake at 425º F until they have browned and most have burst.  Approximately 5-10 minutes.

2. While tomatillos are in the oven, peel the onion paper off your onion and give it a rough chop.  Place it in the cuisine art or blender with the cumin, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup of cilantro and garlic.

3. When the tomatillos are done let them cool slightly.  Then put them in the blender and blitz on high until smooth.  Set aside.

Chili Verde

1. Cut pork into 2 inch cubes and season with salt and pepper.  
2. Heat the 1-2 tablespoons olive oil and butter in the large skillet or soup pot.  Brown the pork well*.  Drain off any fat.

3. Add the roasted salsa verde you've set aside and the chicken broth to the pork.  Simmer for 30 minutes to 2 hours.**  Add more chicken broth as needed to achieve desired texture.  

4. Right before serving juice 1 of the limes over everything.  Cut the other lime in wedges to serve with the chili.  Sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

Recipe Notes

*I like to brown the tenderloins first, then cube them and then brown them again.  This is an extra step and it's not necessary.  I do it only because I think it's easier to hold and cut the tenderloin after it's been browned.  And I don't like to cut into a raw pork loin.  I'm weird. ?

**If you can let your chili verde simmer for 2 or 3 hours on a very low simmer, then do that.  The pork just falls apart and it's divine!  The longer you simmer it, the more tender it gets.

Meal #1:  Serve with tortillas, rice, cheese and a few wedges of lime!

Meal #2: Serve over a bed of rice with a cucumber avocado lime salad.

Meal #3:  Enjoy as a soup with extra sauce!  If it's too thick add a little chicken broth until you like the consistency. 

 

Nutrition Facts

Pork Chili Verde

Amount Per Serving

Calories 350 Calories from Fat 108

% Daily Value*

Fat 12g18%

Monounsaturated Fat 0g

Potassium 0mg0%

Carbohydrates 8.7g3%

Fiber 2g8%

Protein 18g36%

Vitamin A 0IU0%

Vitamin C 0mg0%

Calcium 0mg0%

Iron 0mg0%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.