This Pretty Darn Good Chili Verde is, well, pretty darn good chili Verde. Tender chunks of pork in a tasty, slightly hot, green sauce. Perfect for tostadas, enchiladas, or just eat a bowl of it.
The making of Pretty Darn Good Chili Verde
Pretty Darn Good Chili Verde is more than Pretty Darn Good Chili Verde, it is an excellent pretty darn good chili Verde. Do you know how I know? It's on at least four different sites, and all the recipes are mine. Yep, it's tough when you are in competition with yourself.
"This is the new and improved Pretty Darn Good Chili Verde recipe"
I first wrote this recipe a while back and posted it on a site called Group Recipes under the name of SoSousMe. This was before I became LindySez, and since they wouldn't let me change my name on their site, I continued to post on both their site and my own. Now that I'm so SEO (Search Engine Optimization) savvy, I know not to do this. This is a bad thing, having the same title in more than one place. So live and learn. Part of SEO is, looking for ways to make your recipe title and search "unique". In doing so, I put Pretty Darn Good Chili Verde into Google and found...
Green Chili Recipes
Recipe Bridge.com
Cook Eat Share
And all the recipes are mine. I'm flattered.
I guess I could just stop right here, and not post the recipe at all. You could just go to one of the above links and get the original recipe. But then, you wouldn't have the benefit of my tweaking it over the years. Not a lot, but enough to make pretty darn good chili Verde into pretty damn good chili Verde.
A video showing the complete in-depth making of Pretty Darn Good Chili Verde
What is Chili Verde?
Chili Verde is a green chili stew made with chunks of pork. Most of the recipes I found online use a great amount of tomatillo, which is a member of the nightshade family, related to the cape gooseberry, not an unripe tomato. But the operative word in Chili Verde is "chili" and while chili may also be a type of food, red or green, I think it should also include a chile or two, or three, or four. So I include those as well as the tomatillos to make a well-rounded "Chili Verde". And I only found a few that used any tomato in them, which I find adds a nice depth of flavor.
So What do you need to make Pretty Darn Good Chili Verde?
(MIA from the photo, canned diced tomato)
Ingredients include:
- Pork - about 5 pounds of it. Use pork butt or pork shoulder for best results as they have sufficient fat in them. You need the fat to keep the Chili fork-tender and moist.
Chiles, lots of chilies...
- Poblano - Poblano peppers are fairly mild but give a good flavor to the stew
- Anaheim - Also fairly mild, but can be hotter than a Poblano. Also called California chile, or New Mexico chile. Hatch chiles can be used also, but may skew hotter than an Anaheim.
- Jalapeno - Jalapeno peppers can range from 3500 to 8000 on the Scoville scale.
- Serrano. - This is a good "build your heat" pepper, with a Scoville between 10,000 and 23,000. I start with two, and depending on their heat, may add another one. With these compact peppers, I generally leave the seeds in.
- Tomatillos - A member of the nightshade family, tomatillos can be found in most supermarkets and all ethnic Latin markets. Tomatillos are covered with papery skin, which is very sticky, but must be removed prior to use. If you can't find fresh tomatillos, canned ones will work.
- Onion - White onion preferred.
- Canned diced tomato in juice
- Cilantro - Optional but if you don't hate cilantro, this gives a nice rounded flavor
- Spices - Garlic, Dried Oregano, Cumin Powder, Salt, Pepper
Pretty Darn Good Chili Verde - New and Improved Version
So from the original recipe, here's what I have done differently.
I only roast the larger peppers and keep the jalapeño and Serrano raw.
I roast the tomatillos, instead of leaving them raw. Do this easily by placing them under the broiler.
And then I added a handful of cilantro leaves to my blended ingredients to add a depth of flavor.
Use pulse on your blender or food processor to roughly chop the ingredients.
So here's to the new Pretty Darn Good Chili Verde!
This chili is wonderful served with corn or flour tortillas, or try it with some Jalapeno Cornbread.
Tips for Success
- Buy the right pork. Lean pork will not make a good chili Verde, so make sure to get some pork shoulder or butt with fat running through the meat.
- Take the time to properly brown your meat, and make sure the meat is dry before browning. Wet meat steams. So pat the meat with a paper towel to get it dry.
- Do not crowd the pot when browning the meat, do it in batches.
- Test the heat of your jalapeno and serrano peppers before committing them to the pot. You can always add some heat at the end, but it's hard to remove it once it's there.
- Fresh is best. But in a pinch, you could use canned chiles and/or tomatillos.
- Covering the chili with parchment paper or a round of foil, directly over the meat, will help keep it moist.
To Store:
Freeze the chili Verde in freezer-safe containers for up to 6 months. If storing longer, I recommend you transfer the chili to a vacuum seal food storage bag.
Want more unique and delicious Chili Recipes? Try one of these:
Easy Homemade Spicy White Bean Chili - Made with white beans and chicken, both low-fat and delish!
Chili Colorado - the Red Version of Chili Verde. Actually, most Mexican restaurants use pork rather than beef, but I prefer beef.
Beef Chipotle Chili with Beer - A robust beef and bean chili made with beer - it's the perfect Tailgate party chili.
3-Bean Chili Con-Carne - Some new twists on an old favorite.
Pretty Darn Good Chili Verde
Ingredients
- 4 - 5 pounds pork shoulder or pork butt cut into 1 - inch cubes, large pieces of fat removed
- 3 whole poblano peppers
- 8 whole Anaheim chile peppers
- 2 whole jalapeno peppers
- 2 whole serrano peppers or to taste
- 1 onion diced (preferably a white onion) about 2 cups
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 - 2 tablespoons flour
- 8 - 10 to matillos husked washed
- 1 14 - ounce can of diced tomatoes with their juice
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano or to taste
- 1 teaspoon cumin or to taste
- 1 large handful cleaned cilantro leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
- Chicken broth or water as needed
Instructions
- Roast the poblano and Anaheim peppers on a broiler pan under the broiler, or over a flame until the skin blisters. Put them into a bowl covered with plastic wrap. Allow to sit for about 15 minutes. Peel the skin off, seed and dice. Set aside. (Do not run the pepper underwater as this just dilutes their flavor, a little bit of skin hanging on won't hurt anything.) Dice the jalapeño and Serrano peppers. Place the tomatillos under the broiler until they begin to blister. Remove and set aside.
- Meanwhile; pour a small amount of oil in a large Dutch oven; pat the pork dry with paper towels then season them with salt and pepper; begin browning, in small batches, until they are all browned. Remove to a separate bowl as they brown.
- Put the tomatoes along with their juice, the tomatillos, the jalapeño, and Serrano peppers along with the cilantro leaves into the work bowl of a food processor or blender; pulse them until coarsely chopped. Set aside.
- Heat the oven to 325°F.
- When the pork is all browned, lower the heat; add the onions and garlic; saute until the onion and garlic are soft; scraping up any browned bits; (add a little extra oil, or water if the pot is too dry); stir in the flour and sauté for a few minutes; return the meat with any accumulated juices; along with the tomatillo and tomato mixture, stir, add the peppers, oregano, cumin, salt, and pepper. Stir well. Bring to a simmer; cover and place into the oven and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 2 ½ to 3 hours the meat should be very tender. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with some good corn and/or flour tortillas or cornbread. Chopped cilantro goes well on top; as well as Cojita cheese.
- You could also cook this slowly on the stove-top, although I do find that all-around oven heat just works better; in a crock-pot, a pressure cooker, or Instant Pot. For the crock-pot, cook on low for 8 hours, high for 4, or as your manufacturer directs. If using the pressure cooker, or Instant Pot, cook for 1 hour once pressure has been reached then use the natural method to release the pressure.
Jessica
Is there another meat that I can use in place of the pork, perhaps, chicken? Otherwise, this looks super yummy and fulfilling!
LindySez
Hi Jessica, You could use chicken thighs cut up, but of course, it would not need to cook as long. The flavor would be good, but only cook it for about an hour or so...Cheers ~ Lindy
Elle
I'd choose your updated version over any others any day Linda. Love reading where others have tried your recipes and are so thrilled, I need to get up off my btm!
Cher
You are truly amazing, Linda! This is another recipe to add to the list of "Fabulousness"!!
LindySez
Thanks Cher. Remember, if you like it hotter, add more Serrano or jalapeño chilies, or leave more seeds in.
Christine Amey
Hi Linda,
Heard about your website thru Brian...went directly there. I chose the Pretty Darn Good Chili Verdi for starters. Made it for SuperBowll Sunday. I t was perfect for a group and more than "pretty darn good". The true test for authenticity was to have a taste test with the cellar crew. Of course they would prefer it a little hotter (I removed most of the seeds from the serrano and jalapena). Big Success...thank you for a great recipe....I'll be trying more and keep you posted.
LindySez
I'm glad you stopped by and took a look and made something (and it turned out well, always a plus plus). That's one great thing about that recipe, you can make it as hot as you would like it … next time just chop up some raw jalapeño and let them add their own 🙂 Cheers