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Chile Verde combines authentic Mexican flavors with tender pork in a spicy green sauce that will knock your socks off!
Chile Verde is an Actual Award Winner!
This exact Chile Verde recipe comes from a woman in our church congregation, who brought a pot of the savory soup to a chili cook-off. It won the big prize by a landslide and I could not wait to ask her for permission to share her recipe here on Favorite Family Recipes. So when you’re digging into a bowl of this spicy goodness, think of Diana. Thank you, Diana, for sharing your delicious recipe!
What Is Chile Verde?
This recipe gets its name and rich green color from green enchilada sauce and green chilies along with a shot of green Tabasco sauce. A traditional Chile Verde dish is made with tender pieces of pork, chunks of beef, or a blend of both, sort of like a stew. Chicken is a delicious option, too.
Can I Make Chile Verde in the Crock Pot?
Absolutely! See the recipe card below for crock pot instructions, but whether it’s on the stove top, in a Dutch oven, in a pan in the oven or the crock pot, this recipe is so simple to throw together and even more delightful to eat!
How To Serve Chile Verde
This fork tender Chile Verde is delicious served in a bowl all on its own, but it definitely has some kick to it. Cool it down with some shredded cheese (white cheddar or Monterrey Jack is delicious) and sour cream. You can also serve it a variety of ways:
- Nacho style on top of a pile of crisp tortilla chips and salsa verde on the side.
- Over rice
- Wrapped up in warm flour tortillas or corn tortillas
- With a side of Spanish rice and beans topped with fresh cilantro or diced jalapenos.
Can Chile Verde Be Frozen?
Pork Chile Verde freezes beautifully, and can last up to three months in the freezer. I like to make two batches at once, and freeze one for later. To reheat, thaw it out in the refrigerator, then warm up on the stove or in individual servings in the microwave.
How To Make Chile Verde Sauce Thicker
To thicken up your soup, mix a little cornstarch in water and add to the pot. If it’s too thick, thin it out with some extra chicken broth.
Ingredients for this Recipe
Don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients in this recipe. Many of these spices are pantry staples that you have on hand, like ground cumin, yellow onions, salt and black pepper. A couple of notes about the recipe:
- For the pork – use boneless pork ribs, pork shoulder, pork butt, boneless pork shoulder, or basically any cut of pork will work.
- If you don’t have chicken broth AND stock on hand, omit the two tablespoons of stock that the recipe calls for. I’ve left it out a few times when I didn’t have any stock in the house and it still tastes delicious!
- For extra flavor, add a bay leaf, ground coriander, some garlic cloves or dried oregano to the sauce.
- Jalapeno peppers or serrano peppers can be pretty spicy. Cut down on some of that heat by removing the seeds from the jalapenos which is where the heat lives.
- You’ll find that 27 ounces is a lot when looking for chilis, so you can buy them whole in large cans at the grocery store. They chop up easily in the food processor or blender and it’s much cheaper than buying several small cans.
More Delicious Chili Recipes
We adore soup season around here. Nothing beats a cold evening like a bowl of warm, nourishing soup or chili. Check out some more of our favorite chili recipes:
How to Make Pork Chile Verde
Chile Verde
Video
Ingredients
- 2 pounds pork diced (I used boneless pork ribs)
- 1 cup onion diced
- 14 ounces chicken broth
- 1½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 ½ tablespoons chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon celery salt
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- ½ tablespoon jalapeno
- 4 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- ½ tablespoon chili powder more or less, to taste
- 1 tablespoon green Tabasco sauce
- 10 ounces green enchilada sauce
- 27 ounces canned green chiles chopped or diced
- 8 ounces canned green chiles pureed
- 1-2 cans white beans drained and rinsed (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a large pot, brown the pork and drain.Â
- Add onion and chicken broth (will not cover meat entirely). Cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring often.Â
- Add garlic powder, chicken stock, celery salt, cornstarch, oregano, cumin, jalapeno, cilantro, chili powder, and green Tabasco sauce. Stir. Cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring often to avoid sticking.
- Add green enchilada sauce and stir. Simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add chopped green chilies and simmer for 15 minutes.Â
- Add pureed green chilies, white beans and salt to taste.
- Serve with cheese, sour cream, rice, chips and/or flour tortillas.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This looks so delicious and tasty! My husband is going to love this recipe! I can’t wait to give this a try!
I love a good spicy chili and I’m always looking for new and original recipes. This green chili fits the bill!
Such a wonderfully comforting meal! So many incredible flavors. I love that you included instructions on how to make it in the slow cooker too! Yum!
EXCELLENT! I received a ton of compliments and took home the “Fan Favorite” award in my company’s Chili Cook Off. Thank you for posting!
What cut/type of Pork did you use?
I like to use boneless pork ribs!
The recipe is a keeper!! So delicious and so much flavor!! I always get TONS of compliments and people requesting the recipe!!
Did this recipe used to be made with chicken? I have made this recipe many times but it’s been a couple years. I have always used chicken because I thought that’s what the recipe called for. I never knew it was pork. Woops! Well I can attest to it tasting great with shredded chicken as well. 😂
Honestly, I’ve done it with both! I make a white chicken chili that is similar to this and they’re both great.
This recipe is delicious and perfect! Thanks!!
Very delicious and flavorful. I’d make sure to cover the pot when simmering the first 2 1/2 hours. Thank you for sharing this recipe. Really enjoyed making it and eating it as well.
You sat 2 Tablespoons chicken broth—do ya mean 2 cups ?
Nope! The recipe is correct!
I will be trying this recipe this weekend.
Chicken stock vs chicken broth (what’s the difference): Chicken stock tends to be made more from bony parts of the chicken, whereas chicken broth is made more out of the meat. Chicken stock tends to have a fuller mouth feel and richer flavor, due to the gelatin released by long-simmering bones. [Foodnetwork(dot)com/recipes/chicken-stock-vs-chicken-broth]
The Best Green Chile Verde Soup! I tried so many of them and I was looking for that perfect one.
I just changed one thing. Instead of purred chilis from a can I add a pound of my mild roasted chilis from fall harvest. I keep them in a freezer at home. You can also buy them in a grocery store in a frozen section. It makes this Green Chile soup more flavorful. Thank you so much. Looking forward trying your other recipes.
Oh yeah, I would imagine the chiles from your garden would taste WAY better than canned! Thank you for coming back and sharing!
Has anyone ever made this in an instant pot yet?? Busy mom of 5 over here and if I can cut down the cook time that would be awesome!
I may attempt it and see how it turns out!
We haven’t made it in the IP yet but I am sure it would be great! Let us know if you try it and how it turns out!
I made this for a chili cook-off in my building tonight. I tweaked it just a tad. It was absolutely delicious and I won first place!!! Thanks for the recipe!!
Woohoo!!! That is amazing, congrats on the big win! Hope you walked home with an awesome prize (and leftovers! lol– it really heats up well. YUM!)
I doubled the recipe bc I live in a high-rise. Lots of tasters! There wasn’t an ounce left! I will most definitely be making this again!!!! DELISH!!! I also made homemade guacamole and cheese to top it off with! It certainly doesn’t even need toppings bc it’s that good!!! Thanks again!
Does anyone know how many calories are in this?
We don’t have calorie counts on our recipes yet, but all our recipes can easily be added to Nutrition Calculators online such as LiveStrong or My Fitness Pal. Hope this helps!
I made this yesterday for a St. Patty’s Day chili cook off and won first place! I sped up cook time by making the pork in the Instant Pot then moving everything else to stovetop.
WOOHOO!! That is awesome!! Congratulations!! Great idea using the Instant Pot for this recipe, too. Next time I am totally going to try that!
Just wondering how you would make this in a crockpot? The seasonings sound great and everyone’s comments are fantastic… any way you might try? Thank you
At the bottom of the recipe card, there are instructions on how to make in a slow cooker. Hope this helps!
I would like to use this for a soup exchange. Can you tell me how many servings this makes? Thank you!
I would say it serves 8-10 regular servings.. if people are just wanting a small amount, you should be fine keeping the recipe as it is. If it is the main course for everyone, I would consider doing 1.5x the recipe.
Just wondering if this is better the second day, like most other chilis are? Does anyone know?
Hi Roni- It is still awesome the next day… definitely just as good as (possibly even better than) the first day!
Oh dear…this looks amazing! I am definitely going to give this one a go…stat!!
How much does this recipe yield? I’m in a soup club and need to make 8 quarts. I’ve made this in the past and used pork butt. It was amazing.
Hmmm I haven’t measured it in quarts before. How many servings do you need?
I need like 11
Did you dice the pork butt before cooking as the recipe says or leave it whole to cook then shred?