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Colorado Green Chili (Chili Verde)

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours
Servings 6 servings
Calories 382kcal

Ingredients

  • 4 pound pork shoulder or butt cut into 1" cubes (note 1)
  • 4 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt divided
  • 5 poblano chiles cut in half, stems and seeds removed
  • 1 jalapeño cut in half, stems and seeds removed (note 2)
  • 1 1/4 pounds tomatillos husks and stems removed. Rinsed well (note 3)
  • 1 onion quartered
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 2 tablespoons avocado or vegetable oil (note 4)
  • 2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • pinch ground cloves
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 teaspoons Sugar, Lakanto or Swerve (note 5)
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • ½ cup minced fresh cilantro plus extra for serving

Serve with:

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Prep. Place cubes pork (4 pounds) in a large bowl. Sprinkle with 3 teaspoons of salt and toss to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour. Adjust your oven racks, so that one rack is 6" from the broiler, and the second is in the lower portion of your oven--with enough room in between to fit your dutch oven with the lid on. Preheat oven to broil and line a baking sheet with foil.
  • Broil veggies. Place tomatillos (1 1/4 pounds), poblanos (5), onion slices (1), garlic (5 cloves), jalapeno (1), and poblano on the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil and toss to coat. Make sure the jalapeno and poblanos are both skin side up, then toss in the preheated oven and broil for 3-7 minutes. The tops of your veggies should start to brown-- flip the onions, garlic, and tomatillos, then return your pan to the oven and continue to roast for 3-6 more minutes. (Important! All broilers are different. One oven I cooked for 3 min on each side, the other it was longer. Keep a careful eye on your food here).
  • Puree veggies. Turn broiler off, and adjust the oven heat to 325 F. Once cool enough to handle, peel the skin from the poblanos and discard. Place all roasted veggies into a food processor and pulse using 1 second intervals until the veggies are coarsely pureed. Make sure to clean off the sides occasionally to fully incorporate.
  • Simmer, then braising. Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the cumin (2 teaspoons), oregano (1 teaspoon), chili powder (1 teaspoon), cinnamon (1/8 teaspoon), and cloves (pinch). Toast until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the pureed veggies, bay leaves (2), sugar/Lakanto or Swerve (2 teaspoons), pepper (1 teaspoon), and 1 1/2 teaspoons of remaining salt. Add the pork and toss to coat. Bring chili to an aggressive simmer. Then remove from heat, place the lid on top, and toss in the preheated oven. Cook for 1 1/2, until the pork is tender. To test, remove the dutch oven from the oven and try shredding the pork with 2 forks--it should literally fall apart! If not, toss it back in the oven until it does. As you can see from the video, my pork was larger than 1" cubes (closer to 2" cubes) and took an additional 40 minutes to cook until tender.
  • Finishing touches. Once pork is tender, remove the bay leaves. Stir in cilantro (1/2 cup). Ladel into bowls and serve with a dollop of sour cream, cotija, lime wedges, and tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Notes

  1. Pork butt vs. shoulder - Pork butt has more fat throughout and tends to be more tender when braised. That said, pork shoulder is easier to find, and is delicious as well. They're very similar cuts (right next to each other in fact), so don't worry if you grab one or the other.
  2. Want to make this chili spicy? (Currently, it's mild!) Keep the jalapeno seeds or half of them. If you aren't sure, try making this recipe as is, then adjusting the spice level once the ingredients have simmered together, and you've taste-tested it. You can add hot sauce or cayenne pepper to up the heat. 
  3. Cleaning tomatillos - after peeling back the husk, you'll notice a sticky residue on the tomatillos. You'll want to rinse this off before roasting.
  4. Oil - Opt for a mild-tasting oil with a high smoke point, like avocado, safflower, sunflower, vegetable oil, or 
  5. Lakanto/Swerve or sugar - Lakanto and Swerve are both keto sweeteners I use to replace sugar. They can be used as a 1:1 swap with traditional sugar, so if using a different substitute, adjust accordingly.

Nutrition

Calories: 382kcal | Total Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 19g | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 7g | Net Carbs: 10g | Sugar Alcohol: 1g

Delicious recipe from Lindsey Hyland // www.thelittlepine.com