Your slow cooker does all the hard work for you in this authentic New Mexican pork chile verde recipe. Hatch chiles are the star of this soup, but jalapeños can be used if needed!
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If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. I like to think that expression is applicable to this slow cooker Hatch chile verde recipe. This hearty dish features tender chunks of slow cooked pork, bathed in a killer spicy, zesty, verde sauce that’s made with roasted tomatillos, onions, and of course, Hatch chiles. It’s by far my favorite thing to do with these special chiles, which are grown in New Mexico’s Hatch Valley, and not always easy to come by. But when I am lucky enough to happen upon them, I jump at the chance to make this dish (and you should too).
Hatch chiles are versatile and an excellent balance of sweet and spice, and range from mild to extra hot. This easy homemade salsa verde sauce has a similar flavor profile to my totally delicious weeknight-friendly chile verde burritos, but instead of doing a quick sauce, we go full out here, making the sauce totally from scratch, and I promise you, it’s worth the extra effort.
What’s in This Pork Chile Verde
To make this flavorful and deceptively simple chile verde recipe, you’ll need:
- Tomatillos
- Yellow onion
- Garlic
- Roasted Hatch chiles—I love the heat Hatch chiles pack, but if you’re hesitant, you can always make this with mild green chiles instead (FYI green chiles are the same thing—Hatch chiles are just a specific variety of green chiles).
- Fresh cilantro
- Pork pork sirloin roast
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Butter
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
How to Make Pork Chile Verde
Roasting your veggies is the key to making this sauce sing, as the slight char lends a depth of flavor that accentuates each ingredient’s inherent sweetness. Roasting the tomatillos also mellows the tartness or bitterness some folks find in these little cousins to the gooseberry.
Roast your veggies. Slightly char the onion, garlic, and tomatillos. Carefully transfer the roasted veggies to a blender and pulse until smooth. Add the cilantro leaves and kosher salt and pulse a few more times until mixed.
*Note: To get a head start, I already roasted my Hatch chiles (find out how I roast chiles here)
Brown the pork. Cut the pork into small bites, season it generously with kosher salt and pepper, and brown it in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan. By using both olive oil and butter, I was able to raise the temperature to sear the pork rather than steam it (the combo results in a higher burn point).
Let the slow cooker work its magic. Then, the pork and salsa verde goes into a slow cooker to cook for a few hours until the pork is tender and its juices infuse the sauce with exactly the flavor we were looking for.
Note: Wait, no chicken broth? No liquidy salsa? NOPE! One of the rules of cooking anything in the slow cooker is that the juice you add will most likely be the same at the beginning of the cooking time as it will at the end. There’s no place for the liquid to evaporate since it’s covered the whole time. That’s why there’s no need for extra liquid in this recipe.
Can I Make This on the Stovetop?
Yes, but you’d want to add about a cup of chicken stock to the chile verde and add more throughout the cooking process as needed. Use a heavy bottomed saucepan and keep the lid on the entire time this soup is simmering on your stovetop.
Can I Freeze Pork Chile Verde?
Yes, let it cool completely before freezing it in freezer-safe containers or bags. If you freeze this chile verde in medium-sized mason jars, you can reheat them one at a time any time you need an individual serving of soup.
3 Tips for Making Pork Chile Verde
- Adjust the amount of Hatch chiles in the sauce according to your own heat index. My chiles were pretty spicy this time around, but that may not be the case next time.
- And if you don’t have fresh Hatch chiles, roast 1 or 2 jalapeños with the tomatillos, onion and garlic, then blend together. And at the end of the dish, if you’re craving more heat, simply add a few more chopped roasted chiles to kick it up.
- Also note that you need to buy tomatillos for this recipe and NOT green tomatoes. They look similar, but they have very different flavors and textures.
What to Serve with Pork Chile Verde
- The BEST Spanish Rice (Mexican Rice)
- Chopped Mexican Kale Salad
- THE BEST Refried Beans
- Tortilla chips and Pico de Gallo
- THE BEST Pinto Beans
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
Slow Cooker Pork Chile Verde
Ingredients
- 2 pounds tomatillos , husked and rinsed
- 1 medium yellow onion , peeled and quartered
- 4 cloves garlic , peeled and smashed
- 2-4 roasted hatch chiles , or one fresh jalapeño, stemmed
- ⅓ cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 pounds pork sirloin roast
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Spray a sheet pan with cooking spray and place the tomatillos, quartered onion, and garlic cloves on the sheet pan. If using a jalapeño, add it with the other veggies.
- Roast the vegetables for 20 minutes flipping them at the 10 minute mark. The tomatillos should be lightly charred and the onion beginning to brown.
- Transfer the roasted vegetables and roasted Hatch chiles (or jalapeño) and any remaining juice on the sheet pan to a food processor or blender. Blend until almost smooth. Add the cilantro leaves and kosher salt and pulse a few more times until mixed. Set aside or place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Cut the pork roast into ½-inch by 1-inch pieces of pork. Season well with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Place a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil and the butter. Transfer half of the pork to the skillet and cook for about 4 minutes on each side, turning once or twice until the pork is browned on all sides. Transfer to a slow cooker and repeat with remaining pork.
- Add all of the cooked pork and any bits and juice to the slow cooker. Pour all of the salsa verde on the pork and cover with lid. Set slow cooker to high and cook for 4-5 hours or low for 8-10 hours.
- Serve warm with tortillas or use as sauce for enchiladas.
Notes
Nutrition
More Slow Cooker Soup Recipes You’ll Love
- Tuscan White Bean and Sausage Soup
- Corn Chowder
- Thai Chicken Soup
- Vegetarian Lasagna Soup
- Tortellini Soup with Sausage and Kale
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This is my go-to Chile Verde recipe. It has never failed me and my co-workers are constantly asking for the recipe. To feed a big crowd, I add some potatoes. If the salsa is crazy hot, then I’ll add a bit of tomato sauce to bring down the heat. I make extra salsa and will eat Chile Verde (hot) with cold salsa on top. Such a good combination. Oh…my slow cooker broke recently…how long do I cook in the oven and at what temp? Thank you!
Lydia! I’m thrilled eveyrone loves it so much! I’d actually do this on the stove top for 1-2 hours on low heat.
This recipe looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it. What do you put with it in tortillas? That pic of them looks amazing.
Thanks, Renee, we hope you love it! We love just sprinkling some queso fresco or cotija cheese on top, followed by a little fresh cilantro.
Loved this recipe. Instead of crock pot used pressure cooker method for 35 minute cook time. Paired with cilantro lime rice. This is a keeper recipe.
I’m glad you enjoyed it Lara!
Hi Heidi,
May I respectfully suggest that any time you use New Mexico chiles you spell it chile with an “e” and not an “i”. That is the correct spelling in Spanish which is the way to spelled it in NM. With an “i” is the way it is spelled in Texas and often Arizona.
Thank you, gracias, Monica
Great use of chilis. Can we add capsicum too?
Hello, do you know if this could be made in the InstaPot, if so, how would you adjust the timing? Thank you!
Tried this, didn’t like it. I followed the recipe precisely. I used fresh vegetables from my garden. The chili verde was bland and had no flavor. Possibly add onion, garlic or chili powder? I set the crock pot on low for 7 hours. The pork came out dry. This is a very lean cut of meat so I think the meat can get dried out fast, especially since the pieces are cut small. The cooking time needs to be cut way back or a fattier cut of pork needs to be used or don’t cut the meat into pieces, slow cook it whole and cut it up when it is done.
Ms. Heidi, don’t change a thing.
If you google ‘salsa verde receta’ you can read recipes in spanish. You are there. No bells and whistles. Just a combo of fresh ingredients. THE END.
I was as guilty as your bro-in-law at one time with all the doctoring,
Anyway. Followed your recipe to a ‘t’ it was one my best chili verdes. You know what else? I didn’t even bother browning the cut-up meat.
PS. A pinch of cumin never hurt nothin
This recipe was extremely helpful. Although I did make some adjustments. I used 2 lbs of tomatillos, 5 hatch green chilles, 2 large fresh jalapeños, and two yellow onions. I placed everything in the oven to roast then blended without cilantro.
I then cubed sirloin steak and generously seasoned with salt, pepper, cumin, and garlic powder. Once meat was browned with olive oil (no butter) I then added freshly minced cilantro and let cook for a few seconds then transferred to the crockpot. I made sure to transfer all the juices from the browned meat into the crockpot. Once I added the salsa verde to the crockpot I seasoned to taste with salt, pepper, cumin, and oregano. The end result was amazing and spicy. My fiance loved it. I made burritos with some homemade refried beans.
I also roasted fresh garlic in the oven with the other vegetables. I love garlic so I roasted a full bulb of garlic.
Great recipe but tomatillo and chiles aren’t vegetables, they’re fruit!
Thanks for the clarification John.
I just stumbled upon this recipe and am looking forward to trying it! I have made chile verde in the past, and while it was definitely good, I always like trying new recipes – sometimes there are subtle differences that make a big difference between good and great. BTW, I have the All Clad slow cooker with the cast aluminum insert – it is AWESOME for recipes that require browning or sautéing – and then you truly have a one pot cooking experience. It’s a little pricey, but since I got it, I find that I use it much more often than a traditional slow cooker with ceramic insert :)
I’m eager to make this recipe. I want to use some frozen roasted Hatch chiles that we bought at the market (Trader Joes). They already liquified. Do you know how many cups of liquified Hatch chiles correspond to the four whole chiles called for in your recipe?
You may want to fix your title. “verde” means “green”, so “Green Chile Verde” does not make sense.
I am so grateful to find this recipe! It’s what I’ve been searching for for many years! Thank you!
My wife’s family uses a comal (an iron skillet that is flat) to make the tomatillo salsa. So if you don’t have an oven, that works great.
Smart CarloS! Thanks for the tip.
We just purchased our first Hatch chiles and I found your recipe while searching for what to make with them. I couldn’t wait and was dipping chips into the salsa while it was still warm and in the blender, delicious! We put the pork and salsa into the crockpot overnight, and the kitchen smelled wonderful when we got up this morning, yummmm. I’m eating some of the chili on my fresh eggs, and having some chips and salsa on the side. Thank you for a fabulous, fresh, and easy recipe!
I love this over eggs too, great minds Patty!
I made this last night in my slow cooker, for 4 hours, since it seems to run fairly hot, and it was perfect. I added two potatoes after 2 hours, cut in about 1/2 inch squares, since I like my pork chili with potatoes and we ate it over rice (my husband is from Louisiana, and they eat everything over rice). It was delicious, but quite spicy, as I used hot Hatch chillis, freshly roasted yesterday at our local Gelson’s in California. Thank you, Gelson’s! We can’t always get freshly roasted Hatch chili’s here in CA, but Gelson’s came through.
One year we went to New Mexico in September by car, instead of flying. We thought, oh yeah, this is our opportunity to get some Hatch chilis for ourselves. We bought one “bag” f fresh chilis in Santa Fe, which turned out to be a gunny sack with 30 pounds of chilis! We were several days from home at that point, and carried that sack of chilis around for days, putting it next to the air conditioner in our hotels to try and keep it cool. Then we actually went to Hatch, and I had to buy another 10 pounds in a wreath shape, because, well, we were in Hatch! So we got home with 40 pounds of chilis, where I started roasting some, gave most of them away to friends and family, and still ended up with a freezer full. It was glorious and we still talk about it!
It sounds like you’re a good neighbor to have. Thanks for sharing Jody!!
When I decide to try a recipe after browsing the internet for what I’m looking for, I pretty much follow the recipe exactly as it is written. I only change it by leaving something out I might not like, for instance cumin. But I don’t substitute this or that because I figure you’ve already tweaked it to become something you decided to share. THIS IS DELICIOUS! My husband doesn’t even eat Chili Verde and he tried it last night served along with my Spanish rice and beans and told me it was VERY good and to put it in the book (I have a handwritten recipe book of favorites). I can’t wait to make a bigger batch and share it with my friends who love chile verde. I know they’ll be asking for the recipe. I’d like to link back to your recipe in my food blog too, if that is OK. THANKS!
Looks amazing, but we don’t eat pork. Could another meat be substituted? Chicken? If beef, what cut?
I love REAL Hatch Chile dishes… I’ve lived my entire life in central NM, grown my own Sandia Hots and Big Jim’s, 2 40 lb sacks annually is standard purchase and never once had a tomatillio in my life… New Mexican food is second to none with OUR chile.
No self-respecting New Mexican would ever use tomatillos in this dish. It just wouldn’t happen. Ever.
Amen, not in my kitchen either. (Northern Arizona)
Totally agree. Although this is likely delicious, it isn’t the real deal. Hatch only, all the way.
I was thinking of doing your recipe but changing it by cooking a (maybe bone-in, maybe boned) pork shoulder first and then adding that to your recipe. We also don’t have a slow cooker, so the idea was to cook a pork shoulder in a dutch oven, cooking for the 5 or 6 hours necessary, and then shredding that meat into your recipe, which I would also do in a dutch oven. Is it possible that the meat would get over cooked this way since it would be sort of twice-cooked? And if I wasn’t actually cooking the pork once it hit your recipe how long would I cook the dish at that point? What do you think?
Made this for dinner tonight. First, it’s delicious. The pork is super tender and all the flavors really work well together. I did 4 hours on high and it was perfect. However, it is RIDICULOUS to think that this makes 8-10 servings. I followed the recipe exactly as written and it makes about 4 cups total. TOTAL. Which is maybe 3 servings. 4 if you’re only having a small side dish. Please change the serving number so some poor fool doesn’t make this for a crowd and have to order pizza because there’s not enough!
I have lots of fresh Hatch chiles from NM and cant wait to cook this. However, I dont have a slow cooker. I was planning to use an iron pot with a cover in my oven (Dutch oven). Should I add extra liquid? What temperature should I use? Any other modifications you can offer to your recipe to modify for the oven are appreciated.
Yes, you could add about a cup of chicken stock and then check as you cook to add more.
I just made this for dinner tonight with all the fresh hatch chiles available right now!! SOOO delicious and thank you for the incredibly easy recipe!!
As a green chili junkie from Arizona, I’ve learned a whole lot about Green Chili in my travels over the SW. Green Chili means different things to different people, and most of that is controlled by location. In New Mexico green chili goes on everything, and there are tons of varieties available. What I call green chili being from Arizona is often made with beef. You don’t see that much in NM. They use pork mostly in New Mexico. When you go to the restaurans in New Mexico the offer green chili on almost anything you want. Some places dump canned green chilies on and call it good, and some places actually make a sauce that works on almost everything. Think 505 sauce, but the better home made version.
I could rant on all night about chilies, but I did want to pass along a good tip for those of you attempting this stuff at home. Find frozen green chili when you can. They often have available the different heat ranges in frozen. They are also better if you don’t like the burt taste of fire roasted, which is mostly what you find in the cans. They use steam in the peeling process instead of flame.
Here is another good recipe, the only thing I change is leaving out Cilantro, and adding sour cream, fresh diced red onions, and some cheese maybe, if you’re not doing sour cream. Since I like fire hot chili, sometimes I’ll throw in some finely chopped serrano peppers.
This can be done wih beef, but flour it with salt and pepper, and then sear it first.
Just had my first taste, made w/ chicken thighs, awesome!
Need to get more Hatch chilies and freeze for winter use.
Made this today. It is great! I had never used tomatillos before but have been wanting to. I made it with pork tenderloin using some Hatch chilies I had in the freezer, but added a 1/2 T. Chili Powder. After cooking I put it in my Kitchen Aid to shred the meat for tacos. Wow! Now I want to grow tomatillos. Thanks!
Hi Leslie, that’s great to hear. I have some frozen chiles in my freezer too, and it’s about time I got them out and used them up before it comes time for the freshies again!
I grow tomatillos. Very easy plant. I dehydrate them and use them all year long.
Making now but using chicken
I used jalapeño instead. Do they need to be seeded after roasting?
Just put this in the crock pot to cook – can’t wait to dig in tonight! I do have a question – on the portion where you add the pork to the crock pot, your instructions say “Add all of the cooked pork and any bits and juice to the slow cooker.” Are you saying to pour the oil/butter from the pan in with the pork?
i am making this right now! made the salsa verde last night and i’m just about to brown up the pork and put it in the crock pot. i am also contemplating if i should add lime juice or not. i like my green salsa tangy…and i feel like the acid would do good to balance the sweet, smokey flavor of the fresh stuff and tenderize that pork. we will see what i decide! i’ll let you know how it goes.
Look forward to hearing what you think!
Thanks for the wonderful recipe! Unfortunately, tomatillos aren’t that common here and I will have to use the canned variety. Have you ever used canned tomatillos? Any recommendations as to the quantity? Thanks for your help!!!
i was told if you cant find fresh to use a good green enchilada sauce instead
Your photos are making me want to create this dish right now. Wonderful for a fall dinner idea.
-Jamie
Cumin, Coriander, maybe some lime juice? Did you think about adding either of these ingredients, of did you try and prefer without? I’d like to make it this weekend. Thanks.
Hi! In my first attempt in making it I did use cumin and bay leaves. Feel free to add it in, I just felt the salsa verde gave a great, fresh flavor all on it’s own. Let me know what you do, would love to hear how it turns out.
We add oregano just a bit and cumin to ours.
idk if you’ll ever see this but coriander (northern euro/canada/usa name) = cilantro (spanish name)
I’m on a total green chile kick lately so super stoked to try this recipe!
Do not use tomatillo chiles use Hatch Chiles or Ortega chilies in the can from your Supermarket whole chillies not chopped tomatillos do not have the flavor and taste of a hatch chile new mexico-style Chile is the hatch chile not tomatillos
Canned chillies just are not the same. Better to buy anaheims in the store and roast them yourself than to use them from a can. And for god’s sake, use a period.
Your period comment was excellent. And right on about no canned chili’s!
Recipe calls for both in good porpotions… Tomatillos are NOT chiles…Hatch Are… It is Hatch season – so hooray for all things Hatch! And Tomatillos are always a fantastic base for a verde anything!
Tomatillos are Tomatoes not any kind of chile’s.
They actually aren’t related to tomatoes at all.
Tomatillos are in the nightshade family. Peppers, tomatoes and tomatillos are all related.
Hello – what is the name of the cheese you used to garnish on top?
Looks like Cotija cheese Delicious!
I’m glad that I’m not the only one that sometimes caves and asks! I’ve never been sorry, especially when I finally am able to perfect the recipe and get it to taste just right! This looks so spectacular!