Pork

Green Chile Pork Verde

Tangy green chile and tomatillo with a real kick. Made without MSG.

Prep 5 min LOW 8 hours HIGH 4 hours Serves 8

Green Chile Pork Verde, finished and plated — Serving suggestion

This is the spiciest thing we make, and it's still not what most people would call hot — it's bright and tangy first, with warmth behind it.

Verde means green, and the green here comes from two things: roasted green chiles and tomatillos. Tomatillos are what give verde its distinctive tartness, and they're the ingredient most home versions skip.

In New Mexico this is practically a food group. Put it on eggs, in burritos, over rice, or eat it out of a bowl with tortillas.

Why you'll love it

Actually has some heat.

The only recipe in the savory lineup with a real kick.

Made without MSG.

One of three in the pork line.

Tangy, not just spicy.

Tomatillo gives it a brightness that most chile dishes lack.

Goes on absolutely everything.

Eggs, burritos, rice, nachos, or straight from a bowl.

What's already in the packet

Green chile powderTomatillo powderGround cuminGarlicOnionPork bouillonMexican oreganoLime powderCilantroBlack pepperThickener

Real green chile and tomatillo powder, with cumin, lime and cilantro behind them.

Choose your setting

Recommended

LOW · 8 hours

Low and slow gives collagen time to melt and flavors time to build. It is the setting this recipe was written for.

HIGH · 4 hours

For when you started late. It gets dinner done, but the texture is better on LOW.

Done at 195–205°F

Shoulder again. It won't shred properly below 195°F.

You'll Need

3–4 lbs Pork (pick one below)
1½ cups Water or chicken broth
1 packet Cook SLO Green Chile Pork Verde

Pick your pork

3–4 lbs

Pork shoulder (Boston butt)

3 lbs

Boneless country ribs

3 lbs

Pork sirloin roast

Roasts and chops 145°F, ground pork and ham 160°F

Add vegetables

Diced green chilesSliced onion (fresh or frozen)Jalapeño slicesDiced potatoes (fresh or frozen)Whole garlic clovesCanned pinto beansCanned hominy

Sliced onion (fresh or frozen), diced potatoes (fresh or frozen) and whole garlic cloves at the start, on the bottom; diced green chiles and jalapeño slices at the start; canned pinto beans at the start, or the last hour if you want them whole; canned hominy in the last thirty minutes.

When to add what

When	Add	Why
At the start, on the bottom	Sliced onion (fresh or frozen)Diced potatoes (fresh or frozen)Whole garlic cloves	Root vegetables cook slower than meat. They belong closest to the heat, and they hold the meat up out of the liquid. Cut everything an inch and a half or larger — smaller pieces disintegrate.
At the start, to soften into the sauce	Diced green chilesJalapeño slices	These break down and give their flavour to the pot. Right for a gravy or a fajita, wrong if you want them to hold their shape.
Canned beans, drained and rinsed	Canned pinto beans	At the start for chili and stews, where they take on the seasoning and a few break down to thicken the pot. In the last hour if you want them whole.
Canned corn and hominy, drained	Canned hominy	Last 30 minutes. Fully cooked already, so anything longer turns it to mush.

Two ways to do this

If you're home

Follow the timing table above and add things when they're due.

About an hour is all you need

If you're out all day

Put in at the start as normal: sliced onion (fresh or frozen), diced potatoes (fresh or frozen), whole garlic cloves, diced green chiles, jalapeño slices and canned pinto beans. These need the full cook anyway.

Add canned hominy when you walk in the door. Forty-five minutes to an hour on LOW is enough for all of it, and it will taste better than if it had cooked all day.

If you would rather not touch it at all, put everything in at the start and use frozen where you can. It will be softer than the timing above intends and the greens will lose their colour, but it will taste good and dinner is ready when you walk in.

Frozen is the better choice for a long day. Already cut, holds its shape better than fresh over eight or nine hours, and goes in straight from the bag with no thawing. Frozen diced onion and pepper strips remove the only real prep this recipe has.

Beans — use canned

Every recipe in this book that uses beans uses canned beans. Drain and rinse them, and they are ready to go. Do not substitute dry beans.

Canned beans are fully cooked during canning, so they are safe and they only need warming through. Dry red kidney beans are a different matter: raw, they contain a lectin called phytohaemagglutinin, and the FDA is explicit that a slow cooker does not get hot enough to destroy it. The toxin needs boiling at 212°F for at least ten minutes, and a crock pot on LOW often reaches only about 167°F — hot enough to soften the bean, not hot enough to make it safe. As few as four or five undercooked kidney beans can cause severe vomiting within a few hours. Canned beans have none of this problem.

Canned beans	Drain and rinse	Rinsing removes the starchy canning liquid, which otherwise clouds a soup and dulls the flavour.
When to add them	Start, or the last hour	At the start for chili and stews — they take on the seasoning and a few break down, which thickens the pot. In the last hour if you want them to hold their shape.
Canned baked or refried beans	Last 30 minutes	Already sweetened or seasoned. Added early they scorch against the crock wall.
Dry beans of any kind	Not in this book	If you want the savings, cook them fully on the stove first — soak five hours, drain, boil thirty minutes in fresh water — then use them in place of canned. Two cups cooked equals roughly one 15-ounce can.

One 15-ounce can drained gives about one and a half cups of beans. Most recipes here want one or two cans.

A can of pinto or white beans in the last hour turns this into a proper New Mexican stew. A can of hominy in the last thirty minutes makes it closer to posole. Drain and rinse both.

Corn

Canned corn	Last 30 minutes	Drain first. It is fully cooked already, so it only needs heating — added early it goes to mush.
Canned fire-roasted corn	Last 30 minutes	Same timing. Worth seeking out for the smoky note, especially in chili and anything southwest.
Canned hominy	Last 30 minutes	Drain and rinse. Bigger and chewier than corn, and what turns a pork stew into posole.

Tonight's Plan

1
Cut the pork into big chunks and put them in the crock pot.
Four or five pieces.
2
Pour in the water or broth.
Add a can of green chiles now if you're using them.
3
Sprinkle the whole packet on top and stir until the powder disappears.
Tomatillo powder needs to dissolve rather than float.
4
Put the lid on.
Eight hours on LOW.

Vegetables

Shred the pork with two forks right in the pot.

Leave it in the sauce.

Stir it back through the green sauce and serve.

It should be saucy, not dry.

Stirring

Leave the lid on

Nothing in this one settles or scorches, and there is plenty of liquid moving. Every lift of the lid drops the temperature ten to fifteen degrees and costs about twenty minutes. There is nothing to check.

Swaps and add-ins

Add potatoes.

Two cups, diced, at the start. Classic New Mexican green chile stew.

Make it hotter.

Fresh jalapeños or serranos at the end, not the start.

Add white beans.

A drained can in the last hour. Turns it into a stew.

Serve it over eggs.

Two fried eggs with verde spooned over is a legitimate breakfast.

Tips for success

Add extra heat at the end. Chile heat compounds over eight hours. What's mild at hour one can be aggressive by hour eight.
Lime at the end is essential. The packet has lime powder for depth. Fresh juice does something different and the dish needs both.
Don't drain it. Verde should be saucy. The liquid is the point.
Drop in a liner before anything else. Smooth it against the sides and fold the edges over the rim. When you're done, lift it out and throw it away — the crock never needs scrubbing.

Finish it right

Fresh lime, squeezed hard.

Verde is a tangy dish and cooking dulls tang. Fresh lime restores it completely.

Chopped fresh cilantro.

If your table likes cilantro, this is the dish that most wants it.

A spoon of sour cream or crema.

Cool and creamy against the heat. Also makes the green look better.

Serve it over

In bowls over riceBurritos and tacosOver fried eggsWith warm flour tortillasOver roasted potatoes

Tomorrow night

Green chile breakfast burritos.

With egg, potato and cheese.

Smothered burritos.

Wrap anything, pour verde over, add cheese, broil.

Green chile stew.

Add potatoes and broth, simmer 20 minutes.

Verde enchiladas.

Rolled in corn tortillas, topped with jack cheese, baked.

Keeping it

Fridge

Airtight, up to 4 days. Better on day two.

Freezer

3 months. Freezes exceptionally well.

Reheating

Stove or microwave. Add a splash of broth if it thickened.

Questions people ask

Recipe card