Colorado Green Chili (Chile Verde)
This Colorado green chili is my version of my mother's green chili. I like to serve it over oven-baked burritos or with beans and rice. If you can't find a chile roaster, look for frozen diced chiles at your supermarket. You can also freeze fresh roasted chiles for off-season use.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ½ pounds cubed pork stew meat
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups chopped roasted green chiles
- 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
- 1 ½ cups tomatillo salsa
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 pinch ground cloves
Instructions
- Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Season pork with salt and pepper, then cook in hot oil until golden brown on all sides, about 7 minutes. Transfer pork to a plate.
- Reduce the heat to medium; stir in onion and garlic. Cook and stir until onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Return pork to the pot; stir in chicken broth, green chiles, diced tomatoes with juice, and tomatillo salsa. Season with oregano and ground cloves. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, transfer 2 cups of soup (without any pork pieces) to a blender. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to purée. Purée until smooth, then pour back into the cooking pot. This will create a thicker texture for your chili and will eliminate some of the chunky bits of chiles. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until pork is very tender, at least 35 minutes more.