Weekends are perfect for making a big pot of something delicious…. Today we made Chile Verde and while it slowly simmered on the stove top we walked the dogs in the park and also ran a few errands around town. The end result of our long wait for dinner was melt in your mouth, scrumptious, and subtly spicy homemade chile verde – to die for!!!
Everyday Paleo Chili Verde
Everyday Paleo Chile Verde
Author: Sarah Fragoso
Ingredients
- 2.5 lb pork shoulder roast, cut into ½ inch cubes
- 2 lbs tomatillos
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 bunch cilantro
- Juice from 1 lime
- 1 jalapeno
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Cut pork roast into ½ inch cubes.
- Heat the coconut oil over medium high in a large soup pot and add the pork once the oil is hot enough that it sizzles when you add a piece of meat.
- Brown the pork pieces for 4-5 minutes and remove the pork from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add the onions and garlic to the oil and pork drippings and sauté for 7-10 min or until the onions start to brown.
- Turn the heat down a bit and add the cumin, paprika and black pepper to the onions and garlic and mix well (it will be kind of pasty).
- Add the chicken broth to the onion mixture and mix well, making sure to scrape all the goodness off the bottom of the pan.
- Add the pork back to the soup pot into the liquid and bring to a boil. Turn down to low
- While the meat simmers, peel and wash the tomatillos. Dry them well and in a large skillet over medium heat char them along with the jalapeno turning often, until the skins start to blacken (about 10 minutes).
- Place the charred tomatillos, jalapeno, cilantro, and lime juice into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
- Add to the pork in the soup pot and simmer for 2 to 2 ½ hours or until the pork is fall apart tender.
- The sauce will reduce down and become thicker over the course of the cooking process. Serve with sliced avocado and cilantro for garnish.
Enjoy!!
Sounds great, but what is a tomatillo? Would a tomato do instead?
Hi CC! Follow this link for a detailed description of the tomatillo. http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Articles/Produce-638/tomatillos.aspx
You can find them in most major grocery stores and I recommend trying this recipe with tomatillos, it gives it a special zingy flavor!!!
Don’t cut cubes in 1/2 inch pieces. Make the pieces at least 1 1/2 inch chunks. This must be an error. Looks delicious … going to try it right now! Yumm!
This is true. I’ve made this recipe many many times now, and I always cut my meat into bigger pieces. 1 1/2 in. is a good measure.
This looks great! Do you think I could also make it with beef or chicken instead of pork? (I’m intolerant to pork..)
Hi Marinka! Yes, you can make it with chicken or beef. You won’t have to cook it nearly as long if you use chicken – more like 20-30 minutes or until the chicken is done all the way through. : )
Looks good! Did you pair it with any other vegetables or just eat that?
Hi Amy!! We ate it with some shredded broccoli slaw and the avocado. We were so hungry that we didn’t get too fancy with veggies. All about the protein and fat for this meal!
How did you do make the broccoli slaw? would love the recipe.
Thank you!
This will be our dinner tomorrow night. Looks and sounds so tasty.
This could easily be made w/chicken! Sarah this looks delicious! I make mine with about 2lbs each tomatoes and green chilis instead. I wonder how much more bite one jalepeno has compared to the green chilis. I’ll try it next time. 🙂
i make a green chili verde and use hatch chilis i have some with more bite than a jalepenio
but much more flavor its different than this recipe but this is a great one have made it before !
oh its better the second day mmmm good
While I brown the meat, I have the tomatillos and peppers (I like serranos), roasting in the oven with some garlic. Also put my roast in a slow cooker so the house smells great at the end of the day!
Oh perfect! I’ve got tomatillos and jalapenos in my co-op basket! Love the recipes!
Looks like another winner. Even hubby (who is reading this over my shoulder) says that this one looks REALLY REALLY good!
Adding to this weeks menu 🙂 Thanks
Love it – a way to use pork shoulder OUTSIDE of the slow cooker:)
Hi Laura! It was great to cook on the stove top with the pork shoulder. I love weekends just for that reason!! : ) Slow cookers are awesome but sometimes it’s nice to just cook….
Eating it right now! It’s awesome! Thanks for the great recipes!
Thank you for the recipe! Chili is a number one craving of ours in the cold snowy months! We made one this weekend that came out fantastic as well. We used grass fed short ribs, grass fed filet and grass fed ground beef (options at our Whole Foods were amazing this week!). We browned the meat with onions, garlic, salt, thyme, oregano and cumin in a big pot. For the chiles we took a mix of every dried chili we could find in Whole Foods. We cooked them for 8 mins in a skillet, sat them in water for 20 mins then blended them with a cup of black coffee and one beer (maybe not 100% paleo but one wasn’t enough to deter us!). We added that mixture plus diced tomatoes to the pot of browned beef and let it simmer for 1.5hrs. My husband was absolutely in love with the chili and the leftovers were his lunch yesterday and today with a slice of paleo bread for dipping!
Wow Casey, that sounds AWESOME!!
ps – forgot to mention we also put it on top of cauliflower mash for a bit of veggie!
I am assuming I simmer with the lid on..?
Hi Laura, Lid off actually! : )
oops I just cooked it with lid on for an hour…oh well the sauce may be a bit thin.
Hi Laura, did it turn out ok?
sorry I didn’t see this but yes, it was great! I came back because I want to make it again.
Hey Sarah,
cooking this one right now! Looks really good but unfortunately had to use regular ol’ tomatoes – tomatilloes are not very common in Australia 🙁 Although we are in the process of starting our veggie patch (yay!), so i might have to see if i can hunt down some seeds or something.
Is there much of a difference between paprika and smoked paprika? Just had normal variety so had to go with that.
Just a quick note on the kid front – got a food dehydrator for Christmas (score!) but only got to use it for the first time yesterday. Anyway, the finished jerky was sitting in a container on the counter while i was trying some and both the kids ended up having some and liking it – especially Heath, who’s not quite 3 and normally turns his nose up at chewy meat like bits of steak, roast, etc. Bizarre! He kept coming back for more and my wife and i were just looking at each other like, WTF?! haha
By the way, any chance of some jerky recipes?
Cheers,
Adam.
Hi Adam! Maybe you could give me some jerky recipes! Believe it or not, I have never made my own jerky! It’s territory I haven’t yet been brave enough to venture into. Oh, and smoked paprika has, well, a smokier flavor but regular paprika will work just fine too. I need to try the jerky thing at some point, maybe someone will give ME a dehydrator for Christmas next year! LOL!
Adam, I’m only seeing this post now so don’t know if you have sourced tomatillos and smoked paprika. I too am from Australia (Sydney) and am able to get both items. Smoked paprika (both sweet & hot) have been available for a few years at most gourmet food shops (I get mine from my local greengrocer). My brother-in-law grows tomatillos in his backyard however today I got some at Bondi farmers markets. Alternatively I see tinned ones around quite a lot. I am going to make this recipe tomorrow in my slow cooker in the basement as temps are expected to reach 40C (104F)! Thanks Sarah!
I heard about your blog from the podcast “The Paleo Solution”. Just in time, too. My mother’s chili verde has always been a favorite of mine and now my kids. This recipe blows my mother’s out of the water! (Sorry mom!)
I can’t wait for your book to come out. It is on my Amazon wish list.
Hi Lee! WOW, thank you!!! : )
Have made many of your recipes Sarah (my 1st response though) and this is the best so far.
Relative to all the Qs on prep, I would say the tomatillos make the recipe; tomato will be a good but different resulting flavor. Pork shoulder adds more to the texture and flavor than chicken, so I stuck with that. Also, I just roasted the Jalepeno and Tomatillos in the broiler with olive oil until the outside was nice and charred.
Only added a bit more cumin, a bit of cinnamon and double the black pepper.
Was absolutely delicious. Excellent work!
HI Dirk, thanks so much for commenting! I love the idea of adding a bit of cinnamon – I have to try that next time!! : )
We made a version of this recipe this week-we used pork tenderloin vs. shoulder (it’s what we had on hand) and I could not find ANY tomatillo’s here in January in Maine. So I got a jar of organic green salsa and used that mixed with the cilantro and lime juice (so not 100% paleo using the jarred salsa) but the results were delish!!
Hubby and Lola had it on brown rice and I had it on broccoli.
I will make this soon after my next trip to Whole Foods-I know they will have fresh tomatillos!! 😀
**Im just starting my way into Paleo this week. Thanks for tons of wonderful recipes and info!!
Giving your site a shout out on my blog today!
Awesome Jennifer, thank you!! I used a jarred green salsa all the time that I love from Trader Joe’s. It has no preservatives, only chilis and a few spices. I think it’s totally fine to use the jarred stuff as long as you can understand all the ingredients!! LOL!! : )
Made this last night for dinner and had it with my eggs this morning. So good!
Thanks Sarah.
Hi Justin! We ate our with eggs the next day too!! So glad you liked the recipe! : )
I’ve only been doing Paleo for a couple weeks and your recipes make it SO much easier! They are delicious and easy to follow (even though I am not much of a cook). I love trying new things so the tomatillos were a treat! I had it for dinner last night and put some of of the sauce on my eggs this morning. So good!
I made your creamy tomato soup the other day – it was also simple and delicious, especially on a chilly day. I didn’t even miss the grilled cheese sandwich I use to love to go with it! 🙂
Awesome Erin, thank you!!! : )
Just wanted to tell you that this recipe was so delicious and easy! Thank you for sharing it it was a huge hit and I know I will be making this a lot!
I haven’t been able to track down tomatillos in the UK (and I work in a store that sells some more uncommon foods!) so was wondering what I can use as a substitute?
Just tomatoes?
This recipe looks great 🙂
Hi Sarah! I would use tomatoes and also add in a few more milder chilies and roast them or blacken them in a pan like I suggested with the tomatillos. Use poblanos or anaheims for the chilis to give it that green color and a similar tangy flavor that the tomatillos would have given the dish. : )
ugg grunt drool. I love this recipe! I’m thrilled to find you as well! I pre-ordered one of your cookbooks. I have so many friend who want to be Paleo but can’t seems to integrate it with their families. Way to go Sarah. Congratulations. Come check out my blog some time. It would be an honor!
http://cavewomancafe.wordpress.com/
I made this the other day and everyone loved it. Here are a few things I learned:
Like JenniferLeah above, I couldn’t find tomatillos and had to used jars of tomatillo salsa. If you’re forced into this position, taste the salsa before you put in other spices. I did so, and decided not to add any lime juice because it already had a strong citrus flavor. Other than that it didn’t have strong spices so I went ahead and used the spices called for in the recipe. I also think the salsa had too much salt so I will definitely scour other groceries to look for fresh tomatillos next time, so I can fully control all the ingredients.
Also, the store I went to didn’t have any fresh cut pork shoulder and I had to buy a package that was shrink-wrapped from some big factory–I don’t recall the brand. (Note to self — never try to buy meat at that particular Shaw’s again) In looking at the package, I found that it was pumped full of water and broth (like many turkeys). So when I browned the cubed meat, a LOT of water was released. That water plus the water in the salsa meant I cut the amount of stock I used in half.
Thanks C. August!
I made this today with deer that my 14 yr old son got this year! I put in crockpot at the simmer stage on low for 4 hours. Perfection! Kids weren’t crazy about the sauce which means more for the “rents”!
Hi Michelle! So awesome that you have fresh venison – that would be great for this dish, glad you liked it!!
I made this for dinner tonight and the family loved it. This is a great recipe. It’s simple to make and has an awesome flavor. I think Sarah might be the new “Paleo” Iron Chef! I really enjoy your sight and the podcast. Keep up the great work. Watch out Food Network!
Thank you Mark!! Send Food Network a letter and let them know about me! Look out Bobby Flay!! LOL!!
I just made this and have it on simmer for 2+ hours. It is suppose to be green at this point? I wonder if I had too many tomatillos, even though I used the amount in the recipe. Mine is definitely greener than the picture posted. Hope it tastes good.
Hi BeStrong1 – I’ms sure it will be great, let me know how it turns out! : )
I made this last weekend and was astonished at how delicious it was. I took some leftovers to work and here are some responses I got:
Person A: “Oh my god! Oh my god! That is legendary!”
Person B: “I’ll pay you money to make me a batch. I’m serious.”
I sent the recipe to a friend who promptly tried it, and her response was, “HOLY CRAP! That chili verde was incredible!”
This has to be one of the best recipes I’ve ever cooked in my life.
Thanks so much pebble garden!! So glad you liked it! : )
This dish was awesome! It will definitely be one of our family favorites and go to meals:)
So glad you liked it Sammi!! : )
oooh! I’m feeling lucky to live in Texas where I believe we have tomatillos year round. We prepped this meal tonight for tomorrow nights dinner….
looking forward to it!
This recipe is amazing!!! I paired it with Spanish cauliflower rice and a salad…perfect!!! Thank you for all of your amazing recipes!
~K
Looks delicious! Can I cook this using a pressure cooker as well?
Im cooking it on the stove top right now. I followed the recipe to the letter and then added a few extra veggies into the blender, the entire house is smelling great!!! Cant wait to dig in!
Made this last night…yum, YUM, YUMMMMMY!! I make my own salsa verde (1-2 lbs tomatillos, 2-3 jalapeno, one white onion, 4 garlic cloves, toss with evoo, s & p, roast, then blend with cilantro), so I just added that and simmered for about 3 hours. Oh, also I’m not a red meat connoisseur and bought pork tri-tip instead of the shoulder roast (the tri tip was about half the price)…it was a pain to cube up but well worth it in the end 🙂 Thanks again for making Paleo not only easy but DELECTABLE!
Hi Sarah!
I just made this for dinner tonight. It was EPIC!! I scoured the Earth for tomatillos only to come up empty handed. I subbed in some green chilies and regular tomatoes, worked amazingly. I also added in some black beans, which were also nice. Thanks for the recipes. I can’t wait to pick up a copy of your book!
-Matt
Hi Sarah,
How would you attempt this in a slow cooker? I want to try it tomorrow… Would you still brown the meat first? Or is this just generally a bad idea?
Thanks in advance!
I would try to brown the meat first and then just put it all in the slow cooker with the sauce and cook all day on low. I’m sure it will be great!
trim the fat?
Nope!!
Hey Sarah,
Thanks so much for all you do! I made this recipe the other day and it was amazing. It was so great that I want to make it again for a dinner party I am hosting this Friday. One thing I would like to do is increase the size of the recipe. How would you suggest going about doing this if I am looking to have like 1.5x the quantity specified. Do you think just adding like .5-1lb additional meat would work (assuming I keep all other ingredients unchanged)? Or do I need to increase everything across the board? Thanks so much!!
Hi Jordan,
I think just adding the extra meat would work ok without having to add to the sauce. I know that ours is pretty “saucy” so with the added meat you should be fine. To play it safe you could always add a few more tomatillos and just a bit more seasoning if you want to! Hope that’s not too vague and good luck, I’m sure it will be wonderful!
Hi, Sarah! I’ve been paleo for almost 4 weeks now. Just made this last night. It was so delicious. First time charring anything… on purpose. 🙂 It was sweeter than I’m use to from restaurant green chile. Was that the coconut oil making it sweet? That was the first time I’ve cooked with it.
Thanks and love the Podcast too!
Yes, the coconut oil will add a bit of sweetness to the dish as well as charring those tomatillos! So glad you liked it!
ok my husband has a huge aversion to cumin…no idea why but he can always taste it when its in a recipe. Do you think I could just leave it out, or is there something else you might substitute with it?
Hey – I dont use cumin in my verde. Probably why I lost against Sarah! But there’s certainly no harm in leaving it out.
Holy cow! – I can’t wait to try this!
I tried this recipe last night using the juice and onions leftover from the previous night’s spice rub crock pot chicken. There were five of us in the house who could not get enough of it.
http://everydaypaleo.com/2010/05/10/spice-rub-crock-pot-chicken/
Just made this for dinner tonight, except instead of pork I used moose, so I’m calling it Moosi Verdi. It was my first time ever to use tomatillo’s and I blackened them on the outside grill. Delicious recipe!
Thank you Sarah for all the wonderful recipes. Going Paleo last month has given me the opportunity to find so many great new food ideas. I’m loving it.
YOU’RE the one that was searching for moose on the site!
Hi Sarah! Cant WAIT to try this recipe! Unfortuantely I went and bought my pork today not realizing that this recipe was NOT made in a slow cooker 🙁 Since I have to work tomorrow…do you think this could be made in a slow cooker? If so, could it cook all day?
LOVE your site!! Have made so many successful recipes!
Yes, you can for SURE make this in the slow cooker! Just follow the directions, including browning the meat, and toss it all in the slow cooker with the sauce and cook all day on low!! : )
I had a mishap with my pork shoulder from Whole Foods (it was bad when I opened it, total bummer!) so I had to improvise and use Chicken. It turned out so very good. Cant wait to try this with pork!
I’m in the middle of making this dish for the…I’ve made it so many times I lost count. It’s awesome!
I roasted the tomatillos in a grill pan and one of them made a face. I think it’s happy take a look:
http://theurbancave.blogspot.com/2011/05/happy-friday.html
Bonjour.
J ai essayé pratiquement toutes les recettes et laissez moi vous dire qu elles sont excellentes. Bravo Sarah pour tout ce travail qui maintenant nous profites a tous et toutes. Lorsque je prépare ma liste d épicerie ton livre m accompagne.
Merci
Louise Jolicoeur Montréal Québec
We absolutely love this Chili Verde. My husband wants me to try a Molcajete stew like he had at Casa Ramos recently. Have you ever made one? Thanks for all you yummy recipes. The crockpot is full of meatballs at this moment:)
Cathey
my family loves it.. I am wondering, will the Crock Pot work as well?
Yes, it will work just fine!
hey guys,
Tomatillos are pretty impossible to find in New Zealand, any substitutes ?
We are having company tonight and would love to make this verde. What is the yield?
THANKS!
It serves 3 adults, 2 children so I would get a much larger roast and double the other ingredients if feeding a larger crowd. Have fun!
I made this today and it is absolutely SPECTACULAR! Sarah, thank you so much for posting this 🙂 I am new to paleo and still trying to find ways to make it less labor intensive. I finally figured out I can make big batches of things and freeze them in individual servings to have later in the week or month. This chili verde is perfect for that!
Do you serve anything else with this besides avocado? Is it filling enough?
made it for dinner. fantastic! thanks for the recipe.
I made the verde sauce in the morning and it was OUT OF THIS WORLD! I couldn’t wait for dinner!! I followed the recipe to the letter but my meat turned out tough and really fatty (I trimmed the excess fat too!) so we were unable to eat it. I threw it all in the crockpot and let it cook through the night on low. In the morning we ate it in our omelet for breakfast it was SO good!! I will absolutely make this recipe again but use the crockpot. The one change I did make was to use an extra jalapeno since we love spicy. Thank you for a great recipe!
Okay made this in the crock pot last night and it’s very very soupy and not thick at all! 🙁 HELP!
The crock pot won’t work because it holds in moisture; you need to reduce the contents of the recipe to get rid of at least some of the water from the broth, tomatillos, etc.
I recommend doing it on the stovetop.
Tried this recipe this weekend and everybody loved it. My kids are very picky eaters asked for seconds, so this is a win.
This recipe is amazing! It’s my first one using coconut oil instead of olive oil. I’m hooked!
I just made an amazing breakfast scramble using the leftovers, too. Here’s what you do:
Scramble 3 eggs in a bowl with salt/pepper to taste. “Rescue” 6-7 chunks of the pork from the tomatillo sauce and pull them apart with two forks. Heat olive or coconut oil over medium heat in a medium frying pan. Saute the pork for 3 minutes. Then, add the eggs and scramble everything together. Lower heat to medium-low, and cook the eggs, keeping them moving CONSTANTLY. Do not let the contents of the frying pan sit still.
Remove from heat and plate. Microwave 5-6 tablespoons of the tomatillo salsa 45 seconds at 70% power. Pour on top of your scramble. Add cheese if desired. Enjoy!
YUM Steve, thank you so much for sharing your scramble!!! 🙂
Just starting the paleo diet this week and on the hunt for recipes. This sounds amazing!! Easily adaptable to the crock pot for us Mommies on the go?!?!?!
Yes, absolutely! Follow the direction up until you have to simmer it for a couple of hours and instead, transfer to a slow cooker and cook on low all day!
I have made this recipe several times and it is so delicious!! Seriously one of my favorite meals ever!!! Paleo or not this is fantastic!!!
Made this yesterday for dinner. It was delicious. I was concerned while cooking it that it wouldn’t have much flavor since the spice list is small, but it was great. My husband (non paleo) even liked it. This one goes into my favorites collection- along with your Zucchini Lasagna and Meatloaf. Thanks for the great recipes.
You are welcome Carol and I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
My husband made chili verde tonight. We made it with cauliflower rice and topped it with smoked tomatoes. He was smoking a turkey for the week so we threw some tomatoes in too. YUM!
Yum for sure!!!! Enjoy!
Made this last night, and we loved it. I sliced some green leaf lettuce into thin shreds and tossed it in with the avocado to add a little crunch – fabulous!
You are a culinary artist.
So glad you like the Chile Verde – it’s one of our favorites too, in fact I’m making it for Christmas Eve this year! 🙂