Green Chili Recipe (New Mexico Chile Verde)
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Apr 23, 2025 
Our Pork Green Chili Recipe (also know as New Mexico Chile Verde) is savory and bold made with tomatillos, green chilies, and poblano peppers, it is perfect for spicy chili lovers!
What is Green Chili?
Chile Verde (Green Chili) is a stew popular in New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona. It is known for not having an official recipe. It consists of slow-cooked green chiles and pork; all other ingredients are optional.
Locals would avidly tell you that the chile peppers you use matter quite a bit. The long green “New Mexican” style chiles are a state treasure. They say the dry barren soil of New Mexico produces the hottest and most flavorful chiles. Known commonly as Hatch Chiles (grown in Hatch) or Big Jims, these chiles are a source of great pride.
Sommer’s Recipe Notes
Why We Love This New Mexican Green Chili Recipe
New Mexicans are proud of their agriculture and the history behind their dishes. Their kitchen creations scream adaptability and survival. In blazing arid climates, what can you grow? Chiles.
And what can you make with an abundance of chiles?
The BEST Chile Verde.
For generations, locals have chosen to honor the chiles with great exuberance. The state question after all is, “Red or green?” As in, “Do you prefer to eat red or green chile?” Chiles are not just produced, they are a way of life.
New Mexico Chile Verde, also known as Green Chili, Green Chile Stew, or Green Chili with Pork, is a dish I discovered years ago on a cross-country trip. A native New Mexican friend made it for me, and I was baffled by the concept of chili that wasn’t red… And didn’t contain tomatoes, beans, or beef.
What a wonderful creation!
Ingredients You Need
I’ve prepared my version of New Mexico Green Chili with locally grown green chiles. I substituted a mixture of Anaheims (a milder New Mexican style chile), Poblanos for depth of flavor, and a couple of jalapeños for heat.
Here is what you need for green chili with pork:
- Oil – your preferred oil for sautéing
- Pork butt – or pork shoulder, trimmed and cubed
- Onion – peeled and chopped
- Garlic – minced
- Seasonings and spices – cumin, coriander, oregano, bay leaves and salt
- Peppers – Hatch chilies (or Anaheim peppers, poblano, and jalapeno)
- Tomatillos – peeled, cleaned, and chopped
- Cilantro – chopped
- Masa – aka corn flour
- Lime wedges – for garnish
How to Make Green Chili
Find the full New Mexico Green Chile recipe wit ingredient proportions, detailed instructions, and a video tutorial in the printable form at the bottom of the post.
Tips & Tricks
- Let it cook low and slow! To get super tender, melt-in-your-mouth pork, you have to let the pork green chili cook low and slow, for at least 3 hours! This will also give the sauce time to develop lots of flavor.
- For added flavor, you can use chicken broth instead of water. Just be careful when adding more salt. Make sure to taste the green chili before adding more salt at the end!
- This green chili with pork recipe gets most of its heat from the jalapeños. If you aren’t a fan of spicy foods, you can add just one jalapeño, and make sure to deseed it well! If you like it spicy, add two jalapeños and you can even add the seeds if you want.
Frequently Asked Questions
Stored in an airtight container, this green chili will keep well in the fridge for 3-4 days.
It also makes a wonderful meal prep and freezer meal! Leftovers can be stored in freezer bags or freezer-safe containers wrapped in tin foil and frozen for up to 3 months.
While I have not personally tried this New Mexico Chile Verde recipe in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker, I believe it would work very well.
You’ll need to use the Sauté function to first cook all of the ingredients per the recipe below, making sure to deglaze the pot before adding the masa-coated pork and water. Pressure cook on HIGH for 7 minutes and then do a Natural Pressure Release for 10 minutes.
Similarly, to prepare in a slow cooker you’ll first need to sauté the pork, onion, peppers, and tomatillos with seasonings on the stove. Then, transfer the ingredients to the slow cooker, stir, cover, and cook on HIGH for 3 hours or LOW for 5-6 hours.
It is gluten-free! Because I make this Green Chili with masa, there are no wheat-based ingredients.
If you don’t have masa on hand, you can either make your own quickie version by pulverizing corn tortilla chips in a food processor or try a simple swap like corn grits or rice flour to keep the recipe gluten-free.
You can also substitute with traditional wheat flour for a non-gluten-free version.
Absolutely! A large beef chuck roast or 3-4 chicken breasts would work as a great swap for the pork butt.
Let me know in the comments if you give this recipe a try or use any substitutes!
I highly recommend serving this hatch green chile stew with warm flour tortillas, homemade corn tortillas, or tortilla chips. Don’t forget to top it off with a squeeze of lime and fresh cilantro, or go big with shredded cheese, sour cream, chopped avocado, and scallions.
Looking for More Satisfying Stew and Chili Recipes? Be Sure to Also Try:
- Paleo White Chicken Chili Recipe
- Slow Cooker Brunswick Stew
- Original Jamaican Curry Chicken
- Best Turkey Chili Recipe
- Mexican Street Corn Chicken Chili
- Turkey Soup with Poblano Peppers
- The Best Beef Stew Recipe
New Mexico Green Chili Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup oil
- 4 pounds pork butt, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
- 2 large onions, peeled and chopped
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Hatch peppers, chopped (or Anaheims)
- 2 Poblano peppers, chopped
- 1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
- 1 pound tomatillos (peeled and cleaned), chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 bunch cilantro (large), chopped
- 3 tablespoons masa (corn flour)
- 4 cups water or chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon salt, divided
- Lime wedges for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the pork and 2 teaspoons of salt. Brown the pork on all sides, stirring regularly. Remove the pork from the pot and pour out all rendered fat, saving about 1 tablespoon.
- Add the onions, remaining salt, cumin, coriander, and oregano to the pot. Sauté for 3-5 minutes. Then add the garlic and peppers. Sauté another 3-5 minutes. Add the chopped tomatillos, bay leaves, and cilantro. Toss the pork with the masa and add back to the pot. Stir well.
- Finally add the water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 3 hours, or until the pork is falling apart, stirring occasionally.
- Take 2 forks and break the pork up even more. Salt and pepper to taste.
I grew up in Colorado and have eaten all kinds of hatch green chili. Since moved to Oklahoma where they don’t even know what it is. So I had a friend go through and get some fresh from Hatch, NM and brought them back and made this recipe. It was killer! There is a very nice sweet to spicy ratio with flavor just popping in every bite. This is my new go to recipe. Thanks so much for sharing!
Brandon,
You must be living in the wrong part of Oklahoma. Keep your eye on the calendar this year and check for when the Hatch peppers are going to be ready. Crest gets shipments in and they have both hot and mild and will sell roasted or un-roasted. Check the calendar for one that is near you and on the specified dates, they will be roasting them in front of the store. Don’t tarry because they will go fast.
Haven’t made the recipe yet, but its whats for supper tonight.
Green Chili? Now what in the world is that? Maybe if I wasn’t from Oklahoma I would know.
You need to get out more fella.
I like Pueblo chiles better than Hatch. You should be able to find chiles in OK.
😃😅🤣😂
This was excellent . While I have my red chili recipes pretty well down solid I have not been as successful at chili verde. I really liked this . Perhaps a bit to much liquid as I had to cook it longer but that just made the bits of pork pull apart pieces of yummy. I took some of the liquid (including chilies, tomatillos etc but not the pork, puréed it and thickened it a little more and used that as enchilada sauce . I rolled corn tortilla s around the chili , covered with sauce and some cojita cheese and baked for 20 minutes. My wife was in heaven.
I am looking forward to making more of your recipes
I miss good New Mexico cooking. Spent so much time there, my husband was pueblo indian and I blessed to learn many things from the family. Bread, cookies, red chili green chili, tortillas. Home sick
This is really good! The spiciness is just perfect!!
Native New Mexican. No cumin!!!!!
This recipe is amazing! There’s a little local breakfast place that serves green chili pork and I order it every single time I eat there. I’ve been inspired to make my own and have tried multiple recipes that were fine, but never rivaled my favorite local breakfast place’s recipe until this one. We ate it four nights in a row, 2 nights as tacos and 2 nights as a breakfast skillet. This had the right amount of heat and sourness from the combo of chilies and tomatillos. I even ended up freezing the last of it since it was so good. If you’re a fan of green chili, give this one a try. It’s easy to make, is delicious, can be used in a variety of ways, reheats well and is a cost effective recipe. Thanks for the amazing recipe!
Forget the tomatillos. I season my pork prior to cooking with a mix of green Chile powder, roasted garlic, cumin and oregano and also coat it with flour. It helps thicken the chile. The onion, fresh garlic and bay leaves are a winner plus salt. If you have good quality chiles you won’t need many ingredients. Many people over season with unneeded seasonings.
I get Hatch Chiles every august at Fresh Market here in Asheville, NC.
I have 3 hours to simmer… Can’t wait to try this! I love green chile and this is my 1st time making it. It looks and smells so good already!
I made this in the crockpot with canned Hatch chiles and added carrots and potatoes, I left it on low all day and it was delicious!
Calm down Karen You don’t speak for everyone in the southwest. I made this and thought it tasted amazing.
What’s a good replacement for the masa flour? We have corn allergies in our family so just wanting to make sure there’s a good alternative :)
Hi there!
You can leave out the masa, or use all-purpose flour instead. :)