Pressure Cooker Chili Verde
Is this chili? I mean…it isn’t red.
Meat simmered in a chile based sauce? Of course it’s chili. It is just…different.4
Chili Verde, or Green pork chili, is a staple of the Southwest. Once you leave Texas and its dried ancho based chiles, you get into long green chili territory. The most famous long green is the Hatch chili of New Mexico, which is the start of Chili Verde territory, but Chili Verde stretches north to Colorado, and west through Arizona and in to California. 5
I’m sharing two different versions of the Salsa Verde recipe - one is the real deal, with home-roasted chiles. If I can get New Mexico or Anaheim long green chiles (and fresh tomatillos), I use them - the results are fantastic.
At least, that’s what I do in the summer. For all my talk of the Southwest, I only get to visit; I live in Ohio. In the winter, long green chiles are hard to come by - and ridiculously expensive when you can find them. That’s when I have to improvise, and canned green chiles and jarred tomato salsa have to be good enough for my Salsa Verde. 6
Recipe: Pressure Cooker Chili Verde (Green Pork Chili)
Equipment
- 6 quart or larger Pressure Cooker (I love my Instant Pot electric PC)
Pressure Cooker Chili Verde (Green Pork Chili)
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 8-12 1x
Description
Pressure Cooker Chili Verde (Green Pork Chili) recipe - green pork chili from the great American Southwest, sped up using the pressure cooker.
Ingredients
Homemade Salsa Verde
- 1 pound tomatillos, husked and rinsed
- 2 pounds Anaheim chiles, halved, stemmed and seeded (or New Mexico chiles)
- 2 jalapeño peppers, halved and stemmed
- ½ cup cilantro leaves and stems
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
Quick Salsa Verde (from cans)
- 27 ounces mild fire roasted diced green peppers (one 28 ounce can, or 6 (4-ounce) cans)
- 16 ounce jar tomatillo salsa or salsa verde
Chili
- 4 pounds pork shoulder, cut into 1½-inch cubes (trim off as much fat as possible)
- 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican oregano)
- 1 cup chicken stock (preferably homemade) or water
- Juice of 1 lime
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Option 1: Homemade Salsa Verde: Spread the tomatillos, anaheim chiles, and jalapeno peppers skin side up on a rimmed baking sheet. Put the baking sheet 6 inches below a broiler set to high, and broil until the tomatillos and peppers are blackened in spots, about 5 minutes. Flip the tomatillos and broil until the tomatillos are browned on the other side and the skins of the peppers are blackened all over, about another five minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the peppers cool for a few minutes, then peel the blackened skin from the peppers and discard. (A little leftover blackened skin is fine.) Pour the contents of the baking sheet into a blender or food processor, including as much of the liquid as possible. Add the cilantro and the teaspoon of Kosher salt, then blend until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Option 2: Quick Salsa Verde: Mix the canned diced chiles and tomatillo salsa in a medium bowl.
- Brown the pork: Sprinkle the pork with the 2 teaspoons kosher salt. Heat the oil in the pressure cooker pot over medium-high heat until shimmering. (Saute mode in an electric PC). Brown the pork in two to three batches - put pork cubes in the pot without crowding, and brown each batch of pork on one side, about 4 minutes. Transfer the pork to a bowl with a slotted spoon, leaving as much fat behind as possible.
- Saute the aromatics and toast the spices: There will be extra fat in the pot from the pork; pour out the fat to get down to 1 tablespoon. Add the onions to the pot and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of kosher salt. Saute the onions until softened and starting to brown around the edges, about 5 minutes, scraping often to release any browned pork bits from the bottom of the pot. Make a hole in the middle of the onions and add the garlic, cumin, coriander, and oregano. Cook until you smell the garlic and spices, about one minute, then stir into the onions.
- Pressure cook the chili for 30 minutes with a Natural Release: Stir the chicken stock, salsa verde, pork, and any pork juices in the bowl into the pot. Lock the lid and cook at high pressure for 30 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric PC, or for 25 minutes in a stovetop PC. Let the pressure come down naturally, about 20 minutes.
- Serve the chili: Stir in the lime juice. Taste and add more salt and pepper if it needs it. (Homemade salsa verde will need more salt; the quick version from cans probably does not - canned ingredients already have a lot of salt. Go by taste; If the chili tastes flat, it needs more salt.) Serve.
Notes
Why brown only one side of the pork? I find it the best compromise between flavor and speed. Browning one side of the pork gives me the browned bits on the bottom of the pan that build flavor in a chili; browning only one side means I don't spend forever browning pork.br][br]Like beans in chili? Serve with [Pressure Cooker Pinto Beans and stir in as much as you want. (In the Southwest, beans are a condiment, added in as needed.)
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts
My Top 5 Pressure Cooker Chilies
Pressure Cooker Texas Red Chili
Slow Cooker Chili Verde
My other Pressure Cooker Recipes
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Irene says
I've been making Green Chile Stew for the 17 years that I've lived in the Southwest. Your recipe was the best I ever made! (Even though I forgot to buy tomatillos & salsa.) It was the spices that you added that improved the flavor. Thank you.
Josh says
Fantastic. I added some diced tomatoes (my preference) and a little adobo sauce from one of those Embasa Chipotle cans - adds a smokey element to an already great recipe. And with this recipe, the pork just fell apart with the spoon I used to scoop it out. Thanks again.
★★★★★
amy says
Can I substitute pablano for Anaheim?
Mike Vrobel says
Sure! It will come out hotter, and the flavor will be a little different, but it will still be great.
Bryan says
I've made this once or twice before and making it again tonight. I love how you refer to low-salt chili as possibly tasting "flat" ... I've never used that description, but it fits perfectly. Stealing it!
★★★★★
Samuel Gay says
Mr Vrobel,
In a previous comment, the smokiness of adding canned chipotles was mentioned. This comment triggered my question: Have you tried smoking pork, just long enough so it draws in the smoked flavors? With a rub? Without?
As a native of Alabama, presently residing in Oklahoma I hadn't heard of Chili Verde until recently. Your recipe was the first (and since, only) variation I've tried. It is nothing shy of fantastic! I'm waiting for the natural pressure release now.
All the above was said to say this: thank you for sharing your exceptional creation.
Two thumbs up, 5 Stars, and a 15 minute standing O' are all much deserved. Thank you, sir.
★★★★★
Mike Vrobel says
I had not tried smoking pork first - if you do, let me know how it goes.
Graeme Young says
Really nice recipe. Made it this evening and it was a total hit. Thanks for posting.
★★★★★
Diana says
Can't wait to try this! My Costco again has 40 oz jars of the 505 brand diced Hatch Chile's - only other ingredients are garlic, salt, lime. Someone else here mentioned this brand. I lived in NM for a few years so this is nostalgic for me. I just have to find the tomatillo salsa. Could I do just the tomatillo part homemade? What to do with the rest of the 40 oz jar of green chiles? Use it to top vanilla ice cream of course!
Heather Williams says
This was delicious!!! Thank you! I used meat that I'd cut from a giant Costco-sized pork loin (which had given me a roast, chops and this pound or so of stew meat). I was looking for something easy, and this recipe packed so much flavor into so little effort, and the meat was so soft and shreddy. I didn't make my own tomatillo salsa; I used 1/3 jar of Trader Joe's Hatch Green Chili salsa and a 4-oz can of diced green chilis. After the meat had cooked, I also threw in a can of rinsed Great Northern Beans, and served the whole thing on top of brown rice, with a sprinkling of shredded cheese. I will be making this one again...and checking out your other recipes!
April says
Oh my goodness! This was so delicious and would like my college sons to try this as they love to cook. They don't have a pressure cooker just a crock pot. Can you tell me if they would need to do anything different and the timing in a crockpot if you have tried. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe...it is THE BEST!
★★★★★
Mike Vrobel says
You're welcome!
Chris says
SO GOOD! I made this last night following the recipe almost exactly as written and making the salsa with fresh ingredients. Making the salsa was, while an additional step for my lazy, one-pot pressure cooker ways, easy. The Anaheim chiles gave up their skin much more easily than has been my experience trying the same process with poblanos. I did use probably almost a 1:1 ratio of tomatillos to chiles rather than the 1:2 just because I didn't weigh the tomatillos until I got home but the result really was spectacular. Very fresh and bright tasting. I served this over jasmine rice. Living in Maryland, it's difficult to find decent Mexican food; this really hit the spot! By the way, your Instant Pot Mac n' Cheese is a staple at my house, as this is sure to be, too.
JRod says
First time ever making chili verde followed the recipe exactly and extremely happy my husband said no more restaurants thank you so very much wish I could print the recipe
★★★★★
Mike Vrobel says
There is a print button on the top right of the recipe?
Christy M says
DELICIOUS!!! I used the canned version and we loved it!
My only piece of advice is to buy a boneless piece of pork, or have the butcher remove the bone for you. It's a pain in the hiney to cut out.
★★★★★
Jocelyn says
If I have a 2lb pork loin cut up into cubes would it be the same time as a pork shoulder?
Mike V says
Pork loin is not good in the pressure cooker. It is too lean, and over-cooks too easily. I would go with 15 minutes at high, and hope for the best...
Robin says
Hi, This is my first time using an Instant Pot. Do I need to account for the time it comes up to pressure or do I set it for 30?
Mike V says
Just set it for 30. In general, "Cook at high pressure for X minutes" means don't start the timer until the cooker has reached high pressure.
Nanci says
Thank You!!!
Nanci says
Same cook time?
Nanci says
I have a 5 lb bone in shoulder can you please tell me if the instructions are the same.
Cannot wait to make this
Thanks
Nanci
Mike V says
Yes, that will work fine. Cut the shoulder into 1 1/2 inch cubes and you will be ready to go.
John W h elanl. says
I'm going to make chili verde with skirt steak using an instant pot. It's only a little over a pound. Think 25 minutes should be enough cooking time. What do you think?
Mike V says
Never tried skirt, but I've done flank steak, and it took 35 min. with a natural pressure release.
Catherine S. says
I live in Colorado and when Hatch chili season comes I usually can or freeze them for use during the year. I've found "505" brand jarred green chilies to be the best substitute for fresh. For some unknown reason, I've never made my green chili recipe in my Cuisinart electric pressure cooker (love it!). And I don't use tomatillos enough. I don't know if I'm just used to eating chilies, but Anaheims aren't very hot since they're one of the mildest. Thanks for the recipe!
Mike V says
I had a mistake in the timing under pressure - correct numbers are 30 minutes high pressure in an Electric PC/25 minutes stovetop.
★★★★★
Carolc says
It sounds great. I live in Oh-io also and want to make the can version. How spicy is it?
Mike V says
It's medium to hot. It's got some heat, but it sneaks up on you - the green chiles aren't a big blast of heat at first, but one that builds.
Gary says
I made this using canned hatch chiles. I backed off big time on the Cilantro, I don't like the soapy taste. It was delicious. I used coriander with lime. I've always eaten green chile in restaurants, but NO MORE! THANKS for a great recipe.
★★★★★