Pressure Cooker Chili Verde. Green Pork Chili from my Instant Pot, ready in about an hour thanks to pressure cooking.
Is this chili? I mean…it isn’t red.
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. 2
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. (While I dream of the hot, dry Southwest during a February snowstorm.)
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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.
Like beans in your chili? Serve with Pinto Beans on the side, 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
Instant Pot White Turkey Chili
My Top 5 Pressure Cooker Chilies
Pressure Cooker Texas Red Chili
Slow Cooker Chili Verde
My other Pressure Cooker Recipes
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Nicole says
Thank you for posting a “cheater” version, there’s an amazing jarred version of hatch chiles I love for times when we didn’t have easy access to hatch chiles, but it’s so hard to translate the recipes that include homemade versions ... this is exactly what I was hoping for!
Jordan W says
Do you think it would turn out ok if I used pork belly instead of shoulder? I know belly has a lot more fat on it. I don't know if it would make it too greasy or not.
Mike Vrobel says
I don't think it would work in this recipe - too much fat in pork belly. Maybe try my pork belly recipe instead: https://www.dadcooksdinner.com/pressure-cooker-pork-belly-beer-braise/
Cierra says
Delicious!! Added some beans that I made the night before I to it at the end. This recipient has now sold us all on how amazing the instant pot is 😀
★★★★★
Heather says
I am making this tonight for the 2nd time. I did cheater salsa, but added a pound of chunked tomatillo anyway, because I love them. My family could not say enough about how delicious it was. This was not my first rodeo with chili Verde by far, but it is the most memorable. Thank you 🙂
★★★★★
Karen R says
Thank you for this recipe! I made this and your pinto beans today and they were heavenly!
★★★★★
Anna A. says
Delicious! I added a few cut up potatoes because I’ve always grown up eating it like that! Thanks for the delicious recipe!
★★★★★
Starr says
awesome recipe! i scaled this down to a little less than half the original recipe, because there are only 2 of us at home and i wanted to make it in my instant pot mini (3 qt). in case anyone is interested in making it this way, i still used the whole jar of salsa (frontera brand as pictured, my favorite), added 4 large finely chopped roasted serrano peppers instead of canned chiles, and did not need any extra water or stock. I pressure cooked it for 40 minutes because i wanted to be sure the meat was really really tender, and it was so soft i barely needed to chew, so i'll use your cook time next time! served with white rice, refried pinto beans, sliced avocado, sour cream and shredded cabbage salad. the leftovers were even better after they had sat in the fridge for a couple days. thank you!
★★★★★
Jack says
Just made this. its is really good.
My mother in law would put an amount of sugar to cut the acid (same as spaghetti sauce) I couldnt tell you what amount- it will be an experiment
Sarah says
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
This was my first time to making Pork Green Chili and I used your recipe. I actually only read the ingredients part before I started prepping and ended up having all of the ingredients for both homemade and quick salsa verde.... I decided since it was my first time I might as well make it like I do everything else, "with a little twist." So I decided to make both and combine.
It turned out delicious!!! I really like the lime juice at the end, really pulls all of the flavors together.
Thank you!!!
★★★★★
Mike Fromm says
Great recipe Mike! The pressure cooker instructions were quite helpful. I made it last night using canned chiles, a mix of hot & mild. I really liked it but it was too spicy for my wife so I'll be using all mild next time.
★★★★★
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.
Jerome says
I have smoked before the instant pot and it is sooooo good. I cut into the pork shoulder so the smoke would get in, then did a dry rub. Hit it with heavy smoke for about an hour then into the instant pot for an hour. 3lbs bone in. It’s about 20-24 minutes per pound.
Graeme Young says
Really nice recipe. Made it this evening and it was a total hit. Thanks for posting.
★★★★★