Restaurant-style chili verde under ninety minutes is totally doable with this Instant Pot chili verde recipe! And guess what? You can use the leftovers to make some yummy green enchiladas!
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Chili Verde originated in Northern Mexico, where authentic Chile Verde is referred to as "Cerdo Con Verdolagas" or "pork with purslane." However, since not everyone likes purslane, I'm leaving that as an optional ingredient.
Although Chili Verde was traditionally made with pork, these days it's made with a variety of meats, including chicken, beef, and seafood. However, my family prefers it with pork, so that's how I make it.
The deep and complex flavors in this Instant Pot Chili Verde are achieved by first broiling the vegetables, searing the pork, and then adding just the right amount of seasoning. After that, just sit back, relax, and let your Instant Pot (or Ninja Foodi) do the rest! You may also want to try my Chile Colorado recipe and my new crock pot chili verde!
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🔖 Ingredients & Substitutions
- Pork: Pork shoulder or pork butt can be used in this recipe. Trim excess fat while slicing the meat into 2 to 3-inch chunks.
- Chiles: You'll need 3 large poblano chiles and a few jalapeño peppers or serranos (for extra heat).
- Other Veggies: Tomatillos are a traditional ingredient, but if you can't find them, green tomatoes can be substituted. You'll also need a large yellow onion and one head of garlic.
- Herbs: Fresh cilantro, dried oregano, and fresh purslane, which is optional.
- Spices: Sea salt, black pepper, cumin powder, and coriander powder.
- Broth: Canned chicken broth, or even better, homemade! May substitute beef broth or vegetable broth.
* A full list of ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post!
🥘 How to Make Pork Chili Verde
Step 1: Peel and wash tomatillos, then place them on a foil-lined baking sheet. Add peeled and quartered onion, a head of garlic, and peppers. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Broil on high for five minutes or until the veggies begin to char.
Step 2: Remove the tray from the oven and flip the veggies on the other side. Broil for a few additional minutes or until charred, then allow to cool.
Pro Tip: Roasting the vegetables takes Chili Verde to a whole new level, so don't skip this step!
Step 3: Once cool enough to handle, peel roasted garlic and remove skin from roasted peppers, then deseed. Add to a blender, along with the other charred vegetables. Depending on the size of your blender, you might have to do this in two batches. Divide the broth between the batches, then pulse the vegetables until roughly chopped.
Pro Tip: Another option is to use an Immersion Blender.
Step 4: Meanwhile, chop pork into 2" to 3" chunks. Mix salt, black pepper, and flour, then sprinkle over pork and work into the meat chunks.
Step 5: Pour the remaining olive oil into the Instant Pot or Ninja Foodi. Select "sauté" and once the oil is hot, sear the seasoned pork, working in batches.
Step 6: Mix cumin, coriander, oregano, and cilantro into the pureed veggies, then pour over the meat in your pressure cooker; deglaze the bottom of the pot, if needed.
Step 7: Seal the lid and turn the valve to "seal." Select "high pressure." It can take 15-20 minutes for the pressure to build up and the vent to seal. Adjust cook time to 30 minutes. Once time is up, vent manually, or allow the pressure cooker to vent naturally.
Serve Instant Pot Chili Verde with sour cream, warmed tortillas, shredded cheese, tortilla chips, and lime wedges.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
Chili Verde can be served in a variety of ways. One option is to serve it with corn tortillas, creamy guacamole, sour cream, and salsa ranchera.
Another way to serve this Instant Pot Chili Verde is to pour it over Mexican rice. Diced white onion, chopped cilantro, tortilla chips, and these amazing spicy Mexican pickled carrots will round out this meal quite nicely!
Leftovers can be used for quesadillas or wrapped into a burrito. Or, as mentioned earlier, use leftover chili verde to make green enchiladas! They're super tasty!
👩🏼🍳 Recipe FAQs
"Chili Verde" means "Green Chili" in Spanish. The chili gets its green color from the tomatillos, poblano peppers, jalapeños, and cilantro that are blended into the stew. Pork is simmered in the stew until very tender.
The most obvious way to make mild chili verde is to leave out the jalapeños. However, sometimes the poblano peppers can be pretty spicy too. Replacing the poblanos with bell peppers is another way to dial down the spice factor. You can also reduce the amount of black pepper called for in the recipe.
The longer you cook Chili Verde, the more it reduces and the thicker it will become. However, you can always make a slurry with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and ¼ cup of water to stir into the Chili Verde.
Keep in mind that you won't see the full extent of the thickener until the stew is boiling for a few minutes. It will thicken further once cool.
Tomatillos are also known as Mexican Husk Tomatoes. This fruit originated in Mexico, where it's commonly used to make Chili Verde, Roasted Tomatillo Salsa, and other tasty dishes.
Tomatillos are not spicy but rather taste like an unripe sour tomato. The texture is denser and less juicy than a tomato. The dry husk is removed to reveal a bright green tomatillo, which loses its brightness when cooked.
👩🏼🍳 Pro Tips
- Use the leftover Chili Verde to make green enchiladas.
- Add Chili Verde meat to cheese quesadillas. Just go easy on the chili, or you will be left with a wet mess!
- Add pork and some of the sauce over fries. Finish off with shredded Mexican cheese. Broil or bake long enough to melt the cheese.
- Use the leftovers from Chili Verde to make nachos. Load tortilla chips with Chili Verde and cheese. Bake until the chips are crispy and the cheese is melted. Serve topped with diced onions, cilantro, guacamole, and sour cream.
- Serve leftovers over Mexican rice.
All your hard work has paid off. So grab some tortillas and a margarita; it's time to dig into the best Chili Verde you've ever had!
If you'd rather use chicken instead of pork, you'll want to check out this crock pot chicken verde with potatoes soup recipe.
🌮 More Mexican Recipes
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📖 Recipe
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Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Peel and wash tomatillos, then place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Add peeled and quartered onion, garlic, and peppers. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Broil on high for five minutes or until the veggies begin to char.
- Remove tray from oven and flip veggies on the other side. Broil for a few additional minutes or until charred, then allow to cool.
- Once cool enough to handle, peel roasted garlic and remove skin from roasted peppers, then deseed. Add to a blender, along with the other charred vegetables. Depending on the size of your blender, you might have to do this in two batches. Divide the broth between the batches, then pulse vegetables until roughly chopped.
- Meanwhile, chop pork into 2" to 3" chunks. Mix salt, black pepper, and flour, then sprinkle over pork and work into the meat chunks.
- Pour the remaining olive oil into the Instant Pot or Ninja Foodi. Select "sauté" and once the oil is hot, sear the seasoned pork, working in batches.
- Mix cumin, coriander, oregano, and chopped cilantro into the pureed veggies then pour over the meat in your pressure cooker; deglaze the bottom of the pot, if needed.
- Seal lid and turn valve to "seal." Select "high pressure." It can take 15-20 minutes for the pressure to build up and the vent to seal. Adjust cook time to 30 minutes. Once time is up, vent manually, or allow the pressure cooker to vent naturally.
- Serve Instant Pot Chili Verde with sour cream, warmed tortillas, shredded cheese, tortilla chips, and lime wedges.
Nutrition
Notes
- Roasting the vegetables takes Chili Verde to a whole new level, so don't skip this step!
- Use the leftover Chili Verde to make green enchiladas.
- Add Chili Verde meat to cheese quesadillas. Just go easy on the chili, or you will be left with a wet mess!
- Add pork and some of the sauce over fries. Finish off with shredded Mexican cheese. Broil or bake long enough to melt the cheese.
- Use the leftovers from Chili Verde to make nachos. Load tortilla chips with Chili Verde and cheese. Bake until the chips are crispy and the cheese is melted. Serve topped with diced onions, cilantro, guacamole, and sour cream.
- Serve leftovers over Mexican rice.
CwMont says
I rated this 4 stars but I did have issues with preparing it.
I just got through making this and I have to say that it is very tasty but I had difficulty cooking it with my Instant pot. I kept getting multiple burn warnings. I've used an instant pot for over 10 years (my current is the Duo EVO Plus) so I know it wasn't me that was causing the burn notices. I also know that due to the design of the Instant Pot itself it is susceptible to burn warnings. Regardless of whatever I'm cooking in it I always keep an eye on it after I start the pressure cycle just to make sure it doesn't get a burn warning.
I can't help but think that the problem I was having was that the recipe calls for too much flour. As I was mixing the flour and seasoning and coating the cut up pork. I kept telling myself this seems like way too much flour but I went ahead and followed the recipe exactly anyways. I cooked the meat in two batches.
I could already tell halfway through the second batch of cooking the meat that it seemed like there was way too much flour sticking to the bottom of the pot. I also noticed that the recipe does not call for any deglazing of the pot prior to starting the pressure cooking process. Which if you are using any kind of a coating on your meat or veggies, especially flour, there should definitely be a mention in the recipe about deglazing. So, I went ahead and deglazed it anyway with some of the chicken broth and scraped it down real good. So I restarted the Instant pot and again got a burn notice which I couldn't understand because I had deglazed it.
So I had to stop and dump everything out into a stock pot where I could get a good look at the pot for the instant pot. It most definitely had a thick buildup of ingredients on the bottom. I washed it out and cleaned it and I could tell that it was mostly flour. It had just stuck to the bottom of the pot even after I deglazed it it was still stuck.
After Getting it clean and putting everything back in. I was able to get through its cooking cycle without issues. It definitely has great flavor and the pork butt came out melt in your mouth tender. But the next time I make this I'm going to use half the amount of the flour and a bit more broth just in case. Right now I'm deciding how many tasty dishes I can use this for. Thank you for posting this recipe.
Hilda Sterner says
Thank you for your thoughtful and detailed review. I'm so sorry that happened to you. Ever since I started using my Ninja Foodi pressure cooker, I have not had an issue with the burn error code. I used to have to deal with that back when I was using an Instant Pot. Using that amount of flour is necessary to give the stew the right texture/thickness. However, you're right, I should have mentioned deglazing the pot (for those using an Instant Pot). I will add that tip. Thanks again!
Shelly Freeman says
How long should I cook this on the stove? I don't have an instant pot
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Shelly,
I also have a slow-cooker recipe for Chili Verde here:https://hildaskitchenblog.com/recipe/chili-verde-recipe/. If you do it on the stovetop, I'd simmer it until the meat is very tender. I would guess it would take a couple of hours.
ninth1 says
Anyone know the carb content of this? I am making it right now and can't wait to try it!
Hilda Sterner says
Hi, I'm not sure how I missed adding the carbs content, sorry about that. I will update the post now with that info. (usually found on the bottom of the recipe card). The carb content is 25 grams for 1 of 6 servings.