This extremely flavorful and slightly spicy chile verde stew is a perfect weeknight dinner. It is hearty, filling, and is made entirely in one pot!
Lately our weekdays have been packed full of all sorts of activities and errands which has left little time for us to make dinner. We’ve been throwing together easy meals, which I honestly kind of love. This is one of them. For more easy chile dinners try Chile Verde Chicken Tamale Casserole, Chicken and Hatch Chile Stew, and Mom’s Green Enchiladas.
Flavorful + Spicy Pork Stew
I was originally inspired by a jalapeno lime chicken soup, but really wanted to make this stew my own. Since the hubby LOVES pork, I thought I’d use a few tricks from our favorite carnitas recipe to flavor the meat and get it nice and tender. That meant adding lots of lime juice, a blend of seasonings and 4 cloves of minced garlic.
The stew not only smelled pretty darn incredible, but it tasted delish! We both loved everything about it, and our little one did too!
I hope you’ll give this warm and cozy stew a try! It’s quickly become a favorite and I think you can probably see why! Loaded with both incredible flavor and texture, this is an easy one-pot meal that the whole family will love!
How to Make Chile Verde
PORK. Trim any excess fat off of the pork shoulder and cut it into 2″ pieces. Place the meat into a large dutch oven with a lid.
ADD. Add the lime juice, garlic, chili powder, coriander, cumin, and salt. Then, add water to cover the pork (level to the top of the meat).
BOIL. Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover and reduce to medium-low, cook for 30 minutes.
SIMMER. Remove the lid and continue cooking on medium (or a simmer) for 1 hour and 45 minutes, the liquid should have reduced substantially by now.
COOK. Add the onions and minced jalapeños, cook until tender.
BOIL. Pour in the water and the chicken broth, salsa and beans, bring the mixture up to a boil. Once the mixture is boiling add the rice, cook until tender.
GARNISH & SERVE. Serve with wedges of lime and garnish with cilantro.
More Cooking Instructions
Crockpot: You can blend your peppers and spices up together in a blender and then pour it over your pork shoulder in the crockpot. Cook it on low for 9 hours. Then you can shred the meat and eat it up!
Instant Pot: To make this in the instant pot you can turn the saute function on in order to brown the outside of the pork roast before placing all of your other ingredients in the instant pot. Cook it on high pressure for about 30 minutes before letting it naturally release pressure. Then you will take your pork out and use an immersion blender to blend the rest of your ingredients into a soup texture. Put the pork back in and serve it up!
Tips, Tricks, and More Recipes
Thicken It: You can thicken chile verde stew with a cornstarch slurry. In a separate bowl mix together equal parts cornstarch and water. Then you can mix this mixture into the stew. If you need to thin it out for some reason you can mix in extra chicken broth.
What to serve with?
STORE this stew like you would normally store any stew—place it in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days. Reheat small portions in the microwave and larger portions in a pot on the stovetop.
FREEZE it by letting the soup cool completely and then placing it in a freezer safe container or ziploc bag. You can portion it into freezer safe ziploc bags and lay flat on a cookie sheet to “pre freeze” so then you can store the bags vertically in the freezer. This will last about 3 months in the freezer. Let it defrost in the fridge overnight and reheat on the stovetop until warmed through.
For similar soup recipes, check out:
Chile Verde Stew Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 (3-4) lbs pork shoulder or butt - excess fat removed
- 4 limes - juiced
- 4 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 yellow onion - diced
- 3 jalapenos - minced
- 1 cup water
- 4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 (16 oz) jar chile verde salsa - (I love Guy Fieri's)
- 1 (15 oz) can pinto beans - rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup long grain rice
Garnishes
- cilantro
- sour cream
- lime wedges
Instructions
- Trim any excess fat off of the pork shoulder and cut it into 2" pieces. Place the meat into a large dutch oven with a lid. Add the lime juice, garlic, chili powder, coriander, cumin, and salt. Add water to cover the pork (level to the top of the meat). Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover and reduce to medium-low, cook for 30 minutes.
- Remove the lid and continue cooking on medium (or a simmer) for 1 hour and 45 minutes, the liquid should have reduced substantially by now.
- Add the onions and minced jalapeños, cook until tender. Pour in the water and the chicken broth, salsa and beans, bring the mixture up to a boil. Once the mixture is boiling add the rice, cook until tender.
- Serve with wedges of lime and garnish with cilantro.
This soup was sooo delicious! The flavors came together perfectly.
So glad you loved it!
This is hearty and filling with just the right amount of spice. Would make again!
Stew on repeat for fall feels right.
Oh my, this looks so warm and comforting! Perfect for fall!
I hope you try it and love it.
If I use your crockpot directions, do I leave out the beans and rice and add them later, or cook those also the entire 9 hours with the pork and others?
If you added the beans and rice for the entire 9 hours they would most likely be really soft and even mushy. I recommend putting them in when you have about 3 hours left of cooking time. Let us know how it turns out and good luck!