The BEST Green Chile Stew is loaded with bite-size chunks of pork that are seasoned with onion and plenty of garlic.
The pork is simmered in a green chile sauce (that’s salsa verde for those of you who aren’t familiar with the lingo) until tender enough to almost fall apart when you bite it.
Filled with that irresistible pork, potatoes, and roasted green chile, this stew is what I dream of when the weather starts cooling off each fall.
And before any other native New Mexican can correct me, I am well aware of the ridiculousness of actually claiming the BEST Green Chile Stew, because technically I do love them all.
That said, this is my family’s BEST Green Chile Stew and we love it more than all the others.
Green Chile Stew
Over the years, I’ve made Green Chile Stew with many different kinds of meat: pork, ground beef, steak, chicken. However, this Green Chile Stew is hands-down our favorite.
Not that I won’t happily try YOUR green chile stew recipe if you send it to me! I don’t discriminate between green chile filled recipes.
Crock-Pot Green Chile Stew
I’ve had so many requests for a slow-cooker version of this recipe, I finally played with it the other day. And I’m oh so happy to tell you that it worked beautifully.
You don’t even need to brown the meat! Just toss every ingredient into the crock-pot all at once and cover it with the lid. Simmer on HIGH for 6 hours. When the potatoes are fork-tender and the pork is tender enough to pull apart, it’s ready to eat!
This is my kind of recipe for sure and it is easy as can be whether you make it on the stove or in the crock-pot!
This native New Mexican happily eats her green chile with breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Packed with so much flavor and hearty chunks of potatoes and pork, this is a simple winter meal that our entire family enjoys. There is more flavor from all of the chile in this recipe than there is actual heat.
My boys all began eating this green chile stew when they were barely on solid foods. We’re big fans of starting the green chile addiction early in life around here.
If you’re new to cooking with chile or leery of the heat, I recommend starting with a mild green chile. In some grocery stores, you may be lucky enough to find frozen chile in the freezer section of the grocery store.
If frozen isn’t available, you should be able to find canned green chile in different levels of heat in most grocery stores.
Several years ago, I tried making this with sweet potatoes and my family went crazy over it. My favorite version is still the traditional stew made with white potatoes, but it is really great both ways. However you make it, this soup is fantastic.
For some more New Mexico favorites that you might like to try these Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas, Calabacitas, and New Mexico Posole. These recipes are classic.
Green Chile Stew Stove-Top Recipe
Combine the pork, flour, pepper and garlic powder in a gallon size Ziploc bag. Shake to coat thoroughly and then set aside. In a large pot over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the fresh garlic and onion and sauté until translucent, approximately 2-3 minutes.
Add the dusted pork and cook until browned, approximately 5 minutes. Add the chiles, salsa verde, stock and salt and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low for 45 minutes.
Add the potatoes and raise heat to boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are fork-tender, approximately 15 minutes.
Green Chile Stew Crock-Pot Recipe
Combine the pork, flour, pepper and garlic powder in a gallon size Ziploc bag. Shake to coat thoroughly and then add the dusted pork to the slow-cooker. Add the potatoes, chiles, salsa verde, stock, and salt to the crock-pot.
Cover with lid and cook on HIGH for 6 hours, until the potatoes are fork-tender and the pork can be pulled apart.
The Best Green Chile Stew
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean pork stew meat chopped into ½” pieces
- 1/4 cup flour or cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 yellow onion chopped into 1/2 “ pieces
- 3 large cloves garlic minced
- 3/4 cup or 7-ounce can freshly roasted or frozen green chile, chopped small
- 3 1/2 cups or 28 oz can salsa verde or green chile sauce
- 3 cups chicken stock or water, plus 1 tablespoon chicken base
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt adjust to taste
- 4 cups diced potatoes about 2 large white or sweet potatoes
Instructions
- Combine the pork, flour, pepper and garlic powder in a gallon size Ziploc bag. Shake to coat thoroughly and then set aside.
- In a large pot over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the fresh garlic and onion and sauté until translucent, approximately 2-3 minutes.
- Add the dusted pork and cook until browned, approximately 5 minutes. Add the chiles, salsa verde, stock and salt and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low for 45 minutes.
- Add the potatoes and raise heat to boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender, approximately 15 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
{originally posted 1/4/2012 – recipe notes and photos updated 3/25/20}
Karen says
Can you top this with potato chips?? We here in Minnesota top everything with them (hot dishes). Just kidding. Stew was wonderful! Besides adding green Chile’s I added a hatch Chile. What I thought was a must was serving with limes. I think it adds so much flavor. Served with warm tortillas. My guests, though, were looking for the potato chips…haha! It was wonderful on a cold and snowy day. Everyone enjoyed!!
Mary Younkin says
That’s so funny. I supposed you really can top just about everything with potato chips. I’ll have to try it with lime next time!
Kimi says
Love this recipe! We are new New Mexicans, and our new favorite food is green chile stew. We experienced the chile roasting tradition last fall, and our freezer is chock full of green chiles, so we have enjoyed this recipe several times!
My one modification is to skip the Ziploc bag and use a bowl — no need to trash a plastic bag that only was useful for a minute. 😀
Thanks for the recipe!
Mary Younkin says
I’m so glad that you have learned to love Green Chile Stew. It’s definitely a state favorite!
Judy says
I save a few of the plastic bags that breakfast cereal comes in. They are perfect for shaking meats in flour (just fold the top securely) or pounding chicken breasts, etc. they are always tough and never tear or leak, and throwing them away after this use is guilt-free.
I am making this recipe later this week, based on reviews. Can’t wait!
Mary Younkin says
I hope that you love it, Judy!
Kathy Owensby says
Delicious! Thank you from New Mexico!
Mary Younkin says
I’m so happy you love the stew, Kathy!
Warn says
My first time in New Mexico and trying green chili stew compelled me to look into making chili stew (I am a traditionally Italian fan). I was absolutely stunned by the flavor and varieties at the local restaurants I visited while on work travel (near and around Las Crucas). Some had beans and were thick while some were thin like albondigas (a favorite at my house). Looking at your recipe compels me to try it at home. It may be hard to find hatch chilies near me). A little background, I’m a mechanical engineer who loves cooking and eating among many other things. Your story on bare feet (Which was new to me until I searched for green chili stew) gives me the sense you enjoy the delicacies of fine food. Your descriptions are compelling. Sounds like you have tried several versions to come up with your best posted version. I look forward to trying it in my cast iron dutch oven. I am also guessing it takes all day to tenderize the components. I did not see anything regarding timing of the steps or water content for the final constancy. Joy of Cooking is my baseline but I look forward to looking into you publications.
Warn
Mary Younkin says
Hi Warn! Thanks for taking the time to say hello. Surprisingly, this is not a recipe that takes all day to tenderize. The cooking time winds up being roughly an hour start to finish. (If you scroll to the bottom of the post, you should see a printable recipe card that includes all the steps and times.) I hope that you enjoy the Green Chile Stew as much as we do!
Maggie Donato says
Mary,
We lived in Los Alamos NM in the mid ’50s when it was a closed community and I was in 5-8th grades. My dad was in the USAF. His sister and brother-in-law lived about 45 mins. away outside Santa Fe. She was the principal and 5th grade teacher at Tesuque primary school and he built and ran Dos Kay Kennels where he bred, raised, and showed Boxers and Scotties for about 30 years. Anyway, Uncle T made green chile every weekend we went to see them for the weekend … a pot of pinto beans, a huge pan of cornbread, and a giant vat of “Uncle T’s chile.” All our kids now make that menu and some of the kids’ kids make it. Gradually we are teaching the great grands to love and crave the dishes we were raised on.
I was thrilled recently to find Walmart is carrying the brand 505 Hatch Valley green chile sauce – a half gallon jar. And we live in the middle of Virginia!! I think I screamed before I got hold of myself. Hatch is the only type of chile for green chile stew in my opinion, and I used almost all of it to make a vat of your stew (now it’s MY stew). Green chile and potatoes = the best!
THANK YOU, MARY!
Mary Younkin says
Your story made me grin, Maggie. I couldn’t agree more that hatch is the only way to go. I’m thrilled that you love this stew.
Susan says
Great and easy recipe!
Mary Younkin says
I’m thrilled that you are enjoying the stew, Susan.
David says
Albuquerque/Boulder burrito variation from an old vagabond musician and cook.
Once the stew is done, keep warm, what follows is/was a fairly common variation in that area.
*Large oval plates are imperative. Deep or high lip.
1, Charcoal grill (mesquite helps) or panini, large, no bone, no skin chicken breast(s). Carbon stripes to match the roasted green chili. Slice into strips when done. Lime juice and spice are an option during cooking or after.
2, Large white flour tortillas.
3, Rice of your choice but I like to pan fry it a bit, after steaming, with some spices. Dirty rice.
4, Black beans cooked and spiced. Stir in a cap full of vinegar, at a time, to change the PH and taste until your spice choices start to really pop out. I like Balsamic but that’s me. Lime juice is also effective but perhaps redundant based on what’s happened and what’s to come. No rules really, I’m sure your recipe, as mine has, will evolve based the tastes of you and yours. The PH trick with beans is the main thing. Shhhh, if that trick winds up on the internets, God only knows what could happen!
5, Place burrito shell in cast iron skillet or similar non stick. Touch of oil to prevent sticking, if needed.
You just want to warm it up and get a little browned on 1 side but still pliable. Remove when done as it makes assembly much easier.
6, Quickly put the rice down the middle leaving room to fold and roll once completed.
Optional- queso blanco drizzle here or anywhere prior to folding and rolling.
Optional- pan fry onions, shallots and garlic with long sliced red and yellow pepper. Green peppers are fine but “green “ is already pretty well covered.
Extremely light Fajita spice if any and just for the onion/peppers blend. Cooked until some carbon shows is fine. The peppers can be char grilled with the chicken then, sliced and added to the onion mixture once they turn translucent. Let them cook together for a bit. My personal preference.
7, Add black beans, chicken. on top of the rice. Additional green chilis are an option but recommend and authentic from those who taught/employed and fed me.
Few spoonfuls or a handful.
8, Roll that tortilla up right and tight into a burrito.
9, Large oval plate time. Center the burrito on the plate, seam down, and ladle the green chili stew over the burrito and covering the whole plate but not overflowing because there’s more to come.
10, Cover the entire plate with shredded Cheddar cheese and broil briefly. The warm stew will do most of the melting.
11, Now, take shredded iceberg lettuce and stir in a little lime juice(fresh squeezed always) and a small amount of fresh diced cilantro.
The lime is not a dressing, just barely enough enough and not dripping wet. Place the lettuce on both sides of the burrito. Add canned black olives next onto the lettuce. Then a few slices of those small tomatoes that are everywhere down there. Again, both sides and fresh cracked black pepper/salt make the tomato’s pop and also adds a visual element as well. Just on the tomato slices only.
12, So close! Lastly, put a dent in the center of the burrito with a tablespoon or bottom of a shot glass.
Put a nice dollop of sour cream in the dent. Garnish the sour cream with a sprig or 4 of cilantro.
13, Pick up the plate (2 hands) and check the weight. It should be heavy as heck and picture perfect.
14, Try to keep this a secret from your green chili stew loved one(s). Have them close their eyes and drop that plate down from about 1/2 an inch above the table for a nice sonic thud and say “you can look now.”
Watch their eyes bug out as they scramble for a fork and knife.
For some reason I really want a green chili cheeseburger from the Frontier and go right back for breakfast in the morning.
Thanks for the stroll down memory lane/Cornell Dr, right across the street from UNM.
Mary Younkin says
Thanks for sharing the recipe, David. This sounds absolutely delicious!
David says
No problem Mary, I enjoyed the memories very much. I would like to say having lived and worked in some very rural and impoverished areas down there, what we call red chili or green chili stew is much more exotic than we may realize.
Red/green were usually started with bone and scrap meat etc. and cooked down over night, to start.
The burrito is where the action was if that makes sense. If I may, correct the amount of pork in your recipe to much less(1/2 to a 1/4) and really shred and dice it up to become a part of the whole melange. That much pork is great for stand alone stew, undoubtedly.
Red is the same as green as far as overall assembly for this “Fiesta” burrito variation, to give this a name. Red gets steak and green gets chicken. Red isn’t a stew, no ground meat, no red beans etc.
That’s more of a Texas/generic Americana thing. It’s a thin sauce that cooks down forever and you’ll never see the explosion of flavor coming. Steak is grilled just like the chicken. Assembly is identical. Red/steak doesn’t need the lime treatment. Gotta run, so eat, drink and be Mary!!! 😉 Cheers.
Linda alligan says
What happened to directions. #2 and #4?
Mary Younkin says
Hi Linda, I’m not sure why those spaces showed up the way they did in the recipe card. I’ve corrected it now. Thanks for the catch!
Lauren Richards says
I made this for my family in Michigan at Christmas and added a carrot for color. It was fabulous. Now that I’m back home in China, I get to roast my own chiles for this recipe. They have great varieties of chiles here. A made a batch for a colleague who’s vegan using smoky tofu and vegetable stock. Imported salsa verde is astronomically expensive here, and I’ve yet to find tomatillos in the local vegetable markets to make my own. Even without the salsa verde, it was delicious. This is the best green chile stew I’ve found yet and reminds me of my years in New Mexico. Thanks for the recipe!
Mary Younkin says
I’m so very happy to hear that you love it, Lauren!
mjskitchen says
What’s not to love about your green chile stew? I have eaten enough of it in my days so I know by just looking at it, that it is truly a perfect GC stew. There are so many versions of this stew and they all all good (of course anything with green chile is good :)), but there is just something about this combination that makes it the best. Great stew and thanks so much for the shout on my calabacitas.
Mary Younkin says
I’m so glad that you like the stew, MJ!
Clarence McGinnis says
Mary, You are almost right about about your green chili stew. New Mexico style green Chili has to have HATCH GREEN CHILIS! But, you do know that.
Love you, Uncle Clarence
Mary Younkin says
You bet, Uncle Clarence! Hatch green chile is EVERYTHING. Unfortunately, it isn’t available everywhere, but I sure do buy it when it’s available.
Ghulam Mohyudin says
It was perfect the first time. I learn so much from you!
Mary Younkin says
I’m so glad that you liked the stew!
Karen O says
Very good!!!!!
I seen this recipe and it sounded good. I wasn’t sure my husband would care for it. Unfortunately he is not very adventurous in eating things that are a little different and very difficult to get him to try new things. I knew it would have a hint of a green color and really make him turn away. I am glad he didn’t sway me not to try it! I figured he could find something else in the fridge to eat. He tried it only because I make your recipe for pork sirloin roast that he loves. I told him it was one of your recipes. He tried it and he likes it!!!
I know he’s not lying because he ate two bowls!
Thanks again…. it was great!
Mary Younkin says
I’m so glad that you love the stew, Karen!
Paola Baker says
Very good chili. Thank you for your recipe
Mary Younkin says
I’m so happy to hear that you like it, Paola!