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The best green chile stew is loaded with bite-sized chunks of pork that are seasoned with onion and plenty of garlic. The pork is simmered in a green chile sauce until tender enough to almost fall apart when you bite it.
New Mexico Green Chile Stew
This is the ultimate comfort food.
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 NM 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. Made with chunks of tender pork and potatoes, spicy hot green chile, and a savory broth that you’ll be dipping your tortillas into and scraping the bowl clean, this is it for me.
Green Chile Stew
Over the years, I’ve made Green Chile Stew with many different kinds of meat: pork, ground beef, steak, and 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 recipes. We love adding green chile to our enchiladas, burritos, tacos, soups, and scrambled egg skillets. If the dish includes green chile, my boys will dive straight into it.
I am a transplanted New Mexican now living in Oregon. This recipe is exactly what I remembered getting at a restaurant in downtown ABQ. So delicious! 👍
Green Chile Pork 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.
Chili vs Chile
Is it chili or chile? In the end, it doesn’t really matter, as it’s all going to be delicious. Depending on where you live or happen to be at this moment, both words can be used to refer to a type of pepper, usually a hot one.
However, in New Mexico, chili typically is used when referring to a type of dish, like this steak chili or creamy chicken chili. And chile is used when referring to dishes that contain a good amount of chile peppers in the recipe.
Dishes made with green or red chile peppers are often named with chile in the recipe name. Foods like this Green Chile Stew are made with loads of green chile peppers, meat, and potatoes or beans. This is a stew, not a traditional chili recipe, so we call it a green chile stew, to recognize the chile in the recipe.
Pork Green Chile Recipe
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. You can substitute salsa verde for the green chile sauce if you’re unable to find green enchilada sauce in your store.
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.
Crock-Pot Green Chile Stew
Slow cookers or crockpots are an appliance of which I have more than one. If you are an avid slow cooker user like I am, you might understand the need for more than one. So, let’s talk about my favorites:
First up is this 6-quart slow cooker that has a locking lid. These crockpots are fantastic for transporting foods. Mine has gone everywhere from church potlucks to barbecues, game nights to Thanksgiving dinner. However, fair warning, these slow cookers run crazy hot. Low is closer to a boil than a simmer, the warm setting actually simmers. So trust me when I say HIGH is high.
My everyday slow cooker is this 8-quart Crockpot. It’s my go-to appliance for cooking large roasts and big batches of chili. Fun fact: did you know that a full 4-quart cooker, actually cooks more slowly than a half-full 8-quart cooker?
For just cooking a few pounds of chicken to shred for enchiladas or other smaller recipes, this 3-quart version is perfect.
Thanksgiving has become a breeze since I have mastered how to hold all of the side dishes using these medium-sized round slow cookers.
If you aren’t a fan of the idea of keeping more than one slow cooker in the house, these CrockPockets are a game-changer when it comes to preparing and holding multiple dishes at the same time. They slide into a standard 6-quart crockpot, dividing it into two sections that are perfect for serving different side dishes or keeping taco fillings warm for parties.
Green Chile Stew Recipe
To make the stew on the stovetop: Combine the pork, flour, pepper, and garlic powder in a gallon-size Ziploc bag and shake well to coat. Saute the garlic and onion with a bit of oil in a large pot or Dutch oven and then add the flour-coated pork.
Cook the pork until browned, and then add the green chile, green chile sauce, stock, and salt. Cover and simmer on low for 45 minutes. Then, add the potatoes and simmer again, until the potatoes are fork-tender, approximately 15 minutes.
It gets even easier when you make the stew in a slow-cooker: 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 crock-pot. Add the potatoes, chiles, green chile sauce, stock, and salt. Cover with lid and cook on HIGH for 6 hours, until the potatoes are fork-tender and the pork can be pulled apart.
Green Chile Recipes
Do you like green chile? Do you like chicken pot pie? Do flaky buttery cheesy biscuits make you grin? If so, this spicy chicken pot pie casserole is going to make you very happy.
Crispy-edged green chile chicken burritos full of cheesy goodness are an easy-to-assemble mealtime hit, full of green chile flavor. Green chile waffles with cheddar and bacon are the latest cheesy waffle deliciousness to hit our table. If you’ve been hanging out with me here for long, you likely know just how big my weakness is for savory waffles.
Green chile carnitas are the perfect combination of two of my favorite savory things. It’s tough to find a combo that beats pork and green chile in my mind. Carnitas are cooked until melt in your mouth tender; then roasted at high temperature until the edges caramelize.
New Mexico Recipes
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. And if you haven’t tried it yet, Carne en su Jugo (a.k.a. Meat in its Juices) is another dinner that my family really enjoys.
Cheesy green chile and bacon biscuits are a terrific addition to any meal and this easy drop biscuit recipe comes together in just minutes! Flaky pie crust filled with fluffy, creamy eggs, spicy green chile, and cheese adds up to a delicious green chile quiche for any day of the week.
Green chile guacamole is spicy with green chile, tangy with lime, and kept fresh with cilantro and spices. This guacamole is a favorite snack on game day or any day of the week.
The Best Green Chile Stew
Ingredients
- 1-2 pounds pork stew meat or pork shoulder chopped into ½” pieces
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour or cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ yellow onion chopped into 1/2 “ pieces
- 3 large cloves garlic minced
- 7 ounces chopped green chile about 3/4 cup worth (frozen works fine)
- 28 ounces green chile enchilada sauce about 3½ cups worth
- 3 cups chicken stock or water, plus 1 tablespoon chicken base
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt adjust to taste
- 4 cups diced potatoes about 2 large 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, enchilada sauce, 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!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
{originally posted 1/4/2012 – recipe notes and photos updated 9/29/25}
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.
Thanks for sharing the recipe, David. This sounds absolutely delicious!
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.
What happened to directions. #2 and #4?
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!
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!
I’m so very happy to hear that you love it, Lauren!
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.
I’m so glad that you like the stew, MJ!
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
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.
It was perfect the first time. I learn so much from you!
I’m so glad that you liked the stew!
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!
I’m so glad that you love the stew, Karen!
Very good chili. Thank you for your recipe
I’m so happy to hear that you like it, Paola!
Planning on trying this with ground beef over the next week as that’s all I’ve got on hand at the moment – will let you know how it turns out even though I love me some pork in green Chile! If you have any suggested modifications with the beef let me know and will be sure to implement.
I’ve made green chile stew with beef too, Chris! It’s good that way. Just cook and crumble the beef and skip ahead to adding the potatoes. There’s no need to simmer the beef in the liquids for as long as the pork.
Excellent – thank you! Will let you know how it turns out.
FYI I forgot to follow up on this and it came out great! Fried up some potatoes as a side and poured this over them on each plate and was a hit!
What is the serving size? One cup?
Each serving for us is approximately 2 1/2 – 3 cups, Desiree.
Thank you. Recipe is delicious! Coming as a new mexican using our hatch green chili. (:
I love that! I’m so glad that you enjoyed the stew, Desiree.
Did the stew tonight. It was great, The El Pinto brand diced green chiles I used were hotter than expected. I’ll tame it down with some sour cream. My favorite local Mexican restaurant here in a Los Angeles suburb adds corn to its puercos en salsa verde con papas. So I added a cup of frozen corn kernels to the dish. It was great.
Only comment on the recipe is that a single tablespoon of olive oil to sweat the onion and garlic and brown the pork was a bit light. I wound up adding two more tablespoons of oil. Otherwise the recipe was perfect.
I’m so glad that you like the stew, Michael! I bet the corn was delicious in it as well.
I’m trying this tonight. I’m adding hominy to mine. I hope it turns out good.
I hope you love it, Heather.
WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. YOU MUST ALWAYS BROWN THE MEAT BEFORE PUTTING IT IN THE CROCK POT. On top of that pour the chicken stock into the pan you browned the meat in to get all the flavor, then add that to the crockpot.
Hey, Matthew. The fun of recipes is that we can do them our own ways. If you’d like to check the original recipe, I do brown the meat. In the case of Crock Pot recipes, though, it’s usually developed to make cooking the meal easier.
Wow, that’s extremely rude to come onto someone else’s blog and post!
This looks delicious but as a Coloradan (we’re second to NM in our love of green chile), green chile and salsa verde are not interchangeable! While this is a convincing green chile recipe — thick, brothy, savory and filled with pork (even better with corn masa, fyi) — salsa verde is made with tomatillo and is far lighter and tangier. If someone here is promised green chile and served salsa verde, heads roll!
This is the New Mexico green chile recipe that I learned how to make while living in New Mexico, Lauren. I am aware that Colorado has a different style of preparing green chile recipes.
Mary, this looks amazing and I am going to make it tonight for dinner. What happens in Colorado should stay in Colorado. New Mexico knows how to make their food right.
ha, I love that, Judy. I hope that you love the stew!
Lauren, I totally agree. Heads will roll if you’re given “salsa verde” instead of green chile. I don’t even know what salsa verde even is since I’ve never gotten near a tomatillo before. I live in Albuquerque, so yeah, I’m familiar with New Mexican cuisine. However, I’m a fan of red, not green. 🙂
Agree with Lauren. Being raised in Northern NM and living in ABQ for the past 20 years, I would NEVER use salsa verde instead of green chile sauce. But, some people don’t have access to green chile sauce and can easily find salsa verde. Just know if you do, it’s NOT authentic NM green chile stew. 🙂 I would also add some dried oregano at the end.
You’re correct, Angie. I took it for granted how accessible everything was in Albuquerque and Phoenix. When we moved to Ohio last year, it was quite the experience. I miss having everything at my fingertips in every grocery store!
Can you use chicken in this recipe instead of pork?
I imagine that would work just fine, Tiffany. It shouldn’t need to cook as long, so adjust the cooking time accordingly.
DId you make it? I want to do a chicken version as well.
Awesome recipe! I love it. I live near KC, MO now but, i spent 18 years and I miss new Mexican food and your recipe definitely brought me back to New Mexico. Thank you for sharing that.
I’m so glad you like the stew, Seth!
Hi, I love your recipe for Green Chili Stew! We use Hernandez Salsa Verde (mild) as we have very young children in our family. I just received an Instant Pot as a birthday gift. Could you convert this wonderful recipe to Instant Pot for us? Thank you.
I’m thrilled that you’re enjoying the recipe, Trudy! Unfortunately, this isn’t going to convert easily as the potatoes would need to go in at a separate time requiring coming to pressure twice. I’m guessing that you could make it on the stovetop in about the same amount of time.
Hey there! I was thinking about making your recipe in a crockpot. It just says to throw all the ingredients in there but, I was wondering if I should follow instructions 1, 2 and 3? Like brown the pork first in a pan for 5 minutes and then put all of the ingredients and browned pork into the slow cooker?
Hi Samantha! When I’m using the crockpot, I do not want to fuss with browning the meat and washing that extra pan. I skip that step 90% of the time and it still turns out deliciously. It will be even better if you prefer to brown the meat, but it is not at all required.
This recipe looks so good, but i need one I can make with chicken. Would this one work if I just substituted chicken?
Yes, you can make this with chicken, but you won’t need the extended simmer time and can simply add cooked chopped chicken and potatoes at the same time. Enjoy!
I’ve made this with some variation on spices and a few additional ingredients. But this recipe as is can’t go wrong. That said, you can save time and some trouble by simply putting all ingredients in a crock pot and cook at low temperature for 8 hours. I find that browning the pork makes little difference if any. However, browning does cook off some of the fat.
I’m so glad you like it, Randy. I’ve provided both crock-pot and stove-top directions for the recipe.