This award winning Hatch Pork Green Chili is one of my favorite soups to make!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
Something about the fall and football season makes me want to cook this Pork Hatch Green Chili every Sunday.
But honestly, I also crave this chili on a regular basis, even in the summer. The flavors are so fresh and bright that it works all year round.
This chili is hearty and comforting without being too heavy.
And the flavor of roasted Hatch Green Chiles is the star!
This pork green chile recipe is one of the most popular recipes on this site, along with my Escabeche Mexican Pickled Vegetables.
Looking for a vegetarian version? Check out our Vegetarian Hatch Green Chili!
What is the difference between Hatch green chili and green chili?
Hatch peppers are grown in Hatch, New Mexico and named specifically for their flavor and heat that comes from their location.
Non-Hatch chiles are called Anaheim peppers, which are a variety of Hatch that was taken from Hatch and grown in Anaheim, California. But the main difference is not just that they were grown in different places – Hatch peppers are much hotter.
We are lucky enough to have fresh pepper stands throughout the state in the fall and the smell of the peppers roasting is intoxicating.
I stock up on two or three bushels to make sure that I have enough for my Hatch Green Chili cravings plus some extra for various Mexican dishes throughout the rest of the year.
Ingredients
Here is what you need to make Pork Hatch Green Chili:
- Pork Shoulder
- Yellow Onion
- Green Chile Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Celery Salt
- Oregano
- Cumin
- Chicken Stock (or broth)
- Green Enchilada Sauce
- Light Beer
- Fresh Cilantro
- Jalapeno
- Diced Green Chiles (heat level of choice)
Instructions
Cut up the pork and brown it in your cast iron pot.
Remove the pork, add the onion and spices and cook.
Add everything else, including the pork, back in the pot and let it simmer at least one hour.
Longer simmering is best! I am for at least 3 hours.
If needed, use more stock to get the consistency you want as it continues to simmer.
Are Hatch green chile peppers hot?
They can be, yes! You can typically find various heat levels of the pepper, with the hottest available earliest in the season.
I love to use the fresh peppers, since I am lucky to have them in this area. If you do not see them in the produce section, I have found that frozen packs of roasted and diced green chiles are the closest substitution. Canned green chiles also work!
Be careful if you are purchasing any jarred chiles, as many of them are actually a sauce.
Easily control the heat level in this green chile recipe through the green chili powder, enchilada sauce, quantity of jalapenos, and the chile peppers themselves. This recipe is set for a mild to mild-medium heat level.
Modifications and Substitutions
Want a version that focuses specifically on the peppers and nothing else? Try our Vegetarian Hatch Green Chili!
Use any cut of pork if needed. Pork shoulder is budget friendly with great flavor.
Skip the beer completely if desired.
Make it spicy by using hotter peppers and/or more jalapeno.
Serving and Storing
After just a few minutes of preparation, you can leave this Pork Hatch Green Chili on the stove for several hours to do its thing.
The longer you let the chili cook, the better it will taste…if you are able to restrain yourself. The smell is intoxicating!
It also freezes really well! Just pack into mason jars and throw in the freezer for perfectly sized portions.
There are so many options for toppings and add-ins, you can please everyone with this recipe. Plus it is gluten free and keto low carb!
Some of my favorite toppings or items to serve with the chili includes sour cream, shredded cheese, fresh cilantro, radish slices, tortillas, and baked potatoes.
Kim’s Tips
Fresh roasted peppers are best if you can get them.
There are also some great roasted varieties in the freezer section of the grocery store.
But canned and jarred will work just fine if that is what you have. The 505 Hatch chiles is my favorite brand to date.
I know it seems weird to include a canned enchilada sauce, and I have gotten some grief for it. But the roasted peppers still shine and the enchilada sauce helps the overall consistency and base flavor. If you want to skip it, go ahead. Or use more roasted peppers and blend some up to make a sauce like addition.
FAQs
Well, my stance is that chili is for the soup type dish regardless of what type of chili it is (such as red, Texas, or green in this case) and chile is reserved for the peppers themselves.
Pork green chili is said to have originated in Mexico.
It is very popular in the southwest part of the United States, which leads us to our next question…
Yes! I live in Colorado and it is very common to find a from-scratch green chili at many restaurants, especially Mexican restaurants.
We have great access to Hatch chile peppers, and there is even a local “debate” between Pueblo chiles (from southern Colorado) and Hatch – which is a whole other article.
Even if we are using Hatch peppers, green chili is a staple in Colorado.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds pork shoulder, diced and trimmed of fat
- 1 cup white onion diced
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- ½ Tablespoon green chili powder (see note)
- 1 ½ teaspoons celery salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 Tablespoon cumin
- 32 ounces chicken stock
- 28 ounces green enchilada sauce (heat and brand of choice) (one large can) (optional)
- 1 bottle beer (lager, pilsner, or other lighter beer of choice) (I recommend Corona, see note)
- ½ cup fresh cilantro chopped (optional)
- 1-3 jalapeno peppers seeded and finely diced
- 32 ounces diced Hatch green chiles heat level of choice, seeded and peeled (you can substitute the canned kind)
Instructions
- In a large pot (cast iron preferably), cook pork over medium heat until browned. Reserve two tablespoons of the fat. Drain the remaining fat and remove pork. Set aside.2 pounds pork shoulder, diced and trimmed of fat
- Return the two tablespoons of pork drippings to the pot. Over medium heat, cook onion until translucent, approximately 5 minutes.1 cup white onion
- Add all of the dried spices: garlic powder, green chili powder, celery salt, dried oregano, and cumin. Stir. Saute to toast herbs for approximately 3 minutes.2 teaspoons garlic powder, ½ Tablespoon green chili powder, 1 ½ teaspoons celery salt, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 Tablespoon cumin
- Add the chicken stock, green enchilada sauce, beer, cilantro, jalapenos, and green chiles. Add the pork back in.32 ounces chicken stock, 28 ounces green enchilada sauce, 1 bottle beer, ½ cup fresh cilantro, 1-3 jalapeno peppers, 32 ounces diced Hatch green chiles
- Cook, over medium low heat, for at least one hour, preferably three hours. Stir occasionally. If the chili becomes too thick, add some more stock a cup at a time. *You want the chili to thicken in this step. Continue cooking until the thickness is to your liking. You can turn up the heat a little if it is taking too long.
- Finish off the chili with hot sauce for more of a kick as needed, or use as a mix-in. Serve with your favorite toppings or sides.
Notes
- Rice
- Baked potatoes
- Cheese
- Sour cream
- Lime
- Tortillas
- Radishes
- Hot sauce
Kim, I am not vegan, but this looks very tasty. I would give it a try. Thank you for the recipe.
oh my goodness, this looks soooo yummy! I can’t wait to try it!
So yummy! Have been looking more vegetarian recipes!
This looks amazing! Thank you for the link as to where to find the powder, that always keeps me from trying a recipe. Pinning this for sure!!
Never heard of this green chili dish. With pork sounds delicious and adding to my recipe box.
That looks delicious!
This looks so good! It will definitely satisfy both my meat and chili craving!
Yum! This looks super delicious!
This sounds so great! I love green chili. I think I first had some when we lived in Lubbock, TX and fell in love with it. And sometimes we’d go to Albuquerque for a long weekend and it’s EVERYWHERE there, lol. I’ve pinned and will be sharing to my Facebook page tomorrow. Thanks for sharing!
I have developed a thing for green chili! This looks fantastic. I can’t wait to try it!
Looks so yummy!, im going to try this recipe tomorrow, my husband loveees pork.
This. Sounds. AMAZING! I’m going to have to try this recipe!
Looks and sounds fantastic! Love, Love, Love Chili!!! I’m going to try this! Thanks!
I have made this and added spicy sausage, bacon and pinto beans…..cooked it in a Dutch oven cook-off and then served it with fresh cilantro, chopped white onion and sour cream!! Excellent! Ran out of 3 gallons in no time.
Hi Debra, that sounds amazing! I am so glad you liked it! 🙂
Can I add diced potatoes? How would that affect the flavor?
Hi Marsha,
I would say it depends on the potatoes you use and when you add them. My favorite way to eat this is actually with a chopped up baked potato in the bottom of the bowl!
If the potatoes cook in the sauce too long, they could fall apart. I would suggest adding raw potatoes in the last 30-60 minutes (depending on how large) or cook them separately and add when serving.
I have never tried adding potatoes during cooking, but those are my thoughts!
I made this using canned roasted hatch chilies. It was EXCELLENT.
I am so glad you liked it! 🙂
I have made this three times now and it is delicious. The only quibble I have is you don’t tell us when to put the pork back in . So I make it up. Also would recommend mixing the spices all together and then adding them all together after the onions have browned. That way they all cook evenly and can be better distributed.
This was beyond the bomb. We love heat, so I used 3 serranos instead jalapenos and I went with a combo of medium and hot Hatch chilis. Like someone mentioned, cook it a day or two before and let the flavors meld. Also, if you can find it, use a Hatch enchilada sauce for even more kick. Delicious on its own, or try it on top of eggs, quesadillas, probably be great on top of waffles.
So glad you loved it, Michael! All of those ways of eating it sounds amazing!
A beer in general will make this recipe non gluten free. Yes, you can use a GF beer, but can you make it w/o beer?
Absolutely! It will still taste great.
If wanting to sub for the beer, would you just use an equal amount of stock? Thanks!
You could just leave the beer out altogether. It does not add much in the way of moisture, just flavor.
I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the way you put the portions in the instructions it drives me crazy to go back and on my iPad to se now how of each item is needed.
Thank you so much!
Can’t wait to try this for Super Bowl Sunday!
How many fresh hatch Chiles would you use I stead of canned? Also would you roast then first?
Hi Laura,
Yes, you would roast first. The weight is the same regardless of canned versus fresh (fresh is best!). The number of peppers is very difficult because they come in very different sizes. I would recommend weighing it out at the grocery store in their scales and go just a little over (since you will be removing stems and seeds before using). It is very flexible so it does not have to be exact weight!
Delicious recipe! Just a perfect amount of spice and flavor.
Wonderful! So glad you liked it!
This is a must recipe for fall!
I’ve tried a million recipes… this is the best!
How wonderful! Thank you, I am so glad you enjoy it!
I tried it! It came out great
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing green chili recipe! Will surely have this again! It’s really easy to make and it tasted so delicious! Highly recommended!
I love a good green chili recipe! Such a comfort dish, especially when the weather gets cold! I saved your recipe to try this weekend!
This chili looks absolutely delicious and flavorful. Love every bite of this chili
Although I had to substitute for items I didn’t have, the recipe was great and made substitutions easy to figure out. It was delicious! Since I didn’t have enchilada sauce, I added 1/3 of a jar of Herdez roasted poblano salsa cremosa and it really added body and depth. Yum!
So glad you liked it, Alison! And so glad that your substitutions were delicious!
Fantastic! Added potatoes, taste was great!
This pork green chili is absolutely delicious and flavorful. This is definitely on my cook list. Thank you for sharing it.
This looks very tasty! I have not made a hatch pork green chili in a long time! Thanks for the share – excited to give it a try!
Oh my goodness, this looks so good and tasty.
I will def make this at home for everyone!
I had this today prepared by my daughter in law. It was AWESOME
How amazing! So glad it was a hit!
Have you ever made this with beef instead of pork?
I have not, but that is a great idea! I use green chile sauces and flavors with beef all the time (enchiladas, burritos, etc) and they taste great together! A chuck roast would probably work just great, or even ground beef.
This was yummy!
has anyone made this in a Crock-Pot?
Hi Amber!
I have not done this, but I would suggest browning the pork as described in step 1 on the stove and then just add everything into the crock pot and cook on low.
You could try skipping the browning but will lose a little of that flavor and the stew will retain a little more fat. Enjoy!
This turned out so great!