When we moved to CO from the West Coast I fell in love with a number of tasty Green Chili dishes at restaurants in the state.

Shortly after we moved here my wife learned how to make authentic Mexican tamales from some neighbors, and when she started to make them at home I thought to myself, “If she can make such delicious tamales why should I have to wait for the next time I happen upon a good green chili at a restaurant?”

From there I Googled green chili to find as many recipes as I could and picked the ingredients that I thought would make the best pork green chili. I approximated ingredient portions and wrote it all down. I made the first batch figuring that the recipe would be a work in progress for years to come, but after making the first batch I decided that I did not want to change a thing. So 7 years later it remains as originally conceived. I have shared the recipe and numerous bowls of deliciousness with friends and family. Now I will share it with you on Instructables.

Step 1: Ingredients

Ingredients:

Olive oil

2 to 3 pounds of Lean Pork Cubed

4 table spoons all-purpose flour (optional for thickening)

1 large onion

2 large cans crushed tomatoes (I like Hunts Fire Roasted diced tomatoes)

4 or 5 cups of chicken stock (I buy it, but you can make it with bullion)

5 or 6 large garlic cloves

8 to 10 Anaheim Chilies – roasted and Hickory smoked, then cut and seeded

Onion powder, Garlic powder, and Pepper

Step 2: Directions

Directions:

1. Cook and smoke your chilies on the BBQ with hickory or take your already flame roasted Chilies and smoke them in a smoker. When I do not have my smoker available I put a pan of hickory chips below the grate to use the BBQ. I set the heat on low and cook them until the smoke dissipates. Better yet though are already flame roasted chilies and a Little Chief Smoker filled with Hickory chips.

2. Peal and seed 8 to 12 green chiles. Even more if you want it to have more kick. I like it spicy, but tame enough to serve to most people. Overly hot chili alienates a large portion of the population. So this is a tough call. I use Anaheim and Hatch chilies of medium heat, but even these can vary greatly on the heat index. I find that mild chilies are too wimpy and hot are too on fire. I used 12 chilies on this batch and it was a wonderful spicy stew.

3. Heat oil in a large pan over a med-high heat. Stir in cubed pork with most of the fat trimmed off and cook until fully cooked all the way through. I usually add a little bit of butter flavored with chicken bouillon powder and a little beer to the pork while cooking. Both add moisture and flavor.

4. While the meat is cooking start a large crock pot on high and add the fire roasted crushed (diced) tomatoes, chicken stock, diced onion, diced garlic cloves, and chopped green chilies.

5. When the meat is cooked all the way through add it to the crock pot stock as well.

6. Season to taste with onion powder, garlic powder, and pepper. I usually give a healthy shake of each to the crock pot early on in the process and call it good.

7. Bring the mixture to a boil and then turn the crock pot to medium for 6 to 8 hours stirring the mixture occasionally. It should cook until the pork is tender and all the flavors have blended. At this time you can thicken with All Purpose flour or arrowroot if desired.

This makes a large amount of green chili stew, but I ask why would you want to make a small batch? It freezes well for later meals, but I never have enough left to save before I tire of leftovers.

Step 3: Conculsion

Bon Appetite.

Conclusion: I have shared the recipe and had friends make it with less success in taste than mine. So my notes are: Fire Roasted tomatoes are best, Hickory smoking the Chilies rocks, keep the pork moist and flavorful before adding to the stock, and give the batch enough cook time to blend all the flavors all together.