Hatch Green Chili Colorado Style features roasted pork shoulder and plenty of warming spices. This chili is comfort food at its best and one of our favorite Hatch green chili recipes. An award winning recipe.
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Every August when chiles are roasting in our markets, I make a couple of large batches of this Hatch Pork Green Chili recipe to pack away in freezer containers to keep us warm until Spring.
A nod to our neighbors to the South, no surprise that the dish originated in New Mexico.
Traditional New Mexico Hatch Green Chili is a simple sauce or soup with seasonings and roasted Hatch Green Chile peppers.
Heading North, it transforms into a thicker soup or stew with the addition of pork.
Which is the only way I’ve ever made it… for over 30 years.
About This Recipe, It’s History
Back in 1979 I had my first introduction to this incredible Southwestern treat when a coworker, petite, blond and Polish brought a crock pot full to an office pot luck.
I hounded her for at least a year for her recipe but she would never give it to me. All I knew was that it was full of pork and green chiles. Keep in mind this was before computers, Google and the wealth of resource we have at our fingertips.
With that said, this recipe has developed into my own, with countless tweaks since 1979. And has turned into an award winning Hatch Green Chili Recipe.
Why All The Fuss Over New Mexico Hatch Chiles?
Of course you can roast and use Anaheim or Big Jim Chiles to make a pot of Green Chile with Pork. But if you can get your hands on Chile Peppers from the Hatch Valley, they’re meatier, they’re larger and they’re superior in flavor.
A great balance of heat and sweetness. New Mexico terroir, the long hot days and cool nights, the climate is perfect for producing excellent peppers for your Southwestern recipes.
I would compare the Hatch Valley and Chile Peppers to Napa Valley and wine.
There’s really not a variety of pepper called Hatch Chile. These famous peppers are of various varieties and grown in the Hatch Valley of New Mexico. They are wildly popular here in the West.
Each Fall, we celebrate the arrival of Chile peppers from the Hatch Valley. Parking lot and roadside stands fire up their chile roasting drums and the aromas of New Mexico fill the air.
We evangelize and we obsess. We talk constantly about them and we add Hatch chile peppers to almost everything. We clear out our freezers to make room for as many packages of roasted chile peppers as we can possibly squeeze in.
A Winter stash is a cache to cherish. And the first thing I make is green chili recipe with pork.
New Mexico Chiles – Red or Green?
Most New Mexico chile peppers are picked while they’re green to be used in salsas, sauces, enchiladas and so many other dishes.
But many chiles are left to ripen on the plant. Once they’re picked they turn red. They too can be roasted and used in your favorite Southwestern recipes. Even thought they’re red, they too will work well in this Hatch Green Chili Recipe.
Most red chile peppers are dried and strung into ristras or dried and made into chile powders.
Are Hatch Green Chiles Hot?
Most Hatch Chile peppers are not as hot as a jalapeno pepper. On the other hand they can be as hot as a jalapeno or hotter. Why?
There are several varieties of chile peppers grown in the Hatch Valley. And are categorized as Hatch Chile peppers because of the location they’re grown.
They’re commonly labeled simply as Mild, Medium and Hot. Easy, let that be your guide.
A Stash Of Hatch Chile Is A Beautiful Thing
I always purchase a large amount of roasted chile. When I get home, divide them into individual packages, eight per package and then seal and freeze them after using my beloved vacuum food sealer machine.
Popped into the freezer they keep for months and retain their flavor beautifully. To use, just thaw, cut off the tops, remove seeds and most of the charred skin.
I like to leave a few small chunks of that smoky skin for extra flavor.
Don’t need to use 8 chiles at a time? Just put the 8-pack of chile in the microwave for 1 minute. After 1 minute, pull out the amount of chiles that you need and put the rest back in the freezer.
PRO TIP: When cleaning roasted Hatch Chile Peppers, don’t run them under water to remove the charred skin.
Doing so will wash away most of that smoky flavor from the roasting process. Simply remove the burnt skin with your hands. But don’t obsess, leaving a few small little patches of that smoky skin will simply add flavor to any green chile recipe.
Where to Buy Hatch Chile Peppers
If you simply can’t find Hatch Chiles in your area, you can always order them delivered to your doorstep.
And they’re already roasted! Yes please! During harvest season, which starts in late August, you can also order fresh chiles.
Do you have to roast green chiles before you use them in recipes? No. You can chop and de-seed green chiles just like you do jalapeno peppers. Then use them in fresh salsas like Pico de Gallo, or saute them to add flavor to dishes like Mexican Scrambled Eggs.
Chili vs. Chile:
Please note that this green chili recipe uses both Chile Powder and Chili Seasoning. Chile Powder with an “e” is a single ground chile powder.
Chili (with an “i”) Seasoning is a blend of seasonings that routinely consists of cumin, chile powder, Mexican Oregano, garlic, etc., used to season Chili soup.
I urge you to always buy quality Chili Seasoning. For the single blend of Chile Powder, I used New Mexico Chimayo Red Chile powder. Ancho would also work for this. If you use Chipotle Chile Powder, you’ll get a smokier flavor.
Chile with an “e” refers to a chile pepper. Chili with an “i” refers to a stew.
Method To Make This Pork Hatch Green Chili Recipe – Colorado Style
How Do You Make Hatch Green Chili? Let’s get started!
- What Cut of Pork Should I Use? Pork shoulder roast or pork BUTT is commonly used to make Hatch Green Chili. More fat = tender and moist. If you use a pork tenderloin or pork loin roast, the meat may be dryer.
- Start by roasting a three to four-pound pork shoulder roast in the oven, 350 degrees for 3 hours. Simply seasoned with salt and pepper, or you can season with pork rub, a sprinkling of chile powder, you choose.
- When the roast is cool enough to handle I remove the fat, shred the meat, and place it into my large Dutch oven.
- Chop the tops off fifteen roasted Hatch Chile Peppers, remove some of the blistered skin and chop. Most of the seeds come out when you chop the top off. If you want to take the time to clean the peppers by removing the veins and all of the seeds, you’ll have to split them open and scrape. I don’t do that, unless they’re too hot. The heat is in the veins and seeds of the pepper. DO NOT rinse the chiles under water to clean. You rinse away that roasted flavor.
- From here I add chicken broth and a can of (or fresh) chopped tomatoes and my lineup of spices. Chimayo Chili Powder is important in my recipe. Or use a good quality red chile powder purchased from a reputable spice shop. I also use Chili Powder in my recipe. Chili powder is a combination of dried chilis with other spices added in. It’s what you use to make Beef and Bean Chili Soup.
- Mexican Oregano is important in this recipe. But what’s the difference between Mexican Oregano and regular Oregano? Mexican has a more peppery flavor and it a bit sweeter. Greek is more savory and Italian is milder. Again, a good quality spice shop will have Mexican Oregano. If you can’t find it, use Greek or Italian to taste.
- I let it simmer on low for at least an hour, and usually 2 – 3 hours.
- Simply serve the green chili with warm flour tortillas for dipping or scooping.
- Side note: Chile with an “e” refers to the vegetable, the chile pepper itself. Chili with an “i” refers to a stew or soup.
I entered my green chili recipe in the South Metro Denver Realtor Association Green Chili contest for nearly 6 years, and it always placed at the top.
How to Make Hatch Green Chili Colorado Style
I hope you give my Hatch Green Chili recipe a try, and If you do, please take the time to come back and give this recipe a rating. It is very valuable to me for future recipe development.
And leave a comment about your experience with the recipe.
Now that you’ve got that glorious batch of Hatch Green Chili, here’s a couple of way to use the leftovers:
- Smothered Hatch Green Chili Breakfast Burrito, Hatch Green Chili Smothered breakfast burritos are a breakfast burritos championed. Clearly one of our best burrito recipes. A perfect combo of potatoes, scrambled eggs and bacon.
- Fried Eggs with Green Chili, This is just one of our ways to enjoy our stash of Hatch Green Chili. Green Chili and Eggs with refried beans on a flour tortilla, you’ve got a killer Southwestern breakfast.
- Southwest Chicken Fried Steak with Green Chile and Egg America’s favorite chicken fried stead seasoned with Southwestern spices, and topped with a fried egg and green chili.
Hatch Green Chili, Colorado Style
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon bacon drippings
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 pound pork shoulder roast Pork BUTT, bone in
- 1 onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 1 quart chicken broth or more. Depending on how much meat came off the roast.
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons coriander dried, ground
- 1 teaspoon cumin ground
- 1 teaspoon hot Chimayo Chile Powder or good quality red chile powder
- 1 teaspoon of your favorite chili powder
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Mexican Oregano
- 14.5 ounces can chopped tomato undrained
- 15 chile peppers roasted, skinned and chopped. 1 1/2 – 2 cups. Depending on the heat level you'd like. Use Hatch, Pueblo or Poblano
- 1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
- juice of 1/2 lime
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
Instructions
- Simply season the pork roast with salt and pepper. Place in a large Dutch oven, cover and roast in a 350 degree oven until done. About 3 hours. Remove the roast from the pan and let cool and then shred the meat with two forks. Set aside.
- Heat the oil and the bacon drippings in the same Dutch oven. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 10 minutes . Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. About 1 minute.
- Add the shredded pork, canned tomatoes, chicken broth, salt, coriander, cumin, oregano, chile powders and chiles. Bring to a boil and then simmer on low for at least 1 hour. Up to 2 hours is good.
- In a bowl combine water and cornstarch and stir until combined. Towards the end, I like to add a little of this to thicken the soup.
- Add a squeeze of lime to each bowl of chili. From here, taste and adjust the seasonings to your taste. Serve with warm flour tortillas.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
What Can You Do With Hatch Green Chiles?
How do you use Green Chiles? If you love Chile Peppers as much as we do here’s a great line-up of recipe ideas to use green chiles.
- Baked Avocado and Scrambled Egg Breakfast Burritos with Green Chile Gravy
- Green Chile Chicken Lasagna
- Instant Pot Scalloped Potatoes with Green Chiles
- Pork Green Chile Stew with Potatoes
- Anthony Bourdain’s New Mexico Style Beef Chili
- Roasted Green Chile Chicken Tacos
- Green Chile Shrimp Quesadillas
- Hatch Green Chile Quiche with Bacon
- Green Chile Chicken Burgers
- Hatch Green Chile Pasta with Chicken
- Green Chile Dip
- Toasted Pueblo Chile Chicken Sandwich
- Overnight Hatch Chile Breakfast Burrito Casserole
- Easy Breakfast Tacos with Hatch Chile Potatoes and Eggs
- Roasted Hatch Chile Sauce
- Hatch Chile Hummus
- Hatch Chile Beef Short Rib Stew
- Hatch Chile Mac and Cheese
- Hatch Chile Burgers with Tequila Lime Seasoning
- Hatchamole Scrambled Egg Breakfast Sandwich
- Anthony Bourdain’s New Mexico Beef Chili Recipe
Looks delicious but green chile Colorado style is confusing. Colorado means red chile. But I figured out you mean the state. I grew up in NM with all our summers in CO.
Hi Katy and thanks for your note. I totally agree about the “Colorado” reference. That’s why I put “Colorado-Style”. Hopefully people will be able to figure that out.
Perfect Hatch Chili recipe. Delicious.
I haven’t tried this yet, but it looks great! Headed to the store to pick up peppers! Looking forward to seeing more recipes!
I used chicken breast because I happened to have everything but the pork. It still turned out amazing. Thanks for this
Did you use bone in?
Yes I do. Using a bone in pork roast will add more flavor to the shredded meat. Please note, you can use a bone in or boneless pork roast for this recipe. Let me know if you have any more quesitons.
The most tender pork! Smooth flavor.
Love this! I used a pork loin that I shredded after cooking in the instapot because we are on a low fat diet and threw it all in a crockpot. It came out so so good! Thank you!
Wow! This recipe is absolutely amazing!!! Flavorful and delicious. Thank you so much for posting
If I don’t have a dutch oven can I cook the pork in my crockpot?
Absolutely. I’ve done it that way many times.
When cooking the crockpot would you put everything in at once?
Or still cook the roast separate for 3 hours then add all the ingredients for another hour in the crockpot?
The problem with putting everything in at once, is the fat content in the pork roast. It will turn out very greasy, unless you refrigerate overnight after you cook it, and then skim the fat from the top.
Use a pork loin roast, that’s less fatty. I’ve done that and added everything at once in a crockpot.
If you’re going to use a pork BUTT shoulder roast, I’d roast it in the oven and then shred the meat and then finish in the crockpot.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
I have to admit I happily borrow recipes all the time but never bother to leave comments.
This was amazing.
I used a tsp of ancho chili powder and another of plain ole chili p. My hatch peppers were HOT so I used about 12, carefully removed seeds, and supplemented with a few poblanos. The multiple colors and textures were definitely additive for me.
Will definitely make again!! Sad there isn’t as much to freeze as I hoped…! Many thanks for sharing this recipe.
Hi Monica. Thanks so much for your email. I like ancho chile powder. It’s my 2nd choice after anything from New Mexico. And I like how you added poblano peppers. They add a unique flavor. Nice combo of chile pepper choices. Not enough to freeze? You’ll have to make another batch. 😉
Sooooo good!! I love this recipe it’s my favorite green Chile ever.. thanks for the recipe
I made CO quarantine Chile Verde in my new old home of Carlsbad, CA. Your base recipe is delicious and of course I had to make it my own. Used some of the fat in the Dutch Oven vs. Bacon Drippings, Roasted all of my Chiles on the grill (Anaheim, Poblano and Jalapeño) along with half of a red & white onion, and 2 Roma tomatoes I left the other halves on onion un-roasted, added Black Pepper and and some Costco No Salt Salt. Can’t wait for leftovers today. Happy Easter! Missing Colorado…
I am planning on making a pot of ground elk/ bison with Hatch Green Chili for Super Bowl. What do you think about using your recipe and substituting for pork?
Hatch green chile for Super Bowl is always a great idea. And any type of meat would make a good substitute. Of course the cooking time will reduce dramatically. This recipe calls for a cut of meat that need to be slow roasted. For ground meat, brown it separately, then make the stew and let it simmer for about an hour. Then add the ground meat and let the flavors marry for about 30 minutes.
Made this for a New Year’s Day treat – it is DELICIOUS! Thank you for such a great recipe.
Amy, thank you so much for taking the time to write a note about your experience with the Green Chili. So glad you liked it. 🙂
We love Hatch chili so much that we’re planning a trip to their festival next year. I’ll be putting this on our menu!
Great recipe — I made it tonight with New Mexico big Jims and Jalapenos that I grew in my garden here in Calaveras County and roasted on the BBQ, and with a Pork butt that I smoked on the BBQ — turned out delicious!!
Hi Paul, and thanks so much for taking the time to come back and let me know. So glad you were pleased with the recipe. 🙂
Made this last night and it is DELICIOUS!!!!
One question do you use or discard all the juices from the pork shoulder?
Hi Christopher. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. And so glad you liked the recipe. Those juices are pretty greasy if you’re using a pork shoulder. If I feel like taking the time to strain the fat, I’ll use them in the chili. But if I’m feeling lazy, I throw it out.
I’m making this on Wednesday with the pork shoulder on my smoker at 225F for many hours.
I purchased 3 lbs of fresh hatch chiles here in Denver. But they are hotter than I expected. How can I keep the delicious flavor of the chilis without burning my insides? Could I use maybe use half of them with some other substitute?
Also, I see a lot of green chili recipes that use tomatillos instead of traditional red tomatoes. Have you used both? Thoughts?
Hi Gregg, smoking that pork shoulder will make that chili so good. Please let me know how it turns out. Keep in mind, if you take the time to remove veins and seeds, that will lessen the heat a bit. I always like Poblano Peppers. They can be a little unreliable with heat, but almost always milder than Hatch or our Colorado Pueblo Chile Peppers. I like tomatillos. They do add quite a “tangy” flavor. It would change the flavor profile of this dish. For me, and Green Chile, I’ll stick with red tomatoes. I’d save those tomatillos for green salsa. Let me know if you have any other questions.
I am planning on making this recipe in late September. Hatch chilis are coming to South Dakota now, even, so I’m hoping it turns out well. I’ll keep you posted! I miss Santiago’s green chili. But I’m a 1/2 and 1/2 girl.. 😀
Fabulous! So glad you’re getting those chile peppers. Please let me know how you like it.
I was introduced to hatch chiles by my uncle who grew up in New Mexico. He lives in Idaho now and orders them. I was pleasantly shocked to see them at our local specialty grocer here in WI this past weekend. I made your recipe today in my electric pressure cooker and it turned out even better than I had hoped for! I didn’t have the specialty chile powder but it still tastes amazing just with the regular kind. I can’t wait to try this on a breakfast burrito. Thank you so much for this recipe!
I was in Aspen this winter and went to a BBQ place and ate a delicious green chile pulled pork soup, and I’ve obsessed over it ever since. After a thorough internet search, I landed on your recipe.
I tried it last night, and it was epic! my guests loved it too!
And loved it again this morning, in an omelette.
I used canned Hatch green chiles since that’s all I can find here in Ca, but I’m going to chase some fresh ones in the fall and make this again.
I’ve poked around your site, and am going to try other recipes as well.
Thank you for a great recipe!
Hi Cat. You don’t know how much I appreciate you taking the time to let me know about your experience with this Green Chili. And I love your omelette idea. Those canned Hatch Chiles are great for those who don’t have access to the real deal. I’ve used them.