Instant Pot Chile Verde Pork

👩🏻‍🍳 Tamara Talks – About Chile Verde Pork

Creating new Instant Pot freezer meals provides a great deal of satisfaction. When my day runs amok, and there isn’t enough day left to cook, I love to pull a healthy, flavorful meal from the freezer!

My favorite protein to cook in the Instant Pot is (hands down) pork loin. Nothing beats the falling-apart-tender pork, and while you can get this in a Dutch oven or in a slow cooker, the Instant Pot gets the job done in less time. You may remember the Instant Pot Pulled Pork, Pork and Hatch Chile, and Pork and Apples?

As I began working on this tender pork dish, I knew I wanted it to require only a few fresh ingredients, require little active time, and freeze well for another meal or two. My favorite salsa – Tomatillo and Hatch Green Chile Salsa – provided the inspiration.

Two of my favorite ingredients – Hatch green chile and tomatillos – take center stage in this healthy main dish recipe. This is one of my favorite Hatch green chile recipes!

The usual “suspects” round out the dish – onion, ground cumin, chicken broth. As mentioned in the intro, you can serve it with rice or wrapped in a tortilla.

🍅 About Tomatillos

Tomatillos (aka husk tomatoes) in Spanish means “little tomatoes.” They are native to Mexico, and they were first cultivated by the Aztecs as a staple crop. While they are related to tomatoes (both are in the nightshade/solanaceae family), tomatillos are in the genus physalis, a group of flowering plants that produce a large husk from the calyx that partly or mostly covers the fruit.

While tomatillos look similar to green tomatoes, they are covered with a sticky substance and a papery husk. I don’t worry about the stickiness as it disappears during cooking.

What do tomatillos taste like?

Tomatillos have a slightly more acidic, slightly less sweet flavor than ripe and unripe tomatoes. Overall, the flavor is more vegetal and bright, and the interior texture is denser and less watery. 

~~ Bon Appetit magazine.

I love the bright, slightly acidic flavor they add to a dish. While tomatillos can be eaten raw, I must confess, I haven’t tried that! Hmmm… Future recipe perhaps?

📋 Chile Verde Pork Ingredients

Here is a quick look at the ingredients in the recipe – it’s handy to use at the grocery store or as a summary of what you need. Skip to the recipe for quantities.

• oil – For searing the pork, you want oil with a high smoke point like refined coconut or vegetable oil.
• boneless pork – I use lean pork loin for this pork recipe. You can use boneless pork chops or your favorite boneless cut. Pork shoulder is great, but it is substantially higher in fat and calories.
• onion
• garlic
• flour
• ground cumin
• roasted green chile – My preference is Hatch green chile. We make an annual trip to Las Cruces, NM to see our son and his husband (we lived there for 22 years), and we try to bring home a 40 pound sack of roasted Hatch green chile. I also order Hatch chile online if I’m desperate. Roasted poblano or Anaheim peppers are a good substitute. I’m working on a “how to” post…
• tomatillos – There is no substitute!
• chicken broth
• cilantro and lime wedges (to garnish)

🔪 Instructions

• Brown the pork cubes in the oil, add the onion followed by the flour, sauté until pork begins to brown.

• Add the ground cumin and garlic. Stir to combine.

• Add the roasted green chile and tomatillos.

• Stir in the broth/stock and salt. Use the edge of the spatula to scrape any browned bits and flour off the bottom. NOTE: Instant Pots will give “burn” warnings if there is too much flour or other dry ingredients on the bottom of the pan.

• Lock the lid on the Instant Pot, and set for 30 minutes under high pressure. When the cycle is complete, you can allow it to de-pressurize naturally, or you can do a quick release. 30 minutes is adequate to get tender pork chunks!

💭 Tips

If you’re using an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker, they are prone to “burn” warnings if there’s anything like flour on the bottom. Use a wood spatula or similar to scrape up any browned bits when you add in the broth/stock.

As I mention at the start of the post, this is a great freezer meal. Typically, we have 2 servings the night I make it, I package 2 servings for lunch later in the week, and I freeze 2 servings for later in the week.

🍷 Pairing Suggestions

As shown in the photo, I serve Instant Pot Pork with Tomatillos and Green Chile with rice, and garnished with cilantro and lime wedges. It is delicious wrapped in a burrito size tortilla as well. I would not hesitate to serve it with quinoa, farro, even polenta.

Beverage-wise? I guess an obvious choice is a Mexican lager, but I don’t love them. If I’m spending calories on beer, I want a beer that I love. I often refer to How to Pair Beer with Mexican Food if I’m at a loss. I agree with their suggestion with bright, spicy dishes:

Brighter spicy dishes like these chilaquiles verdes tend to work best with paler beers like helles, witbier, and less-hoppy American blonde ales. These are beers that will ease the spicy pain with soft malty flavor without overpowering your dish, offering a refreshing respite from the heat.

~~ Serious Eats