Slow Cooker Chile Verde is a simple dinner made in your crock pot with just a few, easy to find ingredients. Potatoes are cooked with the roast, then mashed afterwards for a truly one pot meal.
If you want more slow cooker recipes, you really should try our Crockpot Chili, Easy Crock Pot Pork Roast and Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs.
This is one of those recipes that is so simple, you wonder if it can even be called a “recipe.” It’s so easy to make, taking less than 10 minutes to prep, it’s rustic and super delicious.
There are just a few simple ingredients: pork shoulder, a jar of chile verde salsa, and potatoes. I use Herdez, but you can use any brand that’s available. Now, you can use other seasonings if you wish, like cumin, chile powder, onion powder, and garlic powder to season the roast. I wanted to keep this truly a dump and go slow cooker recipe so I opted for simple salt and pepper seasoning.
The beauty is that your whole meal is cooked in one pot. The roast goes in for several hours with the jar of green salsa, and the potatoes are added during the last hour. Then you remove the potatoes, mash them, and serve them with the shredded meat. The mashing is optional, but I love the comfort food feel. I love the simplicity of this easy recipe, and that I’m not having to spend a ton of time cooking and prepping ingredients.
What is Chile Verde Made of?
Chile Verde is a savory Mexican stew made from juicy pork simmered with and a smoky green chile pepper and tomatillo sauce. While it originated in Mexico, it has gained popularity as a Mexican-American dish.
Serve in bowls as a stew, or shred the meat and use in tacos and burritos.
How to Make Slow Cooker Chile Verde
Chile Verde
Season a pork roast with salt and pepper and brown on all sides. You can cook the roast whole, or cut into a few large chunks. Place the pork in your slow cooker and pour in chile verde salsa. Cook on high for 5-6 hours, or on low for 8-10 hours. The higher fat content in a pork shoulder roast helps keep it tender and juicy. It’s really difficult to overcook it. You could also use a leaner pork loin roast but you’d need to pay close attention to the internal temperature so it doesn’t overcook. Shred the cooked chile verde meat right in the crockpot. You can serve it just like that if you’re making burritos or tacos, or you can add potatoes in the next step.
Mashed Potatoes
Peel some russet potatoes and cut them into large chunks. After you’ve shredded the meat in the crockpot, add the potatoes to the crockpot, gently pressing them into the juices. Cover and cook for another hour.
Once the potatoes are tender, remove them to a separate bowl and mash them. If you like, add a little butter and milk or sour cream, and season with salt and pepper.
Divide the potatoes into bowls and top with chunks of pork and sauce.
Serving Suggestions
If you don’t want to make the potatoes, that’s totally your call. Serve the chile verde as is with some Homemade Flour Tortillas, or stuff the meat into tacos or burritos with your favorite toppings.
If you do want that total comfort food feel, mash up the potatoes with some butter and cream, and serve them with chunks of chile verde on top, with the green sauce as the gravy. Or omit the potatoes and serve the chile verde with a side of Cilantro Lime Rice.
To make a complete meal with veggies, peel some carrots and cut them into large chunks and add them to the slow cooker when you add the potatoes. Or serve a simple Garden Salad on the side.
Storage, Freezing, and reheating
Storing Leftovers: If you have leftovers, store the potatoes and meat separately or together in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days.
Freezing: Cool chile verde and potatoes completely. Store in separate freezer safe containers or bags, squeezing out as much air as possible. Freeze for up to 6 months.
Reheating: To reheat, thaw first if frozen, then reheat on the stovetop or in a slow cooker. You can also reheat individual portions in the microwave.
Recipe Notes and Tips
- Use russet potatoes – they keep their shape the best. If you only have yellow or red potatoes, leave the peels on.
- I wrote this recipe to be as simple as possible. But if you want to make the salsa verde sauce from scratch, you can certainly do that.
- Pork does best cooked low and slow. I recommend uses the low setting on your slow cooker for this chile verde recipe. Raise to high only for cooking the potatoes.
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Slow Cooker Chile Verde Pork and Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder or pork butt
- Salt & pepper
- 16 ounce Jarred salsa verde I use Herdez
- 2 pounds russet potatoes
- Optional, for potatoes: butter, cream/milk, salt and pepper
Instructions
- Trim large chunks of fat from the pork roast. Season roast with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown the roast on all sides (about 2 minutes per side). If your slow cooker has a browning function, use that.
- Place roast in the slow cooker and pour verde salsa all around. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours (recommended) or high 4-6 hours. Shred the meat in the slow cooker. Peel the potatoes and cut into large chunks each. Then place them in the slow cooker, making sure that they are at least partly submerged in the liquid. Replace the lid and turn the machine to high if it isn't already. Cook for another hour.
- Remove the potatoes from the pot and transfer to a serving bowl. Using a fork or a potato masher, mash the potatoes until smooth. Add butter, milk or sour cream to taste if desired.
- Serve Chile verde over mashed potatoes with juices from the pot.
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