Quick Green Chile Stew with Ground Pork and Tomatoes

Sneak Preview: This Ground Pork and Green Chile Stew with tomatoes is a quick-to-fix pot of spicy comfort for a chilly, damp day. Serve with flour tortillas.

two bowls of green chili stew served with flour tortillas on the sidePin

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Have you ever received a gift of food that you were uncertain what to do with it? One Christmas, a partially frozen bag of roasted green chiles arrived at my doorstep.

My sister sent them from Colorado.  She also included a recipe for “Christmas Chile.” Do you know it? I had never heard of it. However, it was the beginning of my love affair with Southwestern flavors.

What is Christmas Chile?

Why the name Christmas Chile?  Is it like “Funeral Potato Salad”  or  “Fourth of July Cake?” This chile derives its name from the red and green colors. Most certainly, it IS NOT limited to the holiday season.  It tastes excellent, served with flour tortillas on a blustery day. 


Ingredients and substitutions:

Ground Pork:

Substitute ground turkey or ground beef if you like.

Sometimes ground pork can be challenging to find in the grocery store. However, grinding meat at home is not complicated and sometimes even cheaper.

How to make ground pork:

Buy pork loin in bulk and freeze it in 1-pound portions. Partially thaw a 1-lb. package. Use a food processor or a food grinder attachment to grind up the pork for a stand mixer. Don’t trim any of the fat off. It adds flavor.

Cut the pork into 1-1/2-inch cubes. Add them to your food processor. Be careful not to load the meat above the level of the top blade. Pulse repeatedly to chop.

Don’t miss the video attached to this post. I will show you exactly how I grind the pork.

Green Chiles:

Chopped and canned green chiles are the most convenient choice.

Smoked hatch chiles, as seen below, are remarkable when you can get them.

pealing smoked hatch chilesPin
Peel off the charred skin. Split and clean out the seeds.

Although they don’t make a good first impression (especially after being frozen), fresh roasted green chiles are more flavorful than canned ones.

Tomatoes:

There’s no reason to use fresh tomatoes because you’ll cook them anyway. However, diced tomatoes, as well as fire-roasted tomatoes, are good.

Some people prefer to buy whole tomatoes and crush them by hand.

What to serve with Green Chile Stew:

This stew is good with fresh flour tortillas. They are tasty when dipped into the stew juices. Corn tortillas are another option.

Can I make this ahead of time?

Yes. This recipe tastes better the next day after the flavors have time to hang out and get used to each other.

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This stew freezes well.

Variation:

Green Chile Stew with Green Beans

Green Chile stew with added green beansPin

I had some Green Chile Stew left over a few months ago and some leftover green beans from a different meal. So in a moment of veggie craving, I combined them. Voila! –a new favorite comfort food.


 

If you have questions or suggestions, email me privately for a quick answer: Paula at saladinajar.com. Hope to see you again soon! 

Green chili stew in a bowl with cilantro garnishPin

Ground Pork Green Chile Stew Recipe

Paula Rhodes
This Green Chile Stew with ground pork and tomatoes spiced with cumin is best served with tortillas. Comes together in a hurry.
4.67 from 3 votes
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 45 mins
Total Time 55 mins
Course Soup
Cuisine American
Servings 4 servings
Calories 349 kcal

Video

Ingredients
  

  • 1 pound ground pork - not sausage
  • ½ cup chopped onions
  • 1-2 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon cumin - ground
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 1 4 oz. can chopped green chiles
  • 4 cups water

Instructions
 

  • Brown pork in a Dutch oven along with onions, garlic, and cumin, if using. Drain grease. I like to leave a teaspoon or two behind for flavor.
  • Sprinkle meat with flour and stir until it browns. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Add tomatoes and chiles to the meat. Stir in water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 30 to 60 minutes or until it reaches your desired thickness.
  • Serve with warm tortillas.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 349kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 375mg | Potassium: 617mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 188IU | Vitamin C: 25mg | Calcium: 81mg | Iron: 3mg
Keyword green chlle stew, ground pork, New Mexico Green Chile, southwestern, stew
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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18 Comments

  1. Christine @ Fresh Local and Best says:

    I’m just imagining the flavorful nibbles of pork and smoky green chili in this stew! Mouthwatering!

  2. I never thought of roasting green chilis myself. I always see them in the grocery store and go right to the canned isle and buy them in a can. I roast bell peppers all the time, but never thought outside the can for chili. Thanks.

  3. Davon Jacobson, M.d. says:

    This is a really good soup to make. I have had a sample from someone who has made it before, and it was wonderful. This weekend I hope to make some for the family. Thanks for the recipe.

  4. mmmmmmmmm….this recipe looks great to a cold Buckeye!

  5. This is one of my favorite green chili recipes from my mom. We made it for Christmas Eve this year. I just buy the green chilis in a can, but I think they are a lot better roasted.

  6. Congratulations Julie! And what a perfect dish for this cold, wet weather we’re having. I’ve roasted red peppers, but these looks wonderful…. I’ll take 2 pots please!

  7. Looks delicious. I like the nutritional analysis.
    Mimi

  8. I made this over the weekend and it was very yummy. I roasted my own green chili’s and it had much more flavor than the canned ones. I didn’t blacken my chili’s enough so some of the outer layer didn’t come off all the way. I will make sure to really char those suckers next time. Thanks for a great recipe!

    1. So glad you enjoyed it Sonya. Although I have roasted red and green bell peppers, I’ve never tried roasting the hatch peppers myself. The ones my sister sent were fabulous.

  9. This looks really good. I think I am going to make it tonight! Do the carbs in the nutritional analysis include tortillas?

  10. Hi Paula,
    This recipe looks great. Just some little factoids for accuracy’s sake.
    1) The peppers are actually spelled green chiles in New Mexico, where they are grown. There are a number of different heats you can buy, but the most common is Hatch Green Chile. If you like more heat go for Sandia or Big Jim.
    2) In New Mexico, if you mention that you want something Christmas you are telling the server that you want both green chile and red chile! Red chile is the same plant as green chile, just more mature. It is a fantastic flavor combo, though.

    I love your blog and look forward to reading more!

  11. Wow that looks awesome! I just made a big batch of homemade tortillas yesterday and my husband and I were discussing the wonderful green chili of the man who taught me to make the tortillas and how I need to get a good recipe. Your photos look so good… I am definitely trying this one out next week.

    1. Hi Bethany, I visited your website. Very interesting. I would love for you to post about the homemade tortillas. I used to make my own before I discovered the raw ones at Costco. Enjoyed your post about the FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer too.

  12. Hi Paula! Yeah I definitely love my foodsaver. As far as the tortillas, I’d love to show you! Truth be told though it’s more about the technique than the recipe. They are pretty simple to make and don’t need any fancy ingredients. I was actually talking to my husband about the tortillas because most people who make homemade tortillas, make the smaller thicker ones because the big thin wrapping ones are too hard to make – the gluten wants to spring back and they get wrinkled, messy, etc. I figured out how to make them perfectly but it’s nearly impossible to describe. I’ve had a lot of people ask me, especially lately for some reason, so I think we’re going to put together a video here pretty soon showing how I do them. I can definitely shoot you an email when I’ve got it done!

  13. I have made this stew for years, but instead of ground pork, I use the pork stew meat. Simmer for a few hrs and reap the rewards with warm flour tortillas. This has been one of my families favorite fall and winter dishes since my boys were just wee tots…

  14. I’ve also made this for a long time, and we love it! Wish I had those fresh green chiles! We only get them once a year…around Labor Day weekend. Never thought about freezing it, since it seems to all go away pretty quickly, no matter how large a pot I make.
    In fact, we had this for Christmas Eve this year. mmmm!

  15. I make a stew/soup (stewup) very much like this one only I use pork shoulder or butt brown it really well and then use chicken or vegetable stock and simmer until tender and I also add a couple potatoes and a can of pinto beans.y family really loves it and it is great on these frigid winter days.

    1. Joy,
      Your version sounds fabulous! Thanks for sharing.