Chicken Chile Verde Recipe
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This dish is always a big hit. It’s great rolled into a burrito, but you can also serve it on its own topped with scallions, sour cream, and tortilla chips.
What to buy: You can find Aleppo pepper at most gourmet grocery stores or online at the Spice House. If you’re having a hard time locating it, use ancho chile powder instead.
Game plan: Chile verde was destined to be a party dish because you can make it way ahead of the festivities and just warm it over medium-low heat when you are ready to eat.
This recipe was featured as part of both our Build Your Own Burrito Bar story and our Chile Pepper Recipes photo gallery.
- 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more as needed
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 large red onion, large dice
- 6 medium garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
- 5 medium Anaheim chiles, cored, seeded, and large dice
- 5 medium poblanos, cored, seeded, and large dice
- 1 tablespoon dried Aleppo pepper
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 1/2 pounds tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and quartered
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 medium russet potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and medium dice
- 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh oregano leaves
- 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
- 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
- Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and cut it into 1-1/2-inch pieces. Place in a large bowl, add the measured salt and pepper, and toss to combine. Add the flour and toss to coat.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a Dutch oven or a large, heavy-bottomed pot (at least 6 1/2 quarts) over medium heat until shimmering. Add a third of the chicken in a single layer, shaking any excess flour into the bowl first. Sear until golden brown on both sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large heatproof bowl. Repeat with the remaining chicken in two more batches, using a tablespoon of oil for each batch.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat in the same pot until shimmering. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to the bowl with the chicken.
- Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the same pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add the Anaheim chiles, poblanos, Aleppo pepper, cumin, and paprika and cook, stirring occasionally, until the peppers are tender, about 4 minutes.
- Add the reserved chicken-onion mixture, tomatillos, chicken broth, potatoes, oregano, and cinnamon stick to the pot and stir to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens and the potatoes are tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Stir in the cilantro, taste, and season with salt as needed.
Beverage pairing: With its combination of earthy vegetables and assertive spices, this dish calls for something a little exotic like the 2005 The FMC, an off-dry Chenin Blanc from South African master of the grape Ken Forrester. Complex with herbs, earth, fruit, and toast, the lightly oaked wine is a touch sweet, which will soothe any spiciness in the chile verde.
Just made the recipe and it tastes realllllly good. Very labor intensive though, spent a little over an hour chopping veggies and cutting up chicken. Substituted 4 parts sweet (hungarian) paprika, 1 part cayenne for the aleppo pepper. This is definitely a labor-of-love sort of dish!
Just wanted to add that I took the entire pot to work today and there is barely any left! Everyone loved it! I work in the Ft. Worth Stockyards and picked up some warm, fresh, handmade flour tortillas to go with it.
Made this last night for the first time and followed the recipe exactly, even down to the Aleppo pepper which I drove all the way to Penzy's in Dallas to buy! I'm pretty quick with a knife, but the chopping and prep took me almost an hour. By the time I finished the dish I was too tired to even eat more than a small cup.
This is the first CH recipe I've tried and I really enjoyed it.
Lot's of people put potatoes in chile verde. Some people even add some veggies. Certainly the base recipe doesn't usually call for them, but moms all over have been altering the dish according to what's available, how much they need to stretch the dish, and locale.
Chile Verde = No Potatoes. The truest of chile verde recipes would never include potatoes. The starch in the potatoes makes the consistency of your base to thick, when it should be slightly thin, but also hold together. The fat and oil from the meat, and the moisture from the chiles are what make the consistency light but deep.
But, who am I to say! Enjoy the dish any way you like! Props to Chow for the recipe!
You can substitute an equal amount of peeled, cubed chayote squash for the potatoes.
This recipe was very good, but I can't help but think it would have been much, much better if I hadn't cut the tip of my index finger off prepping the veggies. (Hey, it'll grow back. Right?). The chicken in this recipe was incredibly tender, almost paste-like in consistency. I think the only change I'd make in the future is to increase the amount of chicken. Well that and watch where I'm cutting.
I'd suggest a slight change in the order of the recipe:
Cook the savory veggies first, remove, add a bit more oil, brown chicken then DEGLAZE the pan for the wonderful flavorings contained in the sticky bits from the pan.
That will up the flavor ante considerably.
I just made this. I think it was pretty good! The only thing I have to say about it is that I thought it was a bit too sweet and it ended up too watery. I had substituted some things, though: regular chile powder for aleppo (couldn't find aleppo OR ancho) and I food processor'd the tomatillos and the peppers.
Re from 2:14
Oh yeah, I left out the potatoes too...it reminds me too much of a stew with the potatoes. and no cinnamon in the version I made,although I'll have to try that.
I made a version of this with pulled pork ribs (country style) and froze it in 2 freezer bags. It came out great..just thawed it out and warmed up a bowl at a time as a side dish at dinner and with homeade fried tortilla chips. It was real tasty for about 3 days. (there's only 2 of us) I hated to see it go and I will definately make it often now that I know how.. It was like a restaurant dish...so good.
Made this for a MYO taco party last weekend and it rocked. Didn't add the potatoes, used ground cinnamon and sub'ed a nicer chili powder mix for the aleppo pepper (and backed up a little on the cumin because of it). This would make a great enchilada filling.
Anyone tried to freeze this? I'd love to make a big batch and divide for later.
I'm going to try this dish this week (probably subbing pork for chicken because I prefer it), and likely I'll sear the meat before braising for the carmelization. I'm also going to get some of the Persian spices CHOW's currently highlighting on its homepage, and see what kind of synthesis I can create.
IMNSVHO, "authenticity" is overblown; good cooking should be first about what tastes good, always.
thenurse: I think the point of this recipe is comfort food, not 'authentic' or 'tradicional'. Go ahead and use good bottled salsa verde, preferably with as few stretchers as possible. You might look for the small cans of diced 'green chiles' - these are almost always Anaheim/New Mexico types.
Aleppo peppers, red onion and cinnamon in a chile verde? I think someone's been to avant garde cooking school recently.
I don't have easy access to anaheim chiles, poblanos or tomatillos without having to drive across town and/or break the bank. My question... what about if I used a jar of salsa verde? I know, not authentic but hey, I live in Toronto.
Yes, berbere, I've made this with pork shoulder and it was great. I didn't make any other changes, except it takes the pork longer to braise, about 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Yummmyy!
has anyone tried this with pork?
I made this last night and it was awesome. I just fried up the different steps in a big skillet then dumped them in a crock pot. It slow cooked all afternoon while I did other stuff. The chicken came out so tender and the spices gave it a nice kinda mole taste. Also, I used regular paprika mixed with a little cayenne pepper instead of smoked paprika and no aleppo because I couldn't find them - but it was still good. Thx Aida!
I made it (w/o potatoes...we had sopes). I took out the cinnamon stick early. It was a bit too powerful for me. Otherwise, this was great.
Glad you enjoyed it, nsolis!
I made this last night, and it was sooooo tasty. My roommate, who is more of a gourmand than I am, said it tasted just like good restaurant chicken chile verde. I made it over the course of two evenings--sauteeing the chicken, onions, and peppers one night, then putting it all together the next. Perfect dinner for a chilly night.
According to whom? I've seen chili verde this way in the SWest...
Potatoes do not belong in "Chile verde"-chicken or pork The starch is provided by tortillas, preferably hand-made corn.