If there’s one thing I love and rely on often, it’s one pot/pan meals. They’re easy, quick, and usually packed with flavor. Even more so when made in a slow cooker! Another plus is you can make a ton of it and have it for a couple of days.

One of my favorite Mexican stews is Green Chile or Chile Verde. It usually consists of cubed pork, potatoes and green sauce made with green chiles. It’s meant to be accompanied with tortillas, rice and beans, but I don’t eat any of those so I instead upgrade the recipe by adding a ton of other veggies and making it a green chile plus veggies stew!

You can also make it in a pot, just throw everything in, bring it to a boil and then let it simmer for about 2 hours, or until the tomatoes and chiles dissolve and it becomes thick. Then serve in a bowl and enjoy!

Substitutions/adjustments:

While I make it with the traditional pork, you can use any other meat like beef, chicken, lamb, bison, etcetera. Or, if you don’t eat meat, you can easily add more vegetables or substitute the meat with tofu and make it a vegan green chile stew!!

I also realize chayote squash may be hard to find in some places, but you can substitute it with zucchini or any other vegetable of your choice. Use this more as a flavor and texture guideline. Try it out, experiment with different ingredients, and share your experiences with us!

Ingredients:

3 medium potatoes

3 carrots

2-3 celery stalks

1 onion

1 chayote squash

4 green chiles

1lb green tomatoes (tomatillos)

2 medium tomatoes

½ bunch of cilantro

 1-2 lbs cubed pork

3-5 cloves of garlic

2 cups broth (your choice of flavor, I use beef)

 

Other flavors:

Salt

Pepper

Worcestershire Sauce

Cumin

Makes: 6 servings

Prep time: 20-30 minutes

Cook time: (Slow cooker) 6 hours on High.

Instructions:

  • Marinate cubed pork in Worcestershire, salt, pepper, and cumin. Set it aside while you prep all the veggies.

  • Chop harder ingredients (potatoes, carrots, celery, and chayote) in about ½” to 1” pieces.

  • Chop onion and peppers in smaller, thinner pieces.

  • Slice all tomatoes (red and green) thin. We want them to dissolve into the soup by the end of the cooking time.

  • Coarsely chop garlic and cilantro
  • Warm up the broth in a pot if not warm already, and add about 1 tsp cumin, salt, and pepper to taste. (The broth can be canned, freshly made, chicken, vegetable, beef, whatever you want).
  • Put hard ingredients and marinated meat in the slow cooker and then add the rest of the ingredients on top of that (onion, peppers, tomatoes, and garlic).

  • Pour seasoned broth over it all, cover, and set on high for 6 hours. Stir every couple of hours if possible, if not, that’s fine too!
  • Cook until all ingredients are tender and the softer ingredients have turned into a thick stew. Once it’s done, serve in bowls and enjoy!

I added a bit too much broth to mine so it’s soupier, but it’s still delicious!