This recipe for crock pot chicken chile verde is a staple in our house, for 2 reasons. The first is that our daughter was allergic to tomatoes for her first 3 years, so this is almost all we could make in the slow cooker. The second reason is that tomatillos are extremely prolific in the garden. If you plant them one time, you will have them forever! We haven’t planted them in over 5 years, and rely on the volunteers that pop up just about everywhere. We’ve noticed that they tend to get a little smaller each year, so it is probably time to start a fresh batch next spring. This morning I picked all the plants clean, and got around 25 quarter-sized tomatillo’s, which is impressive because it is almost Thanksgiving and we haven’t had our kill-frost yet!
This is a healthy and warming dish for those chilly autumn days, and only takes about 10 minutes of prep time. My recipe is gluten free, and dairy free if you omit the sour cream accoutrement. You could use chicken thighs or breasts, or even pork, which is also really yummy. I use mild green peppers because I have small kids, but hotter peppers are great, they mellow as they cook. The tomatillos don’t need to be cut unless they are really large, they break down quite a bit during cooking.
Recipe for Crock Pot Chicken Chile Verde
- 1 lb chicken thighs (I use boneless, skinless, but the bones really don’t matter… skin can get a little fatty)
- 1 qt chicken stock or cold water
- Tomatillos, either 10 big cut in half, or 20 small
- 1/2 cup mild green peppers, sliced
- 1/2 large onion, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped and divided into 2 1/4 cups
- 2 Tbls corn meal
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin powder
- 1 tsp chile powder
- 1 tsp koscher salt
- fresh ground pepper
- 1 can black beans
- 1 can pinto beans
Accoutrements
- Cooked rice
- Sour cream
- Avocado chunks
- chopped cilantro
- chopped red onion
- Lime wedges for squeezing
- Tortilla chips
Combine all of the ingredients, except 1/4 cup of the chopped cilantro and the beans, in the crock pot. Cook on “High” for 4-6 hours. 1 hour before serving, pull the meat out and shred, then return to the Crock Pot. Add the reaming cilantro and beans. Serve over rice with your selection of toppings.
