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Like the Rocky Mountains and the Denver Broncos, green chile, also known as chile verde, is a Colorado icon. It’s a fiery, hearty, soupy dish made from green chile peppers. It’s usually served as a stew, but it’s also often ladled over fries, enchiladas, hamburgers, and burritos. “The best way to eat green chile is with a burrito, smothered—hands down,” says Victoria Soliz, an Allrecipes associate social media editor who grew up in Greeley, a town in northern Colorado. “Maybe it’s because that’s the main way I’ve consumed green chile, but I just think it adds a whole new flavor profile to an otherwise lackluster burrito.”
Soliz’s affection for green-chile-smothered breakfast burritos is shared by many Coloradans, as evidenced by the presence of the dish at restaurants, taquerias, cafés, and other dining establishments across the state. Let’s dig into what makes green chile so special and why it deserves a spot on your breakfast or brunch table, too.
What Is Colorado Green Chile?
Colorado green chile is a dish commonly made with Pueblo or Hatch peppers grown in Pueblo, Colorado, or the Hatch Valley of New Mexico, respectively. The chile peppers are charred over an open flame and simmered with pork, onions, garlic, and various spices such as cumin, oregano, and ground coriander. Because the specialty is a symbol of local pride, every green-chile-loving household has its own recipe, leading to several variations.
For example, some stews are enriched with tomatillos or cilantro, while others are studded with potatoes and tomatoes. Green chile also isn’t always green and can range from brown to red in color. The heat level also depends on the types of chile peppers used in the recipe, while the consistency varies from chunky (unpuréed) to gloppy and gravy-like (likely thickened with flour or corn starch). “I’ve had so many different types of green chile, but my favorite has to be thick and green, and I’m partial to spicy, but I like mild as well,” Soliz says. “I also prefer pork, but vegetarian is good too!”
While Coloradans definitely disagree on what green chile should look and taste like, most won’t deny that it's an absolute must-have with any type of breakfast burrito. “It has to be completely drenched,” says Soliz. “I'm talking at least two cups of chile on my burrito!”
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History of Colorado Green Chile
Colorado and New Mexico have long been in a culinary dispute about which state grows the best green chiles—the key ingredient in the namesake dish. Nobody knows when chiles were first grown in the Centennial State’s Arkansas River Valley, but the crop might have been brought north by Mexican traders and settlers in the 1840s. While Colorado’s chile-growing community is still much smaller than New Mexico’s, many fans of its Pueblo chile (also called Mirasol and Mosco peppers) say that it’s meatier and more flavorful than New Mexico’s Hatch.
Every September, the peak of chile harvest season is celebrated at the Chile and Frijoles Festival in the city of Pueblo, where the smell of roasted peppers wafts through town and vendors sell a bounty of dishes featuring the ingredient, including plates of rellenos, burgers, and burritos smothered in green chile. However, the dish is served year-round, and Coloradans often stock up on chiles in the late summer and fall to freeze for their favorite recipes.
How to Make Colorado Green Chile
My friend and avid home cook Callie Sumlin always has green chile in her freezer. She keeps it frozen into cubes that are the perfect portion for smothering an individual burrito. Her favorite recipe comes from Top Chef champion Hosea Rosenberg, a New Mexico native, chef, and founder of Blackbelly and Santo restaurants in Boulder, Colorado.
“As a born and raised Coloradan, green chile is the epitome of comfort food to me,” Sumlin says. “I make a variation of this recipe every year in late summer when the roasted chile stands pop up all over Denver. The addition of fresh oregano and lots of lime juice keeps the dish bright, and cooking the pork in stock first makes for a super flavorful base.”
Rosenberg serves the pork green chile as a stew on Blackbelly’s lunch menu, but Sumlin likes devouring it for breakfast over a burrito stuffed with eggs, chorizo, and cheese.
“To me, this is the perfect dish for late summer and early fall when temperatures are starting to drop and the chile harvest is in full swing,” she says, “but I love making a double batch and keeping easy-to-reheat portions of green chile in my freezer so I can smother burritos and eat it by the bowl all winter long.”
Here’s how to make it at home.
Chef Hosea Rosenberg’s Pork Green Chile Potato Stew
This serves about 16 people—perfect for a big party. It can also be reduced in size by dividing the ingredients equally. Sumlin likes to use pure ground chile powder, available at Mexican grocery stores and sold by many roadside chile stands in Colorado—but she’s also used the common chile powder mix in the stew, which adds great flavor, too.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours 30 minutes
Additional Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 7 hours
Ingredients
- 2.5 pounds pork butt, large dice
- 1 gallon chicken stock
- 1/2 of a yellow onion
- 4 celery stalks
- 1 carrot split
- 4 whole cloves of garlic
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 3 cups yellow onion, diced
- 1/2 cup garlic, minced
- 1/2 tablespoon hot chile powder
- 1/4 tablespoon cumin
- 1/2 tablespoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1.25 pounds hot green chiles
- 1.25 pounds medium green chiles
- 1/8 cup oregano, fresh chopped
- 1/4 cup jalapeño, diced small (no seeds)
- 1/2 cup lime juice
- 2.5 pounds fingerling potatoes, cut into small chunks
Directions
Reprinted with permission from Chef Hosea Rosenberg.
More Colorado Green Chile Recipes
- Colorado Green Chili (Chile Verde)
- Rich’s Green Chile
- Mile High Green Chile
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