Chicken Chili Verde Recipe

By Jacqueline Anderson | A Busy Kitchen

This Chicken Chili Verde is absolutely out of this world! This dish is perfect for all seasons! Serve it in the summer outside with a fresh cold pitcher of Sangria and fresh toppings and tortillas! Great for cozy winter months too to pair with a nice Mexican beer and cozy warm rice. This Chicken Chili Verde is a bowl full of veggies! This dish is healthy and the layers of flavor are amazing! This is a great dish to serve for a dinner party! Do the work ahead and then let it simmer in oven for two hours while you mingle with your guest!

Prep Time: 1 hr
Cook Time: 2 hrs 30 min
Servings: 6

US Wellness Meats Shopping List: Chicken Thighs, Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breast

Ingredients:

1.5 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces-

1.5 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 1 inch pieces

1 TBSP kosher salt

1.5 lb pounds tomatillos, husks and stems removed, rinsed well and dried

5 poblano chiles, stemmed, halved, and seeded

1 large onion, cut into 8 wedges

7 garlic cloves, unpeeled

1 jalapeño chile, stemmed and halved

1 TBSP avocado oil

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

1 pinch ground cloves

1 dried bay leaf

3 TBSP sugar

2 tsp ground pepper

1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro, plus extra for serving

flour tortillas

garnishes of choice

Instructions:

Prepare the Chili

1. Prepare the chicken. Cut the chicken breast and chicken thighs into small 1 inch to 2 inch pieces. You want them to be bite size. Place in bowl and toss with 1 TBSP of kosher salt. Cover with plastic wrap and store in fridge until ready to use.

2. Adjust 1 oven rack to lower-middle position and second rack 6 inches from broiler element and heat broiler. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place tomatillos, poblanos, onion, garlic, and jalapeño on prepared sheet and drizzle with oil. Arrange peppers skin side up. Broil until skins are blackened and vegetables begin to soften, 10 to 13 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through broiling. Transfer poblanos, jalapeño, and garlic to cutting board.

3. Turn off broiler and heat oven to 325 degrees. Transfer tomatillos, onion, and any accumulated juices to food processor. When poblanos, jalapeño, and garlic are cool enough to handle, remove and discard skins (it’s OK if some small bits of pepper skin remain).

4. Remove seeds from jalapeño and reserve. Add poblanos, jalapeño and garlic to processor. Pulse until mixture is roughly pureed, about 10 pulses, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. If spicier chili is desired, add reserved jalapeño seeds and pulse 3 times.

Assemble the Chili

1. Warm the Dutch Oven on medium high heat. Add a generous splash of avocado oil in to Dutch Oven. Add all chicken and cook on medium-high to high heat, just until it begins to brown and brown bits form on the bottom of the pot. Turn down the heat and turn heat to medium-low. Add oregano, cumin, cinnamon, and cloves and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

2. Stir in tomatillo mixture, bay leaves, sugar, pepper, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in pork and bring to simmer. Cover, transfer to oven, and cook until pork is tender, about 2-2 1/2 hours, stirring halfway through cooking.

3. Remove pot from oven and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Using heatproof rubber spatula, scrape browned bits from sides of pot. Stir in any fat that has risen to top of chili.

4. Stir in cilantro; season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, adding lime wedges and extra cilantro separately. Dish chili into warm flour tortillas and serve.

A few Notes for this Chili Verde with Chicken:

1. Make sure to toast the spices, adds so much flavor to the Chicken Chili Verde

2. You will need a Dutch Oven and a food processor to create this Chicken Chili Verde

3. Make sure to use kosher salt and not regular salt, or you will find your dish over salted

4. I used chicken breast and chicken thighs, but you could use all chicken thighs to make it more savory

5. To make peeling peppers easier, put directly in a zip lock bag out of oven until cool. Will essentially steam the peel off