Chile Verde with Chicken is a lighter, brighter chile made with fire roasted green tomatoes and tomatillos for an authentic flavor.

Let’s cut to the chase—this Chile Verde with Chicken is outstanding!
I loved it, it’s going in my recipe hall of fame, and as far as I’m concerned, it won the gold medal. Just wanted to get that out of the way first.
These emerald green heirloom tomatoes and tart little tomatillos inspired this recipe, their greens are so beautiful they just begged to be made into chile verde. Chile verde, or green chile, is a lovely variation on regular red chiles. The flavor is bright and acidic, and pairs perfectly with chicken.
what are tomatillos?
Tomatillos look like cute little mini tomatoes, and they’re in the same family, native to Mexico. They’re very hard, even when ripe, and have a super tart, bright flavor. If you’ve ever had salsa verde, you know the flavor. To use them just peel off the thin, papery husk. The whole tomatillo can be used, and you can eat them raw, or cooked.
how to fire roast tomatoes and tomatillos
The tomatoes and tomatillos get char-broiled for really great roasted flavor, and it’s so easy!
- Just halve them and put them on a lined baking sheet.
- Pop them under the broiler for about 15 minutes until they get charred.
chicken lightens up traditional chile verde
Chile verde is often made with pork, but I think the chicken, corn and white beans makes this a really delicious variation. I use a rotisserie chicken to make it quick and easy.
more cozy soups and stews to try
- Instant Pot Irish Stew
- Easy Lentil Chili Recipe
- Irish Whiskey Short Rib Stew with Brussels Sprouts
- The Best Stuffed Pepper Soup
- Italian White Bean Soup with Sausage Meatballs
Chile Verde with Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, or about 3 cups of leftover chicken, shredded
- 5 tomatillos
- 6 medium green tomatoes
- 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
- olive oil
- 1 medium Spanish onion, chopped
- 1 large jalapeno pepper, sliced, seeds and all
- 1 poblano pepper, chopped
- 10 oz can green chile enchilada sauce
- 1 7 oz bottle of Corona beer
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 ear of white corn, kernels removed
- 14 oz can of white beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 Tbsp masa harina dissolved in 1/4 cup water
- 1 large handful fresh cilantro, chopped
- juice of 1 lime
Instructions
- Put the chicken breasts in a small saucepan and just cover with water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and let them simmer for a few minutes. Then turn off the heat, cover, and let the pan sit for 20 minutes.
- Halve the tomatoes and tomatillos and place on a baking sheet. Add the unpeeled garlic, and put under the broiler for about 15 minutes, checking regularly, until they just begin to char.
- Put the tomatoes and tomatillos in a food processor. Squeeze out the cloves of roasted garlic, and put them in too. Process until blended, and set aside
- Cover the bottom of a large, heavy bottomed pot with olive oil. Saute the onion for about 10 minutes, then add the peppers and saute for another 10 minutes.
- Add in the enchilada sauce, beer, water, cumin and salt. Bring up to a simmer and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Shred the cooked chicken with two forks, pulling the meat apart along the grain. Add to the chile, along with the corn and beans. Simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Stir in the masa harina/water mixture into the chile. The chile will thicken. Add more masa harina mixed with water if itโs not as thick as you like it. Simmer for a few more minutes, then add the cilantro and lime.
- Taste it to check the seasoning and then serve it up hot in bowls, with your favorite biscuits.
Notes
- This chile was perfect, and I wouldn’t change a thing. The flavors are bright and fresh, the chicken is tender, and the corn lends a little crispness to the stew. The chile is quick cooking, so the peppers aren’t simmered into oblivion. The last minute douse of cilantro and lime finishes it off so well. I’m going to dub this the perfect summertime chile, partly because it’s so light fresh, but also because I think you need the fresh tomatoes and tomatillos to pull it off. Love love love, hope you try it!
Can I use unripe regular tomatoes that are green from my garden?
Yes!
I came across tomatillos at the farmers’ market on Friday and instantly thought of trying this recipe. I managed to buy all of the fresh vegetables required at the market so had the freshest ingredients possible – which was fantastic.
Both my husband and I loved this recipe, and found that it mellowed slightly when we enjoyed leftovers last night.
Thank you very much for the recipe!
So glad you enjoyed this!
look at all that green goodness! i would eat bowl after bowl of this–awesome, sue!
I cannot wait to try this. It’s perfect for the summer!
Ummm, this looks really good. Love to try soon and will try the biscuits probably sooner! Great idea with the masa.
I just HAVE to try this soon. It looks beautiful. And with the addition of poblano, beer and tomatilla, which I’ve never put in my chicken chili verde, it sounds wonderful. I can only hope to find those tomatoes.
I’m going to hop over and check your recipe out, I’ve been adding beer to everything lately, must be the weather!
If you can’t find the tomatoes you could leave them out and use more tomatillos. You could probably use yellow heirloom tomatoes, too, although I’d go easy on them, you don’t want to end up with a sickly color ๐
I often see tomatillos at the market, but I never know what to do with them. I had no idea they were tart. Your chili looks really intriguing; I may give it a try!
I hope you do Gerlinde. I’m always adding lemon and lime to so many things I cook, and these have that same kind of kick to them, I’m going to use them more often.