I am so happy to share this recipe with you since it’s a classic recipe in many homes and one that will have you wiping your plate with a tortilla and leaving it squeaky clean. Of course, that’s only if you love green sauce and pork.
This meal is known as “Entomatado”, meaning something made with tomatoes or tomatillos; others may know it as “Pork in Green Sauce” or even as “Chile Verde” in some areas of the State of Guerrero in the West Coast. The State of Guerrero is home to the famous Port of Acapulco.
Pork in Tomatillo Sauce
One of the most common changes to this recipe is the type of peppers used for the sauce. If you go south to the Peninsula of Yucatan, the sauce will include their own chile verde, a very mild pepper that is widely available in that area. In central Mexico or the East Coast it will be the serrano or jalapeño peppers, and in the northern states is where the Chile Verde grows: a long, mildly hot pepper that’s also used in the southern states of the USA and known there as the Anaheim pepper. There is also the sauce that includes Chipotle peppers, they could be the dried form or the canned version, also a very popular combination.
So here’s the recipe, you can decide which peppers to use depending on your taste and what’s available in your area.
How to make Pork in Tomatillo Sauce
DIRECTIONS:
- Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large pot, add the pork meat seasoned with salt and pepper, plus the bay leaf, and cook. Stir frequently to brown the pieces of meat on all sides. About 6-8 minutes. (Please check the ingredients list below)
- Add 1 cup of water and reduce heat to simmer (covered) for about 20 minutes.
- While the meat is cooking, roast the tomatillos, peppers, onion, and garlic on an ungreased griddle over medium heat. Toss to evenly roast them. About 12-15 minutes. The garlic will take less time, so be sure to remove promptly. Remove the tomatillos, peppers, and garlic once they’re soft and blackened, and place in a bowl covered with aluminum foil to cool for 3-5 minutes. Peel garlic cloves. If you are adding the cinnamon and cloves, slightly toast them too, they will take just a few seconds.
- Place the roasted tomatillos, peppers, garlic, onion, cinnamon, cloves, oregano, and the released juices into blender or food processor. Puree until you have a chunky mixture.
- Add the tomatillo mixture to the pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring frequently until meat is tender. This step will take about 45 minutes or more.
Serve warm with rice or corn tortillas and garnish with chopped cilantro or cilantro leaves.
Some of the many recipes using Tomatillos are: Chicharron in Salsa verde, Chicken Tamales in green sauce, Enchiladas verdes and Avocado Salsa.
¡Buen provecho!
Mely,
📖 Recipe
Pork in tomatillo sauce
Ingredients
- 2 Tbs. of lard or vegetable oil
- 1 Lb. of Pork ribs cut into small chunks
- 1 Lb. of Pork loin or butt cut into chunks
- 1 cup of water
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 Lb. of Tomatillos
- 4 Serrano Peppers Read note above about substitutions
- ½ of a medium sized white onion
- 3 garlic cloves unpeeled
- ½ teaspoon of Mexican Oregano
- ½ inch of a cinnamon stick optional
- 2 cloves optional
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Cilantro leaves to garnish optional
Instructions
- Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large pot, add the pork meat seasoned with salt and pepper, plus the bay leaf, and cook. Stir frequently to brown the pieces of meat on all sides. About 6-8 minutes.
- Add 1 cup of water and reduce heat to simmer (covered) for about 20 minutes.
- While the meat is cooking, roast the tomatillos, peppers, onion and garlic on an ungreased griddle over medium heat. Toss to evenly roast them. About 12-15 minutes. The garlic will take less time, so be sure to remove promptly. Remove the tomatillos, peppers and garlic once they’re soft and blackened, and place in a bowl covered with aluminum foil to cool for 3-5 minutes. Peel garlic cloves. If you are adding the cinnamon and cloves, slightly toast them too, they will take just a few seconds.
- Place the roasted tomatillos, peppers, garlic, onion, cinnamon, cloves, oregano and the released juices into blender or food processor. Puree until you have a chunky mixture.
- Add the tomatillo mixture to the pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring frequently until meat is tender. This step will take about 45 minutes or more.
Serve warm with rice or corn tortillas and garnish with chopped cilantro or cilantro leaves.
Notes
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Hannah
This is FANTASTIC! Hands-down one of the best things I've ever eaten! I made this yesterday along with your Pork Carnitas (stove top version) and Mexican Rice. We ate till our tummies hurt. Totally worth it!
Side note - I simmered both pork recipes for a few hours instead of just 45 min. The meat just fell apart - it was perfect! Thank you for sharing your recipes!
Gabriela J.
Mely,
You never disappoint! This dish was so simple and delicious served it with white rice, black beans, corn tortillas with cilantro and white onion for garnish.
Mely Martínez
Hello Gabriela,
Wow, I bet with all those side dishes the Pork in Tomatillo meals was a success in your home. Thank you for trying the recipe.
James Wise
This is a delicious dish- I made it with Highlander peppers 2 was ago and a mix of Poblano,Highlander and Serrano peppers today. Outstanding! Thank you.
Karen
So good! Made this for my family tonight and served it with Oaxaca cheese, guacamole, corn tortillas, refried beans, rice, and cilantro. I love that I can trust your recipes for tasty dinners!! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with an amateur like me!
Rich
This is a wonderful recipe! I’ve made it at least three times and we just love it. So simple, but so good.
Thank you for posting it!
Blanche
This recipe is EXCELLENTE!! I'd never made this before so I was very nervous but it tasted just the way my abuelita made it. It's WONDERFUL. MUCHISIMAS GRACIAS!!
mmartinez
Hello Blanche,
Thank you for trying the recipe. I'm so glad to know you like it and that it brought back happy memories.
Mariela Garcia
Delicious! This will be my go to recipe for Chile Verde.
Martha
I made this for family gathering pot luck and it was the hit. Everyone loved it and were licking their fingers. I did add slices (rajas) of roasted chile poblano. It was delicious and I recommend this recipe.
mmartinez
Hello, Martha
Thank you for trying the Pork in tomatillo recipe. I'm so glad you and your family like.
Steve
I was thinking of making tamales with this pork. When you say pork ribs do you mean those boneless ribs or should I use spare or baby back ribs. Thanks for all of the recipes
mmartinez
Hello Steve,
This dish can be done with spare or baby back ribs, and even with pork tenderloin and pork shoulder meat cut into cubes.
Nessa T
This is on my stove as I write this and I am so excited! I taste tested the chile verde after blending it and it is spicy! I added diced potatoes with the sauce at the end. I can't wait to eat it. I just hope it isn't too hot for my son. Thanks so much for all your recipes! 👏🏽
OVANDO
The commercial brands have a lot of vinegar, which in my opinion ruins the true flavor, but then again I'm a native son and love the puro recipe
kiki
Hi, I am glad you are posting these great recipes. My spouse who is Mexican can cook butt I need to learn and he isn't a great teacher, so this is great. He makes his version of this recipe but I am trying to follow yours with some things left out (optional stuff). Hope he likes it, I don't have tomatillos but I'm improvising with salsa verde. Thanks again.
yx l
Hello Mely,
After roasting do you peel of the blackened parts of the vegetables before you purée them?
Thank you.
mmartinez
Hello yx l,
You leave those on since those parts will add a lot of flavor to the final dish.
Lulu's clues
Do you put the cloves and cinnamon stick in a cheese cloth or just throw them in and hope to find them later? They definitely sound like a nice addition : )
mmartinez
Hello Lulu,
You add them in step number four to mix well with the tomatillo. Happy cooking!
Ether ealist
I just made this to night. It was INCREDIBLE. I also made it with your Mexican Rice recipe.
Seriously the best Mexican food I've ever had. Thank you so much!
mmartinez
Hello Ether,
So glad to know that you enjoy your cooking creations!
Doc Moore
This recipe sounds perfect. Just a note on the cloves. It says "optional", but really a touch of cloves in this does magic. Don't go crazy...just a pinch of ground cloves or one or two whole ones. Amazing what it does to the flavor. I love this website.
mmartinez
Hello Doc Moore,
Thank you for your comment, I'm sure many will find that helpful! Happy cooking!
mmartinez
Hello Kate Orozco,
Thank you fro visiting and trying the recipes. Saludos! 😉
Kate Orozco
My family loves this recipe!! Thank you so much. You are BY FAR my favorite go-to for finding authentic Mexican recipes. My husband is from Jalisco and loves everything that I make from this site.
Ron Provencio
Just wish to say, "thank you" for your wonderful mexican recipes. I have tried many of them and they are terrific. Again, thank you for them and your "blog."
mmartinez
Thank you! Ron Provencio, this is one of the many favorite dishes here at home. Enjoy!
amy myers-doyle
Hi mely, most recipes i see call for seeding the peppers after they are roasted. do you blend the peppers whole or remove seeds first? i'll be using one jalapeno and poblanos i have from the garden. not sure if the jalapeno seeds would be too hot?thanks.
mmartinez
Helo Amy,
When cooking with dried peppers they are seeded before roasted. Remove the seeds first. Now, when cooking with fresh peppers like serrano or jalapeños, only if you are not use to eat hot peppers remove the seeds. (We don't usually do that.) Now, for the poblano peppers, those seeds need to be removed after roasting the pepper whole.
Happy cooking!
Joy Johnson
Update: I made it and it was delicious... Took leftovers to work and my coworkers thoroughly enjoyed it!!
mmartinez
Helo Joy,
I'm so glad you tried the recipe, and that you, and your coworkers enjoyed it.
Thank you for taking the time to write back.
Regards,
Mely
Joy Johnson
This is the traditional version I have been looking for!!! Thank You!!!
Anonymous
I am so happy I found this blog! I made my chile verde sauce and it came out just delicious. The pork loin meat is very tender.
The step by step directions are very helpul, thank you so much for a very concise blog I can understand.
mmartinez
Hello,
I'm so glad it has been of help for you.
Regards,
Mely
Julie Mcelvain
I made it yesterday in a crock pot it was amazing. I cooked on low for 5hrs
Chris
I wonder how this would come out in a crock pot (slow cooker)?
Bob Dobbs
Thank you so much for this blog. This is my go-to for great Mexican recipes!
Mely
Hello Bob Dobbs,
You are very welcomed.
Thank you for stopping by.
Mely
Jennyk828
Mely...I am so glad I found your Blog. My husband is from D.F. and I am from the Atlanta Ga area. Your recipes are just what he craves and you make them sooo easy to follow! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! I'm already hooked!
marsha arias
Wow this looks amazing and so simple I will definently be putting this beautiful recipe to the test! Thanks so much for sharing!
Mely
Hello Marsha,
I hope you enjoy it and add it your personal touch!
Happy cooking!
Mely
Tracy Ann
can you come make it for me 🙂 I'm salivating
Mely
Hello Tracy Ann,
And where do you live? You never know... 🙂
Ziho
Qué delicia Mely y si es en taquitos, mejor!
Saludos y feliz inicio de año!
Nora
Me encanta este plato!
Rebecca Subbiah
this looks great think I may make it tomorrow