Pork Verde
Homemade comfort using ingredients found at any normal grocery store.
Of course I’m a fan of the authentic preparation for classic dishes. But there’s something about that phrase can feel a bit intimidating. (Well for me, at least). This recipes removes the fear factor from making your own homemade Pork Verde, and puts a fan-favorite recipe right in your back pocket.
Here’s why you’ll love this recipe.
It uses only fresh ingredients. And they’re super easy to trim, slice, and drop into a food processor.
It tastes as good as anything you’d order at your favorite Mexican joint. No, seriously. It’s pretty great.
It starts from a Paleo-compliant platform — you can take it whatever direction you want from this point. We’ve rolled it into enchiladas, we’ve piled it on top of baked sweet potatoes and cauliflower rice, we’ve wrapped it in tortillas… we’ve even used it as a soup base once. (Want to turn it into soup? Add hominy, corn, canned diced green chilies, jalapeno, and extra chicken stock. So good.)
How are you going to serve it?
After you’ve had a chance to make it, let everyone know how you served this Pork Verde!
Ingredients
Pork Shoulder
- 3 lbs pork shoulder boneless is ideal
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 tsp tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp granulated garlic
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp ground coriander
Verde Sauce
- 1 lb tomatillos
- 2 poblano peppers
- 4 cloves garlic
- ½ large white onion
- 1 cup cilantro
- 1 large jalapeño
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ cup water
Instructions
Verde Sauce
- Prepare the vegetables and add each to a food processor as your work. Clean and quarter the tomatillos; clean and chop the poblano peppers; crush the garlic cloves; roughly chop the white onion; measure about one cup of fresh cilantro, loosely packed; remove the stem and seeds from the jalapeño and roughly chop into a couple pieces.
- Add the salt and water to the food processor, cover and turn the food processor on. Let it run on high for a minute or so — until a smooth, vibrant sauce takes shape. Turn the food processor off and allow the sauce to rest while the pork is prepared.
Pork Shoulder
- Trim any larger sections of fat from the shoulder and cube the meat into roughly 4-inch chunks.
- Combine the dry spices listed in a large mixing bowl, put the pork cubes into the spices and toss to coat.
- Heat a large Dutch oven to medium-high and add avocado oil. When hot, sear the pork on all sides working in small batches, if needed. Each side will need about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Return all of the pork to the pot and covered with the reserved verde sauce. Reduce the temperature to low, cover with the lid, and braise for 3 hours.
- After 3 hours the verde sauce will be a rich, deep green and the pork fork tender. Shred the pork in the pot and combine with the braising liquid. Serve as desired depending on dietary preference.
Nutrition
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