Green Chili Pork Tostadas are made with tangy tomatillos, poblano and jalapeño peppers, and savory pork that cooks down in the sauce.
Use the Green Chili to make tostadas with crunchy oven baked corn tortillas. Layer on refried black beans, guacamole, and sour cream and you get the best combination of flavors and textures. You'll also end up with lots of leftovers.
This is a weekend project recipe. It's best saved for when you have some time to put it together, but it is well worth the effort.
There are a few steps involved: cutting and searing the pork, roasting the tomatillos, peppers and garlic, and letting the meat simmer in the sauce for two hours until it is fork tender and starts to fall apart in the delicious green sauce.
The corn tortillas are baked until crispy and loaded up with the green chili and all your favorite toppings
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🌟 Why I Love This Dish
- Roasted Tomatillos: Roasting the tomatillos intensifies the flavor of the sauce. The sauce is tangy (in a good way) and a little different than what you might normally eat and really delicious.
- Pork Butt: This cut of pork is not one that you probably use all that often and it contains lots of flavorful fat that cooks down into the sauce.
- Leftovers: You'll end up with lots of leftovers, or be able to feed a crowd. This makes enough for about 12 servings.
🛒 Ingredients
Below are the ingredients needed to make Green Chili Pork Tostadas.
- Olive Oil: Use extra virgin olive oil if possible.
- Pork Butt: This is a specific cut of pork with lots of fat and flavor and great for slow cooking. It is not the same as pork shoulder. Be sure to purchase pork butt, or check with the butcher.
- Tomatillos: They look like little green tomatoes, but with husks that need to be removed.
- Garlic: Roasted with the tomatillos and peppers to add flavor to the sauce.
- Jalapeños: Seeded to limit the spice level, but feel free to include the seeds for a spicier kick.
- Poblano Peppers: Also seeded, but if you want a spicier sauce, you can include these seeds as well. Anaheim peppers can be substituted if you can't find poblano peppers.
- Onion: Diced small, adds flavor.
- Oregano and Cloves: A small amount of each for subtle flavor.
- Chicken Stock: Use low sodium chicken stock.
- Corn Tortillas: I prefer corn tortillas, but you can use flour tortillas too. Use street sized tortillas for crispy tostada shells.
- Salt: For seasoning.
- For Serving: Refried black beans, guacamole, sour cream, limes.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
📝 How to Make Green Chili Pork Tostadas
Below are the step-by-step instructions for how to make Green Chili Pork Tostadas.
Note: The recipe card with instructions, ingredient list, and quantities is included further below these step-by-step photos.
Prep: Set the oven to broil.
Step 1. Roasting: Remove the husks and slice the tomatillos in half. Place them open side down on a baking sheet. Slice the poblano peppers and jalapeño peppers in half, seed them, and place them open side down on the baking sheet.
Leave the peel on the garlic, but trim the ends. Place them on the baking sheet.
Place the baking sheet in the oven and roast on broil for 5-10 minutes or until the tomatillos and peppers are lightly blackened on top.
Step 2. Make the Sauce: Once the garlic has cooled, remove the cloves from the peel. Add the roasted tomatillos, poblano peppers, jalapeño peppers, and garlic to a blender and blend until roughly smooth.
Step 3. Prep and Sear the Pork: Cut the pork into 1-inch cubes and season with salt. Let rest for 15 minutes.
Step 4. Sear the Pork: Bring a large pot or Dutch oven to medium heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the pork, and sear for about 2-3 minute or until golden brown on the bottom.
Step 5. Finish Searing: Flip the pork over and sear on the other side for another 2-3 minutes. Work in batches to avoid crowding the pan. Remove and set aside.
Tip: Do not overcrowd the bottom of the pot or the pork will not sear properly. The pork needs plenty of room to get that nice golden crust on the outside.
Step 6. Sauté the Onions: If there is excess fat in the pot you can drain all but two tablespoons. If there is not enough fat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the onions and sauté until soft, about 3-5 minutes.
Step 7. Build the Green Chili: Add the tomatillo sauce from the blender, the seared pork, oregano, cloves, and 1 cup of chicken stock. Add additional chicken stock as needed to ensure that the pork is fully submerged in the sauce.
Tip: I've made this green chili both with and without the oregano and cloves, and I prefer it with the spices. Its great both ways, but the spices add subtle flavor without being overpowering.
Step 8. Simmer: Bring to a simmer. Simmer for 2 hours or more as needed until the meat starts to fall apart. Add salt to taste.
Step 9. Make the Tostadas: To make the crunchy corn tostada shells, preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly brush the corn tortillas with olive oil. Bake at 400°F for 10 minutes or until lightly browned and crunchy.
Assemble the tostadas by layering on the green chili, refried beans, guacamole, sour cream, or any of your other favorite toppings.
✏️ Additional Tips:
- Trim the Fat: When cutting up the pork, trim the extra fat. There is plenty of fat throughout the meat that the extra fat really is extra and can be trimmed and removed.
- Don't Overcrowd: When searing the pork, it is crucial to not overcrowd the pan. Work in batches to avoid the pork from steaming, rather than searing.
- Time Investment: This recipe is an investment in time, but you'll end up with lots of leftovers, which are great for being turned into lots of other dishes: chili bowl, tacos, juevos rancheros, etc.
🍴How to Serve, Store, and Freeze
- To Serve: Serve on crispy tortillas with your favorite toppings to make tostadas. Here are a few other ways you can use this dish, especially if you have leftovers:
- Green Chili and Refried Bean Dip: Add the Green Chili and some refried black beans to a bowl and serve with tortilla chips to dip into the chili.
- Green Chili Pork Jueveos Rancheros: Add the green chili to the crispy corn tortillas but layer on a fried egg along with salsa, sourcream and guacamole.
- Tacos: Rather than using crispy tortillas for tostadas, assemble the green chili into tacos with all the toppings.
- To Store: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- To Freeze: Store in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. This dish is excellent for freezing and reheats well.
💖 If You're Interested in More Dinner Recipes, You May Love These:
If you've tried these Green Chili Pork Tostadas or any other recipe on my site, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Every comment is helpful!
Green Chili Pork Tostadas
Ingredients
Green Chili
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 lbs pork butt
- 3 lbs tomatillos
- 1 head of garlic, cloves separated and ends removed but not peeled
- 3 jalapeños, seeded and diced
- 3 poblano peppers
- 1 small onion, diced small
- ¾ teaspoon oregano
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup chicken stock more as needed
- 12 small corn tortillas street taco sized
- salt to taste
Toppings
- refried black beans
- sour cream
- guacamole
- limes
Instructions
Prepare the Tomatillos and Peppers
- Set the oven to broil.
- Remove the husks from the tomatillos, rinse, slice in half, and place cut side down on a large baking sheet. Cut the poblano peppers and jalapeños in half, seed them and place them cut side down on the baking sheet. Add the garlic to the baking sheet (cloves separated, ends trimmed, but peels on). Place the baking sheet with the tomatillos, peppers and garlic in the oven and roast under the broiler for 5-10 minutes or until lightly blackened on top.
- Once cooled, remove the garlic from the peels.
- Working in batches if needed, blend the roasted tomatillos, garlic removed from the peel, poblano peppers and diced jalapeño peppers in a blender.
Prepare the Pork
- Remove the excess fat from the outer portion of the pork butt. This cut of pork has plenty of fat. Even after trimming the excess fat from the outside there will be plenty of fat on the inside, which cooks down and contributes to the flavor of the dish. Cut the pork into 1-2 inch cubes and season with salt. Let sit for 15 minutes.
- Bring a large Dutch oven to medium heat and add a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Working in batches, sear the pork on 2-3 sides. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan. Remove and set aside. Repeat with any remaining pork.If you have the space and an extra heavy bottomed pot, you can have 2 pans going at the same time. It’ll help the process go a little faster.
Make The Green Chili
- If there is excess fat in the Dutch oven, remove the excess fat (leave about 2 tablespoons). Bring the pot to medium heat and add the diced onion. Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally until soft.
- Add the tomatillo sauce, pork, oregano, cloves, and 1 cup of chicken stock to the Dutch oven. Add extra chicken stock as needed until the pork is covered in the sauce. Simmer for 2 hours or more as needed until the meat is fork tender and starts to fall apart.Add salt to taste.
Making the Tostadas
- Bake the Tortillas: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Brush the tortillas with olive oil and bake for 10 minutes until lightly golden brown and crispy.
- Alternatively Pan Fry the Tortillas: Bring a large sauté pan to medium heat and add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Add 2-3 tortillas depending on how much space is in the pan and fry until crispy and golden brown on both sides. Set aside on a paper towel to cool.
- Top the crispy tortillas with refried black beans, green chili, sour cream, and guacamole as desired.
Notes
- Pork Butt: This is a specific cut of pork with lots of fat and flavor and great for slow cooking. It is not the same as pork shoulder. Be sure to purchase pork butt, or check with the butcher.
- Trim the Fat: When cutting up the pork, trim the extra fat. There is plenty of fat throughout the meat that the extra fat really is extra and can be trimmed and removed.
- Don't Overcrowd: When searing the pork, it is crucial to not overcrowd the pan. Work in batches to avoid the pork steaming, rather than searing.
- Jalapeño and Poblano Peppers: The recipe calls for both to be seeded, but if you want a spicier sauce, you can include the seeds. Anaheim peppers can be substituted if you can't find poblano peppers.
- Tortillas: Corn tortillas can be substituted for flour tortillas. Use small street sized tortillas.
- Time Investment: This recipe is certainly an investment in time, but you'll end up with lots of leftovers, which are great for being turned into other dishes: chili bowl, tacos, juevos rancheros, etc.
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