Tomatillo Chicken Chile Verde

In this autumnal instant classic, in-season tomatillos get blistered in a hot oven and whizzed into a zippy salsa that, when combined with broth, becomes a delightful braising liquid. In goes the chicken breast which tenderly slow cooks, then gets shredded and tossed back in. The whole pot gets taken to the table and served with warm flour tortillas, slices of avocado, lime wedges, sour cream, and chopped cilantro and scallions. Make a big batch and freeze the rest to deliver on-demand comfort to future you!

Ingredients

  • 1 lb tomatillos (husks removed)

  • 1 yellow onion, quartered

  • 2 poblano peppers

  • 2 serrano or jalapeno peppers

  • 5 cloves garlic, peeled

  • 3 cups chicken broth

  • 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast

  • Olive oil

  • 1 tablespoon cumin

  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika

  • Salt

  • Black pepper

  • For serving: Cilantro, scallions, avocado, lime, sour cream, tortillas

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

  2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with tin foil. Toss the tomatillos, yellow onion, peppers, and garlic in a bit of olive oil and a big pinch of salt. Spread the ingredients out on the baking sheet and roast, turning the ingredients a few times, until softened and slightly charred in some areas, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool until you can handle the ingredients.

  3. Remove seeds from the peppers and place all the ingredients from the baking sheet in a blender (or use an immersion blender and blending cup) and pulse to combine without totally decimating the tomatillo seeds. Set aside.

  4. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat with a few generous glugs of oil. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and brown them in the pot for 3 minutes per side or until they’ve begun releasing some juices and are showing signs of browning/color. Remove the chicken from the pan. 

  5. Add in the cumin and paprika and swirl the spices around to “bloom” them for about 30 seconds (cooking spices in fat releases their flavor). Pour in the tomatillo salsa and broth and stir to combine with the spices and oil, scraping up any bits from the bottom of the pan. Nestle the chicken in the pot (it should be mostly submerged – if not, add broth or water). Cover the pot, turn the heat to medium-low, and let it simmer for 30 minutes.

  6. Check the chicken for doneness – it should be fully cooked and quite tender by now. Remove the chicken from the pot and use two forks or a fork and tongs to shred the chicken into small pieces. Put the shredded chicken back in the pot and stir to combine. Taste and add more salt and/or pepper as needed.

  7. To serve, chop cilantro and scallions, slice lime into wedges, and slice avocado. Serve with warm tortillas (I am partial to flour for this dish) and sour cream along with the other fixings.

recipesSienna Mintz