I am a Colorado native so Green Chili is kind of a thing that you grow up with here. There are all sorts of Green Chili, but the Colorado type has thick chunks of pork and a thickened sauce. It is used either to smother a variety of Mexican food favorites like Chimichangas, Enchiladas, or Burritos, pour over nachos, and eat from a bowl like soup or stew with a gluten-free tortilla or Quesadilla side.

Way back when I started this blog in 2008 my go-to recipe was borrowed from my choir buddy Paul, his recipe is here. Over the years and particularly since I’ve gone gluten-free in 2020 I realized I’ve made quite a few modifications.

I also am not excited to stand over a hot stove anymore so this Green Chili recipe can be put together in a crock pot and eaten at the end of the day. I adore my crockpot.

Chrissy’s Crockpot Green Chili Recipe

GF Green Chili Ingredients

• Small Pork Loin or Package of Pork Pieces
• 15oz Can Tomatoes
• 1 onion (Yellow or Red)
• 1 cup of Green Chilis (Either frozen, canned or freshly roasted from the Farmer’s Market)
• 1-2 Fresh Chilis to spice things up. (Jalapeno, Anaheim, Fresno)
• 2 cups of GF Chicken broth
• Arrowroot, Tapioca Starch or Cornstarch for Thickening

Green Chili Directions

1. Place Pork, onions, tomatoes, chilis, and chicken broth into the crockpot, set on medium or high depending on whether you are going to be around to check it. If you are gone for the day then medium.
2. Stir a few times throughout the day if you are home, if not, that’s fine too, stir it when you get home.
3. Add thickener and bring to a boil.
4. With a fork, shred the pork loin, it should just fall apart.
5. Serve in bowls with sour cream and shredded cheese and serve with GF tortillas or tortilla chips or freeze in mason jars leaving room for it to expand for smothering sauce on your favorite Mexican dishes.

Gluten-Free Crock Pot Green Chili Stew

I wanted to make green chili during the Covid19 pandemic and wanted to be sure not to waste any of the food in our home since it was hard to come by and shop for. I had some potatoes about to go bad and an abundance of frozen corn so I created another favorite meal. This will have lots of substitutions in it because there really are no rules.

Green Chili Stew Ingredients

• Pork Loin or Chicken
• 1 can Tomatoes
• 1 Onion chopped
• 1-2 cups green chilis
• 1-2 fresh chilis for flavor
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth (you can also substitute GF beer)
• Arrowroot, Tapioca Starch or Cornstarch for Thickening (I learned about these in my local Celiac Support Community to help me convert my recipe to Gluten-Free) Top 10 Gluten-Free Thickening Agents
  • OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS aka clean the pantry
    • 1/2 – 1 cup corn (frozen, fresh or canned)
    • Potatoes, chop in cubes
    • Carrots, click & chop to half coins
    • Squash, slice or chop to half coins

Green Chili Stew Directions

1. Put everything in the crockpot, put on the lid press GO! Yep, that’s it. Same as above, if you are gonna be around to watch it you can cook it faster on high but if you are leaving for the day, set it on medium-low.
2. Add thickener and bring to a boil.
3. Serve in bowls with sour cream and shredded cheese and serve with GF tortillas or tortilla chips.

My favorite Crockpot is this one where the crock comes all the way out of the heating unit for cleaning with a programmable timer and dishwasher-safe crock.

You can, of course, use your Instant Pot for this recipe too. But, in my opinion, even better is a rice cooker all in one! My daughter has loaned me hers and I LOVE it! The instant pot is just too many directions, too many rules, and too many things that can go wrong. Her particular one isn’t made anymore but it’s quite similar to this model that has fabulous reviews. I honestly use this for everything! I wanted a crockpot that let you saute the meat/onions before the slow cooker but they were quite expensive.. this thing does that plus rice, plus oatmeal, plus steamer, etc., etc. Check it out.

I love bowls with handles and have these in two different colors. You don’t want to miss a drop of this deliciousness so these bowls help!

Please remember to be adventurous with any recipe, my stew was CoronaVirus inspired to use up food and prompted this blog post. You never know where inspiration will strike from.