Moose Tracks Chili is the 2015 World Champion Chile Verde and was created by Eileen Beaty. This is a full-flavored classic green chili with lots of pork, easy to make. It comes out very thick, almost solid and makes an excellent filling for street tacos
This 2015 Chile Verde world champion is very meaty, easy to make, and has a classic, full chile verde flavor. If you make it strictly per the recipe, it comes out very thick – almost solid. The first thing that occurred to me was to put it on a street taco … so I did. Came out perfect. I use the artisan corn tortillas in the bread department at King Soopers. If you use regular corn tortillas, they are not as soft and flexible and break easily. See the instructions in the notes for making street tacos.
As you can see in the photo, I chopped some of the chiles into large chunks. This is just a personal preference thing. Or maybe sloppiness. I like a mix of textures in my green chili.
If you are serving this in a bowl as a classic green chili, you will need to add a lot of liquid – I’d say at least 2-3 cups of water or chicken broth, maybe more. Right now, I’m making batches of green chili to freeze so that I can serve some fabulous green chili on a moment’s notice when friends come over. So it only makes sense to leave the additional liquid out and add it when I’m heating it up to serve. This also gives me the option of making street tacos when I serve it.
For more detail on the ingredients, see below.
- 2½ lbs pork loin, cut into small cubes (dice sized)
- 2 tbsp lard
- ¾ cup chopped onions
- 1 14.5 oz can chicken broth
- 1 tbsp chicken base (or chicken bouillon)
- 1 tbsp fresh minced (or pressed) garlic
- 1 tsp celery salt
- ½ tsp crushed oregano leaves
- 2 tbsp cumin
- 1-4 serrano peppers, seeded and minced
- 1 tsp hot green chili powder
- 14 oz green enchilada sauce
- 3½ cups green chiles, chopped into ⅜ inch cubes
- ½ cup hot green chiles, chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 packet Sazón Goya (sold at Safeway, see notes)
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- Green Tabasco Sauce to taste
- Brown pork in the lard and drain.
- Add onion, 1 serrano pepper, chicken
broth and green enchilada sauce. (Warning: Go very light on the serrano peppers as they are hot! Start with no more than 1 and add more in the final stage of simmering to get desired heat.) - Simmer for 1½ hours, stirring often.
- Add cumin, celery salt, fresh garlic, oregano leaves, chicken base, Soza Goya and salt. Continue to cook for 1 hour (add water as needed), stirring often to avoid sticking.
- Add the chopped green chiles, hot green chiles and hot green chili powder and cook for another 15 minutes.
- Add chopped cilantro leaves. Adjust flavor & heat with more minced serrano peppers and up to 1 more tsp hot green chili powder, Green Tabasco Sauce and salt to taste
Warning: this is a very hot, spicy recipe. Start with no more than 1 serrano and you may want to leave out the hot green chile powder until the very end and add just a small bit at a time.
Chile Verde Street Tacos is made with the 2015 World Champion Chile Verde – Moose Tracks Chili from Eileen Beaty. Satisfying and simple street taco, great for parties and small meals.
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