Chubby's Green Chili (Copycat) Version 2
Author: Anita
Prep time: 30 mins
Cook time: 90 mins
Total time: 2 hours
Ingredients
  • 1 lb diced pork (1/4 to ½" dice, pork loin or shoulder)
  • ½ cup corn starch
  • ¼ cup hot chili powder (ideally Chimayo)
  • 1 stick butter or margarine
  • 1 cup finely chopped onion (chopped to almost mush in food processor)
  • 4 cloves garlic, pressed
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 11/2 tbsp ground dry mustard powder
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • ¼ tsp dried sage
  • 3 cans chicken broth
  • 2 6-oz cans tomato paste
  • 1½ cups green chiles (mild, hot, or a combination - see notes)
  • 1½ cups canned jalapenos (12 oz jar or can, not pickled), diced
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup flour
  • 3 tbsp chicken bouillon
  • 2 tbsp Cholula Hot Sauce
Instructions
  1. Puree 1 cup green chiles, and half the jalapenos (either together or separately, doesn't matter) with 1 can chicken broth and 1 cup water in a food processor or blender and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, blend the corn starch and chili powder, then dredge the pork cubes in it.
  3. In a large pot, brown the pork in 1 tbsp butter.
  4. Add the onions and cook another 3-4 minutes until onions are soft.
  5. Add the pressed garlic and spices and cook another minute.
  6. Add the pureed green chiles and jalapenos. Cook over low heat (or in a crock pot on low) for an hour, then stir in the tomato paste.
  7. While the chili continues to simmer, in a medium saucepan, make the roux: melt the remaining butter over medium low heat. Dump in the flour and 3 tbsp chicken bouillon and stir to blend. Keep stirring as it thickens and keep adding small amounts of the remaining 2 cans chicken broth and water. You should end up with a roux about the consistency of thick pancake batter.
  8. Stir the roux into the green chili, blending well. Add the remaining diced green chiles and jalapenos and the 2 tbsp Cholula hot sauce. Simmer another 15 to 20 minutes.
  9. Serve over burritos, fries, eggs, nachos, whatever.
  10. You can also leave it in the crock pot on low for several hours. This works well on a buffet where guests can ladle it onto plates or bowls themselves.
Notes
You can use mild, medium, or hot green chiles (or a combination) and then adjust to desired heat with more jalapenos.

The flavor is very close to the original Chubby's, but not exact. Want to tweak it to get it more exact? My suggestion is to try different brands of hot sauce. Cholula's is an excellent choice, but I'm not convinced that's the brand Chubby's uses.

Commentary:
I've had more requests for this recipe than any other ... but it is top-secret and known only to the members of the Cordova family who run the original Chubby's on 38th St in Denver. So, I've tested and experimented and tested some more. You can see my first version at Chubby's Green Chili (Copycat) published a year & a half ago. I estimated it was more than a 90% match to the original, but I couldn't quite get color, texture and flavor just like Chubby's. Note: in photo above, bowl on left is the Original Chubby's while the one on the right is my copycat version. Pretty close, huh? Look at my previous version and it clearly looks different.

Many readers sent in their suggestions on how to tweak the recipe to make it just like Chubby's, and I tried all of them. Sure enough, this recipe is over 95% there. Compare the two - the addition of chili powder and hot sauce made a huge difference. I still put more meat in and I usually tone the heat down a tad (as Chubby's is very hot) - so be sure to tweak heat (chiles & hot sauce) to taste.
Recipe by Denver Green Chili at https://denvergreenchili.com/recipes/restaurant/chubbys/chubbys-green-chili-copycat-version-2/