Slow Cooker Pork Green Chili Recipe

What can you get done in just five minutes flat? Lots, really. You can change a lightbulb, brush your teeth and wash and moisturize your face, send a quick and thoughtful note to a friend or relative, make your bed and straighten the room, prepare a truly sumptuous slow cooker pork green chili dish that will tantalize any who taste it, or get in a quick set of crunches, pushups, and jumping jacks to help keep yourself limber and trim.

What? No, that wasn't a mistake about the chili. Provided you can wait six hours while the meat cooks to tender perfection once you have done that lightning-fast prep, that really is all it takes, says chef, food writer, and registered dietician Kristen Carli. 

"This is ideal for busy weeknights," says Carli of this "very simple" recipe. You just pop everything into your slow cooker and let it do the rest of the work, then later, at dinner time, you can enjoy this winning main course however you'd like with only another one or two minutes needed to shred and serve the perfect pork.

As it happens, you only need a few ingredients to create this slow cooker pork green chili everyone will love. Those ingredients include a large piece of pork loin, some minced garlic, a can or of green chiles, and a jar of salsa verde. Oh, and some salt and pepper, but you took those for granted, no?

As for how you'll serve the tender, mild, savory pork this recipe creates? Ideally, that will involve some tortillas, cilantro, shredded cheese, and other favorite such ingredients. But you really could just serve this pork on a plate as-is beside some Mexican rice and roasted veggies, and your dinner guests would be thrilled.

Let's tell this story two ways, the short way, then the long. Short story first: Place all slow cooker pork green chili ingredients in the slow cooker and cook on low for at least six hours. There! Basically a whole recipe in a few words! Not bad.

But for a bit more nuance, the longer version goes like this: Place the approximately two-pound pork roast into the slow cooker, then top it with the entire contents of the jar of green salsa, the can (or jar) of green chilis, the salt and pepper, and two generous teaspoons of minced garlic, spreading the ingredients out evenly on and around the meat.

Now, cook the pork on your slow cooker's lower heat setting for at least six hours or up to eight hours. Done. And still a pretty short tale, all told.

A quick note of caution from Carli about this slow cooker pork green chili recipe: "Be sure that the slow cooker is on low for at least four to six hours. Any less than that, and you risk not cooking the pork through."

Once the hours have passed (and the house smells amazing), shred the pork while it's still in the slow cooker by using two forks plunged into the meat and then pulled in opposite directions. You can also use dedicated meat-shredding "claw" kitchen tools. Either way, shred until there are no large chunks of pork left.

Now use tongs or a slotted spoon to lift the pork out of the slow cooker and into a bowl, and from there, you can serve it however sounds great. "I love this in tacos with cilantro and cheese," says Carli. "It would be amazing in a burrito with sour cream as well. Or it serves well with Mexican rice or refried beans."