We bought a pressure cooker several years ago and each time I use it, I appreciate its usefulness more and more. Some say that with pressure cooking there will be less flavor because of the shortened cooking time involved, but the opposite is true. Your food actually maintains flavor and nutrients when cooking in the closed environment of a pressure cooker unlike with other longer stove top cooking techniques. Besides being able to serve fork tender meat such as beef stew in just 25 minutes, pressure cooking keeps the kitchen cool and uses less energy. Chile verde is one of our favorite dishes. So Serious Eats, Kenji Lopez-Alt’s version of pressure cooker chicken chile verde was definitely a must try recipe.
Beautiful chiles, tomatillos, onion and garlic go into the pot along with the chicken. It couldn’t be easier. It may seem odd that there is no liquid in the recipe, but under pressure all the liquid necessary comes from the tomatillos, peppers, onions and garlic.
You’ll get the freshest flavor if you toast and grind cumin seeds, but in a pinch you can use ground cumin.
All the ingredients go into the pressure cooker. Seal the lid and in no time at all you will have the most delicious chicken chile verde.
The chicken becomes so tender, it pulls apart effortlessly and makes a great filling for tacos or burritos.
- 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed well
- 1 pound tomatillos, husks discarded, rinsed and quartered
- 1 pound poblano peppers, roughly chopped, seeds and stems discarded
- 6 ounces Anaheim peppers, roughly chopped, seeds and stems discarded
- 2 Serrano or jalapeño chiles, roughly chopped, stems discarded
- 1 medium onion - about 10 ounces, roughly chopped
- 6 medium garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 tablespoon whole cumin seeds, toasted and ground
- 2½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- ½ cup packed cilantro + more for garnish
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- corn tortillas for serving
- Combine chicken, tomatillos, poblano, Anaheim peppers, Serrano chiles, onion, garlic, cumin and 1½ teaspoons kosher salt in your pressure cooker. Heat over medium-high heat until gently sizzling then seal pressure cooker. Once the pressure cooker comes up to pressure, lower the heat to a low burner setting so that it maintains pressure without exceeding it. Cook for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and use the quick pressure release method either by pressing the button on the handle or by running cold water over the lid in the sink. Once all pressure has been released it is safe to open the lid.
- Using tongs, transfer chicken to a bowl. Add cilantro and fish sauce to remaining contents of pressure cooker. Blend with an immersion blender and season with additional 1 teaspoon kosher salt to taste (I prefer to keep the sauce a bit on the chunkier side).
- Return chicken to sauce and coarsely shred if desired. Serve chicken over rice, in tacos or burritos.