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New Mexico Chili Verde

A hearty green chili made with bell peppers, green chiles, pork, onions, and a roux of butter and flour.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Oregano and cumin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 983 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

New Mexico Chili Verde

5–6
Time20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the chile base

  1. Combine bell peppers, chili peppers, water, tomatoes, bouillon, oregano, cumin, and coriander in a large pot.

  2. Cook over medium heat until peppers are tender.

  3. Cook pork and onion in a skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, about ten minutes, or until pork is browned and crumbly.

  4. Drain pork and add to chile mixture.

  5. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Thicken and finish

  1. Heat butter in the skillet over medium-low heat.

  2. Add flour and cook, stirring frequently, until flour browns, about 2 minutes.

  3. Add flour mixture to chile.

  4. Continue cooking and stirring until thickened to preference.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

915Calories
44 gProtein
28 gFat
119 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 12 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Pork100g cooked242
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Green Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Waternot in our table0
Seednot in our table0
Coriandernot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Oregano + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together983 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cumin + coriandertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,866 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Tomato + coriandertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  4. Tomato + oreganotop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,767 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  5. Tomato + cumintop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,272 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Ground pork
Provides savory meaty flavor and body to the chile.
Green chile peppers
Supply the main green chile flavor and vegetal character of the stew.
Butter or margarine
Fat that toasts with the flour to form a roux, adding nutty flavor.
All-purpose flour
Browned in butter to form a roux that thickens the chile.
Stewed tomatoes
Add acidity and moisture, rounding out the chile's flavor.
Onion
Softens and sweetens as it cooks, building the flavor base with the pork.

The step that matters

Browning the flour in butter. Flour must cook long enough to lose its raw taste and turn golden without scorching. Scorched flour turns bitter and dark, and it thickens the chile less well.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, tomato, pork, oregano, cumin, coriander, butter):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Eggplantfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, tomato, pork, oregano, cumin, coriander, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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