Just a few months ago, I had the privilege of taking my kids out to the Chile Festival in Hatch, New Mexico. If you haven’t ever been and you get the opportunity… DO IT.
My kids had fun, despite the heat (and it was quite hot!) – we were able to learn how to make a ristra, and we came back with plenty of hatch chiles, perfect for recipes
If you haven’t been out to Hatch, New Mexico, it’s a really small little town – and they sell Hatch chiles all year long ~ from stores lined up in town. The festival, however, allows you to pick up fresh, roasted chiles — hot, medium or mild.
Fair warning: the MILD variety are STILL super hot!
I remember my oldest daughter (who eats chiles all the time) standing at one of the booths to sample their chiles, and she turned to me with the most random expression and said “wow.. if this is MILD I don’t want to see what’s HOT….”
That right there was an indicator that I should probably just leave them alone. I did , too – because I don’t need to make a hospital trip over a green chile.
If you don’t have Hatch Chiles, you can buy a few Poblano chiles in your local grocery store – bring them home and roast them yourself. The easiest way to roast peppers is to lay them on a baking sheet and put them under the broiler for a few minutes.
They’ll turn black and blister (which is good), flip them over and allow the other side to blacken and blister, then pull out of the oven. Put them in a freezer or zipper bag for a little while and the skins should just come right off. Chop them up and set them aside.
You can take this soup a step further and add pork or chicken, too – it all depends on what your personal preference is. Adding pork would give it a tremendous flavor – but it is also just as good without meat, too.
One last thing: make sure you wear some gloves when handling chiles — they can be very hot on your hands.
- 3-4 green chiles (Hatch) or, poblano chiles, roasted, peeled and chopped
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 large russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 inch chunks
- 4 C. chicken stock
- salt & pepper, to taste
- Optional: sour cream & chopped cilantro
- Heat the oil in your Instant Pot on the saute feature, and place the onion and garlic in and cook under soft, 1-2 minutes.
- Add the coriander, cumin, potatoes, chiles, and chicken stock and give it a quick stir.
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot, close the valve, and set the pot to manual (high) fr 7 minutes.
- Once the pot beeps, allow it to release naturally for 5 minutes, then release the rest of the pressure with a quick release.
- Add salt & pepper to taste.
- Serve in bowls with optional sour cream and chopped cilantro.

Instant Pot Salsa Verde White Chicken Chili
Ooooohhhh, I want to try this with pork but don’t think the potatoes will make it to the end of my 30 minutes pressure cooking time. Might just make it without the pork. Looks amazing!
Love this recipe!!! Couple changes. Added ground sausage first on sauté and browned. Next added onion and garlic. Followed directions except I used 2 tbsp chicken stock to scrap brown bits. Added all other ingredients in step 2 but added 1tbsp dried mustard, 1/2 can rotel and increased chicken stock to 6 cups. After 7 mins of pressure and 5 min natural release, I added corn starch slurry to thicken( 2tbls corn starch and just enough water to mix). After natural release I went back to sauté and added slurry to thicken. Served with homemade tortilla chips and cheese. AMAZING!
Mike – sounds I need to swing by for dinner at your place. That just sounds amazing! Glad you loved it and good to hear that you made some successful changes!
I don’t have an instant pot, but I tried it anyway, it came out delicious!!! I will be making it again! Thanks!
So glad you loved it! 🙂
I make this a lot in the winter without an Instant Pot. I add green chili pork sausage, hearty and good. If it needs thickening, I add some instant mashed potatoes! Perfect!
How to keep potatoes from sticking and burning in the instapot? I put a little oil in last time and they still stuck.😒
Would it work in a Crock Pot?
Absolutely would. I would allow more time — the Instant Pot is very much the “quick” way of making food (or so I think!). The crock pot cooks well too, but it usually takes a bit longer, a few hours.