This Black Bean Pork Verde Stew has been a family favorite for atleast 10 years. It’s usually one of the first soups I make when the weather starts to cool in the fall, and it stays in the rotation all winter long.

It’s hearty, the pork melts in your mouth, and it has just enough heat from the chipotle pepper. It’s also one of my favorite meals to make when we have a crowd because it’s easy to adapt and one pot feeds a lot of people.

I usually serve it with a scoop of rice, a dollop of sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, and my famous crunchy garlic ciabatta bread.

Black Bean Pork Verde Stew

Serves: 6–8
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: About 1 hour(the longer it sits, the better it gets)

Ingredients

• 1 lb pork loin or tenderloin, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1¼ cups chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced, plus additional peppers for serving if desired
• 2 tsp adobo sauce from the chipotle can
• 1 cup mild or medium salsa verde
• 3-4 (14–15 oz) cans black beans, drained
• 14 oz chicken broth, add more if you prefer it more soupy
• 1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes, with juices
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp chili powder
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Sear the pork.
Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the pork(season with salt & pepper) and cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the onion and garlic.
Stir in the chopped onion and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes, until the onion begins to soften.

3. Add the seasonings.
Stir in the minced chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, oregano, cumin, and chili powder. Cook for about 1 minute, stirring so the spices coat the pork.

4. Add the remaining ingredients.
Pour in the chicken broth, diced tomatoes with their juices, black beans, and salsa verde. Add the bay leaf and stir everything together.

5. Let it simmer.
Bring the stew to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for atleast 50–60 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pork is tender and the broth has thickened. The longer it sits, the better it gets!

6. Serve.
Remove the bay leaf and season with salt and black pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and add your favorite toppings.

How We Serve It

At our house, a bowl of this stew usually gets:

• A scoop of rice
• A dollop of sour cream
• Shredded cheddar cheese

And if I’m making it for a crowd, I almost always serve my Crunchy Garlic Ciabatta Bread alongside it.

A Note About the Heat

I typically make this stew with one chipotle pepper plus about 2 tsp of the adobo sauce. It gives the whole pot a little heat without making it too spicy for everyone.

Then I chop up a couple of extra chipotle peppers and put them on the table for anyone who wants more heat—which, at our house, usually means my husband.

This is one of those recipes I come back to over and over again—simple enough for a family dinner, but hearty enough to put on the stove when there are extra people around the table.

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