Vegan Chile Verde soup recipe with New Mexico chiles and tomatillos.
Ah yes, it’s that time of the year! In Denver, Fall means the wonderful smell of roasted New Mexico chiles in the air. I buy 2 bushels, one “medium” and one “hot,” from our local roaster and get them roasted together. We bring them home in big heavy plastic bags, clean off the excess blackened skins and seeds, and put them in the freezer so we can make dishes with roasted chiles all year.
This recipe was created by my friend, Brian Beamer, for my Lemon Sisters Market. I shared the recipe with Myra and she used it for her Green Salsa Burritos. Since she couldn’t get her hands on roasted chiles, she substituted canned Hatch chiles and they work just fine in this recipe. A 27-ounce can is about 3 ½ cups of chiles. Or, you could check with your favorite grocery store to see if they might have roasted chiles in a package in their freezer section.
If you can get fresh chiles (and you don’t know someone who has a roaster handy!), turn your oven to broil and roast them, or put them on a grill until they are blackened and soft. Transfer them from the oven or grill to a plastic bag or a container with a lid and let them steam for 30 minutes. Then remove the outside skin and the seeds and you are ready to make green chile (chile verde)!
This soup is called green chile even though it has red tomatoes in it, because you are using green chiles!
I love the versatility of this soup. I use chile verde for huevos rancheros, enchiladas, breakfast burritos with potatoes and scrambled eggs, or just eat it as a soup with fresh tortillas. So many possibilities!
Green Chile
Equipment
- 1 knife and cutting board
- 1 4 quart soup pot
- 1 set of measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 bud garlic, minced
- 2 TBLS vegetable oil
- 1/2 tsp. liquid or powdered smoke
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. black pepper
- 2 1/2 TBLS your favorite dark chile powder
- 1 tsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. cayenne powder This depends on how hot your chiles are and how hot you like your chile!
- 2 TBLS veggie base or 2 veggie bouillon cubes
- 3 to 4 cups tomatillos, finely chopped or one 27 oz. can I use a hand blender to chop them up
- 3 to 4 cups roasted chiles or one 27 oz. can of Hatch chiles diced
- 1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Heat your soup pot with 2 TBLS. of vegetable oil and add the chopped onion and garlic. Sauté until the onions are starting to soften.
- Add the spices to the pot: liquid smoke, salt, black pepper, chile powder, cumin
- Add the tomatoes, tomatillos and chiles. Bring to a boil and add the veggie broth and water. Simmer for 15 or 20 minutes, stirring often. Taste it and see if you want to add any cayenne powder.
- Serve as soup with fresh tortillas, store the rest in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to use.
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