Pork chops in salsa verde (puerco en salsa verde)
Bone-in pork chops and potatoes simmered in tangy tomatillo salsa verde, a cheap and cozy Mexican dinner with warm tortillas.
- 45 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.89 a serving
- 610 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 4 bone-in pork chops, about ¾ inch thick
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into ¾-inch cubes
- 1½ cups salsa verde
- ½ cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
- 8 corn tortillas
From your pantry
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Each serving has about 610 calories, 42 g protein, 47 g carbs and 28 g fat, and costs about $2.89 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No Yukon Gold potatoes? Russet potatoes or red potatoes work.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the chops dry and both sides with the salt, pepper and cumin.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
Season. Seasoning means adding salt, pepper or spices to bring out a food’s flavor. A little at a few stages tastes better than a lot all at the end.
How you’ll know: When you taste it, it tastes bright and like itself, not flat and not salty.
Heat the oil in a large over medium-high until it . the chops 3 minutes a side, until , and move them to a plate.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Shimmering oil. Oil shimmers when it’s hot enough to cook: its surface looks rippled and wavy, like heat over a road. That’s your cue to add the food, just before the oil would start to smoke.
How you’ll know: The oil looks wavy and runs thin like water when you tilt the pan, with no smoke yet.
Sear. Searing means cooking the outside of meat or fish in a hot pan, without moving it, until a deep brown crust forms. The crust is packed with flavor, and it only forms on a dry surface.
How you’ll know: It sizzles loudly the moment it goes in, and it lets go of the pan on its own when the crust is ready.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium-high heatTimer: 6 min
Dolly’s tip: They won’t be cooked through yet. They finish in the salsa.Turn the heat to medium, add the onion, and cook 3 minutes, until soft. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Add the potatoes, salsa verde and broth, , and bring it .
Scrape up the browned bits. It means loosening the brown bits stuck to the pan with a wooden spoon, usually right after adding liquid. Those bits are concentrated flavor, and they melt into the sauce.
How you’ll know: The bottom of the pan looks clean again, and the liquid turns darker and richer.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heat
Nestle the chops into the sauce, cover, turn the heat to low, and 12 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and the meat near the bone reads 145°F.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 13 min 30 sec
Food safety: Steak, pork chops and other whole cuts are safe at 145°F in the middle, then let them rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
Warm the tortillas in a dry skillet over medium heat, 30 seconds a side, stacking them in a clean towel.
Medium heat
Stir the cilantro into the sauce and serve the chops and potatoes with plenty of salsa verde and the warm tortillas.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
