Recipe Background
Mile High City Chili combines smoky roasted vegetables and tender pork for a comforting, flavorful dish.
Mile High City Chili brings a touch of the Rocky Mountains right into your kitchen. Roasting tomatillos and peppers fills the air with a smoky warmth, setting the stage for this deeply flavorful dish. As the vegetables brown, their natural sweetness deepens, marrying beautifully with the heat of jalapeños. You can almost taste the anticipation as the rich, earthy aroma of cumin and chili powder envelops the pork shoulder during its long, slow simmer.
Cooking this chili is like embarking on a slow journey of layers and surprises. The pork shoulder, seared until it develops a golden crust, becomes meltingly tender as it cooks. Don't rush this step—browning the meat deeply enhances the final flavor. Each bite is a comforting balance of spice and creaminess, with a gentle tang from beer pulling all the flavors together. The smoothness of cream cheese, added towards the end, rounds out the robust character of this chili.
Sharing a bowl of Mile High City Chili is like welcoming the companionship of friends and family to your table. It invites conversation and connection, each spoonful offering warmth and satisfaction. This chili warms you from the inside out, creating lasting memories with its hearty and rich profile. Whether a snowy winter evening or a brisk fall afternoon, it’s a dish that speaks of home and heart.
Ingredients
- 4 fresh tomatillos husked and peeled, halved
- 3 Anaheim chile peppers seeded and halved
- 3 jalapeño peppers seeded and halved lengthwise
- 1 medium onion halved
- 1 green bell pepper seeded and halved lengthwise
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 pounds pork shoulder cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1/2 (12-ounce) can or bottle lager-style beer
- 2 tomatoes chopped
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh oregano chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 beef bouillon cube
- 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Evenly place the tomatillos, the Anaheim chiles, the jalapeños, the onions, and the green bell peppers onto a 18x26-inch baking sheet.
- Drizzle the veggie mixture with 1 tablespoon of the oil and evenly sprinkle with the salt and the pepper.
- Bake the vegetable mixture until brown spots begin to show, about 30 minutes.
- Let the vegetable mixture cool.
- Chop the vegetable mixture into bite-size pieces.
- In a large skillet over high heat, heat the remaining oil.
- Add the pork shoulder and sauté until browned, about 12 minutes.
- Add the pork shoulder, the vegetable mixture, the beer, the tomatoes, the garlic, the oregano, the parsley, the cumin, the chili powder, and the beef bouillon cube to a slow cooker, cover, and cook on low heat until the pork shoulder is tender and reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees F, about 4-6 hours.
- With 30 minutes of cooking time remaining, add the cream cheese to a medium bowl.
- Spoon the liquid from the chili into the cream cheese, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition, until the cream cheese almost becomes a liquid.
- Stir the cream cheese mixture into the chili and cook for the remaining 30 minutes.
- Plate and serve.
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