Homemade Green Chile Recipe | Pueblo, Colorado

It’s that time in Colorado! The August peach season has ended, and September is here, bringing us Pueblo green chiles. I love taking advantage of our local produce, so for the third year, Ryan and I made our annual homemade green chile. We take one afternoon, which makes us enough green chile to last until the following year’s season! Previously, we went to the Pueblo Chile Festival (which is next weekend), but this year, we decided to save ourselves a trip and bought some at the Old Colorado City Farmer’s Market. This is one of my favorite Saturday morning traditions during the harvest summer months. There is so much fresh produce! They roast the chiles for you, and you can order them in small Ziploc bags or half/full bushels. This year, we bought an entire bushel of medium-heat green chiles. When they hand them over, they’re steaming hot. My car still smells like roasted peppers two days later, but I’m not complaining!

As soon as I get home, I stick the bag of roasted peppers in an ice bath to cool them down (and it essentially blanches them to help remove the tough skin). Then, once they’ve cooled down, you can start working immediately or put them in the fridge until you have a two-hour window to spare! Now, I’d grab a friend for this, or in my case, I grabbed my ridiculously patient and helpful husband, Ryan.

The green chile puree is so simple – it’s just three ingredients.

  • 1 bushel roasted green chiles
  • 6 small yellow onions
  • 10-12 cloves of garlic

First, I start by slicing the onions and garlic (these will go into a food processor, so they don’t have to be fancy). Then I saute the onions until caramelized and add in the garlic for the last couple minutes to soften it. I set that aside to cool.

Now comes the hard part: removing the skin and seeds of A LOT of green chiles. Most are so roasted that the skin slides right off when you softly run your knife over them. But there are always some tough ones, usually the big ones, with tough skin. Honestly, they don’t have to be perfect. You’re blending them all together, so if a few seeds are stuck to each one and some peel still attached here and there, it’ll be fine. Then I cut the top off, slice them down the center, open them up, and scrape out the seeds. It gets messy, but embrace it – play music and enjoy your time in the kitchen with someone you love! 

This recipe is hard to share because I eyeballed so much stuff. But it depends on your food processor’s size and how many batches you’ll make. I made four batches in our large Ninja food processor. So whenever the food processor was full of peppers, I’d scoop in some of the sauteed onions and garlic (maybe about one cup per batch) and blend away! Once it’s an even texture, I spoon it into containers. The “puree” stage is when I freeze it for the rest of the year, but this stage isn’t really great for eating yet (although it smells incredible). I do use the puree to add to chili or soup in the winter. Think of it as a concentrate. You only need a couple of spoonfuls anytime you use it.

But the VERY best thing to use it for is green chili queso or green chili alfredo sauce (same recipe). It’s so good poured over a taco, slathered over some enchiladas, dipped into with corn chips, or over some pasta! Seriously, you will be ruined for any restaurant green chile after this one! Also, this recipe is the best because you can use many substitutes for each ingredient. Sometimes I don’t have sour cream in the fridge, so I’ll basically use any other kind of dairy and it always tastes just as good! And if you’re GF, vegan, or dairy-free, there are ways to make this that cater to pretty much every allergy!

Homemade Green Chili Queso/Alfredo Recipe

  • 4 tbsp butter or oil
  • 4 tbsp flour (can substitute with gf flour)
  • 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  • 1/2 cup sour cream (you can also use Greek yogurt, milk, cream, half and half)*
  • 1 cup cheese (any kind, really; if you’re using parmesan or a more robust cheese, I would maybe do 1/2 cup)*
  • 1/2 cup green chile puree

* Skip or find an excellent substitute for dairy-free or vegan

Place a saucepan over medium-high heat. First, you’re going to make a roux to thicken the sauce. Start by melting the butter (or warming the oil). Add in the flour and stir with a whisk until smooth and bubbling. Add in 2 cups stock, stirring continuously until incorporated. Stir until it begins to boil. The boiling should thicken it. Then add in your sour cream and mix until smooth. Add in cheese and mix until melted. Add in green chile puree. That’s seriously it! It’s so easy and way too good!