Make Ahead

Deborah Madison's Potato and Green Chile Stew

September  2, 2014
4.6
9 Ratings
Photo by Alpha Smoot
  • Serves 1 to 2
Author Notes

Deborah Madison's Potato and Green Chile Stew is a dinner for easing out of our summer clothes and settling into fall -- a one-pot meal unusual in that it doesn't simmer very long and is easily made vegetarian or vegan, but is still hearty enough that it can truly be the only thing you eat (and the only pot you dirty) tonight. Adapted slightly from What We Eat When We Eat Alone (Gibbs Smith, 2009). —Genius Recipes

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 or 2 long green chiles or poblano chiles, roasted and peeled
  • 1 tablespoon sunflower seed oil or other vegetable oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1/2 teaspoon teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/4 teaspoon teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 large russet or 5 smaller potatoes (a scant pound) peeled and chopped into 1 1/2-inch chunks
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 cup chicken stock or water
  • Sour cream (or Greek yogurt) to finish
  • Chopped cilantro to finish
Directions
  1. Chop the chiles coarsely. Heat the oil in a wide pot; add the onion and cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the coriander, cumin, garlic, and potatoes, followed by the chile, along with 1/2 teaspoon salt and give a stir. Cook together of a few minutes, then add the water or stock. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer.
  2. Cook and cover until the potatoes are completely softened, about 25 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper. At this point you can mash the potatoes, or at least a few of them to give the dish a creamy sort of background, if desired.
  3. Pour into a bowl; add a dollop of sour cream and the chopped cilantro.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • AHW
    AHW
  • Taylor Stanton
    Taylor Stanton
  • bottomsupranch
    bottomsupranch
  • chefbonandee
    chefbonandee
  • Hollie O'Connor
    Hollie O'Connor
Genius Recipes

Recipe by: Genius Recipes

37 Reviews

txchick57 October 27, 2023
Came here to get this recipe and bombarded with ads for what I "need" - i.e. over priced bowls and useless items none of which are needed. The hard sell on this site has beome so obnoxious I don't even want tol look at it anymore. I', sure your PE investors are getting anxious to monetise this accquisition but I don't care to contribute. I have bought more than a few things I've seen here over the years but never from this site. It's just another expensive e-commerce venue and no longer a place for good food comtent and community. Bye.
 
kadie February 23, 2023
An absolute keeper! If you're considering making it, I'd encourage you to go for it!
 
moody B. October 7, 2018
Yum! I double the amount of chiles and add diced tomatoes along with the broth.
 
AHW February 22, 2018
This is one of my all time favorite recipes! I love this soup! My family loves this soup! Making it today and adding pulled roasted chicken for my sick kid. Absolutely Genius!
 
Taylor S. January 4, 2018
Simple but incredible, just like all of DM's recipes :)
 
Claudia December 1, 2017
This is recipe is absolutely fantastic. I used 1.5 kilos of potatoes, 2 large onions, 5 clove of garlic, quintupled the amount of spices, 5 cups of (vegetable) broth, and a mix of charred hot and mild green peppers. Then pureed half of the soup when the potatoes were tender. This made enough for a family of 7, and from now on will be a part of our regular soup rotation. Thank you for this brilliant recipe.
 
Catcook February 11, 2017
What a brilliant way to spice up potatoes! It sounds sooo good
 
bottomsupranch December 3, 2016
This is EXCELLENT! Puree'd it for a creamy soup. It was so good for dinner last night I'm having it for breakfast with a poached egg on top drizzled with a tad truffle oil. YUM!
 
TERRYE H. November 29, 2016
The Shed on the plaza in Santa Fe has been serving this (sans sour cream) with crusty garlic toast for over 30 years. I fell in love with it in 1985.
 
FoodFreak October 4, 2015
I find that poblanos vary in how much heat they pack. Mine made a spicier soup that I wanted, I added a cup of beans to cool it down..
 
chefbonandee September 8, 2015
For some reason the usual Labor Day fare just wasnt doing it for me today. I knew Food52 wouldn't let me down! My modifications:
tripling the recipe, using hatch chiles (no pablanos at the store), 1 onion and 1 shallot, added leftover shredded rotisserie chicken, and garnished with green onion (instead of cilantro), Greek yogurt, and a squeeze of lime. It was SO GOOD. I'm excited for the leftovers! This recipe is a keeper.
 
detroitdiane February 4, 2015
This is amazing, so much greater than the sum of its parts, and so simple to make. Didn't even need the sour cream. I made a double batch...so glad I did. YUM!
 
Hollie O. January 27, 2015
Made this last night with some jalapeno sausage. Definitely a keeper!
 
Clover88 January 25, 2015
So easy and delicious. I'm going to make this a regular meal in my rotation!
 
Jeri January 12, 2015
This is my favorite soup. I've made it approx one time a week since finding the recipe, sometimes add chicken, regardless the soup is so good... best soup ever.
 
LeeLeeBee January 5, 2015
This recipe exceeded my expectations - it was so flavorful. I tripled the recipe, which made enough for about 6 servings. To roast the peppers, I put them under the broiler until charred (approximately 7 - 10 minutes per side), then slid them into a bowl and tightly covered the top with plastic wrap. I let them "steam" for about 15 minutes and then peeled off the skin, removing the seeds and membranes.
 
cindy November 28, 2014
Total Comfort Food ! I used 2 large poblanos, a 1.5 lb bag of small golden, red and purple potatoes, did not peel, just quartered... increased the stock, garlic and onion by 1/2. Perfect. It is a GENIUS RECIPE
 
cindy November 28, 2014
And I used vegetable stock. Fabulous.
 
maxypunx November 19, 2014
Delicious! I doubled everything except the onion. Also, I used the immersion blender to make it a bit creamier, but i left some big pieces of potato as well. The sour cream and lots of cilantro were the perfect finishing touches. I had some leftover and it kept perfectly. thank you Food 52!
 
Petite F. September 24, 2014
Simple, awesome and hearty soup! Made with vegetable broth and purple potatoes.

Thanks for sharing...
 
Barbara G. September 15, 2014
Oh my gosh...yes! Here is what I and friends do: if you are roasting your own peppers, put them under the broiler and turn until charred all over. Put in bowl covered with plastic wrap or put in small paper bag and seal. When cool, remove the skin and scrape out the seeds. If you break off the top, hardened part of the pepper, most of the seeds are up there in a clump. Then, rinse the peppers off and dab dry. The seeds are the hottest part of the chile and you probably do not want them! Maybe a few...? :)
 
Heleen September 15, 2014
Should I remove the chiles' seeds?
 
Barbara G. September 15, 2014
I find that about one half of a large onion fills one cup. But, you can easily wing the amount with this recipe. I usually add more onion than called for, especially in soups, especially if using a sweeter onion. This soup, with the hot chiles, can stand up to as much onion as pleases you. I guessed on the amount of chiles also, as they vary so widely in heat factor. Poblanos are not usually as hot as medium to hot New Mexican Green Chiles, so I find you just have to experiment until you get the right heat.
 
EllenFitz September 15, 2014
I would like to make this but in much larger quantity. Mist ingredients are easy to expand on. My only question is how much do you guess a small onion is chopped? 1 cup? 3/4 cup? (I would be buying a bag of large onions and would chop them all then measure out for the number if servings I plan to prepare.)
 
Barbara G. September 13, 2014
This is a master recipe that makes the cook feel like a "nuevo(a) mexicano(a)!" Deborah Madison is brilliant in the kitchen and as an instructor (wonderful, occasional classes at Santa Fe Cooking School which I highly recommend). This is a base soup. Add leftovers for different takes! First time, I added a bone-in leftover ribeye steak, cutting off the meat after simmering in the broth. Tonight, I added some leftover cooked chicken and broth, some almost overripe diced heirloom tomatoes from the Farmer's Market and mashed a few chunks of soft potato as DM suggests. It is very lovely. I am going to get my annual 30 lb burlap bag of Hatch chiles that are arriving in Santa Fe, have them roasted in the parking lot and clean, dice and bag at home for my year's frozen supply. It took four years to feel confident doing this! Beware: make sure you wear heavy kitchen gloves! I forgot the first time, as a gringa! This is one of the best things about living in New Mexico, for sure. The air smells of roasted chiles right now...heavenly.
 
Lynda K. September 9, 2014
I made this for dinner last night. I roasted the peppers on the grill. Nice smokey flavor and no cleanup! It was delicious and super quick. I will definitely be making it again.
 
Pam A. September 8, 2014
Can you give instructions on how you roasted the peppers?
 
Kristen M. September 8, 2014
We just charred the peppers on a grill pan till the skin was blackened all over, then put them in a bowl with plastic wrap to steam for 15 minutes, which made the skin easy to peel off by hand (our broiler was occupied that day, and we don't have gas burners in the office, but those will also work). This article has helpful instructions too: https://food52.com/blog/11214-what-to-do-with-an-overload-or-not-of-peppers
 
THEToughCookie September 4, 2014
I just made this tonight and tripled it. Outstanding! Next time I'm putting tomatillos in because who doesn't love poblanos and tomatillos!
 
Scott B. September 3, 2014
I'm making this tonight as well. It smells great - but that picture makes me think there are tomatillos in the soup!
 
Susan W. September 3, 2014
I think that is either cilantro or the green chilies that you see.
 
Scott B. September 3, 2014
Maybe - it's just that it calls for just one chile. and it is so green. Anyway looking forward to dinner!
 
Minimally I. September 3, 2014
Made this for dinner tonight, substituting 1/2 cup of sofrito for the onion and garlic and just fell in love. I'm already looking forward to making it again!
 
Debbie C. September 3, 2014
I would love to make this, but I need to serve 4 to 6. How do I scale this recipe to serve 4 to 6 people????
 
Jill T. September 3, 2014
i think you should double or triple it! it's not like baking, where you might run into issues doubling a recipe due to leavening etc...
 
Gigi September 3, 2014
This sounds delicious, can't wait to make it for one of our great bonfire nights!!
 
Gigi February 22, 2018
I made it for our bonfire night and added roasted poblano peppers...it was out of this world delicious!! Everyone loved it!! Thanks for sharing the recipe!!