This amazing sandwich started as a restaurant lunch in Cottonwood, AZ. One bite and I knew I had to make this at home. It had big flavor, a little spice and was perfectly messy. It was also big, I’m glad we shared it.
We tried to savor it while devouring it at the same time. While we were eating, both of us kept saying to each other, “We could totally make this.” Our wheels were turning, we already had a jar of good green chiles at home. Chicken breasts and cheese were easy. All we had to do was figure out the spicy mayonnaise.
It took Mark all of three days to ask about recreating the sandwich. He didn’t know that I was spinning strategy in my head since we left the restaurant! I decided to use the Instant Pot over the Crockpot part for time and part for versatility. I didn’t want a soupy mess on my hands.
I love cooking chicken to shred in the Instant Pot. In about 30 minutes you can go from frozen breasts to perfectly shredded. I’ll often cook a bunch, shred it and freeze it in 1-pound portions for later.
Back to these sandwiches…
I put a pound of frozen breasts in the Instant Pot and topped them with two cups of green chiles. I cooked them using the slow cook function on the Instant Pot and set it for five hours. Oh, the house smelled so good.
I’m glad I chose the Instant Pot because there was more liquid than I wanted when I took the lid off. No worries, I turned the pot to Sauté for several minutes to cook it off. You could drain the chiles a little beforehand but, I don’t want to lose all that flavor.
After the sauce reduced, it was two fork shredding time. It looked as good as it smelled. Mark grabbed a big spoonful and declared it tasted as good as it looked. Yeah.
Our next item to figure out was where to cook it. Our first pick was the Blackstone but Mark was concerned about spilling it when flipping. We could use our big cast iron pan but the concern was the same. So, we dug deep into our cupboard for the panini maker with the flat plates.
To assemble, we put a piece of sourdough butter side down on the bottom plate of the panini maker. Next was a nice spread of spicy mayonnaise, the chicken and a piece of cheese. That was topped with another buttered piece of bread.
The restaurant used smoked gouda but I didn’t find it at the store and was too impatient to wait in the deli line. We subbed aged gouda instead. I love gouda. In our house, gouda is gooda.
Holy cow! We did it! It was so good! I know you’re going to like it as well.
My wheels have been turning on other things to make with this chicken. I see enchiladas, tacos and salad in my future.
Chile Verde Chicken Sandwich
- One pound chicken breasts, fresh or frozen
- Two cups green chiles
- Sourdough bread
- Smoked gouda cheese
- Spicy mayonnaise
- Add chicken breasts and chiles to Instant Pot. Cook on slow cooker function for five hours or until chicken is done and easy to shred.
- Turn IP to Sauté and cook down extra moisture then shred the chicken
- Heat griddle, skillet or panini maker.
- Butter one side of sourdough bread. Top with spicy mayonnaise, chicken, cheese, spicy mayonnaise and other piece of buttered sourdough bread.
- Cook until golden brown, carefully flip and cook until other side is golden brown.
This sounds really good Maureen. Do you have a recipe for the spicy mayo?
I do! It’ll be posted tomorrow!
Great. I have jars of the Fresh Chile Company pure green Chile I bought when I made your wonderful Chile Verde recipe. Would a jar of that be a good substitute for the product pictured in your blog post?
Yes.