Pozole Recipe

What Is Pozole?

Pozole, pronounced poh-soh-leh in Spanish, is a hearty Mexican soup or stew, made with hominy, meat (usually pork or chicken), chilies, and spices. You can find pozole rojo (a.k.a. red pozole), verde (green), and blanco (white) varieties. Mine is the red version, as you can see from my pictures. I highly recommend fresh toppings for serving!

Pozole Ingredients & Substitutions

Here I explain the best ingredients for my pozole rojo recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card.

• Meat – I used pork shoulder to make pork pozole, but you can also use other cuts of meat, such as pork loin, pork butt, or even chicken if you’re not a fan of pork. Cut the meat into 1-inch chunks.
• Canned Hominy – This is a type of canned corn that is soaked using an ancient method, leaving it tasting soft, starchy, and a little chewy. To me, it tastes like a cross between chickpeas and potatoes. I usually find it in the canned vegetables section at the grocery store, but sometimes see it in the ethnic area. It comes in white or yellow, and I recommend white here. It’s a key ingredient in this dish, so don’t skip it!
• Dried Ancho Chilies – Another key ingredient, which adds heat and flavor. You can also use dried guajillo chilies, which are more spicy, or an equal mix of both. Either of these dried chili peppers makes pozole rojo (red pozole). You can also use fresh green chilies for pozole verde (green pozole), or omit the chilies altogether if you want to make pozole blanco (white pozole).
• Aromatics – Onions and garlic! You can use any color onion you’ve got, but otherwise I don’t recommend substituting these.
• Chicken Broth – I used store-bought and prefer reduced-sodium like this, so I can control the salt better myself. If you have time, feel free to use homemade broth or even bone broth for a richer flavor.
• Olive Oil – For sauteing. Avocado oil also works.
• Seasonings – I tried to keep the list short to keep it simple, yet still capture the essence of the dish. My pozole recipe uses dried oregano (although Mexican oregano is more traditional if you can find it), cumin for a warm flavor, bay leaves, sea salt, and black pepper. Since it’s not very many spices, I wouldn’t recommend omitting any of them.
• Optional Garnishes – I topped my soup with shredded cabbage, sliced radishes, avocado, Cotija cheese, fresh cilantro, and lime wedges. Use any combination of these that you want!

How To Make Pozole

I have step-by-step photos here to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions with amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card.

1. Hydrate the ancho chilies. Boil a saucepan of water, then remove from heat and soak the dried chiles until soft. Drain the water, cut off the chile stems and veins, and scoop out seeds. In my opinion, the scraping is probably the most annoying part of this pozole recipe, but it’s not hard!
2. Blend and strain. In a small blender or food processor, combine the seeded and deveined chiles, whole garlic cloves, a pinch of salt, and water from the saucepan you used to hydrate the chiles. Blend until smooth, then strain through a fine mesh sieve, pressing with a spoon to extract the liquid.

3. Sear the pork. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium-high heat. Add the pork and sear on each side. Remove and set aside for later.
4. Saute the aromatics. Cook the onions over medium heat, until soft. Add the minced garlic and saute until fragrant. They should start looking a little browned at this point.

5. Combine the pork, homini, chile paste, and spices. Return the pork to the pot with the onion and garlic. Add the ancho chile paste from the blender, ground cumin, dried oregano, and hominy. Stir everything together to coat the pork and hominy with the spices.
6. Simmer the pozole soup. Add the chicken broth, salt, pepper, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for a couple hours. The pork should get very tender. This is the part where my family asks what smells so amazing!
7. Load it up with toppings. Don’t forget to remove the bay leaves, as these aren’t meant to be eaten. While you can serve this pozole recipe all by itself, I highly recommend fresh garnishes. I love shredded cabbage, sliced radishes, avocado, Cotija cheese, and fresh cilantro. A fresh squeeze of lime juice also works well.

How To Serve It

This pozole recipe already has a good balance of macros, it’s filling all by itself, and honestly, it’s as much work as I’m willing to do for dinner most nights. 😉 So, I usually serve it all by itself, and just add toppings: cabbage, radishes, avocado, Cotija cheese, cilantro, and lime wedges… and maybe a skinny margarita if it’s the weekend.

But if you want to add something, I would start the meal with baked tortilla chips served with my easy guacamole, fresh tomato salsa, and/or queso. Or maybe a batch of Mexican shrimp cocktail or taco slaw.