Pozole is essentially a Mexican soup made with pork and hominy in a delicious broth made with dried peppers. The toppings vary from region to region but absolutely make this dish extra special. A traditional Mexican meal sure to satisfy your taste buds.
Growing up my abuelita, grandma, made Pozole for special occasions and sometimes random Sunday dinners. My mom also made it often at home and I quickly learned it is her favorite dish. It took me a while to put together this recipe because, as you can imagine, abuelita doesn’t measure anything. When I asked for a recipe she would say “unos cuantos chiles, poquito de esto, poquito de lo otro”. Essentially saying “a little bit of this and a little bit of that”. How is a woman supposed to work with that?! That just goes to show that she just used her senses and all the love to make this special dish.
Here’s the run down of the key ingredients for this Pozole: dried guajillo and ancho peppers, pork, and hominy. Let’s talk about each one of these in depth.
First off, dried peppers. The peppers used in Pozole can differ depending what part of Mexico you’re from. Traditionally my abuelita and mom use Chiles Guajillos and Chile Ancho. These are both dried peppers typically found in the produce section of most stores or in specialty Mexican stores. You can also find them online on amazon here or at a specialty online store here. Just search for each of the peppers at both sites.
Guajillo peppers are thin and long with a very deep dark red color. Ancho peppers can be kong or short with a rough surface and have a very dark, almost black, color. These peppers will make your sauce base for the Pozole and give it the beautiful color it has.
Dried peppers need to be soaked in hot water for a while to soften. This guarantees a smooth sauce and makes it easier to blend. Trust me, you don’t want to skip this step.
Next up, pork. Yes, you can make this with chicken. However, that’s not traditional Mexican Pozole. I am sure it would be delicious anyway BUT let’s keep this one traditional. You can use pork shoulder, butt, or something with a bone like a loin end. I would also recommend you pick up some pork bones, such as neck bones, to add flavor. You’ll want to cook the bones along with the meat to give the broth lots of flavor and they can be remove before adding the sauce. If there is one thing I learned from my mom when creating this recipe it’s don’t skip the bones!
Last important component is hominy.
If you’re not familiar with hominy it is just white corn. The corn is bigger and really tender because it is actually dried [field] corn that has been soaked to make it into hominy. Sometimes you will find hominy in Pozole that is not white and that’s because it is made from scratch using dried blue corn and soaking it to make their own hominy. That is a process and one we won’t even get into! My abuelita and mom have made Pozole from scratch many times soaking their own corn but it is truly a labor of lots of love! Hominy can be found in the canned vegetable section of your grocery store. Typically it is found where the canned corn is and I found it at every one of my local grocery stores and Walmart. My favorite hominy is Juanit’s and this can be found at Walmart and here. This is also the brand I find at my local Mexican grocery stores.
I have included three different ways for you to make this pozole. Slow cook for a few hours while you run errands or all day while you’re at work. Good ol’ stovetop cooking, just like my grandma and mom make it. Instant pot version for those times you have to have a meal ready quickly or you just can’t wait to enjoy this. Truth be told my favorite way of making pozole is stovetop. There’s something about the flavor it brings out and the memories of my mom making her pozole for the family. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with either version but if you have the time, put a little more love into the stovetop version.
Last but definitely not least: toppings. These absolutely make this dish extra special and delicious. The toppings may vary depending on what part of Mexico your’e in or are from. I grew up adding some shredded lettuce, chopped onion, oregano, lime juice, and sometimes radishes. My grandma often makes a really spicy salsa to go along with it as the pozole is not traditionally spicy. Served with some tostadas or tortilla chips on the side for some crunch and you are good to go!
Pozole Rojo
Ingredients
- 2 lb pork butt, shoulder, or bone-in loin
- 3 pork bones neck bones work great
- 8 cups water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 large onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tbsp salt extra to taste
- 3 cans hominy 15 oz each. Drained and rinsed.
- 6 large dried guajillo peppers stems off, seeds removed
- 2 large dried ancho peppers stems off, seeds removed
Toppings and sides
- shredded lettuce
- chopped onion
- oregano
- sliced or chopped radishes
- lime juice
- tostadas or tortilla chips
Instructions
Stove Top
- Cut pork into cubes, trimming fat as needed.
- Place large pot over medium high heat and add 6 cups of water, pork and bones, hominy, bay leaves, onion, garlic, and salt. Bring this to a boil.
- In a sauce pan add remaining 2 cups of water and bring to boil. Add peppers to saucepan and let them soak while pork cooks.
- Once water in large pot comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium low. Remove onion and garlic.
- In a blender add soaked peppers along with soaking water, onion, garlic, and salt to taste. Blend until smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add sauce to large pot with pork, stir to combine, cover, and let simmer for an hour. Remove bones and bay leaves.
- Serve with shredded lettuce, chopped onion, oregano, radishes, and a squeeze of lime juice along with some tostadas or tortilla chips.
Instant pot
- Cut pork into cubes, trimming fat as needed.
- Place 2 cups of water, onion, garlic, and peppers in a saucepan and bring to boil.
- To the instant pot add remaining 6 cups of water, pork and bones, bay leaves, salt, and hominy.
- Once water from peppers comes to a boil, add all contents of saucepan to blender and blend until smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Add sauce to instant pot and stir.
- Set instant pot to high pressure for 20 minutes.
- Once done, leave to naturally release for 5 minutes then manually release. Remove bones and bay leaves.
- Serve with toppings and sides.
Slow cooker
- Follow same steps as mentioned for instant pot, adding everything to slow cooker instead.
- Slow cook for 8 hours on low heat or 4 hours on high heat. Remove bones and bay leaves.
- Serve with toppings and sides.
This pozole was the centerpiece to the perfect cold & rainy day with my husband yesterday. Just add PJs and a movie and you’re in heaven! Can’t wait to try this one again but this time NOT skip the bones!! Love every last recipe, Jess 🙂
Thanks so much, Grace! You’re too sweet 🙂 So glad you loved it and hope you make it again! <3
This looks wonderful and I have been searching for an authentic pozole recipe. One question I do have. You say you should remove the onion and garlic that was cooking in the large pot. Does that mean the onion and garlic that is cooking with the pork and bones, hominy etc.? Do you put the onion and garlic in the pot without cutting it into pieces. It seems that you use that cooked onion and garlic to blend with the soaked peppers. Just to make sure I have that right! Thanks for the great recipes and Merry Christmas!
Hi Gail! Sorry for the confusion. Yes, you will use that onion and garlic to make the sauce and you don’t need to chop them up or anything. Hope that helps! Excited for you to give it a try.