Pozole Verde Recipe
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This Pozole Verde Recipe is a delicious soup with slow-cooked pork, tomatillos, green chilis, hominy, and fresh corn. Pozole has become one of our family’s favorite soups, and once you try it I think it will for you as well.
We are a soup family and make and eat it at least 2 times a week during the cooler months. If you or your family are similar, you must try my chicken pozole or this comforting lentil soup.
Pozole Verde
Pozole verde is a classic Mexican thick broth-based soup consisting of onions, hominy, and often pork as the protein. It originated along Mexico’s Pacific coast region in a state called Jalisco. There are some variations with meat, such as a beef shoulder or shank being used in addition to chicken. Different broth types of pozole soup also exist, from verde to rojo or plain or stock flavored.
This is a very simple soup and can take as little as 30 minutes to put together and as much as 3 hours. I like to take my time prepping everything, searing up the meat properly as well as roasting it correctly. Just like any soup, it always tastes better the next day after it has time for all of the flavors to infuse.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Tomatillos – You will need fresh tomatillos. Since we are making pozole verde, these are necessary. You can use canned if that is all you can find.
- Peppers – I used fresh serrano peppers. You can also use jalapeños or any spicy green chili that you desire.
- Pepitas – These are shelled pumpkin seeds and are used in the soup as well as a garnish. You can substitute with sesame seeds, walnuts, pistachios, or quinoa.
- Spices – I used ground cumin in this dish.
- Herbs – I used a combination of fresh cilantro and dry oregano. These are staples in this dish.
- Sugar – Plain granulated sugar is all that is needed.
- Lemons – Fresh lemon juice will add a hint of clean acid to balance out the spice in the soup. You could also use lime juice.
- Pork — I used pork shoulder in this pozole, but you could also use pork chops or steaks. You will need some fat on the pork, so using a lean cut is not advised.
- Onions – You can use a red, yellow, white, or sweet onion. In addition, you’ll also need some garlic cloves.
- Stock — Chicken Stock is best for this recipe. However, you can also use vegetable stock, brodo, or water.
- Oil – Olive or avocado oil works well in this dish. You can, however, use your favorite neutral-flavored oil.
- Corn – Fresh corn off the cob is used in this soup. You can also use drained canned or thawed from frozen.
- Hominy – You will need drained, rinsed, canned white hominy. Yellow hominy can also be used.
- Garnishes – This is optional, but I like to garnish pozole with radishes, avocado, lime slices, and pepitas.
How to Make Pozole Verde
Roast the serrano peppers and tomatillos.
Puree the peppers and tomatillos with the herbs and spices in a blender.
Brown a pork shoulder in a large pot. If the pork shoulder is too big, cut it in half and do it in batches. The pork will shrink as it roasts. Set it to the side on a plate, once browned.
Saute onions and garlic until browned in the pork’s rendered fat. Pour the pureed serrano and tomatillo mixture into the pot with the stock and seared pork, and simmer over low heat.
Shred the pork, add it back to the pot, and finish the soup with hominy, freshly cooked corn, salt, and pepper.
Serve the Pozole Soup with optional garnishes.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make this up to 3 days ahead for freshness.
How to Store: Pozole soup will refrigerate well, with all the toppings separate and covered for up to 5 days. Likewise, it freezes well, with all the toppings separate and covered for up to 3 months.
How to Reheat: To reheat it, simply place the desired amount back into a saucepot and cook over low heat until warm.
chef notes + tips
- Pozole and posole are the same thing.
- You can substitute the pork for chicken as well.
- Hominy is simply dried corn or maize, reconstituted in a diluted lye solution, a.k.a lime juice.
- I also love eating this soup with corn tortilla chips.
More Soup Recipes
- Chicken Dumpling Soup
- Ribollita Soup Recipe
- Classic French Onion Soup Recipe
- Zuppa Toscana
- Pork Confit and Split Peas Soup Recipe
Pozole Verde Recipe
Ingredients
For the Posole:
- 8 tomatillos, , husk removed
- 2 seeded serrano peppers
- 4 ears fresh corn on the cob, , unhusked
- ¼ cup pepitas
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons dry oregano
- Juice of 2 lemons, , about 3-4 tablespoons
- 20 to 25 fresh cilantro leaves with stems
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2- pound pork shoulder roast
- 2 small diced medium sized yellow onions
- 4 finely minced cloves of garlic
- 64 ounces of chicken stock
- 2 25-ounce cans of strained and rinsed white hominy
- coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
For the Optional Garnishes:
- Sliced radishes for garnish
- Diced avocado for garnish
- Lemon or lime slices for garnish
- Fresh oregano leaves for garnish
- Pepitas for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°.
- Add the tomatillos and seeded serrano peppers to a sheet tray lined with parchment paper and 4 ears of corn on the cob.
- Roast the vegetables on a middle rack in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until they are browned.
- Next, add the serrano peppers to a blender with the tomatillos, pepitas, cumin, sugar, dry oregano, lime juice, and cilantro leaves, and puree on high until smooth and set aside.
- Shuck the cooked corn and slice the corn off the cob. Set it to the side. Note: Wait a few minutes to shuck as it will be hot.
- Season the pork on all sides with salt and pepper.
- Add the olive oil to a large Dutch oven pot over medium-high heat until it smokes lightly.
- Place the pork in the pot, turn the heat down to medium, and sear on all sides until it is golden brown, which takes about 3 to 4 minutes per side.
- Set the pork to the side on a plate once browned.
- Add the onions to the pot, season gently with salt, and saute for 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Then turn the heat down to low-medium and cook for an additional 10 minutes stirring occasionally until caramelized.
- Stir in the garlic and cook just until it is fragrant, which takes 30 to 45 seconds. Then, add the seared pork, verde sauce, chicken stock salt, and pepper and cook covered over low heat for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the pork shreds apart easily.
- Remove the pork and shred it with two forks. Add it back to the pot.
- Finish the soup by adding in the hominy and cooked corn. Adjust any seasonings with salt and pepper.
- Add optional garnishes: radishes, avocado, lime slices, fresh oregano leaves, and pepitas.
Second time making this. Used frozen corn because I had some on hand. Would probably be better with roasted corn, but man this is delicious! If you love salsa verde you must make this!
Thank you for giving it a shot!
Now you are in my neck of the woods Chef. I make this a lot in the cold months of the year. My Mother being a Mexican Woman I learned all of the Mexican cooking growing up. This sounds about perfect to me. I love the spicy aspect of this delicious soup. I put peppers in everything myself. Thank you for a great recipe here. This is so delicious.
A family favorite it’s absolutely delicious starting from my four-year-old to my teenager and my husband. We love the soup!!!