Pozole Rojo is a delicious and smoky Mexican stew made with an aromatic broth of dried chiles, onions and oregano and full of pork and hominy.
I can see my Mexican friends yelling at me. "But there's no cabbage!", "Where's the cabbage?" Yes. I am fully aware that I missed the most important garnish to this rustic soup, but I still hope I made all my Latin friends proud by making their classic and so delicious Pozole Rojo.
For months my mouth would water as I listened my Mexican friends brag and show off photos of this "amazing" pozole made by their mom, aunt, cousin, sister or family friend and no one would give away the recipe. They would bloat and show off how comforting and time consuming this soup was and then here's this white girl begging to find out what the flavors of this masterpiece was made up of.
Pozole rojo is a deliciously hearty Mexican stew with hominy and either pork or chicken. The deep red broth is made with dried chile's and aromatics such as onion, garlic and fresh oregano. I used both guajillo and ancho chile's which gave it a rich deep smokey flavor. My tip: take out ALL the seeds and stems from the chile's. The peppers still have a nice smokey kick to it with a little heat, but by removing the seeds, you won't be running to the fire extinguisher and will still have all the flavor.
Also, I should note that this is a somewhat time consuming soup, easy, but takes time. You first have to make the pork or chicken broth and allow your meet to cook and broth to come together for at least 3 hours. Then you add in all the rest of the ingredients and allow it to simmer for another 30 minutes (at least). It's a tad time consuming but so so worth it. And like any labor intensive meal, it tastes even better the next day. And the next.
Method:
1) In a large soup pot, add pork, 1 onion cut in quarters, 1 garlic bulb cut in half, 3 bay leaves, salt and pepper. Cover everything with water and allow to simmer for 2 hours. As water begins to evaporate, add hot water to keep the broth at the same amount.
2) While stock is cooking, make the chile sauce. Cut open your dried chile's and remove all the seeds and stems. Soak the chiles in water for at least 30 minutes to soften.
3) When chiles are soft, add them to your blender (or food processor) as well as 1 onion (roughly chopped), 6 garlic cloves, few sprigs of fresh oregano, drizzle of olive oil and about ½ cup of the chile water (from soaking). You may need more depending on consistency. Blend everything together until it is all pureed.
4) When stock is done and pork is cooked through, remove pork to cutting board and shred or cut into bite size pieces. Discard stocks onion, garlic and bay. Then add the pureed chile sauce to pork stock and store through. Add hominy and cubed pork. Taste for seasoning.
5) Bring soup to a gentle simmer and allow to continue cooking for an additional 30 minutes.
6) When pozole rojo, ladle soup into bowls and top with garnishes, such as sliced cabbage, sliced radishes, fresh oregano, avocado, like and tortilla chips.
Pozole rojo is a bit time consuming (yes, but so worth it), for a quicker meal with loads of intense Latin flavor, this Mexican noodle soup called sopa de fideos only takes a handful of ingredients and fraction of the time. And if pork isn't your jam, try my vegetarian red pozole loaded with hominy, beans and squash!
And if you're looking for other hearty stews, try my Dominican sancocho recipe!
Pozole Rojo (Mexican Stew with Pork and Hominy)
LittleFerraroKitchen.com
Ingredients
Stock
- 2 lbs pork shoulder or pork butt
- 1 yellow onion cut in quarters
- 1 garlic bulb cut in half
- 3 bay leaves
- Water
Chile Sauce
- 5 dried ancho chiles seeds and stem removed
- 5 dried guajillo chiles seeds and stem removed
- 1 yellow onion roughly chopped
- 6 garlic cloves
- Few sprigs of fresh oregano
- Olive oil for drizzling
- Reserved water from soaked chiles
- 2 19 oz cans hominy drained and rinsed
Pozole Toppings
- Cabbage sliced
- Tortilla chips
- Avocado
- Lime
- Radishes sliced
- Fresh oregano and/or cilantro
- Queso fresco
- Crema
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, add pork, 1 onion cut in quarters, 1 garlic bulb cut in half, 3 bay leaves, salt and pepper. Cover everything with water and allow to simmer for 2 hours. As water begins to evaporate, add hot water to keep the broth at the same amount.
- While stock is cooking, make the chile sauce. Cut open your dried chile's and remove all the seeds and stems. Soak the chiles in water for at least 30 minutes to soften.
- When chiles are soft, add them to your blender (or food processor) as well as 1 onion (roughly chopped), 6 garlic cloves, few sprigs of fresh oregano, drizzle of olive oil and about ½ cup of the chile water (from soaking). You may need more depending on consistency. Blend everything together until it is all pureed.
- When stock is done and pork is cooked through, remove pork to cutting board and shred or cut into bite size pieces. Discard stocks onion, garlic and bay. Then add the pureed chile sauce to pork stock and store through. Add hominy and cubed pork. Taste for seasoning.
- Bring soup to a gentle simmer and allow to continue cooking for an additional 30 minutes.
- When done, ladle soup into bowls and top with garnishes, such as sliced cabbage, sliced radishes, fresh oregano, avocado, like and tortilla chips.
Cheyanna Pavey says
Hello Samantha I been looking for a good pozole recipe and this one seems to be the one to catch my attention I been craving Pozole never made it but my dad use to make it for me and his wasn't spicy and that's how I liked I don't mind some kick but for me spicy isn't my thing so I was curious. Is this spicy? Like what would you say on say on a scale from 1-10 please let me know I really want to try this! Take care
Angie K White says
Just made this and I do have to say, it's really fantastic!! Authentic, seasoned perfectly and very flavorful...thank you for sharing!
Samantha says
Thank you so much Angie!!
Danny says
Just want to say thank you so much for this recipe .. I made it exactly as written, and it was awesome .. Brought me back to when I was younger and my friends family would make this for New Year’s Eve .. Thank you again ?
Samantha says
Makes me so happy!! Thanks for sharing Danny!!
Jessica says
I love pozole and i couldn't remember how my mother n law in Mexico made it exactly. Then i found your recipe and that was it, i knew it was going to be great! The only thing different that i did and that's only cause my mother n law did was add cumin and cloves ooh and i also used chile cascabel instead. I love these peppers and i don't think they're spicy, they just have a lovely taste and flavor to them!!! But I can't Thank You enough for your recipe, it was AMAZING!!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!! LOL.
Samantha says
Jessica, I LOVE that you added cumin and clove!! I'm definitely going to add that next time I make it..which will be soon since I've been craving a good soup!! Yayyy so glad you liked it :))
Danny B says
Great recipe . The taste is very authentic ..
I was looking for a good recipe for pozole and have definitely found it .. Everyone has different ways of garnishing , but the main dish itself is awesome .. Again, thank you for a great recipe 🙂
Teresa says
This looks delish! How much water would estimate you start out with cooking the pork? Thanks so much!
Samantha says
Hi Teresa! I put enough water to it just coveres the pork and aromatics. You can cut up the pork too and not leave it in a huge piece like I did..haha
sabrina says
I just made your recipe!! Very easy!! I added a little cumin to when the meat was cooking.. But it turned out Very delicious!! I usually make pozole verde! This is a keeper! Thank you!!
Samantha says
Thanks Sabrina! I haven't made the green pozole yet but now i can't wait!! Any tips? 🙂
V says
Yeah, we have never used any type cheese. Wanted to note we add diced tomatoes, diced onion, diced radishes, chopped lettuce and lemon for the fixins. I make it just using chili powder and spices, but, your recipe sounds good.
Samantha says
Thanks for the comment!! I think cheese is a nice touch..lol And love the addition of tomatoes and lettuce!!
valentina says
I created this recipe almost to the letter except I did not have ancho chile, just guajillo. I roasted the chicken, too, after deboning it, so that the stock could boil and not make the chicken too overcooked. Thank you so much! This is better tasting than the Rick Bayless pozole he has on his site.
Samantha says
Love the idea of roasting the chicken!!
Kara says
If we use chicken do we still allow it to simmer for two hours to make the stock? Wouldnt chicken take less time than pork? I cant wait to try this!!!!
Samantha says
Hi Kara! So sorry I didn't reply sooner as we're in the process of moving!! I agree with you, the chicken should take less depending if its a a whole chicken or parts. I would boil chicken with other aromatics and then reduce to a simmer until fully cooked through, about 45-1 hour or so? Then remove chicken, shred, make rest of the soup and then add chicken back in! I think it will be delicious!! Also when making the stock, be sure to skim off any "foam" that accumulates from the bones. Have fun!
Liz Rodriguez says
OMG......LOVE THIS RECIPE..........I've always wanted to know how to make Red Pozole. I've tried it from different places both red and green pozole and from two good friends of mine. But there was always flavor missing!! Now I know and I'm glad you shared your recipe. I will definitely make this soon and I'll let you know how it comes out!!
Samantha says
Hi Liz! Please let me know how it comes out 🙂