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 a South American stew, try my Argentinian beef stew.
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.
Kimberly Azpeitia says
How many people does this recipe serve? I need to make enough for 40 people so need to double or triple the ingredients? Please let me know...I start making it early Christmas Eve!
Samantha says
Hi Kimberly!! This makes about 8-10 servings..it fit my large 6qt dutch oven. I would suggest to triple it for that many people!! Have fun and please let me know how it comes out 🙂
Eliza says
yea, I made your recipe and I'm so glad I chose this instead of the other one that uses canned enchilada sauce. the only thing I've added was chicken bouillon powder aside from the salt. It was really tasty and a keeper. thank you so much for sharing!
Samantha says
So happy to hear that Eliza!!! I may try the bouillon too!
Jami says
I've made this recipe a couple of times and my family couldn't get enough of it. I think I'll make it again this weekend.
Samantha says
Awesome Jami!!! I havent made it in a little while and now I"m craving pozole! Perfect weather-time food!
Mike Benayoun says
Thanks for the lovely recipe. I recently made red chicken pozole. This was the first time I made pozole. Just published it on our world cuisine blog too.
Although I am generally not a big fan of soup, I have to admit pozole is probably going to change my mind about soups ! I will definitely make this one again as the whole family loved it and it was not too spicy for the children (the chiles I used were on the mild side)
Cheyanna Pavey says
If you don't mind me asking what kind of chiles did you use I want a mild pozole too
Samantha says
Hi Cheyanna! Ok so I'll be honest..I actually love spicy foods..haha This pozole does have a bite to it, but once there's cabbage, queso and crema and even avocado added, it mellows out the spice to me! With that being said though, my few tips to making this pozole a bit less spicy: take out every single seed of the dried chiles. The seeds and ribs of the chile are what give it the hot factor. Ancho chiles are probably the mildest of the dried chiles, so look for those or dried poblano are pretty mild as well. Maybe look at a Latin/Mexican market if you have those by you. When you make the paste and add it to the stock, taste for seaoning and if too hot, add a bit more stock. Good luck and let me know how it comes out!
Jerry says
Thank you Samantha! The posole was a huge hit!! My dad made sure my wife packed him some to go. He must of mentioned it 4 times! Loved it! Thanks again!
Samantha says
Woohooo thanks for letting me know!! Happy New Year!!
Jerry says
Thank you so much for the recipe. I am making this for Christmas. My wife's idea to start a new tradition, and she's Filipino!! Growing up, my mom made her delicious menudo, but she never made posole. She will be present on Christmas Day to taste our family's new tradition!! Thank you!!
Samantha says
Ohhh I LOVE Filipino food!! Please let me know how the pozole comes out! Now I'm craving some! And thank you for your lovely comment 🙂
Cindy says
Great recipe!! Thank You for sharing.
Samantha says
Thank you Cindy!
ellie says
I looked at a lot of recipes for pozole and decided to go with this one. Needed to double it for a party. The results were amazing! Perfectly rich, smoky, meaty. So delicious. I really like the acid a little lime juice adds to it. It was incredibly easy. Like she says, just time consuming. So worth it! 🙂
Samantha says
Hi Ellie! That is fabulous!! So happy it came out well and everyone enjoyed!! I love the smoky flavor the chiles offer! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Karina says
Awesome I found out the recipe lol (:
I'm 18 I'm moved out of home, I'm shy and embarrassed to ask my mom how to make it but reading the ingredients this is pretty much what she uses ! I'm living with my Boyfriend, I Can't wait to show him I CAN cook REAL MEXICAN FOOD ! thank you !!!
Samantha says
Hi Karine! Thank you so much for commenting! I hope you make it and both you and your boyfriend enjoy it :)) Let me know if you have any more questions..now I want pozole!! lol
Rosie says
Only thing missing is the jalapeños for flavor and I've never ate it with crema or fresh cheese
Jennifer says
Thank you so much!! I'm going to make this tomorrow. I searched but love your way of doing it. I'm so curious about that fresh cheese!! Can't wait to taste it 🙂 thanks a million!
Samantha says
Hi Jenifer! How did it turn out??
Vanessa says
ummm...we don't put cheese "queso fresco" or table cream "crema" in pozole???? that's just weird. but good job!! 🙂
Samantha says
Thanks Vanessa! I love learning about other cultures 🙂
Tony says
Actually some of us do use cheese, queso cotija to be precise. It adds a saltiness to the pozole, you can also use pork rinds instead of tortilla chips. Loved the recipe I had never made red pozole, our family specializes in green pozole. You do your thing Samantha, make it your own.
Samantha says
Thanks Tony!! I have not made a green pozole yet as I'm still researching it! Can't wait to try another pozole 🙂
Bob says
Totally, like and tortilla chips!
Then add the pureed chile sauce to pork stock and store through. Store through!
Jaime says
I just wanted to say thank you for the recipe. I made this pozole a couple of days ago and my family loved it!
Samantha says
Thank you so much Jaime!! You made my day and so glad the whole fam liked it!
Aggie says
What a beautiful soup! I've never tried pozole but I would love to!