During my “off” week just after Thanksgiving, I picked up a pork loin and gave it the Chili Rubbed Pork treatment in my slow cooker. It made a TON of pulled pork, so I ended up popping a few portions of it in the freezer, one of which was destined to become this super easy 30 Minute Posole.
What is Posole?
Posole, or pozole, is a rich stew, typically made with slow-cooked pork, hominy, green chiles, and lots of delicious toppings. The “posole” I made is definitely not authentic, it’s more of a quickie stand-in for the good stuff. Kind of like ramen you buy in a 15 cent pack versus real ramen. If you want to make real posole/pozole, here is an authentic Mexian Pozole recipe so you can see what it’s really all about.
Using the leftover pork helped my “quickie posole” come together really fast, so this is a great way to take advantage of those leftovers on busy nights. Pork is the typical meat for posole, but if you have leftover chicken or beef I say why not go ahead and use that. I think it would be equally as delicious!
What is Hominy?
Hominy, one of the key ingredients in posole, are large maize grains that have been treated with lye, which softens their outer husk and gives them a wonderfully chewy texture. You can find hominy both dried and canned, like beans, but this quick 30 minute posole recipe below uses the canned version for convenience.
What to Serve with Posole
I would absolutely love this soup with cornbread on the side, so I could crumble the cornbread into the soup and soak up all that wonderful broth! A scoop of cooked rice would also be a great topper for the soup to round out the meal.
Sauce it Up!
I used my homemade red enchilada sauce as a base for this soup, which helped thicken the broth and provide a TON of instant flavor. I kept the toppings for my posole simple to keep costs low, but if you want to splurge I think this soup would be awesome with a little shredded cheddar, pepper jack, sour cream, or avocado. The creaminess of any of those toppings would be an excellent contrast to the spicy broth. There’s a lot of room for customization with this one, so have fun with it!
Love southwest flavored soups? Try my Chicken and Lime Soup, Slow Cooker Tortilla Soup, or Red Lentil Mexican Stew.
Easy 30 minute Posole
Servings 6 (1.33 cups each)Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.14)
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 2 Tbsp flour ($0.02)
- 2 Tbsp mild chili powder* ($0.30)
- 3 oz. tomato paste ($0.33)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional) ($0.03)
- 3/4 tsp salt ($0.03)
- 2 cups water ( $0.00)
- 3 cups chicken broth** ($0.38)
- 1 4oz. can chopped green chiles ($0.87)
- 1 15oz. can hominy ($1.09)
- 1.5 cups shredded pork, chicken, or beef (pre-cooked) ($2.04)
- 1 fresh lime ($0.33)
- 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro ($0.85)
Instructions
- Finely dice the onion, then add it to a large soup pot along with the cooking oil. Sauté the onion in the oil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, or until it is tender and transparent. Add the flour and chili powder and continue to sauté for two minutes more. The mixture will be fairly dry, so stir continuously to prevent burning.
- Add 2 cups water, tomato paste, cumin, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and salt to the pot. Whisk the ingredients together until the tomato paste is dissolved. Allow the mixture to come to a simmer, at which point it will thicken.
- Finally, add the chicken broth, shredded meat, diced chiles, and hominy (drained). Stir to combine and then heat through (about 10 minutes).
- Cut the lime into wedges and roughly chop the cilantro. Top each bowl with chopped cilantro and a wedge of lime to squeeze over top.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
**I use reconstituted Better Than Bouillon to make my broth.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Posole – Step by Step Photos
Begin by dicing one small yellow onion and adding it to a large soup pot along with 2 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil. Sauté the onion in the oil over medium heat until it is soft and transparent. Although 2 Tbsp oil seems like more than needed sauté one small onion, that amount of oil is needed to make the roux in the next step, which provides the thickening power for the soup.
Once the onion is soft, add 2 Tbsp flour and 2 Tbsp mild chili powder. Continue to sauté this mixture for two minutes to toast the flour and chili powder. It may be slightly dry, so stir continuously to prevent burning.
Whisk in 2 cups water, 3oz. tomato paste (1/2 of a 6oz. can), 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, and 3/4 tsp salt, until the tomato paste has completely dissolved. Allow the mixture to come to a simmer, at which point it will thicken. This is basically my Easy Red Enchilada Sauce (plus an onion).
Drain one 15oz. can of hominy (golden or white, your choice) and add it to the pot.
Also add a 4oz. can of diced green chiles.
And about 1.5 cups of pre-cooked, shredded meat (I used pork, but chicken or beef would also work).
Finally, stir in 3 cups chicken broth and heat through. And that’s about it! Really fast, really delicious 30 Minute Posole!
Toppings are one of the most fun parts of posole, so I chopped up about 1/2 bunch cilantro and cut one fresh lime into wedges. The lime juice adds a really nice tart/fresh flavor to the broth.
Top each bowl of the 30 Minute Posole with the chopped cilantro and a wedge of lime. Other fun toppings include: shredded cheese, avocado, sour cream, thinly sliced radishes, tortilla chips, or fresh salsa.
And I’ll openly admit, this is my first time eating hominy. It’s DELICIOUS! It has that really nice corn flavor, but the big kernels have a an awesomely chewy texture. They are, without a doubt, my favorite part of this stew.
I shopped yesterday for this, and made it today. Loved, loved, loved it. I don’t know what’s in your chili powder, I used a bright red kashmiri ground red pepper called mirch. It’s very mild, Indians use it mainly for color but it has a nice fruity mild red pepper flavor. Left over carnitas already in fridge,. No green chiles in local market, but used Costena brand pickled jalapenos and left out the cayenne. i’m afraid the red pepper may scorch while cooking off the raw flavor of the flour so next time I wll add pepper just before the water. I loved the recipe, and in fact your whole website.
I love your homemade enchilada sauce, so when I started making this and realized that was the base, I was excited. This soup is DELICIOUS, so packed with flavor and yet so quick, and you can top it with so many fun things. Since I didn’t have pork made, I did shredded rotisserie chicken instead and it was great.
You can also add oregano and chopped cabbage for the topping
Looks delicous, definitely going to try this. Another sight is using your recipe and photo, just thought you would want to know.
Yes, unfortunately other sites steal my photos often. Too often to chase after all of them. :(
This recipe was super yummy! I’m vegetarian(ish) so I scrapped the pork and added an extra can of hominy. I also subbed fresh hot peppers for the canned green chiles. The deliciousness to prep time ratio is ideal and it was super simple to make :)
Will definitely be making this dish again!
Hispanic American born and raised in Texas and I’ve been eating Posole my whole life. Posole is not meant to be made quickly and certainly not watered down for white people taste. Save yourself the trouble and make true posole. The real thing is worth the time and effort.
Latina born and raised in Southern Arizona and I’ve been eating posole my whole life, too. The real thing is worth the time and effort, but we don’t always have the time to put in the effort. Esto es bueno cuando no tienes tiempo. Stop complaining.
This is unkind. The recipe title clearly states that this is a “quick” version and is not designed to replace the original cultural dish. It’s an absolutely delicious recipe, but I doubt you’ve tried it.
Delicious recipe! Yes,the traditional is great, but if you tried this one, you’d know it’s just as good and half the time and effort. Great for those of us who work & are short on time. My kiddos loved it & it brought smiles to their faces! At the end of the day, that’s all that matters to me & should to you, too!
Authentic or “watered-down for white people,” this recipe was delicious…and this is coming from someone raised in southern New Mexico. Thanks for sharing this recipe, Beth :)
Lol – because Chinese, Italian, Polish, Greek, Indian, Korean, Thai, etc, etc, etc, – dishes in America are all made exactly like someone’s relative made them in the ‘old country’ too. Lol. Or maybe I misunderstood, and this just isn’t up to a particular way it’s made in a particular part of Texas? Still lol.
If I already have some of your homemade enchilada sauce in the fridge, how much should I use for this recipe?
The enchilada sauce has become a staple in the house, so I have a quart jar in the fridge. I made the pork this weekend, so this recipe would be simple to put together if I know how much sauce to use. Thank you!
I used the equivalent of a full recipe of my enchilada sauce.
This was absolutly delicious! So much flavor and so simple. Made this out of leftover pulled pork butt. Came together quickly. Key is the homemade enchilada sauce. A keeper, thanks!
Trader Joe’s sells a bottled enchilada sauce. How can I use it here? TIA!
Unfortunately I don’t think bottled sauce will work the same here.
How much is one of your cups of pulled pork? I’m trying to buy a pork shoulder to make but I am having difficulty converting from pounds to cups for the recipe!
I used a 2.5-3 lb. boneless pork butt, which made about 3 packed cups of shredded meat.
Omg. This is so good!! It’s my first time to make this and it is so good!!! I added two thirty ounce cans of hominy though. I LOVE hominy. Perfect, simple, tasty!
This recipe looks great. I’m trying it this weekend. It has all the info I like and need.
Can’t Wait to try this posole! However I would like to know where you get your chicken broth for $0.38 for 3 cups. The brand name is well. Mine Cost much more. I usually use Swanson. Thank you for the recipe!
I use Better Than Bouillon, which is a concentrated paste, to make my broth. The stuff is amazing because you can mix up any amount you need, it stays good in the refrigerator for just about forever, the flavor is great, and it’s inexpensive. It also comes in low sodium and organic varieties. :)
I swapped the hominy for corn, still tastes good! So glad lunchtime soup season isn’t over yet, this is being saved for my lunches!
Delish…didn’t change anything