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
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 love this recipe! It’s so quick & easy but tastes so complex. It may not be “authentic” but who cares? It’s made in 30 minutes & is super yummy. I freeze cooked chicken or pork & dump it in frozen. It thaws in no time.
This recipe is absolutely delicious! I am so glad I tried it. I’ve been eating Pozolé for years – 50 to be exact – and this is better than some of the little Mexican restaurants in Los Angeles!! Hubby
Loved it!!! Thank you!
This does not taste anything like authentic pozole.
Hi! Can I use ancho chili powder for this? I never do the dried peppers right so I’m excited to find a recipe that just uses powder!
Hi, Suzan! Since chili powder is a spice blend (that contains dried chili, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and other spices) and ancho chili is just a powder of that one specific type of chili, it wouldn’t be a direct 1:1 substitute. Plus, in large quantities, ancho might be a bit too spicy! I would recommend replacing the 2 Tbsp of mild chili powder with 2 tsp ancho chili powder, 2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp garlic powder, and 1 tsp onion powder. (Taste a tiny bit on your finger and then adjust to your flavor preference!) ~ Marion :)
Made this loved it. Thanks for sharing
This posole recipe is so intriguing that Im making the slow cooker pulled pork tomorrow just so I can have leftovers to turn it into this soup! (Well, we also happen to love the pulled pork!)
How can I make this with frozen pork chops?
Yes, but they need to be thawed. And you will need to braise them in the chicken stock until tender and then add the rest of the ingredients. Follow the directions until the addition of the stock, braise, and when tender, pull, and then add the hominy etc. You will also need more stock. XOXO -Monti
Loved this!! I’ve tried so many of BB’s recipes and this was definitely one of my favorites. The flavors remind me of a corn tortilla, I assume because of the hominy, and it was delish!! This is going to be one of my go-to recipes from now on.
I have some beautiful boneless pork chops in the freezer. It would be great if I could use that for the pork in the pozole. If you think it would work, please tell me how to make it happen. Thank you!!
You could just roughly chop the meat instead of shredding it. :)
This was so good! We could have had it all week instead of the couple meals it made. On our favorite list now!
Made this tonight it’s so good. Thank you fir sharing the Recipe.
Thank you for sharing this great recipe. I had my reservations at first because I love authentic pozole and didn’t want to bother making something that might not be as good. But I didn’t have much time due to Mid terms for grocery shopping or cooking, and I had a lot of pulled pork. I was cooking for my dad, boyfriend and myself and I was actually kinda embarrassed to say I was making pozole because this is not that. My dad is Salvadoran and my boyfriend is white so they could care less if it wasn’t authentic. But let me tell you they loved it. It was so flavorful we all got seconds and my boyfriend got thirds lol. I am so impressed with the similarities as far as taste and color of course. So it will satisfy a craving and it’s so easy to make :)
I agree, this is delicious! I like to make recipes as posted and then tweak if I think it needs tweaking. This is perfect the way it is. As for not being authentic, Beth clearly states that it was never intended to be authentic. Besides, I would rather have a delicious dish that’s not authentic, than an authentic dish that’s not delicious!
Well done, one of the best recipes I’ve tried in a while.
Hi I bought a can of hello and a can of white hominy can I use both together ? Reason is o want to add more to this recipe .
Thank you
Yes, that should work fine. :)
I signed up JUST so I could review this wonderful recipe!!! Found it on Pinterest when I was looking for a creative way to use up some leftover roasted pork.
I had some leftover roasted pork i simmered in this sauce. It was so delicious!!! I added twice as much hominy and pork and a bit more cumin, salt and and an extra teaspoon of the Better than Bullion chicken base to intensify the flavor. Toppings were avocado, lime, radishes sliced thinly on a mandolin, cilantro, shredded Napa cabbage and seasoned tortilla strips. (Sold in the salad topping section!) all the toppings take this flavorful soup over the top! Everyone went back for seconds!! Served with warm flour tortillas to dunk in that sauce!! To those who criticized it for not being authentic, maybe not, but the flavor profiles were on point! Absolutely delicious!! Thank you so much for posting this recipe! Now I can’t wait to try your others!