This Pozole Verde recipe is my version of our favorite healthy and hearty Mexican stew, filled with bold flavors and green chile, chicken, and hominy.
Don’t miss my favorite Mexican-inspired recipes like Tacos Al Pastor, Tamale Pie, Chilaquiles, or Chicken Taquitos!
My Pozole Verde obsession is decades strong.
My Pozole Verde obsession is decades strong.I first learned to make pozole verde (and pozole rojo) many years ago, while living in Puebla, Mexico. It’s basically pure comfort, in a bowl. Like so many of my Mexican food favorites, it’s bursting with amazing flavor, but it’s healthy and filling, too. You can customize and add whatever toppings you love.
How to make Pozole Verde:
Cook Chicken: Place chicken in a large stock pot with broth, bay leaves, onion, garlic, salt and pepper and simmer for 30 minutes, until cooked through. Shred chicken then discard skin, bones, onion, garlic, and bay leaves.
Make Sauce: Slice peppers in half then remove steam, veins, and seeds. Broil peppers for 7-10 minutes until skin is charred, then steam and peel. Blend peppers, cilantro, and tomatillos. Add garlic, onion, and ½ cup broth. Blend until smooth.
Finish and Serve: Pour blended sauce in the broth. Add hominy, chicken, oregano, cumin, salt, and pepper. Serve in bowls topped with cabbage, radishes, avocado, sour cream, tortilla strips, and a lime wedge.
Recipe Variations:
- Vegetarian Pozole Verde: Omit chicken and substitute vegetable broth. You may want to add a spoonful of better than bullion vegetable base, for a boost of flavor. Add beans (pinto would taste great) and extra veggies, if desired, like sautéed zucchini, diced potatoes, carrots.
- Instant Pot Pozole: Add chicken, broth, onion, garlic, bay leaf, and salt to the instant pot then pressure cook for 10 minutes (or 15 minutes for frozen thighs). Meanwhile, prepare the green chile sauce according to instructions. Once timer is up on the instant pot, allow pressure to release for 10 minutes before removing the lid, and removing onion and bay leaves from the broth. Shred the chicken and discard bones. Add chile sauce, remaining seasonings and hominy. Pressure cook for 2 more minutes.
- Slow Cooker Pozole: Cook broth in slow cooker on low for 6-7 hours. Discard onion and bay leaf then remove chicken to a plate to shred. Make and add green chile sauce, chicken, hominy and remaining ingredients then cook on low for 1-2 more hours.
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: Store soup for 3-4 days in the fridge. Rewarm on the stove.
To Freeze: Freeze for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe container. Thaw overnight in the fridge and rewarm on the stove or in the slow cooker.
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Recipe
Pozole Verde
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 6-8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs*
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 onion , quartered
- 5 cloves garlic , whole, peeled
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 poblano peppers
- 2 serrano peppers
- 1-2 fresh jalapeño peppers , (optional, for extra heat)
- 1 pound tomatillos , husked and halved
- 3 cloves garlic
- ½ of an onion , chopped
- ½ cup fresh cilantro
- 30 oz can hominy , drained
- 1-2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Toppings:
- 1 heaping cup thinly shredded cabbage
- 1/2 cup white onion , diced
- 4 radishes , thinly sliced
- 1 large avocado peeled, seed removed, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- tortilla chips
- 1 Lime cut into wedges
Instructions
- Cook chicken: Add chicken to a large stock pot and cover with broth. Add bay leaves, quartered onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook partially covered until chicken is cooked through, about 30 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to discard onion, garlic and bay leaves, leaving the broth in the pot.
- Transfer chicken to a plate. Shred the chicken meat, removing and discarding the skin and bones.
- Roast Peppers: Lightly spray a jelly roll pan with cooking oil. Wash all of the peppers and cut them in half from stem to end. Remove steam, veins and seeds. (Leave some of the veins and seeds if you want the soup spicier). Place the peppers on a baking sheet cut side down. Broil for about 7-10 minutes or until the skin is charred. Immediately place peppers in a plastic bag and tie the bag. Allow them to steam for 5-10 minutes, and then peel off their outer layer of skin (It should come off easily).
- Blend: Add the peppers, cilantro and tomatillos to the blender. Add 3 fresh garlic cloves and ½ cup chopped onion. Ladle in about ½ cup of the broth from the chicken and blend until smooth. Add blended sauce to the pot with the broth.
- Add hominy, cooked chicken, oregano, cumin, and season with additional salt and pepper, to taste. Cook for 5-10 more minutes.
- Serve: ladle soup into bowls and top with a handful of thinly shredded cabbage, radishes, a lime wedge, avocado, sour cream, and tortilla strips or crushed tortilla chips.
Notes
Nutrition
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I originally shared this recipe April 2021. Updated May 2024.
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Delicious! I made this for dinner tonight, I used 2 poblano, 1 serrano, and 1 jalapeno because I do not like super spicy.
I’ve made this recipe, exactly as directed, twice now. It’s become my go-to pozole verde recipe. It is SO GOOD! Nothing more delicious and comforting than a beautiful bowl of pozole on a Sunday morning such as this. Thanks for sharing!
The pozole was fantastic! I think it tasted pretty authentic too. One note- when broiling the peppers, I noticed that they were blackened at different rates. I had to pull the smaller (serranos) first and leave the poblanos longer. I also used a paper bag instead of plastic to steam. I left about 60% of the seeds and it was SPICY, but we like that 🙂
My husband lived in Mexico for several years and always talks about “pozole verde.” I surprised him by making this for him when I found it on your blog. He was thrilled and convinced that I bought it from a restaurant. It was so easy, and I have to admit, was so so good. Will definitely be making it more, especially as we get into the fall/winter months.
This soup is amazing! We are three weeks into using Lauren to meal plan and are always amazed. This soup was so fresh and I’m sending it to everyone I know.
That soup it’s wonderful, love it!
o…this has been a go-to fall/winter recipe for me for many years for pot-lucks, book club and in-home company. I usually use Costco rotisserie chicken rather than cooking it from scratch. This time, when the mood struck, I tweaked the recipe a little: roasted the veggies lightly, toasted the hominy, made cilantro/broth sauce separately and added at the end to add color. Also added a bit of shredded fennel to the mix just to use it up. Well, the broth is beyond heavenly but I ruined it by using defrosted frozen chicken that tastes like freezer burn. Dammit~ all in all, this is a great recipe that doesn’t require roasting and skinning the peppers (what a waste of time)…Five stars from me…