Is it pozole or posole? According to Kirsten Drickey of Abies, “Pozole seems to be the preferred spelling in Mexico proper, while posole shows up more often in borderlands recipes.” Either way, it is one of my favorite things to make and eat as the weather turns colder – regardless of if it is my recipe or someone else’s! For all intents and purposes of this article, I will be using a ‘z’ when talking about pozole.
There are actually three different kinds of pozole! Pozole rojo (red), pozole verde (green), and pozole blanco (white). Traditionally, pozole blanco is made with pork, pozole verde has chicken and tomatillos, and pozole rojo has pork and tomatoes. However, in our home, we do not eat a lot of pork so we experimented with various recipes and blended several of them before coming up with a pozole rojo that we like that can be made with chicken or pork if you want to keep it more traditional.
Krista’s Pozole Rojo with Chicken
Disclaimer: When I originally came across this recipe, it was in LLewellyn’s 2017 Sabbats Almanac: Samhain 2016 to Mabon 2017. Over the years, I have tweaked and modified Linda Raedisch’s recipe and blended it with several others to suit our tastes and to appease the picky eaters in our home. The recipe below is that recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons corn or canola oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 lbs chicken (or boneless pork shoulder), cut into large chunks
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle chili
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups tomato juice
- 1 teaspoon chicken base
- 1 25 oz. can Juanita’s Mexican Style Hominy, drained and rinsed.
- 1-2 4.25 oz. can diced green chilies
Directions
- Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute yellow onion and garlic until very tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add seasonings and chicken and cook until chicken is tender and cooked through; about 6-8 minutes.
- Add water and tomato juice. Bring to a boil, add chicken base, and then turn down to simmer. Tip: If tomato flavor is not robust enough for personal tastes, add more tomato juice as needed.
- Add green chilies one can at a time as not all canned chilies are the same. Add hominy. Let simmer uncovered for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Before serving, garnish each bowl with a lime wedge and any additional toppings you’d like such as cheese, cilantro, radish, avocado, chili flakes, shredded cabbage, or tortillas or tostadas.
All photos used in this article were taken and edited by Krista.