Mexican Chicken Pozole Verde Recipe

In my opinion, you can never have too many recipes for soups and stews. One of my favorites on my current menu rotation is pozole verde. This Mexican chicken soup hits all the right notes and is ready in just over an hour.

Get ready to fall in love with my pozole verde de pollo recipe, which you can make with chicken or without (for a vegetarian version).

What Is Pozole Verde?

Have you heard of pozole verde before? It’s not as common at Mexican restaurants as, say, tacos. But it’s become a new favorite at my house.

Pozole likely originated in the Mexican state of Guerrero, though it’s eaten throughout the country. You’ll often find it at large family gatherings, since you can make a big ole pot of it and serve a lot of people. It’s pronounced “po-sol-e,” and the name gives you a clue as to what the dish is — pozole is the Aztec word for hominy.

While there are many variations of pozole, the one thing that never changes is that hominy is a main ingredient. If you’ve never eaten or cooked with hominy before, you’re in for a treat. Hominy is essentially whole corn kernels that have been soaked in an alkaline solution to get rid of the hull and sometimes the germ.

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The soaking process causes hominy to swell in size — it’s much larger than a normal corn kernel — and really dials up the flavor. Rather than detract from hominy’s nutritional value, nixtamalization, as the soaking process is called, actually improves hominy’s nutritional value by making it easier for the body to absorb the vitamins.

Once the hominy’s soaked, it can be ground up, either to make grits or masa for tortillas. It can also be dried, similar to beans, or cooked and canned. If you purchase dried hominy, you can prepare it the same way you would dried beans.

Hominy really makes pozole, but the color of the stew changes depending on what ingredients are in it. Most contain pork along with the hominy, but some use chicken. I don’t recommend pork, so if you’re eating meat, go with chicken for this dish. In a vegetarian pozole verde, beans are substituted for the meat.

Pozole verde, or “green hominy,” gets its hue from the tomatillos, jalapeños and spinach we’ll add in, but there are also red and white variations of the stew. Pozole blanco eliminates red and green salsas and chilies, while pozole rojo uses strong red ones.

Traditional toppings included hot sauce, cilantro, avocado, sour cream, corn chips and, of course, a squeeze of fresh lime over it all. It’s basically a taco bowl in the form of a stew!

How to Make Pozole Verde

So let’s talk about this particular Mexican chicken pozole verde recipe. To make things quicker, I’ve opted for a 25-ounce can of hominy to make this an easy weeknight recipe, but if preparing dried hominy tickles your fancy, you can do that. Shredded chicken or fava beans can take the place of the pork traditionally used in pozole verde.

First, make up the chicken, if you’re having meat. Open up the can of hominy, rinse well in a colander and add to a large pot (big enough to hold a whole chicken).

Take a whole chicken and cut into four parts: two leg/thigh portion and two bone-in breasts. Add the pieces to the pot.

(No meat? Use one cup of fava beans with the shredded cabbage and spinach later in the recipe.)

Cover the chicken with water and stir, making sure all the chicken is fully submerged. Bring it to boil. Lower to medium-low temperature and cook for one hour.

After the hour, turn off the stovetop and remove the chicken from the soup mixture and let it cool in a dish.

Meanwhile, chop all of the veggies. Place avocado oil in a sauté pot along with the garlic, tomatillos, jalapeño, cumin, salt and pepper.

Sauté for around 10 minutes. Add the veggies into a food processor/blender and process until smooth.

Add the spinach and sliced cabbage to the hominy soup, and turn the burner back on to low.

Simmer these veggies for around 15 minutes.

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Shred the chicken and add to the large pot, along with the mixture from the food processor. Stir well and re-heat until ready to serve.

Serve the vegetarian or chicken poloze verde warm with your choice of garnishes, such as sliced radishes and/or avocado, fresh lime wedges, pumpkin seeds and fresh cilantro. You may also choose to add shredded goat cheddar cheese.

Other Healthy Mexican Dishes

• Huevos rancheros
• Chicken enchiladas
• Calabacitas
• Carne asada tacos
• Pico de gallo or salsa fresca
• Chicken fajitas
• Steak fajitas

Other Great Chicken Dishes from Different Cultures

• Chicken paillard
• Hungarian chicken paprikash
• Greek chicken souvlaki
• Thai chicken stir fry
• Sweet and sour chicken
• Mediterranean chicken
• Easy pesto chicken
• Chicken Bryan
• Chicken marsala
• Chicken cacciatore
• Chicken gumbo
• Cajun blackened chicken
• Chicken katsu

Pozole Verde Recipe

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• Author: Dr. Josh Axe
• Total Time: 0 hours
• Yield: 8 1x
• Diet: Gluten Free

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Description

This Mexican stew with chicken or fava beans hits all the right notes and will wow your guests or family. Get ready to fall in love with this pozole verde recipe.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 25-ounce can of hominy
• whole chicken, cut in four parts (use 1 cup fava beans if vegetarian)
• 1 tablespoon avocado oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ onion, sliced
• 5 tomatillos, chopped
• 2 poblano peppers, sliced and deseeded
• 1 jalapeño, sliced and deseeded
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups red cabbage, shredded
• 3 cups spinach
• optional garnishes: shredded goat cheddar cheese, sliced radishes and/or avocado, chopped onions, fresh lime wedges, pumpkin seeds and fresh cilantro

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Instructions

1. Open up the can of hominy, rinse well in a colander and add to a large pot (big enough to hold a whole chicken).
2. Take a whole chicken and cut into four parts: two leg/thigh portion and two bone-in breasts. Add the pieces to the pot. (No meat? Use one cup of fava beans with the shredded cabbage and spinach later in the recipe.)
3. Cover the chicken with water and stir, making sure all the chicken is fully submerged. Bring it to boil. Lower to medium-low temperature and cook for one hour.
4. After the hour, turn off the stovetop and remove the chicken from the soup mixture and let it cool in a dish.
5. Chop all of the veggies. Place avocado oil in a sauté pan along with the garlic, onion, tomatillos, poblano and jalapeño peppers, cumin, salt and pepper. Sauté for around 10 minutes.
6. Add the veggies into a food processor/blender and process until smooth.
7. Add the spinach and sliced cabbage to the hominy soup, and turn the burner back on to low. Simmer these veggies for around 15 minutes.
8. Shred the chicken and add to the large pot, along with the mixture from the food processor. Stir well and re-heat until ready to serve.
9. Serve the vegetarian or chicken poloze verde warm with your choice of garnishes.

• Prep Time: 20 min
• Cook Time: 1 hr 20 min
• Category: Main Dishes
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: Mexican

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 281g
• Calories: 239
• Sugar: 4g
• Sodium: 558mg
• Fat: 6.3g
• Saturated Fat: 1.2g
• Unsaturated Fat: 4.1g
• Trans Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 18.1g
• Fiber: 3.7g
• Protein: 26.9g
• Cholesterol: 78mg