Pozole Verde
Dec 02, 2025 04:11 AM
This pozole verde is a comforting, hearty Mexican stew combining hominy, chicken and a tomatillo-chili broth. It's packed with flavor, with a mild spice and perfect for making ahead and enjoying when suits.
Growing up I never came across tomatillos. But that's changed when I first visited Mexico and enjoyed salsa verde and I was instantly hooked. I hunted down some ready-made sauce when I got home to at least enjoy the flavor now and then. But it took moving to the other state until I found tomatillos themselves.
Now I love making my own salsa verde now and then to go with carnitas tacos or in chilaquiles verdes. And now that I've managed to find prepared hominy as well, this tasty soup/stew is another one to enjoy particularly in the cooler months.
Pozole gets it's name from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, and the dish dates back to pre-Columbian times. The Nahuatl name "pozolli" means "foamy" or "frothy" which likely refers to the process of making hominy, a core part of the dish.
Hominy is dried corn that is treated with an alkaline solution to make it easier to grind into masa harina for things like tamales, corn tortillas and the drink atole. You can also use the whole kernels in dishes like pozole.
Since corn was considered sacred by the Aztecs and Mayans, it was originally a dish for special occasions, and still often is such as on New Year's Eve or Mexican Independence Day. But it's also enjoyed as an everyday dish, too.
Ingredients:
To cook chicken and make stock
- 1 lb bone in chicken thighs (also skin on)
- ½ lb chicken breast
- ⅛ onion approximately, as whole chunk
- 1 clove garlic peeled but left whole
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups water
For salsa verde
- ¼ onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 8 oz tomatillos
- 1 jalapeno pepper or more, to taste
- 5 stems cilantro coriander, or a little more to taste
For rest of dish
- 15 oz precooked hominy 15oz is 1 can
Prep Time:
10 minutes
Cook Time:
50 minutes
Total Time:
60 minutes
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