First published December 28, 2015. Last updated April 16, 2035 for editorial improvements.
Table of Contents
Chicken pozole verde is spicy, brothy comfort loaded with fall-apart chicken, chewy hominy, and bold Southwestern flavor. Just toss everything in the slow cooker and let it simmer while you handle life like a boss. It freezes like a dream, tastes even better the next day, and makes cold, rainy nights (or crummy colds) a whole lot more bearable.
🧾 Ingredients
Optional Garnishes
Once the pozole is finished you serve it up in bowls and float your favorite garnishes on top. Here are the ones I like best -
Cojita is a crumbly Mexican cheese that's very similar in taste and texture to feta. It's easy to find here in Texas but if you have trouble getting it where you are just substitute feta.
It adds a salty bite to the recipe that really gives it a boost of flavor.
🔪 Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients except the garnish to your
slow cooker . - Cook on low for 8 hours.
- Shred chicken with 2 forks before serving.
- Garnish with toppings of choice, squeezing a little lime juice into each bowl.
📖 Recipe
Green Chicken Pozole (Pozole Verde)
Print Pin Recipe Save Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1 cup onion, diced. Use more if desired.
- 1 poblano pepper, cored and diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, sliced thinly in rounds or diced (be sure to remove seeds)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 12 ounces green chiles, (canned) diced
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 28 ounces white hominy, drained and rinsed
- 3 boneless chicken breasts, or thighs
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- kosher salt to taste
Optional Garnish
- avocado, diced
- lime wedges
- cilantro, chopped
- cotija cheese, crumbled. Feta can be substituted.
- cabbage, shredded
- radishes, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients except the garnish to your slow cooker.
- Cook on low for 8 hours.
- Shred the chicken with 2 forks before serving.
- Garnish with toppings of choice, squeezing a little lime juice into each bowl.
Stovetop Instructions
- Season chicken with salt and pepper.
- Heat a little oil in a heavy skillet until rippling.
- Brown chicken on both sides.
- Turn heat down and cook until cooked through (165F)
- Add pozole ingredients to a stockpot.
- Bring to a simmer.
- Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Dice or shred the cooked chicken and add it to the pot.
- Simmer 10 more minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
- Serve with garnishes as above.
Notes
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
💭 Tips
Expert Tip: If you want to keep the spicy level down on this classic Mexican soup then be sure to seed and remove membranes before adding them to the soup. ALWAYS wear gloves when working with hot peppers!
- If you like cilantro be generous with it.
- This is even better the next day.
- If you don't care for shredded chicken you can dice it instead.
- In a hurry? Make it on top of the stove with a rotisserie chicken.
This is seriously such a simple meal that you'll be making it all winter long! This green chicken pozole recipe is light and fresh plus it's even better the second day!
📖 Variations
You can add other green vegetables as you wish - think cabbage, spinach, zucchini, celery, whole corn kernels, etc.
- Poblano peppers are mild in heat but so delicious! You can substitute Bell peppers if you can't find poblanos.
- Chicken breast is what I use but you can use boneless thighs if you like.
- Boneless pork works really well here
- Chicken stock or chicken broth work equally well.
- For even more flavor you can use bone-in chicken and then remove the bones and any skin before serving.
- One or two extra garlic cloves adds even more flavor.
👩🍳 FAQs
Here are the questions I am most frequently asked about this recipe.
There are two kinds of pozole. Red pozole (or pozole rojo) is usually made with ground chiles and pork. Pozole verde is most often made with chicken and a clear broth.
Hominy is dried corn that's been soaked in lime. It puffs up and gets soft and chewy. You can usually find canned hominy in the grocery store. Be sure to rinse it well before using.
Nothing. Without hominy pozole is just chicken soup.
📚 Related recipes
Want something a little lighter? Try this 0-PointWeight Watchers Cabbage Soup- it's filling and hearty!
🍽️ Serve with...
I like to keep it simple.
This is an easy soup -- it's so flavorful that it's a shame to add too many other flavors. Here are some of my favorite dishes to serve with chicken pozole verde.
- Warm flour tortillas and butter.
- I also like the crunch of tortilla chips with this.
- Sopapillas are good anytime. When I was in Santa Fe they served them like bread -without sugar.
- A salad on the side is always welcome.
- Finish dinner and relax into the evening with mugs of spiked Mexican hot chocolate.
Posole is all about fresh ingredients. It's full of color and great flavor - unbelievably delicious!
It's the perfect change from classic chicken soup, and, although it's a delicious, comforting winter recipe, I love it in spring, too. With all the vegetables and hearty hominy it really is a complete meal.
Helen Blanchard says
Oh my gosh! I love Pazole. I eat it all the time from a can. But it’s $6.99 at most stores that carry it. So I’ve been looking for a good recipe to make for myself. I love the Pazole Rojo also. Sometime if you can I’d love the recipe for it too. Thanks so much. Your recipes are amazing.
Marye says
Thank you, Helen! My friend Deb at Bowl Me Over has a great recipe for Posole Roja - https://bowl-me-over.com/authentic-posole/