Pozole Verde

This Pozole Verde is a comforting Mexican soup that is loaded with chicken, hominy, and a broth made from fresh peppers and onions. Serve it up with your favorite toppings for a delicious dinner.

Want more Mexican-inspired soups? Try this Chicken Enchilada Soup or this New Mexican Red Pork Chili.

I grew up in New Mexico, and I could be totally wrong, but I don’t remember ever eating pozole verde. I am much more familiar with it’s red counterpart – Pozole Rojo.

But I was missing out, because this soup is simply divine! You get tons of flavor, and it’s comforting and filling, and even perfect for a weeknight. I especially love that you can go crazy or easy on the toppings to make it your own.

Ingredients

• Chicken Broth: You will cook the chicken in the broth, and it will also be used for the soup. I prefer low sodium chicken broth.
• Chicken: For the most flavor, use bone-in, skin on chicken thighs. You will remove the bones and the skin once the chicken has cooked.
• Onion: You will cook the chicken with half of the onion, but save the second half for the soup.
• Bay Leaves: You can use fresh or dried bay leaves. If using fresh, you will just need one.
• Peppers: You need both poblano peppers and jalapeños for this recipe. I like to remove the seeds from the jalapeños, but you can leave them in if you want to add some heat.
• Tomatillos: Tomatillos are pretty easy to find these days in most grocery stores. You will want to make sure to remove the husk and rinse them completely.
• Garlic: This is for flavor.
• Cilantro: The cilantro adds great flavor and freshness.
• Hominy: You can definitely use dried hominy. And it would probably be even better. But I often take the easy route, and I used canned.
• Oregano: If you have Mexican oregano, it’s even better.
• Toppings: You can keep the toppings simple, or go all out. (I prefer the all out version!) We like shredded cabbage, radishes, avocado, sour cream, diced onion, and lime wedges.

How to Make Pozole Verde

STEP 1: The chicken will take the longest to cook, so you’ll want to start that first. Place the chicken broth in a soup pot or dutch oven and add the chicken, half of the onion (with the root end intact to keep it together), and the bay leaves. Bring it to a simmer, then partially cover the pot and cook until the chicken is cooked through.

STEP 2: While the chicken is simmering, turn the broiler to high. Cut the peppers in half and remove the ribs and seeds, and place the on a baking sheet. Add the tomatillos and the garlic. Roast it all under the broiler until charred.

STEP 3: The peppers will char first, so when then have, remove them to a bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. This will trap the steam, which will loosen the skins.

STEP 4: After the peppers have sat for a bit, the skins should be loose enough to peel off. I don’t worry about getting rid of all of the peels, but I do peel off as much as possible.

STEP 5: Once the chicken is cooked through, remove it and let it cool a bit until you can shred it. Discard the bones and the skins. Remove the onion and the bay leaves from the broth and discard them.

STEP 6: Take the peeled peppers and place then in a blender along with the roasted tomatillos, jalapeños, garlic, cilantro, diced onions, and about a cup of the chicken broth. Puree this mixture until smooth.

STEP 7: Pour this blended mixture into the soup pot.

STEP 8: Add in the chicken, hominy, and oregano. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve topped with your favorite toppings.

Tips and Tricks

You can make this vegetarian, if desired. The original recipe I had published here had mushrooms and no chicken. Simply swap out vegetable broth for the chicken broth, and leave out the chicken.

This Pozole Verde works well as leftovers. Simply store in the refrigerator, and reheat any leftovers on the stove top or in the microwave.

If you are using dried hominy, you’ll want to follow the instructions on the package and cook it before adding it to the soup. This usually involves and overnight soak.

More Soup Recipes

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
Broccoli Cheese Soup
Roasted Red Pepper and Sweet Potato Soup

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Pozole Verde

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Author: Deborah Harroun

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Servings: 0 servings

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Mexican

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This Pozole Verde is a comforting Mexican soup that is loaded with chicken, hominy, and a broth made from fresh peppers and onions. Serve it up with your favorite toppings for a delicious dinner.

Ingredients

• ▢ 6 cups chicken broth
• ▢ 2 lbs. bone-in skin on chicken thighs
• ▢ 1/2 onion
• ▢ 2 bay leaves
• ▢ 2 poblano peppers
• ▢ 2 jalapeño peppers
• ▢ 1 pound tomatillos
• ▢ 4 cloves garlic
• ▢ 1/2 medium onion chopped
• ▢ 1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro
• ▢ 1 (30 oz) can hominy drained
• ▢ 1 tablespoon oregano
• ▢ Salt and pepper to taste
• ▢ Toppings – thinly shredded cabbage, sliced radishes, sliced avocado, sour cream, fresh lime, chopped onion

Instructions

• Place the chicken broth in a soup pot. Add the chicken, onion, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Simmer, partially covered, until the chicken is cooked through and tender, about 30 minutes.
  6 cups chicken broth, 2 lbs. bone-in skin on chicken thighs, 1/2 onion, 2 bay leaves
• Meanwhile, heat the oven to high broil. Cut the poblano peppers and the jalapeño peppers in half and remove the seeds and the ribs. Place skin side up on a baking sheet.
  2 poblano peppers, 2 jalapeño peppers
• Add the tomatillos and the garlic to the baking sheet.
  1 pound tomatillos, 4 cloves garlic
• Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and broil until the skin on the peppers has charred, about 7-10 minutes.
• Remove the poblanos from the tray and transfer the poblano peppers to a bowl and immediately cover it with plastic wrap. Let the peppers sit for about 10 minutes to steam, then remove the skin from the peppers.
• Return the baking sheet with the tomatillos, jalapeños, and garlic to the oven and continue to broil until charred, about 3-5 minutes longer. Remove from the oven.
• Once the chicken is cooked though, remove it from the pot to a cutting board. Remove the onion and bay leaves and discard. Let the chicken cool slightly, then remove the skin and the bones and discard. Shred the meat.
• Combine the poblano peppers along with the roasted jalapeños, tomatillos, and garlic to a blender. Add the chopped onion and cilantro. Add about 1 cup of the cooking liquid to the blender, and blend until smooth. Return the blended sauce to the soup pot.
  1/2 medium onion, 1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro
• Add the shredded chicken back into the soup pot. Stir in the hominy and the oregano. Season with salt and pepper.
  1 (30 oz) can hominy, 1 tablespoon oregano, Salt and pepper
• Let the soup simmer for 5-10 minutes.
• Serve the soup with your choice of toppings.
  Toppings – thinly shredded cabbage, sliced radishes, sliced avocado, sour cream, fresh lime, chopped onion

Recipe Notes:

Nutrition information provided as an estimate only. Various brands and products can change the counts. Any nutritional information should be used as a general guide. Nutrition information doesn’t include any toppings.

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 453kcal (23%), Carbohydrates: 32g (11%), Protein: 45g (90%), Fat: 16g (25%), Saturated Fat: 4g (25%), Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0g, Trans Fat: 0g, Cholesterol: 0mg, Sodium: 1388mg (60%), Potassium: 328mg (9%), Fiber: 7g (29%), Sugar: 8g (9%)

Keywords: pozole verde