Skip to content 
Pozole is the kind of pot that makes a kitchen feel like a gathering place before anyone even sits down. In my kitchen, pozole verde is what I want when the day calls for something generous, steaming, and full of that unmistakable tomatillo brightness.
This version keeps the soul of the classic Mexican soup recipe, but gives the green sauce a smoky little secret: the tomatillos, jalapeños, onion, and garlic are charred before blending. The result is hearty, tangy, nutty, and deeply comforting, perfect for a weekend meal or a table full of hungry friends.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Smoky Depth: Charring the tomatillos, jalapeños, onion, and garlic under the broiler gives this pozole verde the flavor of a salsa tatemada, smoky at the edges and sweet in the center.
Richer Green Sauce: In my kitchen, that quick blast of heat softens the sharpness of the Tomatillo and brings out savory, lightly caramelized notes you simply do not get from boiling alone.
Restaurant-Style Comfort: The pepitas make the sauce velvety and nutty, while the Hominy turns tender and plump in the broth. It tastes like Traditional Mexican food made with patience and a steady hand.
Built for Sharing: This is a big, generous pot of Green Pozole, the kind you set in the center of the table with lime, radishes, lettuce, chile, and tostadas all around.
Ingredients and Substitutions
These ingredients build flavor in layers: tender hominy, savory chicken broth, a smoky green sauce, and fresh garnishes that wake up every bowl.
Ingredients
For the white pozole:
- 1 pound dried hominy, rinsed
- 1 head garlic
- 2 whole chickens or about 6 pounds, cut up in serving pieces, rinsed
- 1 onion
- A couple fresh cilantro sprigs
- 1 tablespoon kosher or coarse sea salt
For the green pozole sauce:
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted
- 1 pound tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed
- 1 to 2 jalapeños, stemmed
- 1 fresh large leafy stem of epazote or 5 sprigs cilantro
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/3 cup onion, coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
For the garnishes:
- 5 to 6 limes, cut in half
- 10 radishes, rinsed, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 head of romaine lettuce, rinsed, drained and thinly sliced
- 4 tablespoons onion, finely chopped
- 1 Mexican avocado, halved, pitted, meat scooped out
- Piquín chile or a Mexican mix of dried chiles, ground
- Dried oregano, crumbled
- Tostadas or totopos
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
Hominy: Dried hominy gives the broth a fuller corn flavor and a firm, satisfying chew, especially if you can find maíz cacahuacintle. If using canned hominy, you will need approximately three 25-ounce cans, drained and rinsed. You can skip the long hominy cooking step and add the canned hominy to the pot along with the shredded chicken and green sauce in step 5.
Epazote: Epazote has a wild, herbal, almost citrusy-pungent aroma that belongs beautifully in Green Pozole. It is often available at Latin American markets, but if you cannot find it, fresh cilantro is the best substitute, though the finished soup will taste fresher and less earthy.
Pepitas: Pepitas are shelled pumpkin seeds, not the whole white pumpkin seeds still in their hulls. They thicken the salsa verde, give the broth a soft body, and add that quiet nutty richness that makes Guerrero style pozole so satisfying.
Chicken vs. Pork: This is a Chicken Pozole, but Pork Pozole is also classic and delicious. For a pork version, use about 4 to 5 pounds of bone-in pork shoulder, cut into chunks, and simmer until the meat is tender enough to pull apart.
Jalapeño: One jalapeño keeps the heat gentle, while two bring a livelier bite. For extra spice, add a serrano chile to the broiler pan, and for a milder pot, remove the seeds and veins before charring.
How to make pozole verde
Cook the Hominy and Chicken
- Put the rinsed dried hominy in a large stockpot and add enough cold water to cover it by at least 3 inches. Peel away only the loose outer papery layers from the head of garlic, add the whole head to the pot, bring everything to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently, uncovered, for about 3 hours, until the kernels are tender and look puffed open like little blossoms. Do not salt the pot yet, since salt can keep the hominy from softening properly.
- While the hominy cooks, place the chicken pieces in a separate large pot and cover them with water by at least 1 inch. Add the onion, cilantro sprigs, and 1 tablespoon kosher or coarse sea salt, bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered until the chicken is cooked through and tender, about 30 to 40 minutes. Strain and save the broth, then let the chicken cool until you can handle it comfortably, remove the skin and bones, and shred the meat into bite-size pieces.
Char and Blend the Green Sauce
- Turn the broiler to high and arrange the tomatillos, jalapeños, 3 unpeeled garlic cloves, and 1/3 cup onion on a baking sheet. Broil for 5 to 7 minutes, until the tops blister and blacken in patches, then turn the vegetables and broil for another 3 to 5 minutes, until the second side is charred and the kitchen smells smoky, sweet, and a little grassy.
- Add the toasted pumpkin seeds to a blender and pulse until they look finely ground and sandy. Add the charred tomatillos, jalapeños, peeled charred garlic, charred onion, epazote or cilantro, 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt, freshly ground pepper to taste, and 1/2 cup reserved chicken broth, then blend until the sauce is completely smooth and glossy green.
Cook the Sauce and Build the Soup
- Warm the vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat, then carefully pour in the blended sauce, standing back a little because it can sputter. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 to 18 minutes, stirring now and then, until it thickens, darkens to a deeper olive green, and smells roasted and concentrated.
- Once the hominy is tender, drain off any excess water from its pot. Add the reserved chicken broth, shredded chicken, and cooked green sauce to the hominy, stir well, and simmer gently for 30 minutes more so the broth, corn, chicken, and salsa verde become one rich, comforting soup. Taste at the end and adjust with salt and freshly ground pepper as needed.
Serve with All the Bright Crunchy Things
Ladle the hot pozole into deep bowls and let everyone dress their own. A squeeze of fresh lime is essential, and the radishes, romaine, onion, avocado, piquín chile, oregano, tostadas, or totopos bring crunch, heat, creaminess, and that final sparkle.
Secrets for the Best Pozole Verde
Do Not Salt the Hominy Early: Salt can firm up the outer layer of the corn, making dried hominy stubborn instead of tender. Let it bloom first, then season the soup after the grains have opened and softened.
Cook the Sauce Down: The green sauce needs to become thick, dark, and concentrated before it joins the big pot. If it stays thin, the entire pozole can taste watery instead of bold.
Control the Spice: For a milder pozole verde, remove the seeds and veins from the jalapeños before they go under the broiler. For more heat, leave the seeds in or add a serrano chile to the roasting pan.
Scale It for Your Table: This recipe makes a generous 12 to 15 servings, which is just right for a party or Sunday family meal. For a smaller batch of about 6 to 8 servings, cut all ingredient quantities in half and keep the same visual cues as you cook.
Pozole Explained: Verde, Rojo, and Blanco
All pozole starts with the same beloved foundation: hominy simmered until tender in a savory broth with meat or, in modern versions, hearty vegetables. That corn is the heart of the bowl, giving pozole its chew, aroma, and sense of occasion.
Pozole Verde gets its color from green ingredients like tomatillos, cilantro, jalapeños, epazote, and often pepitas. This style is famously tied to Guerrero style pozole, where the broth can be layered, festive, and full of fresh garnishes.
Pozole Rojo takes its deep red color from dried chiles, usually guajillo, ancho, or a blend, softened and pureed with garlic and onion. It tastes earthier and warmer than verde, with a rounded chile flavor rather than a bright tomatillo tang.
Pozole Blanco is the simplest of the three, with hominy and meat in a clear broth and no blended chile or tomatillo sauce. The garnishes do the decorating, adding color, crunch, lime, oregano, and chile at the table.
That idea of a brothy meal becoming personal at the table is one reason soup travels so beautifully across cultures. Pozole has its own Mexican soul, of course, but if you love comforting bowls built around texture and broth, a fragrant rice noodle soup shows how another culinary tradition uses toppings and hot broth to create the same kind of warmth.
Time-Saving Pozole: Instant Pot & Slow Cooker Instructions
Instant Pot Pozole Verde
For Instant Pot pozole, canned hominy is the most practical shortcut because dried hominy needs a long, steady cook to bloom properly. Use drained and rinsed canned hominy, then focus your pressure cooker time on building a flavorful chicken broth.
- Add the chicken, onion, cilantro sprigs, salt, and enough water or broth to cover by about 1 inch to the Instant Pot. Pressure cook until the chicken is tender, then release pressure according to your machine’s instructions and shred the meat once it is cool enough to handle.
- While the chicken cooks, char the tomatillos, jalapeños, garlic, and onion under the broiler exactly as described in the stovetop method, then blend with toasted pepitas, epazote or cilantro, seasoning, and a little reserved broth.
- Use the Sauté function to cook the blended green sauce for 15 to 18 minutes, until thick and darker green. Stir in the canned hominy, shredded chicken, and broth, then simmer on Sauté for 15 to 20 minutes so the flavors come together.
Slow Cooker Pozole Verde
The slow cooker is wonderful when you want the house to smell cozy without standing at the stove. Again, canned hominy is the easiest choice for this method because it can warm and absorb flavor without needing hours to soften from dry.
- Add the chicken, onion, cilantro sprigs, salt, broth or water, and drained canned hominy to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 3 to 4 hours, until the chicken is tender enough to shred easily.
- About 30 minutes before serving, broil the tomatillos, jalapeños, garlic, and onion until charred in spots. Blend them with the toasted pepitas, epazote or cilantro, seasoning, and a little hot broth, then simmer the sauce separately for 15 to 18 minutes until concentrated.
- Shred the chicken, stir the cooked green sauce back into the slow cooker, and let everything mingle for the final 30 minutes. The broth should taste bright, smoky, savory, and fully seasoned before it hits the bowls.
Pro Tips & Troubleshooting
Pro Tips
- Make it ahead: Pozole verde tastes even better the next day because the hominy, chicken, and roasted tomatillo sauce have time to settle into each other. That same next-day magic is why a cozy pot of Poor Man’s Stew is another smart meal-prep comfort dish when you want dinner to improve as it rests.
- Toast the pepitas: Warm them in a dry skillet over medium-low heat for 3 to 4 minutes, shaking the pan often, until they smell nutty and look slightly puffed. This small step makes the sauce taste fuller and keeps it from feeling flat.
- Use a mix of meats: For an even richer broth, combine chicken with pork butt and simmer until both are tender. If you enjoy deeply seasoned chicken dishes from Latin America, Pollo a la Brasa has that same love of bold seasoning, juicy meat, and big family-style flavor.
- Finish with lime: The broth is rich and savory, so fresh lime is not decoration. It sharpens the tomatillo, wakes up the chicken, and makes each spoonful taste alive.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Salting dried hominy too soon: Add salt only after the hominy has bloomed and turned tender. Early salt can leave the kernels tough, even after a long simmer.
- Leaving the sauce watery: A thin green sauce will disappear into the broth instead of seasoning it. Simmer it until it thickens and smells roasted, savory, and concentrated.
- Using the wrong pumpkin seeds: Whole pumpkin seeds with white shells are too fibrous for this sauce. You want shelled pumpkin seeds, also called pepitas.
- Overcooking tomatillos the old way: Boiled tomatillos can turn bitter if they burst and collapse. The broiler method gives you softness, char, and sweetness without washing away their character.
Serving & Storage
Serving Suggestions
The best pozole table has a garnish bar, no question. Set out bowls of shredded romaine or cabbage, sliced radishes, finely chopped onion, avocado, lime halves, crumbled oregano, ground piquín chile, and, if you like, chicharrones for salty crunch.
Tostadas or totopos belong on the side for scooping, dipping, and breaking into the broth. The contrast between the hot, savory soup and the crisp corn is part of the pleasure.
Romaine lettuce is fresh and tender, while shredded cabbage is more traditional in many homes and gives a sturdier crunch. If you have extra cabbage after setting up your garnish bar, roasted cabbage steaks make a simple side dish later in the week, especially when you want something browned, sweet-edged, and easy.
Storage and Reheating
Store leftover pozole in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 4 to 5 days. Keep the fresh garnishes separate so the lettuce, radishes, onion, and avocado stay crisp and bright.
Pozole freezes well for up to 3 months once it has cooled completely. The hominy may soften a little after thawing, but the broth will still be delicious and deeply flavored.
Reheat gently on the stovetop over medium-low heat until hot, stirring occasionally. Avoid a hard boil, which can make the chicken stringy and dull the fresh green flavor.
Smoky Pozole Verde
Equipment
- Large stockpot
- Large pot
- Baking sheet
- blender
- Saucepan
Ingredients
For the white pozole:
- 1 pound dried hominy, rinsed
- 1 head garlic
- 2 whole chickens or about 6 pounds, cut up in serving pieces, rinsed
- 1 onion
- A couple fresh cilantro sprigs
- 1 tablespoon kosher or coarse sea salt
For the green pozole sauce:
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted
- 1 pound tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed
- 1 to 2 jalapeños, stemmed
- 1 fresh large leafy stem of epazote or 5 sprigs cilantro
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/3 cup onion, coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
For the garnishes:
- 5 to 6 limes, cut in half
- 10 radishes, rinsed, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 head of romaine lettuce, rinsed, drained and thinly sliced
- 4 tablespoons onion, finely chopped
- 1 Mexican avocado, halved, pitted, meat scooped out
- Piquín chile or a Mexican mix of dried chiles, ground
- Dried oregano, crumbled
- Tostadas or totopos
Instructions
Cook the Hominy and Chicken
- Place the rinsed dried hominy in a large stockpot, cover with at least 3 inches of cold water, and add the whole head of garlic (with loose outer layers removed). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently, uncovered, for about 3 hours until kernels are tender and blossomed. Do not salt the water.
- While the hominy cooks, place the chicken pieces in a separate large pot, cover with water by 1 inch, and add the onion, cilantro, and 1 tablespoon of salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer until the chicken is cooked through, 30-40 minutes. Strain the broth and set it aside. Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove skin and bones, and shred the meat.
Char and Blend the Green Sauce
- Set your broiler to high. Arrange the tomatillos, jalapeños, 3 unpeeled garlic cloves, and 1/3 cup onion on a baking sheet. Broil for 5-7 minutes until the tops are blackened in spots. Turn the vegetables and broil for another 3-5 minutes until the other side is charred.
- In a blender, pulse the toasted pumpkin seeds until finely ground. Add the charred tomatillos, jalapeños, peeled charred garlic, charred onion, epazote (or cilantro), 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup of the reserved chicken broth. Blend until the sauce is completely smooth.
Cook the Sauce and Build the Soup
- Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Carefully pour in the blended sauce (it may sputter). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15-18 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it thickens and deepens in color.
- Once the hominy is tender, drain any excess water. Add the reserved chicken broth, shredded chicken, and the cooked green sauce to the pot with the hominy. Stir well and simmer gently for 30 more minutes for the flavors to meld. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Ladle the hot pozole into bowls. Serve immediately, allowing everyone to add their own garnishes like fresh lime, radishes, lettuce, onion, avocado, ground chile, oregano, and tostadas.
Notes
Nutrition
Conclusion
The secret to this pozole verde is simple but powerful: char the green sauce ingredients before blending. That one extra step turns tart tomatillos, jalapeños, onion, and garlic into a smoky, rounded sauce that flavors the whole pot.
Serve it with every garnish you love, adjust the heat to your table, and let the bowls come together in that joyful, messy, lime-squeezed way pozole does best.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between green, red, and white pozole?
Can I use canned hominy for this recipe? And how do I adjust?
What is epazote and what can I use if I can’t find it?
How do I make this pozole with pork instead of chicken?
What are the best garnishes for pozole verde?
How do I store, freeze, and reheat pozole?
