Green Pozole with Chicken, Pozole Verde con Pollo, is a dish that will haunt you. Its bright, earthy, tangy flavor will wrap around your taste buds, for sure, but it’s your mind that will call out for it again and again. You’ll want to save and share this recipe!
Green Pozole with Chicken
Green Pozole with Chicken is comfort in a bowl. A bright, tangy, earthy broth with a hint of spice, featuring luscious shredded chicken and chewy hominy.
About Green Pozole with Chicken:
The tomatillos give green posole that perky, citrusy edge that wakes everything up, while the roasted peppers, garlic, and onion add just enough warmth and depth to keep things cozy.
But what really makes the Pozole are the add-ins. Go simple or go all out, Pozole, just like Vietnamese Pho, is really all about the garnishes.
Pozole Garnishes
Making Green Pozole with Chicken:
Pozole is simple to make, but it does have a few steps. Allow extra time if the chicken needs to be cooked. While that’s happening, roast and blend the vegetables, add them to the chicken stock, and simmer to infuse the stock with flavor.
All that’s left to do is rinse the hominy and add it to the pot along with the chicken to heat through, and put out the garnishes. And now you’ll have a party on your hands!
Green Pozole with Chicken
Serve With:
- Serve with all the expected garnishes, but pass a little Tajin or your favorite hot sauce. Small bowls of Mexican oregano and/or red pepper flakes are always welcome.
- Pozole is a meal in itself, but you can’t go wrong with warmed tortillas of choice (I used tortilla strips).
- Other accompaniments could be cheese quesadillas or this easy Sweet Corn Soufflé, shown below.
- For dessert, consider fresh fruit, like mango and pineapple, with a little Tajin (or a chile powder, such as ancho) and lime, or go all out celebration style with Tres Leches cake.
Easy Sweet Corn Souffle
Leftover Green Pozole with Chicken:
Store in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for three to four days.
- For best results, reheat servings, lightly covered, in the microwave.
- Larger amounts can be heated stovetop.
Pozole freezes beautifully. Thaw overnight in the fridge or reheat from frozen in the microwave.
Other Recipes You Might Like:
- Homemade Tortilla Chips – these are fried, because that’s how they’re best.
- Sweet Corn Soufflé – half dessert, half side, a Latino specialty.
- Cafe Latte’s Tres Leches Cake – an over-the-top celebration cake.
Caffe Latte’s Tres Leches Cake
Saving Money on Groceries:
What you pay for groceries depends on not just WHERE you shop, but WHEN. Be strategic and stock up at rock-bottom prices.
- The best sales are before holidays; check out Win at the Grocers. Think beyond the occasion & use the opportunity to stock up at a low for the coming weeks to months.
- If available, take advantage of discount stores like Aldi or Lidl. The pricing at Buyer’s clubs is not always the lowest, but can trump in quality. Be selective when shopping there.
The best way to save money on this or any recipe is to have a well-stocked pantry, fridge, and freezer full of sale-priced items.
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast or Thighs:
- There are options when it comes to purchasing boneless, skinless chicken breasts (and thighs, too). Generally, buying in larger amounts means you’ll pay less per pound.
- Chicken drops to a low once a quarter. Know the pricing in your area, what’s a good deal, and a great one, and never pay full price. Stock the freezer at rock bottom. Divide family packs into amounts for meals.
- Take it one step further and reduce today’s huge breasts into actual serving sizes. Large ones can be cut in half, and smaller ones trimmed to size. Package trimmings for stir-fries, casseroles, chicken strips, and so on.
- Compare sale pricing at all the available stores, and fresh to frozen. Frozen is often priced in ounces; learn how to compare to fresh, priced by the pound. Unless it’s a great sale, frozen is often more per pound than fresh on sale.
- See this post on Bagged Frozen Breasts and this post on Bone-In and Boneless.
Jalapenos:
- While rarely on sale, a few won’t break the bank. They’re likely to be cheaper and better quality during late summer months when in season.
- Packages are dirt cheap at discount stores, and pricing should be great at most markets. Extras can be pickled or roasted, and frozen in small packets after removing stems, skins, and seeds.
- Store in the fridge in the crisper drawer. Keep in original package if it’s perforated cellophane. If not, transfer to a paper bag or a Ziploc that’s been modified with several holes.
Poblanos:
- They’re likely to be cheaper and better quality during late summer months when in season. Poblanos are generally priced per pound.
- Pricing is good at the discount stores and Latino markets, but if shopping farmers’ markets, it’s good to have an idea of what the going rate is.
- Store in the fridge in the crisper drawer. Keep in original package if it’s perforated cellophane. If not, transfer to a paper bag or a Ziploc that’s been modified with several holes.
- If the price is great, pick up extras, roast, peel, deseed, portion, label, and freeze in packets of one or two for future recipes.
- In the Southwest, Poblanos and local chiles can be bought from vendors, freshly roasted, when in season. Poblanos are available mail order, although they can be pricey. If subbing in canned, a 4-ounce can (or about 1/3 cup) is the equivalent of a medium poblano.
Tomatillos:
- Tomatillos are in season late summer through early fall, when they’ll be sweetest, least expensive, with greater availability.
- Unless in the Southwest or West Coast, you may be hard-pressed to find great tomatillos outside of a Latino market (although discount stores sometimes carry them.
- Choose firm and heavy tomatillos mostly covered by husk, bright green (yellow indicates they are riper and will be less tangy). Peel back a bit of the husk; the tomatillos should be sticky. Smaller are more flavorful and acidic; larger, milder, and juicier.
- To store, place in a paper bag in the vegetable drawer of the fridge for a week. For two to three weeks, air dry on the counter, and place in a paper towel-lined bag in the fridge.
- Tomatillos freeze beautifully after being broiled.
Hello all, and welcome! I’ve been making various pozoles for decades, but also learning about pozole for decades. This is by far my favorite, but use the tags or search bar to find other pozoles on my site. Until next time,
Mollie
Green Posole with Chicken
Green Pozole with Chicken
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 to 10 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Cuisine: Mexican or Southwestern
Ingredients
- 10 cups good chicken (or turkey) stock, divided (see note below)
- about 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, shredded (instructions below to cook if needed)
- 1 1/2 pounds tomatillos, husked and rinsed
- 4 jalapenos
- 2 poblanos
- 2 small onions, halved skin on
- 8 cloves garlic, peels removed
- about 1 1/4 cups cilantro, divided (about 3/4 cup leaves and tender stems to be pureed, about 1/2 cup leaves reserved for garnish) (See note, below)
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
- 3 15-ounce cans golden or white hominy, rinsed
- salt (around a teaspoon) to taste
- Suggested Garnishes: reserved cilantro leaves, thinly sliced red or white onion, thinly sliced red and green cabbage, thinly sliced radish, sliced jalapenos, avocado cubes, cojita cheese, fried or baked tortilla strips, and lime wedges
Notes:
- If cilantro is not an option, replace it with parsley, but add it to the broth by taste.
- It’s never a bad idea to have a little extra broth on hand to add to the soup if it is too thick for your taste.)
Instructions
First, Prepare the Green Salsa:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
On a large rimmed sheet pan covered with foil (for easy cleanup), spread out tomatillos, jalapenos, poblanos, and onion halves, cut side down. Scatter peeled garlic between the vegetables.
Roast, tossing once or twice and turning as needed until the garlic is lightly browned, the tomatillos are tender and charred in spots, and the poblanos are blistered, about 25 minutes. If necessary, turn on the broiler at the end.
As the garlic and vegetables are done, remove each as needed, continuing to roast the rest. Place the poblanos in a dish as they finish, covered, to steam.
Working over a container (or the sheet pan) to catch any juices, peel and discard skins on chiles (it’s fine if some of them are stuck to the chiles; no need to be perfect). Split open and discard stems and seeds. Remove the stems from jalapenos, and if desired (for less heat), remove the seeds. Remove the onion skin.
Purée tomatillos, jalapenos, poblanos, onion, garlic, and 3/4 cup cilantro in a blender, along with any juices from the vegetables and about a cup of the broth.
For the Pozole:
Bring the remaining nine cups broth to a simmer. Add the Green Salsa, along with the coriander, cumin, and oregano. Simmer, uncovered, until flavors are blended, about 20 minutes. Stir chicken and hominy into the simmering broth and heat through. Season with salt to taste.
Serve Pozole as is with the suggested garnishes or add your favorites.
To Cook Chicken:
May be prepared up to 3 days ahead. Add about 1 1/2 pounds of boneless chicken thighs or breasts or about 2 pounds of bone-in to the chicken broth in a good-sized pot. Bring up to a gentle simmer and simmer lightly for about 20 minutes (may need a little longer for bone-in) or until tender when pierced with a fork. Best results are had by allowing to cool in the broth, but if time doesn’t allow, just move forward. Remove the chicken and shred into bite-sized pieces, discarding skin, bones or any undesirable bits. Store broth and chicken separately until ready to use.
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