Description
This favorite pozole recipe is a traditional Mexican soup made with tender pork, white hominy, and rich guajillo chile broth. Packed with authentic flavor, it’s perfect for family dinners or festive gatherings. Discover how to make pozole rojo from scratch with easy steps and customizable toppings for a cozy, crowd-pleasing meal.
Ingredients
3 pounds pork shoulder
8 cups water or broth
6 garlic cloves
1 large white onion
2 bay leaves
6 dried guajillo chiles
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons salt
2 cans (25 oz each) white hominy (drained and rinsed)
Instructions
1. In a large pot, add pork shoulder, onion, garlic, bay leaves, and salt. Cover with water or broth and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 2 hours until pork is tender.
2. While pork simmers, remove stems and seeds from guajillo chiles. Soak in hot water for 15 minutes until softened.
3. Blend softened chiles with garlic, cumin, oregano, and some soaking water until smooth. Strain if desired.
4. Remove pork from the broth, shred, and set aside. Strain the broth and return it to the pot.
5. Add the chile sauce and drained hominy to the broth. Stir in the shredded pork. Simmer for 30–60 minutes to deepen the flavor.
6. Serve hot with toppings like shredded cabbage, sliced radish, diced onion, lime wedges, and tortilla chips.
Notes
This pozole tastes even better the next day, so feel free to make it ahead.
Using canned hominy makes prep quicker, but dried hominy is an amazing upgrade if you have time.
Guajillo chiles are key to the flavor—don’t substitute with overly spicy varieties.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mexican
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1.5 cups
- Calories: 350
- Sugar: 3g
- Sodium: 780mg
- Fat: 18g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 28g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 22g
- Cholesterol: 65mg