Pozole verde

This soup/stew has wonderful bright flavors from the salsa verde and is hearty from the chicken and hominy. A tasty, comforting bowlful.

Prep Time10

Cook Time50

Total Time1

Course: Lunch or main

Cuisine: Mexican

Servings: approx

Calories: 376kcal

Author: Caroline

Save

Ingredients

To cook chicken and make stock

1 lb bone in chicken thighs (also skin on)
½ lb chicken breast
⅛ onion approximately, as whole chunk
1 clove garlic peeled but left whole
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups water

For salsa verde

¼ onion
1 clove garlic
8 oz tomatillos
1 jalapeno pepper or more, to taste
5 stems cilantro coriander, or a little more to taste

For rest of dish

15 oz precooked hominy 15oz is 1 can

Instructions

For stock/chicken

Place the chicken thighs and breast in a pot with the chunk of onion and garlic. Sprinkle in the salt and add the water. Place the pot over a medium heat, covered, and bring to a boil.
Once boiling, reduce the heat to a steady simmer and cook for around 15 - 20 minutes. You may want to take the breast out sooner once the meat is cooked through to save it cooking too long. Once the thighs are also cooked, remove them and let them cool a minute.
Remove the skin and remove the chicken from the bone of the thighs. Shred up the chicken thigh and breast meat (I suggest keeping them separate as I prefer to add the breast meat in a little later so it cooks less, but it's fine to add all together, too).
If you have time, add the chicken bones and skin back into the pot with the water and cook for another 20 minutes or so to make a slightly stronger broth. Whether you cook longer or not, pour the liquid through a strainer and discard bones and other solids but reserve the stock.

For salsa verde

As the chicken is cooking, prepare the salsa verde. Peel the piece of onion and garlic but leave them whole. Remove husks from the tomatillos.
Place the onion, garlic, tomatillos and jalapeno in a small pot and cover with water. Bring to a simmer and cook around 10 minutes until the tomatillos have changed color to be a darker color, but not falling apart. Drain and place Place cooked tomatillos, onion and garlic in blender. Remove stem from the jalapeno and seeds, if you like (though you can leave in if you like).
Let the cooked vegetables cool slightly then add the cilantro - include thinner stems but remove the thicker ones. Blend everything so well broken up and relatively smooth. Set aside until needed.

To put pozole together

Place the drained cooked hominy in a medium-large pot with the shredded chicken thigh meat (and breast meat, if adding all together), salsa verde and stock. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for around 15 - 20 minutes. Add the chicken breast meat (if you held back) and cook for a couple minutes more before serving.
Serve topped with garnishes of your choice such as sliced radish, avocado, cabbage and/or cilantro.

Video

Notes

You can use all meat on the bone if you prefer, or all boneless, but you will get a better stock using some meat on the bone. Adjust quantities accordingly.

As mentioned above, you can cook the chicken/make stock and make the salsa verde ahead of time. Store each in the fridge for a day or two. Better yet, make the whole stew and either refrigerate or freeze until needed.

Pozole verde can also be made with pork - I'd suggest using shoulder, possibly with an added bone if possible to help make a stronger stock. Cook the pork in chunks. It will need longer to cook initially, more like an hour to become tender enough to shred.

Nutrition

Tried this recipe?Please consider !