The gradual shift from summer into fall brings with it cooler evenings and heartier appetites. We begin to crave warmer, more comforting foods like stews and soups.
Chicken Pozole Verde is the perfect summer-to-fall transitional soup, because of its use of seasonal, late-summer produce like tomatillos, tomatoes, corn, and peppers. The soup’s base is made with poblano chilies, tomatillos, chicken and hominy. It’s topped with a wide assortment of fresh ingredients, like cilantro, radish, avocado, pepitas, diced tomatoes, and shredded cabbage. You can add or subtract any of these herbs and vegetables, among others, to make it as simple or as elaborate as you like.
This Mexican stew is flavorful, healthy and satisfying and very easy to make. A friend first introduced this to me and I’ve been a fan ever since. It’s the perfect meal to serve to a kitchen full of hungry dinner guests because, lets face it, that’s where they’ll congregate, especially as the weather cools.
A fun way to entertain is to create an interactive dining experience for your guests, where they prepare all of the components for the dinner- in this case, all the toppings for the stew — themselves. As each guest arrives, hand them a glass of wine, and give them a prepping project in the kitchen. Have cutting boards, bowls and knives ready to go. Set up an area for them to mingle while they prep. Have one person dice tomatoes, another slice cabbage, and have someone else chop cilantro. Getting everyone involved in the kitchen is a great way to break the ice, especially if guests are meeting for the very first time. I have found that people actually prefer having something to do with their hands in social situations, and giving them a project tends to stave off some of the social anxieties we all experience from time to time.
Pozole is traditionally made with corn and meat, most often pork, in a flavorful broth. There are many versions, but the broth is most commonly red or green depending upon regional ingredients and influences. In Guerrero, is it common to see the addition of green tomatoes and green chilies, or Pozole Verde. One of Pozole’s main components, no matter what the color, is hominy. Hominy is basically corn kernels that have been processed so they lose their outer layer, and the corn kernels puff up when they are boiled. Corn was a sacred plant to Aztecs and the other indigenous people of Mesoamerica, and found its way through history into this stew.
Pozole is considered a celebratory dish in Mexico, often made for parties and large groups because it can be prepared easily and in large amounts. It makes for a great feast!
If you can find dry hominy, I recommend using it. Canned will do in a pinch- but cooking it from scratch will result in hominy that is more toothsome.
Poblanos, jalapenos, tomatillos, cilantro and onions are blended until smooth to create a flavorful bright green base.
Make crispy tortilla strips as one of the toppings for added texture. Just cut corn tortillas into thin strips and fry until golden brown.
Mexican Chicken Pozole Verde Soup
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6-8
- Category: Soup, Main, Gluten-free
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients
- 8 cups flavorful chicken stock
- 1 cup water
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 lb tomatillos, husked and halved
- 1 large onion, quartered
- 3 poblano chillies, seeded and quartered
- 2 jalapenos, seeded and halved
- 6 large garlic cloves
- 1 whole bunch cilantro, tender stems OK
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp coriander
- 2 tsp cumin
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 T olive oil
- 4 cups cooked hominy- or three 15 oz cans rinsed and drained.
OPTIONAL Toppings: Sliced avocado, mexican sour cream, lime wedges, crumbled queso fresco, chopped scallions, toasted pepitas, sliced radishes, chopped cilantro, chopped scallions, shredded cabbage, diced tomatoes, crispy tortilla chips, fresh corn kernels, black beans, hot sauce.
Instructions
In a large heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven, bring the chicken stock to a boil. Add the chicken breasts, cover and simmer over low heat until they’re tender and cooked through, about 25 minutes. Transfer the chicken breasts to a plate and shred the meat, skim the stock, and return chicken back to the stock.
In a blender, combine the halved tomatillos, quartered onion, poblanos and jalapenos, garlic, chopped cilantro adding 1 cup water to get the motor going. Blend until smooth, scraping down sides if necessary.
In a skillet, heat the oil and add 2/3 of the tomatillo puree ( reserving one third – leave in the blender) and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce turns a deep green, about 8-10 minutes.
Pour the cooked tomatillo sauce into the chicken stock pot. Add the 3 cups of the hominy (reserving 1 cup) and bring to a gentle simmer over moderate heat. Season with salt, pepper, coriander and cumin, and cook just until heated through. If you cook this too long, it will begin to loose its vibrant color.
Add the last cup of hominy to the blender with the reserved tomatillo mixture. Blend until smooth, and right before serving add this to the soup- this thickens the soup and also will help keep the soup stay green and bright. Gently warm the soup, but do not boil, or you will loose the lovely color.
Serve the Posole in bowls, along with all the sides, letting people add whatever toppings they want.
Nutrition
- Calories: 276
Keywords: posole, posole recipe, pozole, chicken pozole verde, chicken pozole, chicken posole, posole verde, posole verde recipe, chicken posole recipe, green posole,
Asha Shivakumar says
September 11, 2013 at 4:54 pmOk, I have a great idea for my next party. Looks so good and all the sides, oh so yum.
Sylvia Fountaine says
September 11, 2013 at 11:04 pmThanks Asha!
phi @PrincessTofu says
September 11, 2013 at 6:34 pmTotally agree about the soup-season… I’m vegetarian but I always am envious of chicken posole. It’s on nearly every mexican restaurant’s menu.
Anonymous says
September 13, 2013 at 1:15 amJust finished making this for my poor, sick hubby. It’s a perfect ” feel better” soup. Love the way you kept it fresh!
Chung-Ah | Damn Delicious says
September 14, 2013 at 5:43 amI’m loving that gorgeous green color! Can’t wait to give this a try!
E. B. Friday says
September 15, 2013 at 5:05 pmLooks like a great recipe! Can this be made ahead? Does it keep for leftovers? Can it be frozen?
Sylvia Fountaine says
September 15, 2013 at 5:24 pmYes, yes and yes!!
E. B. Friday says
September 15, 2013 at 5:07 pmLooks like a great recipe! Sylvia, can this be made ahead? Kept for leftovers? Frozen?
Karen@Mignardise says
September 19, 2013 at 4:47 pmIt’s lunch time and I would give anything for a big bowl of this deliciousness right now!
Anonymous says
September 23, 2013 at 11:56 pmIt would be nice if you could make it to “PRINT JUST THE RECIPE” instead of having to print 11pages to get the recipe!!! At the top of recipe it states print and it does not go to print mode!!! Otherwise one has to write it out long hand!!!! What a waste of paper!!!
Sylvia Fountaine says
September 24, 2013 at 2:11 pmSo… I’m not sure what happened? I clicked “print” and only the recipe printed ( 2 pages). Sorry about that. I’m not great with computers, so don’t know what to tell you.
Anonymous says
September 24, 2013 at 4:19 amSuperb. Can’t wait for the 48 hours later version! I did de-skin the chilis (old habit) and removed some of the solids in the chili mixture while blending. Also added a 4th Poblano, simply because I had it. All added up to my wife’s new–perhaps only–favorite Mexican food!
Sylvia Fountaine says
September 24, 2013 at 2:12 pmYay! Glad you and your wife liked it.
Mic says
October 28, 2013 at 6:56 amI’ve made Pozole with pork but this was my first attempt at chicken verde. I garnished with radishes and cabbage and the soup was awesome! My wife and I had it for two dinners and a lunch. Thanks for sharing, Sylvia.
Sylvia Fountaine says
October 28, 2013 at 3:53 pmAwesome!
Diane Barber says
December 12, 2013 at 3:51 amThis was by far the best thing I made in October ! So , comforting ! :0)
Sylvia Fountaine says
December 12, 2013 at 4:18 amthanks…. glad you liked it!
Ebony says
August 28, 2016 at 9:27 pmI just made this..but doubled everything to make more….Man let me tell u its thr BEST thing ive ever made!!!! Thanks for the recipe!!!!
Sylvia Fountaine says
August 30, 2016 at 6:24 amOh…. I love hearing that!!!
brent says
October 29, 2017 at 4:17 pmI made this for my wife (I am the cook of the house!) today and she loved it. But I was on the fence.
Part of that is my fault. I make my broth fresh (whole chicken) and I went over your 8 cups, so a little diluted but I was able to compensate.
Used fresh mild hatches (season just ended here) instead of poblanos because the chili flavor had to be preserved and there was football on so I would not leave the kitchen TV to get in the car….
Thing is, in the food processor, I had the brilliant green. Simmering the 2/3 in the oil gently really dulled the green. By the hominy-1/3 tomatillio blender step, there wasn’t the brilliant green to preserve.
In many traditional Mexican sauce recipes, similar to yours, you always ‘cook’ the fresh sauce in a pan. I’ve made plenty a red sauce whose color got brilliant this way. I’m stumped as to why mine dulled. It could not have been the absence of the dark poblano, because before cooking it had that gorgeous green. Or maybe I’m wrong. Either way she loved it, and so do I, and graci for the great recipe.
Laura says
January 5, 2019 at 10:58 amSuper delicious! My husband asked me to put it in heavy rotation. 🙂
★★★★★
Sylvia Fountaine says
January 5, 2019 at 1:50 pmlove that you got the hubby approval! Always a good sign. 😉