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- Makes 11 cups
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Pozole is a traditional Mexican stew that is frequently served on holidays and other celebrations. The star ingredient, hominy, is basically dried corn that has been alkalized in a mineral lime bath, which transforms the corn kernels into fat, tender, bean-like morsels. Traditional pozole also features pork, but this vegan pozole recipe replaces the meat with hearty ingredients like onions, carrots, potatoes, and plenty of chile peppers.
Ingredients
Stew
- 2 (25-ounce) cans hominy, rinsed and drained (5 cups)
- 2 medium potatoes, cut into ½-inch dice (4 cups)
- 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into ½-inch dice (2 cups)
- ¾ medium onion, cut into ¼-inch dice, divided
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
- 2 teaspoons ground Mexican oregano
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- 2 Anaheim or Poblano chiles, seeded and cut into ¼-inch dice (1 cup)
- 2 teaspoons guajillo chile powder
- 2 tablespoons ancho chile powder
- Sea salt
Garnishes
- 3 corn tortillas, cut into ¼-inch strips
- 1 cup shredded red cabbage
- ½ bunch radishes, cut into matchsticks (½ cup)
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
- 3 limes, cut into wedges
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, combine the hominy, potatoes, carrots, 1 cup onions, garlic, oregano, and cumin with 1 cup water; cook on medium heat for 10 minutes.
- Add 8 cups of water, diced chiles, and guajillo and ancho chile powders. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook for 30 to 40 minutes until the hominy has softened and the stew has thickened. Add salt to taste.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the tortilla strips on the baking sheet and bake until crispy and golden-brown, 20 to 25 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally for even browning. Set aside.
- To serve, ladle the stew into individual bowls and garnish with tortilla strips, cabbage, radishes, remaining onions, and cilantro. Serve a wedge of lime on the side.
Comments (8)
(4 from 9 votes)I like this very well. Thank you! I did cap the liquid at 8 c., and I used vegetable broth rather than water, having seen other comments. I swapped out chipotle chilis for the guajillo chili powder because I didn't have the latter. That *did* make it a bit spicy (my poor husband won't be able to eat it -- history of ulcer), BUT it is delicious. I intend to play around with it a bit more next time. For example, what if I swapped out some of the broth for salsa verde? Only one way to find out! But again, very good.
We'll add this to our regular rotation. It was delicious! I found this recipe in the Fall 2022 FOK magazine/cookbook. They changed the liquid to 6 cups veggie broth. I followed that recipe exactly. We loved it. We added diced avocado with the tortilla strips, red cabbage and fresh cilantro because the poblano peppers were extra spicy.
This is even better with a diced-up chipotle chile and a little adobo added. I added a little bit of spinach too just for the heck of it.
I appreciate the effort to make this dish WFPB. However, the taste of this dish was very bland and very different from what my mom would make. My husband recently tried a different recipe that was much more similar in flavor to traditional pozole. If you want more of a traditional flavor, look for a recipe what uses dry chiles. If you are simply looking to try something different, try this! Just use broth instead of water.
I’d recommend veggie broth instead of water - and 4-5 cups versus 8. I also added more cumin and taco seasoning to add more flavor. I also added fresh avocado to the toppings. Yum!
Very bland soup. I followed the recipe but instead of 8cups I used 6. My family did not like it and I had to throw it away. Tastes nothing like Mexican pozole. I recommend looking for a recipe where dry chilies are used.
This worked out really well! I went with only four cups of water rather than eight, in part because I like my vegetables to stay a little firm/ al dente and I like my soups to be thicker in general. I got a little bolder and went with one small serrano pepper (certainly hotter than a poblano, sometimes hotter than a jalapeno) but all of the adults enjoyed it, as did the teens. No one complained that it was too hot, but there were a few requests for a sip of milk. Great recipe!
We all liked it, it's an original dinner that changes the routine. The flavors are very distinctive and pleasant.