Chicken Pozole Verde is a comforting Mexican stew filled with shredded chicken and hominy in a warm green chile broth. It’s easy to make, filling and healthy! (gluten free, freezer friendly)
Making pozole verde has been on my to-do list since I started the blog back in 2015. That’s quite a long time for me to put something off, but no more – the day has finally come!
Today I’m excited to share a delicious and easy Chicken Pozole Verde recipe!
If you don’t know what pozole is, you’re probably wondering what the heck I’m talking about.
What is pozole?
Pozole (also spelled posole) is a Mexican stew traditionally made with pork and hominy covered in a flavorful chile broth. While there are countless variations, there is one essential ingredient in every recipe:
Hominy – it’s a type of maize that’s been soaked and treated with lime. They look like big puffy corn kernels and can usually be found in the Hispanic foods section of your local grocery store. Simply put, without hominy, pozole isn’t pozole.
(Learn more about hominy here.)
Other than hominy, you can pretty much add or substitute whatever you’d like! In this recipe, I used chicken instead of pork and made a green chile broth with tomatillos, jalapenos, onions and cilantro.
Growing up, my parents only ever made red posole so I didn’t really ask them for tips on making pozole verde. I was completely on my own with this one. Luckily I’m very familiar with all of the flavors, so I just worked with what I knew and went from there.
How to make pozole verde
I treated the green chile broth almost like a Easy Salsa Verde, but not as concentrated. To make, I placed boneless skinless chicken thighs, tomatillos, an onion, jalapenos, chicken broth, oregano and salt in a large dutch oven. I covered it partially and brought it to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes.
At this point, the chicken will be cooked through and tender. Remove it with a slotted spoon, place it on a plate or cutting board and shred with a fork. Then, remove the cooked tomatillos, onions and jalapenos with a slotted spoon and transfer to a blender. Then add a large handful of fresh cilantro, a cup of the broth and blend until completely smooth.
Add the shredded chicken, blended broth and canned hominy. Cook for another 15 minutes on medium-high heat and that’s it!
A big bowl of warm pozole verde is seriously the best this time of year. That, a bag of tortilla chips and I’m one happy camper.
I served my pozole verde with some fresh jalapenos (because I like it spicy), lime wedges, sliced radishes, cilantro and more oregano. I also like to mix in a handful of thinly sliced cabbage for a little crunch sometimes, but I completely forgot to do that when I took the photos. #oops If you’ve got cabbage in the house, I highly recommend it!
More authentic Mexican recipes you’ll love
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless chicken thighs, skin removed
- 1 pound tomatillos, husked and washed
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped (or keep the seeds if you like it spicy)
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 1 large handful fresh cilantro, stems and leaves
- 1 28-ounce can white hominy, drained and rinsed
- to serve: limes, radishes, jalapeños, cilantro, oregano
Instructions
- In a large pot or dutch oven, add chicken thighs, tomatillos, onion, jalapeños, chicken broth, oregano and sea salt. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cover partially. Cook for 40 minutes, until chicken is fall-apart tender.
- Transfer chicken to cutting board and shred with a fork. Set aside.
- Using a large slotted spoon, place the cooked tomatillos, onions and jalapenos in a large blender. Add a large handful of fresh cilantro, a cup or so of the cooking liquid and puree until completely smooth.
- Add the shredded chicken, pureed veggies and hominy into the large pot. Stir and cook over medium-high heat for 15 minutes uncovered. Taste and season with salt as necessary.
- Serve with fresh lime juice, radishes, jalapenos, cilantro and oregano.
Isabel’s Tips:
Nutrition Information
Can I make this in the instant pot?
Hi Karina! Yes, you can!
Really easy to make and the sauce came out fantastic. Thank you for the delicious recipe
Loved this dish! So easy to make and a total crowd-pleaser. Had to add a little spice because our jalapenos here in CO are pretty wimpy, but other than that, no problemo. Thank you Isabel for all these recipes!
Made this today and wow! So delicious and I will never use canned sauce again. Like another reviewer I added 4 cloves of garlic and I also added extra chicken and hominy. My husband and son loved it. Thank you Isabel!
Made this today and wow! So delicious and I will never use canned sauce again. Like another reviewer I added 4 cloves of garlic and I also added extra chicken and hominy. My husband and son lived it. Thank you Isabel!
It was so delicious and very easy to make.
Thank you for sharing
Thank you, Diane!
I have wanting to make this. I have plenty of homemade chicken stock. However, I’d really like to use up some frozen pork tenderloin. I was thinking of making the veggies with my stock. Brown cubes of pork and add later so as to not over cook it. Rest I would prepare as written. Sound like a plan?
Thanks!
Hi Sandi! Yes, that sounds great! Let us know how it turns out.