Pozole Verde is a comforting Mexican stew filled with shredded chicken and hominy in a delicious green chile broth made from tomatillos, jalapeños, and cilantro. It’s easy to make, hearty, and ready in only one hour!
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Pozole verde is one of my favorite traditional Mexican dishes to make when I’m craving something comforting yet light and bright.
Unlike pozole rojo which is made from succulent shredded pork in a rich red chile broth, this green pozole is filled with tender shredded chicken in a tangy tomatillo green chile broth.
It’s also ready in half the time, making it perfect for busy weeknight meals. If you have an Instant Pot, take a look at my Instant Pot Pozole!
What is Pozole?
Pozole (or posole) is a traditional Mexican stew made with pork and hominy cooked in a flavorful chile broth. There are three main variations of the dish:
- pozole verde – made with a green chile broth
- pozole rojo – made with a red chile broth
- pozole blanco – made without any chiles at all
Pozole is served year-round, but is popular during the fall and winter months, as well as celebrations like birthdays, Christmas, New Years, and other holidays.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Hominy: It’s a type of maize that’s been soaked and treated with lime. Hominy looks like big puffy corn kernels and can usually be found in the Hispanic foods section of your local grocery store, or in the canned vegetables section near the yellow corn. Learn more about hominy.
- Chicken: I used boneless skinless chicken thighs for lots of flavor without too much fat, but you can use chicken breasts or any other chicken cut that you prefer.
- Tomatillos: These green tomato look-alikes add a great tanginess and brightness that really makes the chile sauce pop. Make sure to remove the papery husks and rinse off the sticky residue before cooking with them. Learn more about tomatillos.
- Chiles: I used jalapeños for a medium heat level, but you can use poblanos for milder spice or serranos for hotter spice. Or a combination of all three!
- Onions, garlic, oregano, and cilantro: For added flavor in the green chile sauce.
- Broth: Chicken or vegetable are best. If you’re in a pinch and don’t have any, you could use water instead.
- Toppings: I recommend lime wedges, sliced radishes, Mexican oregano, thinly shredded cabbage, diced onions, cilantro
How to Make Pozole Verde
1. Cook: Add chicken thighs, tomatillos, onion, garlic, jalapeños, broth, oregano, and salt in a large dutch oven. Bring it to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover partially, and cook for 40 minutes.
2. Blend: Remove the cooked tomatillos, onions, jalapenos, and garlic with a slotted spoon and transfer to a blender. Then add a large handful of fresh cilantro, a cup of the cooking liquid, and blend until completely smooth.
3. Shred: Remove the cooked chicken from the pot, transfer it to a cutting board or plate, and shred.
4. Combine: Add back the shredded chicken, blended green chile sauce, and hominy to the pot.
5. Simmer: Simmer for 15 minutes, give it a taste, and season with more salt as desired.
How to Serve Pozole Verde
Toppings are a huge part of serving pozole. Here are some ideas of what to add to your bowl:
- chopped onions
- lime wedges
- sliced radishes
- fresh cilantro
- Mexican oregano
- thinly sliced cabbage
Storing and Freezing
Storing: Pozole verde can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freezing: To freeze, cool pozole in the refrigerator. Once cooled, transfer to a freezer safe container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
More Mexican Recipes
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 pound tomatillos, husks removed and rinsed
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 jalapeño peppers, halved (seeds removed if you don't want it spicy)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano (Mexican oregano preferred)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)
- 1 handful cilantro, stems and leaves
- 2 (15-ounce) cans white hominy, drained and rinsed
- Toppings: lime wedges, sliced radishes, Mexican oregano, thinly shredded cabbage, diced onions, cilantro
Instructions
- Cook: In a large pot or dutch oven, add chicken thighs, tomatillos, onion, jalapeños, garlic, oregano, salt, and broth. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low, cover partially, and simmer for 40 minutes until chicken is fall-apart tender.
- Shred: Transfer chicken to cutting board and shred with a fork. Set aside.
- Blend: Using a large slotted spoon, carefully transfer the cooked tomatillos, onions, jalapenos, and garlic to a large blender. Add in a cup of the cooking liquid and the cilantro, and blend until completely smooth.
- Simmer: Pour the blended mixture back into the pot and stir in the shredded chicken and hominy. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and cook uncovered for 15 minutes. Taste and season with more salt, if necessary.
- Serve: Serve with toppings such as fresh lime juice, thinly shredded cabbage, sliced radishes, cilantro, diced onions, and Mexican oregano.
Video
Isabel’s Tips:
- Storing: Pozole verde can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freezing: To freeze, cool pozole in the refrigerator. Once cooled, transfer to a freezer safe container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
Nutrition Information
This was awesome!! It rivals any pozole I’ve had at upscale Mexican restaurants. I did add 2 additional cups of chicken stock because I think I may have inadvertently boiled off too much of the liquid initially. The consistency was perfect and now I have leftovers!
Thank you Lisa!
This came out so delicious that even my picky 2 yr old loved it. I halved the recipe as its just 4 of us and it was perfect, little to no leftover. (Will be making the original amount so we can have leftovers to eat the next day now that we know we like it)
Hi Jocelyn! Thank you so much! We’re glad your family enjoyed this recipe.
Turned out great. Some of the best Chicken Pozole I’ve had.
I just finished making this. It will be interesting to see what husband thinks.
My problem now is what to serve with it. I have some store both tortilla chips. I think my husband would crunch them up like crackers and put in the soup. Any ideas let me know.
Hi Pamela! Tortilla chips are great with posole, you can also try bolillo bread.
OMG! So yummy and so easy! I just devoured 2 bowls. I made a 1/2 batch, which was perfect, since I had 1.5 jalapeño left over from the 1/2 batch of Chile Verde I made the other night.
Fresh radishes and and cabbage added the perfect crunch. Actually, I was out of cabbage, but had some homemade pickled curtido in my fridge. Perfect!
Thanks for the amazing recipes. I have made your Chile Colorado with beef, Mexican Rice, Chile Verde with pork, and Pozole Chicken Verde. All winners!
That sounds delicious! Thank you Connie!
This was so good! I made it with a little bit of parsley and some spinach. It’s my go to cilantro substitution since I live with someone with the cilantro feels like eating soap gene. So 2 things: it’s so good and don’t not make it if you don’t do cilantro it still so good.
Side note if anyone have a better cilantro sub I’m all ears because I LOVE cilantro.
I recently made this for some pescatarian friends by leaving out the chicken, using vegetable broth and seafood stock, then throwing in 2 lbs of deveined and shelled raw shrimp a few minutes before serving. Made the garnishes fresh at the table, including a perfectly ripe avocado, and served it all with super crispy locally-made tostadas on the side to break apart and scoop with. They were over the moon!
I recently made this for a some pescatarian friends by leaving out the chicken, using vegetable broth and adding seafood stock, and then throwing in 2 lbs of deveined and shelled raw shrimp a few minutes before serving. Made the garnishes fresh at the table and served with super crispy locally-made tostadas on the side to break and scoop with. They were over the moon!
Hi Scotty! That’s a great variation, thanks for sharing!
Made the chicken pozole. It was delicious and so easy to make. I used pasilla, jalapeño and serrano chiles. Perfect on a cold night. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Hi Isabela,
For the pozole can I do it without the chicken? Right now I am not eating any type of meat. But I am carvings for pozole.
Any suggestions?
Hi Mandy! You can definitely still make this without the chicken. In place of the chicken, you can add more hominy and some extra vegetables. Drained and rinsed canned corn or white beans would be a good substitute!
WOW! VERY GOOD! I usually make Posole Rojo from scratch so, initally, I wasn’t sure what to think about this posole. I 1.5x the recipIe but kept the jalapenos at 3 (big jalapenos). It got better as I continued to eat it. The whole family enjoyed it, even the children (ages 4-11). Such an easy and flavorful recipe. Will definitely keep this in our rotation.
Gracias, Isabel!
Hi Isabel,
I really want to try this recipe, however I don’t have a blender. Can you recommend a verde sauce that might be a good substitute.
Thanks
Hi Monica! Herdez salsa verde, or la costena have good salsa verde.
I made it and it was very good.
Soooooo good! I have never had pozole before and wanted to make it for Christmas Eve. It turned out incredible and was really easy to make. I used one-half of the jalapeno seeds and it was spicy but not too spicy. This is definitely one that I will make again!
Easy to make and delicious!! Will make over and over again
Amazing. Eating this now for Christmas Eve dinner and it is so comforting and refreshing with the lime! Will make all throughout this winter season!
Delicious food . Thank you for the sharing
Great flavor and easy to pull together!!
We substituted chicken breasts, additional hominy and broth and turned out great. Nothing better on a cool fall or winter day.
Delicious and easier than other recipes out there. I used chicken breast since thats what I had. I also doubled the recipe to have enough for two days. Thank you.
Oh my! I made this tonight and it was delicious!!!! My boyfriend is sick and it cleared his sinus’s.