Chicken pozole is a Mexican soup that is full of classic Mexican flavors and so delicious. The dish makes use of rotisserie chicken to speed things up but you could use cooked shredded chicken breast as well. Make a Mexican horchata to go along with this soup for a complete Mexican meal.
Chicken Pozole (sometimes written posole) is a delicious hearty and healthy Mexican soup that is made up of so many flavors and ingredients thanks to not just the soup base but all of the pozole toppings. This recipe uses rotisserie chicken to make it easy and lots of toppings to maximize flavor.
Pozole uses hominy in the soup which is a corn that is treated with lime and has a very distinct flavor. You find hominy in a can at the grocery stores.
As I mentioned above, the toppings are what makes a pozole soup amazing. Any pozole soup variation and there are many!
The ingredients you will need for this chicken pozole are:
- Rotisserie chicken (or chicken breasts cooked and shredded)
- hominy
- chicken stock
- carrots
- onion
- garlic
- poblano pepper
- serrano pepper
- diced tomatoes
- oregano
- red pepper flakes
- olive oil (or vegetable oil)
Mexican people expect that you will add the things that you like on top so the pozole soup is really a base for more flavor. Many people do not realize this and think pozole lacks flavor. It does not. It just needs to be eaten correctly!
Here is a list of Pozole toppings:
- queso blanco (a white salty and crumbly cheese. Try to find a Mexican brand)
- radishes
- avocado
- lime
- tortilla strips
- cilantro
- sour cream
The idea is add all or some of these but at the least try to add a few!
I cannot stress enough that you must have a variety of toppings for this soup. It was meant to obtain much of its flavor from the toppings so don’t skip this step.
This is a delicious and healthy meal to make anytime of year! I hope you give it a try! It is a delicious warming soup great any time of the year.
Chicken Pozole
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 large onion diced
- 4 large carrots peeled and diced
- 2 cans 14 1/2 oz. each white hominy rinsed
- 1 rotisserie chicken shredded and juices from it's container saved
- 1 tsp dried oregano-
- 1 large poblano chiles diced seeds removed
- 1 serrano pepper diced optional if you like heat
- 4 garlic cloves diced
- 1 small can diced tomatoes
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp fresh ground pepper
Garnishes
- shredded queso blanco
- 1 diced avocado
- lime wedges
- cilantro
- 3 radishes (any variety) sliced thin
- sour cream
- broken tortilla chips
- 1 diced avocado with a squeeze of lime over top for flavor and to prevent browning.
Instructions
- Heat your olive oil and red pepper flakes over medium heat in a heavy bottom soup pot.
- Once heated add all of your veggies (not including hominy and garnishes) to the pan and cook for about 3-4 minutes.
- Add salt to your veggies and cook for another minute.
- Add your chicken stock, hominy, oregano and diced tomatoes and any juices from the chicken and stir well.
- Now add your shredded chicken and mix and then cover and simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes
- Prepare your garnishes while your soup is simmering.
- Once soup is ready, taste for salt and pepper and add to taste.
- Serve soup with garnishes on the side.
