Our easy chicken pozole recipe is a healthy Mexican-inspired soup made with chicken, hominy, and tomatoes, that gets seasoned with garlic, cumin, and jalapeno. It's so light and refreshing! We're sharing both stovetop and pressure cooker instructions.
Mexican chicken pazole is so delicious!
I first tasted chicken posole at my parent's house many many years ago and have been hooked ever since. It's so light and refreshing soup yet so hearty, filling, and delicious all at the same time.
Serve the healthy, flavorful and slightly spicy stew with lots of fresh cold garnishes like shredded cabbage, radishes, fresh cilantro, avocado, and green onions.
We love that this recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, high protein, and macro friendly!
Ingredient Notes
Other than the canned hominy, all of the ingredients are simple and easy to find. If you aren't sure where to find hominy at your grocery store, look in the Mexican foods section or it could be in the canned vegetable aisle near canned corn.
- chicken broth
- onion
- garlic cloves
- chicken - uncooked breasts or thighs cut into pieces. You can also use rotisserie chicken but keep in mind it will make the soup a little saltier, so you might want to use low sodium broth. Pork pazole is also terrific!
- hominy - an essential ingredient!
- olive oil
- dried oregano
- cumin
- lime juice - fresh please, don't use concentrate
- hot pepper sauce
- cilantro - chopped
- jalapeno - chopped (optional)
- optional garnishes -fresh cilantro, shredded cabbage, sliced radishes, cotija cheese or shredded Monterey Jack, lime wedges, tortilla chips, sour cream, or avocado.
Kitchen tools
A Pressure Cooker - This is the Instant Pot model that we used.
How to make pozole
Instant Pot Directions
- Turn a pressure cooker to Saute High, once the pot is hot, add the olive oil.
- Cook the diced onion until soft, and then add the garlic, cumin, oregano, and jalapeno (if you're using one). Stir for one minute.
- Add a little chicken broth to the bottom of the pot to scrape up the bits on the bottom of the pot.
- Turn the pot to Manual (some models call this Pressure Cook).
- Add the chicken broth, hominy, tomatoes, lime juice, and raw chicken pieces.
- Pressure cook the soup for 10 minutes and then do a natural release for 5 minutes. Give the soup a stir and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with toppings such as shredded cabbage, radishes, cheese, and green onion. Other garnishes you can add include sour cream, tortilla chips, cotija cheese, or guacamole.
Stovetop Directions
- Bring water to boil in a large soup pot.
- Add the chicken, cover the pot with a lid, and simmer it about 12-13 minutes until it's cooked through. Remove the cooked chicken from the broth and set it aside.
- Add the hominy, tomatoes, oregano, cumin, jalapeno, lime juice, and a dash of hot pepper sauce to the pot.
- Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until heated through.
- Shred the chicken after it cools and add it to the pot, along with the fresh cilantro, and salt and pepper if needed.
- Heat until the chicken is warm again. Serve with the sides listed about and enjoy! This is one of those recipes that tastes even better the next day!
Common Questions
Posole is not considered keto as it is made with hominy corn. It can be considered low-carb with just 13 net-carbs per serving, but it is not a keto-friendly recipe.
You can store leftover chicken posole in the fridge in a covered container for up to 5 days. It will also freeze well for up to 3 months.
Pozole is a hearty Mexican soup made with hominy and often with pork. Substituting chicken for the pork is a popular variation.
Pozole is the Hispanic word for hominy, which is also the traditional spelling, yet many people in the US also refer to it as posole soup.
We use the terms pozole and posole interchangeably in the recipe since people refer to it in different ways.
More Mexican Recipes
- Fish taco bowls
- Instant pot taco chicken
- Homemade taco seasoning
- Instant pot Mexican corn (elote recipe)
- Slow cooker taco soup
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Recipe
Chicken Pozole Recipe (Instant Pot Pasole + Stovetop)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 c chicken broth regular or low sodium
- 1 large onion red, white, or yellow
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 lb uncooked chicken breasts or thighs cut into 5-6 oz pieces
- 1 28 oz can hominy, drained
- 2 15 oz cans Mexican tomatoes like Ro-tel
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 tablespoon lime juice fresh not concentrate
- dash of hot pepper sauce
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
- 1 jalapeno chopped (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
- OPTIONAL GARNISHES- cilantro shredded cheese, sliced radishes, shredded cabbage, Cotija cheese
Instructions
Pressure Cooker
- Turn a pressure cooker to Saute High, once the pot is hot, add the olive oil. Cook the diced onion until soft, and then add the garlic, cumin, oregano, and jalapeno (if you're using one). Stir for one minute.
- Add a little chicken broth to the bottom of the pot to scrape up the bits on the bottom of the pot. Press the Cancel button on the pot to stop the pot from cooking the ingredients. Turn the pot to Manual (some models call this Pressure Cook).
- Add the chicken broth, hominy, tomatoes, lime juice, and chicken pieces.
- Pressure cook the soup ingredients for 10 minutes and then do a natural release for 5 minutes. When the pin drops, open the pot, give the soup a stir and add salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle the pozole into soup bowls and then add the shredded cabbage, radishes, cheese, and green onion. Other garnishes you can add include sour cream, tortilla chips, or guacamole.
Stovetop
- Bring water to a boil in a Dutch oven or large soup pot. Add the chicken, cover the pot with a lid, and simmer the chicken until it's cooked through. This will take about 12-13 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the broth and set it aside.
- Add the hominy, tomatoes, oregano, cumin, jalapeno, lime juice, and a dash of hot pepper sauce to the chicken broth in the pot.
- Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer the soup mixture stirring often until it's slightly thickened.
- In the meantime, after the chicken cools, shred it.
- Stir the shredded chicken into the pot, along with the fresh cilantro, and additional salt and pepper, if desired. Heat until the chicken is warm again.
- Ladle the chicken pozole into soup bowls and then add the shredded cabbage, radishes, cheese, and green onion. Other garnishes you can add include sour cream, tortilla chips, or guacamole.
Notes
- Pork can be used instead of chicken.
- Serve the soup immediately with fresh garnishes for the crispy crunch of the cabbage and radishes. You don't want the veggies to get soggy.
- Rotisserie chicken or pre-cooked chicken can be used instead, rotisserie chicken is saltier so but sure to cut back on the salt in the recipe or use low sodium chicken broth.
Nutrition
Corina says
Very delicious! I just happen to have everything on hand except chicken broth so I used chicken stock. I used the HOT Rotel tomatoes and added a lot of diced jalapeños and it was the perfect amount of spicy. Garnished with radish, cilantro, sour cream, green onion, unsalted tortilla chips, Mexican 4 cheese, more lime, Tabasco and serranos. I like things spicy lol. Excited to eat leftovers. I added more hominy too cause I didn’t have that much chicken.