You’ll love this Pozole Verde! It’s a Mexican stew made with chicken and hominy that’s flavored with tomatillos, poblano peppers, jalapenos, cilantro, garlic, and onion.
This post is sponsored by Klarbrunn.
Pozole Verde
Pozole verde is the Mexican answer to chicken soup, and it’s honestly 1000 times better than chicken noodle soup. It’s flavored with green chiles, cilantro, and tomatillos. It’s also packed with tender shredded chicken breasts and delicious hominy. Enjoy a bowl topped with all your favorite garnishes.
I’ve partnered up with Klarbrunn to bring you this amazing Mexican soup. It tastes absolutely incredible served with a cold can of their delicious lime sparkling water. You can find out where to buy Klarbrunn here.
Ingredients
Chicken Broth: I like to use bouillon to make my own broth, but boxed broth works just as well.
If you want to make a vegetarian version of this soup, you can omit the chicken and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
Chicken: Boneless skinless chicken breasts are my favorite cut of chicken for this dish. You could also use boneless skinless chicken thighs, but I don’t think they’re as tender in the soup as chicken breasts. I recommend using air chilled chicken because the texture is better.
Bone-in chicken will add more flavor to the cooking liquid, so feel free to use that if you prefer. I just happen to like the ease of using boneless chicken.
Tomatillos: You can definitely use fresh tomatillos and roast them yourself, but I love the ease of using canned tomatillos. They’re also more readily available where I live, so I’m able to make this dish year round if I use canned ones.
Onion: Sweet white onions are my favorite onion to use for this dish because they have a milder flavor. You could swap it for a large yellow onion if you prefer.
Peppers: A combination of poblano peppers and jalapenos adds the perfect level of flavor and spice.
Herbs, Aromatics, and Spices: Fresh cilantro, fresh garlic, dried oregano, and fine sea salt add so much flavor to this dish. If you have Mexican oregano, I’d recommend using that.
Oil: I prefer using olive oil because that’s what I keep on hand, but vegetable oil is also a great option.
Hominy: Hominy is dried maize that’s been soaked in an alkaline solution. Rather than soaking it myself, I prefer using canned hominy.
How To Make Chicken Pozole Verde
Bring the chicken broth to a simmer, then cook the chicken breasts in the barely simmering broth until they’re tender and cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pot, but reserve the cooking liquid. Once the chicken has cooled, shred it. (See the recipe card below for the full printable instructions.)
Add the drained canned tomatillos, onion, poblano pepper, jalapeno, cilantro, garlic, and oregano to a food processor or blender. Blend it until the mixture is smooth.
Heat a large lidded pot, then add the oil to the pot. Pour in the tomatillo mixture and mix in the salt. Cover the pot, and saute while stirring occasionally until the peppers and onion are cooked through and no longer taste pungent.
Mix in the reserved cooking liquid, then stir in the shredded chicken and drained hominy. Simmer until the hominy is heated through. See the recipe card below for the full written instructions, including ingredient amounts, cooking times, and helpful tips, etc.
What Is The Difference Between Pozole And Posole?
Pozole is the spelling most common in Mexico, while posole is an alternative spelling that is sometimes used elsewhere.
What Are The 3 Types Of Pozole?
The three types of pozole are red, green, and white (rojo, verde, and blanco). Red pozole uses red chiles, green pozole uses green chiles, and white pozole doesn’t use any chiles.
What Is Green Pozole Made Of?
Green pozole is made with chicken, green chiles, and hominy. It comes together quickly, and has tons of flavor.
Red pozole is made with pork shoulder, red chiles, and hominy. Since it’s made with pork, it has to cook much longer for the meat to become tender. That’s why I love pozole verde as a quick and easy pozole recipe.
What Do You Eat With Pozole?
There are so many delicious toppings that you can enjoy with pozole. My favorites are shredded cabbage, sliced radish, cilantro, red onion, avocado, lime wedges, crispy tortilla strips, tortilla chips, and a dollop of sour cream.
If you want to make a heartier meal, try serving a bowl of it with a homemade cheese quesadilla.
Keep In Touch
I’d love to hear what you thought of this recipe in the comments or on Instagram! @KeyToMyLime #KeyToMyLime
Mexican Recipes
If you like this recipe, be sure to check out all of our Mexican recipes! Some reader favorite recipes that use chicken are:
BEST Pozole Verde with Chicken
You'll love this Pozole Verde! It's a Mexican stew made with chicken and hominy that's flavored with tomatillos, poblano peppers, jalapenos, cilantro, garlic, and onion.
Ingredients
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2 pounds)
- 1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatillos (drained)
- 1 large white onion (roughly chopped)
- 2 poblano peppers (stems and seeds removed, roughly chopped)
- 2 jalapenos (stems and seeds removed, roughly chopped)
- 1 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
- 6 medium cloves garlic (smashed)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt (plus more to taste)
- 2 (28-ounce) cans hominy (drained)
Instructions
- To a medium pot, add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add the chicken breasts and turn the heat down to medium-low (or until the broth is barely simmering) and cook until the chicken is cooked, tender, and reaches an internal temperature of 165 F on an instant read meat thermometer.
- Use tongs to move the chicken to a plate, and let it cool before shredding it. Reserve the cooking liquid.
- Add the tomatillos, onion, poblano peppers, jalapenos, cilantro, garlic, and oregano to a food processor. Blend until the mixture is smooth.
- Heat a large lidded pot over medium heat, then add the olive oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pot. Add the tomatillo mixture and salt, and mix. Cover the pot (it will splatter while it cooks) and saute until the peppers and onions are cooked. You can tell the peppers and onions are cooked because they won’t have a pungent raw flavor anymore and the color will change from a vibrant green to a yellowish green. This will take about 10-15 minutes.
- Add the reserved cooking liquid, and stir to combine. Stir in the shredded chicken and drained hominy, and simmer until the hominy is heated through (about 15 minutes).
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size:
1/8Amount Per Serving: Calories: 477Total Fat: 14.1gCarbohydrates: 40.8gFiber: 9.6gSugar: 10.6gProtein: 45.6g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
Pozole verde is a delicious Mexican soup made with chicken, tomatillos, and hominy that you can enjoy for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
13 thoughts on “Pozole Verde Recipe”
This soup is delicious, I can’t believe it has not one review, I first had this soup at the Nordstrom restaurant, this taste identical to the restaurant. Thank you for posting this, it was so easy to make also thanks for recommending the use of canned tomatillos this soup was easy and delicious,
Hi Kimberly, So happy to hear you enjoyed this pozole verde and that you thought it tasted like the Nordstrom’s restaurant version. Glad to hear you thought using canned tomatillos was a good substitution, too. Thanks for the feedback! -Alexa
I love the green chicken pozole, so I decided to make it just followed the recipe and it came out delicious.
I just made this for the first time and it’s delicious! Very easy to make and such delicious flavor! Thank you for the recipe!
I’m planning on making this for Christmas but I’m not sure how many people it will feed. I’m looking to feed 10 people.
Hi Cassandra, I’d probably make a double batch if I was planning to feed 10 people. Hope that helps and Merry Christmas! -Alexa
This is my go-to green pozole recipe. It is absolutely delicious!
This is the best green pozole! Very fresh, flavorful and quite easy! Can’t wait to make it again.
Just made this I could not find my go to recipe for some reason so I came across this one and it is delicious. Could not find canned tomatillos anywhere!
I made this for the first time last night & it came out very good. I usually make the red pork pozole every year but I wanted to try something new. I followed the instructions of the recipe but I did double up on some of the ingredients. I wish I can add a picture to show how it came out.
Tried this for the first time. Simply amazing. Light and very flavorful! Will make it again!
Made this for dinner tonight. Sooooo yummy! Saving this recipe!
I just made this fabulous soup! I made a half batch just for two of us. I couldn’t find canned tomatillo’s anywhere so I bought a 7 oz can of Herdez tomatillo salsa and then I broiled 4 fresh tomatillo’s, 4 garlic cloves, 1/2 of a seeded jalapeño and 1/2 of a huge poblano (all cut into chucks and sprayed with Pam) until they got slightly charred. I pureed them with half of the Herdez. I still sautéed it in the oil. I added the chicken stock and simmered for about half an hour. I like my soup with a little thickness so I used 1 tablespoon of masa flour and 2 tablespoons of cold water and whisked in and simmered until thickened. I added the chicken meat and posole and let it simmer until dinner. It was a little project that was fun. I totally could have just used the canned Herdez since it had all the ingredients that your recipe listed. Thank you for the awesome recipe, the ingredients and proportions were spot on!