Pozole Verde
Pozole verde is a Mexican soup built on a broth of blended tomatillos, green chiles, and pumpkin seeds or squash seeds, simmered with hominy (nixtamalized corn kernels) and usually chicken or pork. The green color and tang come from the tomatillos and fresh herbs like epazote or cilantro blended raw into the broth near the end of cooking, which keeps the color bright rather than muddy. It's distinct from pozole rojo, which uses dried red chiles, and pozole blanco, which skips chiles almost entirely and relies on garlic and broth alone.
Varieties
Pozole verde, rojo, and blanco differ mainly in the chile base: verde uses tomatillos and green chiles, rojo uses dried red chiles like guajillo and ancho, and blanco skips chiles for a plain garlic and broth base finished with the same hominy and meat.
Buying tips
Choose tomatillos that are firm with tight, dry husks and a green color underneath, not yellowing, which signals they've gone past ripe and turned sweeter and less tart. For hominy, canned (already cooked) is the fastest option; dried hominy needs an overnight soak and 2 to 3 hours of simmering but has a firmer bite and more corn flavor.
Substitutes
Store-bought salsa verde simmered into chicken broth — 1 cup salsa verde blended with 3 cups broth per batch
Use a jarred tomatillo salsa without added sugar. Simmer it into the broth for 15 minutes to mellow the raw jar taste before adding hominy.
Canned tomatillos, drained and blended — 1:1 by weight with fresh tomatillos
Canned tomatillos are already cooked and softer than fresh, so blend them raw into the broth rather than boiling them first, or the broth turns overly acidic.
Green enchilada sauce as a broth shortcut — 1 cup enchilada sauce to 4 cups broth
Thinner and milder than a true tomatillo base, but usable in a pinch. Add extra roasted poblano or serrano to bring back some heat and depth.
Pumpkin seed (pepita) paste swapped with raw cashews — 1:1 by weight
Loses the grassy pepita flavor but keeps the broth's body and slight creaminess; toast the cashews first to add some depth back.
Storage
Store the broth, hominy, and meat together in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days; hominy keeps absorbing liquid over time, so add a splash of stock when reheating. For longer storage, freeze the broth and meat separately from any fresh garnishes for up to 3 months. Reheat gently on the stove rather than in the microwave, since boiling hard can dull the tomatillo color.
How to use
Serve pozole verde as a main-course soup, ladled hot over hominy and shredded chicken or pork, with garnishes added at the table rather than cooked in. Leftover pozole meat and broth also work shredded into tacos or piled onto tostadas with a little of the green broth spooned over the top.
What it pairs with
Traditional garnishes include thinly sliced radish, shredded cabbage or iceberg lettuce, diced white onion, dried oregano, lime wedges, and crushed tostadas or tortilla chips on the side for scooping.
Nutrition
Hominy is a whole-grain corn product and a decent source of fiber; tomatillos contribute vitamin C and some vitamin K. A bowl with chicken and broth is a substantial protein source, and the pepitas add plant fat and magnesium.
FAQ
What gives pozole verde its green color?
Raw or lightly cooked tomatillos blended with green chiles, cilantro, and often pepitas, added toward the end of cooking so the chlorophyll doesn't dull from long simmering.
Can pozole verde be made without hominy?
It won't technically be pozole without hominy, since the name refers to the corn itself, but the same broth and toppings work fine over rice or plain shredded chicken if hominy isn't available.
Is pozole verde spicy?
It's usually mild to moderately spicy, controlled mostly by how many serrano or jalapeno peppers go into the blended broth; poblanos add flavor with very little heat if a milder version is wanted.
Why does my pozole verde broth taste bitter?
Overcooked tomatillo skins or seeds left in during blending can add bitterness; straining the blended sauce through a coarse strainer before adding it to the broth usually fixes it.
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