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How To Make The Best Pozole Rojo de Pollo (RED CHICKEN POZOLE)

Pozole Rojo de Pollo

I’ve been sitting on this recipe for about a month now.

I tested it, then tested it again, tested it some more, and of course, because I like for things to be perfect, I tested it once more after that. I had already shared a recipe for pozole rojo when I initially launched the blog, and although it was a good recipe, it was a pretty basic recipe.

I used to think of pozole rojo as a treat because we weren’t really used to having it in our household. Because we are from Colima, we had pozole blanco instead, and then of course el famoso pozole seco de Colima for the recalentado. As much as I enjoyed pozole blanco, pozole rojo was just a baby bit more flavorful due to the spices and chiles involved.

Pozole Rojo de Pollo

Pozole rojo always takes me back to growing up in Southern California and going to birthday parties because there were always a few things I could always count on when we went to a “Mexican” birthday party: a ton of beer, a brincolín, Pozole Rojo or Bírria,  and a few chingadazos if you didn’t greet every.single.person at the party.

TRUST.

It’s my birthday today, so I figured today would be the perfect day to share this recipe with you as a little throwback. It’s perfect for this wishy washy weather we’ve been experiencing in Southern California lately, and even more perfect for days when you just need something comforting to soothe your soul. If you’re not familiar with pozole rojo, or red pozole, it is essentially a hominy stew with chicken or pork and guajillo chile broth.

PS. I know what you’re thinking, Esteban, why did you include Doritos in your pictures? Well, last time I posted the vegan pozole, I asked on Instagram what you like to eat your pozole with, and a good handful of people told me to try it with doritos…so guess what Mimi, I DID, and it was delicious!

If you happen to make the recipe, share your results with me on Instagram! ¡Nos vemos pronto!

Pozole Rojo de Pollo

Pair it with Pistachio Horchata

Print Pin
4.33 from 62 votes

Pozole Rojo con Pollo

Course Soup
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 6
Calories 0kcal
Author Esteban Castillo

Ingredients

For the Stock

  • 1/2 White Onion chopped
  • 1/2 cup Cilantro chopped
  • 1 Head of Garlic sliced vertically
  • 2 Bay Leaves
  • 2 Sprigs of Thyme
  • 6 cups water
  • 1 tbsp Salt
  • 3 lbs Skin-on Chicken Thighs
  • 2 Chicken Breasts
  • 4 cups Water
  • 50 oz can Hominy (I used 2-25 ounce cans for 50 oz)

For the Chile Puree

  • 5 large dried Guajillo Chiles about 1.5 oz (seeds and stems removed)
  • 3 dried Ancho Chiles about 1.5 oz (seeds and stems removed)
  • 3 dried Chiles de Arbol use 2 if you'd like less heat (stems removed)
  • 4 Garlic Cloves
  • 1/4 cup White Onion chopped
  • 1/4 cup Cilantro chopped
  • 2 tsp White Vinegar
  • 1 tsp Mexican Oregano
  • 1/4 tsp Cumin
  • 1/2 tbsp Kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup Chile cooking liquid
  • 1 tbsp Vegetable oil

To Serve

  • Sliced Radishes
  • Shredded Cabbage
  • Chopped White Onion
  • Lime Wedges
  • Oregano
  • Salt
  • Tostadas

Instructions

  • In a large stockpot or dutch oven, cook 1 tbsp of vegetable oil on medium-low heat. Add the chopped white onion, and cook for about 5 minutes until the onion starts to become translucent. Once the onion has been cooking for 5 minutes, add the chopped cilantro, and then add the head of garlic (exposed cloves facing down) and cook for two minutes. Add the thyme, and bay leaves, and cook for two more minutes. Pour in the 6 cups of water and sprinkle in the salt. Add the chicken thighs, and the chicken breasts and bring your stock to a simmer. Once the stock has reached a simmer, reduce the heat to low and cook for 1 hour.
  • Once the stock and chicken have cooked for an hour, remove the chicken, then strain your stock into a large bowl, and return it to your stock pot or dutch oven. Add the additional 4 cups of water and the cans of hominy with the liquid they’re canned with. Bring the mixture back up to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.
  • While that cooks, shred the chicken and make the chile puree: In a medium sized saucepan, add the dried chiles and enough water to cover, bring it to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes to soften. After the 15 minutes, remove the softened peppers and add them to a blender along with the rest of the chile puree ingredients, including the 1/2 cup of the soaking liquid, and blend until smooth.
  • Dump the rest of the chile soaking liquid out of the saucepan and heat up the vegetable oil in there over medium heat. Once the oil’s hot, carefully add the chile puree and cook for about 15 minutes, until the mixture thickens and turns a slightly darker shade of red. Remove from heat.
  • After the hominy has been cooking in the stock for 30 minutes, add the puree to the stock and hominy along with the shredded chicken and cook for a final 30 minutes.Taste for salt at this time.
  • To serve, plate your pozole and top with your favorite garnishes.

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44 Comments

  • Reply
    M Widholm
    October 17, 2019 at 4:30 pm

    5 stars
    We didn’t realize the peppers in this recipe were all dried so we just substituted pasilla and red pepper flakes. Still, it turned out so delicious. We now have the dried peppers and plan on making this again using the right peppers! We served this to company and had Crema on the table in case it was too spicy for them. It was good with the cream in there.

    • Reply
      michelle
      December 17, 2019 at 1:01 pm

      5 stars
      Great idea, using the cream!!!
      Going to buy cream for the people that can’t stand the heat! ☺️

  • Reply
    Audrey Reyna
    December 21, 2019 at 5:43 am

    5 stars
    I’m from South Texas and grew up on white pozole but decided to venture out and try this recipe. I brought it to a pot luck holiday party. Glad I did. It was a hit! I only used 1/2 the chili paste and it was still plenty spicy. I’ll save the other 1/2 for enchiladas!

    • Reply
      Esteban
      December 21, 2019 at 3:40 pm

      I also grew up exclusively on pozole blanco, so for me pozole rojo has always been a treat. I’m glad to hear everyone enjoyed it!

  • Reply
    Efi
    January 1, 2020 at 2:24 pm

    5 stars
    Like you, pozole was para ocasiones especiales. It involved time and work. Coming from a single working parent home, it wasn’t something we had often. My mom had given me a recipe, but I wasn’t convinced. I, working mom, made it a tradition to make it for New Year’s eve. This year, I saw this recipe, and LOVED it!
    Not gonna lie, it does involve more work, but totally worth it!

    • Reply
      Esteban
      January 1, 2020 at 6:41 pm

      That’s amazing! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I totally agree, it does involve a little more work, but making the stock from scratch makes it that much better! 🙂 Thank you for making this a part of your Holiday celebrations!

      • Reply
        Alicia
        January 13, 2020 at 7:54 pm

        5 stars
        I followed the recipe and my posole came out SO good! I’ll definitely use this recipe again when I make posole 😋

        • Reply
          Esteban
          January 13, 2020 at 10:52 pm

          That makes me so happy to hear!! 🙂

  • Reply
    Lorna
    January 20, 2020 at 7:48 am

    5 stars
    This was a completely perfect recipe. I made it for my boyfriend’s birthday party on Saturday and one of my latino guests pulled me aside and told me that “I really put my foot in this!” That’s a good thing, of course. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes soon.

    • Reply
      Esteban
      January 20, 2020 at 4:54 pm

      Hahaha that makes me so happy to hear! This pozole recipe has been such a favorite that I decided to include it in my upcoming cookbook! 🙂

  • Reply
    Matthee
    January 26, 2020 at 7:07 am

    5 stars
    Wow. This was the absolute bomb.

    • Reply
      Esteban
      January 27, 2020 at 1:49 pm

      Haha thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it!

      • Reply
        Janiece
        May 30, 2021 at 1:53 pm

        5 stars
        This recipe is perfect, so delicious!! Making it for the second time today!

  • Reply
    Andrew Salazar
    August 6, 2020 at 3:00 pm

    5 stars
    chicken Pozole recipe was FIRE!! man most definitely I will make again.

    • Reply
      Esteban
      August 6, 2020 at 5:14 pm

      Thanks Andrew! If you liked the pozole rojo, you might like the pozole blanco and pozole verde recipes in my new book! I’ve got all three in there!

  • Reply
    adriana
    August 13, 2020 at 5:24 pm

    5 stars
    This recipe is so delicious. I left out the spicy ingredients (for my family that doesn’t eat spicy food) and it was still so flavorful and tasty! can’t wait to try out more of your recipes 🙂

  • Reply
    Luis tejeda
    August 26, 2020 at 12:40 pm

    5 stars
    Really good traditional pozole! Bookmarked! thanks buddy

  • Reply
    Caden Pierson
    October 6, 2020 at 11:37 am

    5 stars
    I absolutely love this pozole recipe!! It was recommended to me by a friend and i just had to try it. I had never heard of hominy before but it is so good!! 10/10 would recommend!

  • Reply
    Charlotte
    December 3, 2020 at 4:15 am

    5 stars
    Just made this recipe in London with chillis I bought in Mexico City last year, absolutely Divine!! Thank you for sharing this recipe

  • Reply
    Megan R Quinn
    December 11, 2020 at 10:24 am

    5 stars
    This looks so good. Can you please tell me what the “chile cooking liquid is” ?

    • Reply
      Esteban
      December 11, 2020 at 1:18 pm

      Hi Megan, it’s the water the chiles soak in.

  • Reply
    Michaela Sory
    December 24, 2020 at 11:52 am

    5 stars
    Making this now! So no need to rinse and drain the hominy? All other recipes say rinse

    • Reply
      Esteban
      December 24, 2020 at 8:31 pm

      Hi Michaela, No need to rinse or drain. Add the hominy along with its liquid to the pot, like the recipe states!

  • Reply
    Adrian
    December 28, 2020 at 6:02 pm

    5 stars
    This had a wonderful warmth, spice, and savoriness to it. My family loved it for weeknight dinner and I will definitely be making it again. I used broth instead of water so it was extra flavorful. I also used nixtamal instead of canned hominy because I had some extra already prepared. After 4 hours it was still somewhat al dente and not completely soft like the canned hominy, so if anyone has tips for modifying the cooking time for using nixtamal, it would be much appreciated! Great recipe, Esteban!

  • Reply
    Lydia
    January 10, 2021 at 6:39 pm

    5 stars
    Excellent! Made it tonight. Accidentally skipped the step of just simmering the stock and hominy liquid, but still ended up great!

  • Reply
    kizzy
    January 11, 2021 at 7:41 pm

    5 stars
    Solid and tasty recipe! The result is a very rich and dark broth. For those of you who eat lots of Mexican food the color is closer to a dark mole than a bright red (which is what you’ll get if you use california chiles vs. guajilo and ancho. ) It was very tasty. Remember too that you can make this your own and add extra spices or flavors as you see fit. I personally like adding chicken boullinto my broth and less salt. I also like much more cilantro, cumin, and oregano but again it is just a preference. GREAT BASE RECIPE to use if you are new to pozole.!! I wonder if he has a green pozole recipe or mole?? anyone??

    • Reply
      Esteban
      January 11, 2021 at 9:25 pm

      I actually have a recipe for red pozole, green pozole, white pozole AND mole in my new cookbook! Haha Here’s the the amazon link: https://amzn.to/3oE9yAR

    • Reply
      Sidra
      January 5, 2022 at 2:48 pm

      Thank you for this description! I had New Mexico red chiles on hand and couldn’t find guajillo. I kept comparing my dark mole color to the photo on this recipe and wondering where I went wrong. This is exactly what I needed to see. I also lean toward a little more cumin, so I’m glad to see that it’s okay to adjust things.

  • Reply
    Celeste
    May 31, 2021 at 2:58 am

    5 stars
    Delicioso! I made a double recipe for my partners birthday. It was perfect. It’s freakishly cold here now and everyone enjoyed their bowl outside by a fire. Really- everyone was freaking out at how delicious it was.
    I did rinse the pozole first and just added a bit more fresh water. I do prefer dried pozole and will try to order some for next time. I also didn’t have enough Chile anchos, so added some powder Chile negros. I did also add a bit more cumin and oregano. I add queso fresco as a possible garnish. Oh- just one last thing- do you really mean cut head of garlic vertically? When I did that the head falls apart. I cut horizontally, crosswise instead.

  • Reply
    Elizabeth Vargas
    June 6, 2021 at 11:06 am

    5 stars
    I first tried this on New Years’ with my husband’s uncle’s family and fell in love. This is the best recipe I’ve had. Thank you!!

  • Reply
    RTamez
    July 23, 2021 at 6:33 am

    5 stars
    So delicious! Made it for New Year’s Eve two years ago, and now my husband and his family want it all the time. Being white and having his Mexican parents and siblings love it so much is quite rewarding. Please know this takes up a few hours of the day, but it’s so well worth it!!

  • Reply
    Valerie
    November 24, 2021 at 8:38 pm

    5 stars
    This recipe is simply amazing. I am not a very good cook but decided to give this a shot because it didn’t seem too complicated. I followed it as instructed and it was delicious. My husband, who is Mexican, loved it as well. We will now triple the recipe and serve it during a family holiday party.

  • Reply
    M Widholm
    November 25, 2021 at 12:44 pm

    5 stars
    We now can the chili purée and it is a staple to spread on tostada shells or tortillas, especially in the morning to go with our eggs. It is great to have on hand.

  • Reply
    Cynthia
    December 5, 2021 at 7:01 pm

    5 stars
    Just made this recipe for my mom’s birthday and it came out delicious. It was my first time making posole and everyone was so impressed. Thank you for sharing your recipe.

  • Reply
    Raquel
    December 27, 2021 at 1:23 pm

    Doritos are definitely a game changer when it comes to pozole lol

  • Reply
    Sarah
    January 1, 2022 at 12:39 pm

    5 stars
    Yessssss. This tastes exactly how I remember it tasting. When I was 18, I stayed at my friend’s house for three months and her family was from from Peru. They lived in a small Latino community and I just remember eating all the wonderful dishes…pozole included. I made this for the first time last night and have bookmarked the recipe. Thank you for sharing…it was truly a delightful trip down memory lane.

  • Reply
    Annie
    January 6, 2022 at 7:29 am

    5 stars
    What’s the actually calorie count on this??

  • Reply
    Grace
    February 23, 2023 at 3:30 pm

    5 stars
    So good!!

  • Reply
    Rita
    March 3, 2023 at 10:24 am

    5 stars
    I love the red pozole, I make it year round with mild red chile and it’s delish. I only add cabbage, never tried with green sauce, I don’t think it complicated to make maybe because I make it year round, it’s soo easy and delish.

  • Reply
    Edith Garcia
    July 10, 2023 at 5:41 pm

    5 stars
    I have been married 22 yrs to a mexicano. And this recipes is the best pozole I have had. I made a big stock pot last night, husband and daughter had 2 nights and loved it. Then I sent big bowl home with parents of nino I babysit and they agreed it was really good. Thank you.

    • Reply
      Esteban
      July 10, 2023 at 10:31 pm

      Edith, that makes me so happy to hear! This pozole recipe is one of my favorites. I hope you get to check out both of my cookbooks, Chicano Eats and Chicano Bakes! 🙂

  • Reply
    Alec M
    January 1, 2024 at 3:27 pm

    5 stars
    Seriously so good! This was such a good recipe it was easy to follow and the Pozole turned out amazing!!

  • Reply
    Bianca
    January 1, 2024 at 7:58 pm

    Would this taste good with pork?

    • Reply
      Esteban
      January 1, 2024 at 9:32 pm

      Yes, you can easily swap the chicken out for pork!

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