Pozole Rojo (Red Pork Pozole) 🍲 is a traditional Mexican soup made with tender pork, hominy, and a rich red chile broth. Made with guajillo and ancho chiles, this comforting pozole is a favorite for holidays, celebrations, and family meals.
Serve it with shredded cabbage or lettuce, radishes, onion, lime, and oregano for a classic bowl of Mexican comfort food.
Also try my chicken version, Red Chicken Pozole.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe ❤️
- Rich red chile broth: Guajillo and ancho chiles give the pozole its deep red color and rich flavor.
- Tender pork: Pork shoulder becomes fork-tender after a slow simmer.
- Classic toppings: Finish your bowl with cabbage, radishes, onion, lime, and oregano.
- Make-ahead friendly: Pozole stores well in the refrigerator and freezes beautifully.
-Maggie
Instructions
🌶️ How To Make the Chile Sauce
- Remove the stems from all the chiles.
- Cut lengthwise. Remove all the seeds.
- Place in hot water until pliable.
These are two of the most common Mexican dried chiles. Guajillo chile is used to make guajillo sauce. Ancho chiles are used to make Adobo Sauce.
- Transfer the softened chilis to a blender.
- Add the garlic, yellow onions, oregano, kosher salt, and 1 cup of the chile soaking liquid.
- Blend until completely smooth.
- Discard the remaining soaking liquid.
You can make the red chile sauce ahead of time. It keeps well in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 4 months. Use it to also make my Menudo recipe or Red Pork Tamales.
🐖 Best Pork Cuts To Use
Pork shoulder is my preferred cut for Pozole Rojo because it becomes tender and flavorful after a long, gentle simmer.
Pork loin is a leaner option and can also be cut into 1-inch pieces for pozole.
Pork butt is very fatty, but it can also be used. Simply skim as much of the excess fat as possible once it is cooked.
👩🏼🍳 Making The Stew
- Add the water to a large stockpot. Add the pork shoulder, chopped onion, garlic cloves, chicken bouillon cubes, and bay leaf.
- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook for 2½ to 3 hours, or until the pork is fork-tender.
- Remove and discard the onion, garlic, and bay leaf.
- Skim as much fat as possible from the surface of the broth.
- Place a fine-mesh strainer over the pot with the pork broth.
- Pour the chile sauce through the strainer into the broth.
- Bring the soup to a boil. Stir in the drained and rinsed hominy. Taste and adjust the salt if needed.
- Simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the hominy is heated through.
- Ladle into large bowls and add your favorite toppings.
Note: Instead of chicken bouillon, use 2 cups of chicken broth, and reduce the water to 8 cups instead of 10.
This recipe is the traditional method, made on the stove. However, pozole can also be done in the Instant Pot and Slow Cooker for easier cooking. (see below and the recipe card for instructions).
Storage and Reheating
🫙 Store leftover Pozole Rojo in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It also freezes well for up to 4 months in freezer-safe containers or bags.
🔥 Reheat on the stovetop over medium heat until hot, adding a splash of water or broth if the soup has thickened. Add the fresh toppings just before serving for the best texture and flavor.
🙋🏻♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
Pozole Rojo is a traditional Mexican stew made with pork, hominy, and a rich red chile broth. Guajillo and ancho chiles give the broth its signature red color and deep flavor.
Both pozole and posole are used to describe this traditional Mexican dish. The spelling varies by region and personal preference.
Not usually. Guajillo and ancho chiles add color and rich chile flavor without making the broth very spicy. For more heat, serve it with crushed chile de árbol or sliced jalapeño.
Pork shoulder is my preferred cut because it becomes tender and flavorful after simmering. Pork loin can also be used for a leaner pozole.
Yes. You can make Pozole Rojo in the Instant Pot or slow cooker. See the recipe notes below for cooking times and instructions.
Ideas for Toppings
- Shredded cabbage
- Radishes
- Raw diced onion
- Lemon or lime wedges
- Crushed chile de arbol
- Cilantro
- Crushed oregano
- Shredded iceberg lettuce
🥄 More Pozole Recipes
This Pozole Rojo is a comforting Mexican classic that’s perfect for sharing with family and friends. Add your favorite toppings and serve it with warm tortillas for a hearty meal.
Pozole Rojo (Authentic Red Pork and Hominy Stew)
Ingredients
To Make the Pork:
- 10 cups water
- 3 lbs pork shoulder cut 1-inch pieces
- 1 white onion chopped
- 6 large garlic cloves
- 2 chicken bouillon cubes
- 1 bay leaf
For the Red Chile Sauce:
- 4 guajillo peppers cleaned, seeded, and deveined
- 4 ancho chile cleaned, seeded, and deveined
- 6 cups water
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 small white onion rough chopped
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- Salt to taste
For the Pozole:
- 3 15-ounce cans white hominy drained and rinsed
For the Toppings:
- shredded iceberg lettuce or shredded cabbage
- onion finely diced
- radishes sliced
- dried oregano
- lime
- avocado
Instructions
To Make the Pork:
- Add water in a large stock pot.
- To the stock pot, add the pork meat, onion, garlic, bouillon, bay leaf.
- Bring to a boil, then lower heat. Let simmer for 2/12 to 3 hours, until meat is tender.
- Once it's cooked, discard onion, garlic, and bay leaf from the broth.
- Be sure to skim the fat from the top of the pot.
For the Red Chile Sauce:
- While the meat is cooking, soak the ancho and guajillo chiles in 6 cups of hot water for 30 minutes or until they are soft.
- Blend the chiles, garlic cloves, onion, oregano, salt, and 1 cup of the water used to soak the chiles.
- Puree mixture until smooth. Discard the remaining 5 cups of water.
For the Pozole:
- Place a stainer over the pot with the pork.
- Strain the sauce into the pot.
- Bring it to a boil.
- Add white hominy.
- Taste for salt.
- Simmer for 10 minutes, or until hominy is heated.
- Serve along with toppings.
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Press the STEW/MEAT button. 45 minutes.
- Release the pressure – Full natural release.
- Skim the grease from the top of the pot.
- Add the chile sauce and hominy.
- Stir, cook for 5 minutes, and serve.
- Cook the pork on low for 8 hours, or high for 6 hours.
- Skim the grease from the top of the pot.
- Add the chile sauce and hominy. Stir.
- Cook for 1 hour. Serve.
- Pozole lasts up to 5 days in the fridge.
- For the freezer, remove as much as possible in a sealable. The pozole will last up to 4 months.
Could you please clarify – Are the 6 cups of water under the red chile sauce just used for soaking the peppers? Do you take just blend one cup of that water and discard the rest?
Love this recipe. I’ve made it with pork shoulder and country style boneless ribs when pork shoulder wasn’t available. My husband is from Northern Mexico and this tastes just like the pozole he grew up with. Thank you for sharing!
Yes, that’s correct. 6 cups of water to soak the chiles. Discard 5 cups and use 1 cup to blend. Thank you for trying this recipe! I love hearing that you enjoy it. 🙂
Hello,
In the ingredient portion, it says 6 cups of water, but the instructions only say to add 1 cup of the water from the chiles. Is the 6 Cups of water an error? Thank you for all your recipes. It has made it so much easier to find great recipes for my family.
Hi there! I mention the 6 cups of water in Step 1 under “For the Red Chile Sauce.” Use 6 cups of water to soak the chiles, then save one cup to blend and discard the rest.
When making the red sauce how much is supposed to go in the pozole? With what I made it came out to be about 2 cups…does that make sense? Lol
I’m not sure if I understand. lol. Everything, the entire sauce goes into the pot.
Hi Maggie! Thanks for this easy to follow recipe. When I’m boiling the pork, is it normal for so much of the water to evaporate? I think I left the heat up too high so the water level has gone down. Can I just add more water? Thanks in advance!
Yes, add more water, but taste for salt. You might need to add salt.
I married a first generation Mexican American and he loves when I make this pozole recipe. It’s super easy to follow (as all your recipes are) and so delicious.
That’s great to hear. Glad you enjoyed this recipe for pozole rojo.
This soup looks delicious and looks so easy to make.
I will def add this recipe to my collections.
You’re going to love it!
We don’t eat pork, so we made it with chicken and the heat from the chile peppers was perfect for us! Absolutely delicious!
That’s wonderful to hear!
Dumb question, if made in the crockpot, do you still cook it in the 10 cups of water
Not a dumb question at all. It depends on the size of your crockpot. Cover halfway to 3/4 of the pork with water. What happens is the juices of the pork will be released when cooked. You don’t want to overflow your crockpot. Hope that makes sense.
I’ve read so many different ways of making pozole. I’ve had it where the meat is so, so tasty, great flavor. Is it best to fry n’ season the meat before adding it in the soup? I’ve made it once and my meat had NO FLAVOR n’ I was so bummed. What am I doing wrong? I love this soup…
You can season and sear the meat first. That will add flavor to the meat. My first thought, though, was that maybe you didn’t add enough onion, garlic, and salt to the water when the pork was cooking. The red sauce will give the meat a lot of good flavor too. Hope this helps!
i have never had pozole Rojo before but it sure looks delicious! will have to try out the recipe!
So good! Hope you try it