Pozole Blanco is one of those dishes that brings a big smile to my face. Just the thought of coming home to the nostalgic aroma of this traditional Mexican soup takes me back to memories of Durango, Mexico.
This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
It’s comfort food, often served for special occasions, that I love to make for my family. I don’t think this recipe is hard at all. It just takes time, and you can very easily make it in the slow cooker.
This recipe is different from Pozole Rojo which uses a red chile sauce or Pozole Verde which uses a green sauce.
- Start by cutting up the main ingredient – a whole chicken.
- Add all the chicken pieces to a large stockpot.
Nowadays, you can find a whole chicken cut up at most grocery stores. Or ask your friendly neighborhood butcher to do it for you. Reserve the bones to make chicken broth.
- Add half a white onion and two cloves of garlic to the pot.
More fabulous flavor to savor. So, do yourself a favor and add these ingredients.
Pozole Blanco translated into English means “white pozole.”
You might also see people misspell the word as “posole” or call this dish “posole blanco” or “white posole.” They all mean the exact same thing.
- Add plenty of water (4 quarts of water or more) to the stock pot.
- Enough to cover the entire chicken.
You don’t need to use an entire chicken. If you are partial to only white meat, then use only chicken breast.
If you prefer dark meat, use legs, thighs, or both.
Note: The water will create a delicious chicken broth. You can very well use store-bought broth or water + bouillon. Not a fan of store bought chicken bouillon? Here’s a How to Make Chicken Bouillon,
- Put a lid on the pot
- Cook for 1 hour at medium-high heat.
Don’t flip your lid. The “P” in pozole stands for “Patience.” You can’t rush the magic of this soup.
This is the base for our soup. It is the Chicken Soup for your Mexican soul. Comforting. Nourishing.
Your skills are flourishing when you master this traditional dish. It’s an essential step.
Table of Contents
Pro Tips:
- Use leftover chicken.
- Use either store-bought chicken broth or homemade chicken broth.
- Skip to step 8.
- Once it is thoroughly cooked, remove the chicken from the pot.
Place in a glass Pyrex plate or a heat-resistant container. Let it cool slightly.
- Remove the onion and garlic from the stock pot.
- Reserve all of the liquid from the cooking process. Taste it for salt.
That stuff is liquid gold. You have a pot of gold, and you’re not even a leprechaun. No rainbow required.
Get totally forked! You’re going to need TWO forks to shred the chicken into small bite-sized pieces.
Word to the Wise: Be sure the chicken is cool enough to the touch. No one wants to get burned. Once you’re done, return it to the pot.
- Drain the can of hominy.
- Then add it to the pot.
Rinse my hominy before adding. It might be an unnecessary step, but I don’t want any of that yucky can flavor. You want harmony from your hominy.
If you didn’t make enough chicken broth, add water or chicken broth.
This is a soup. It’s soup-er! lol.
See recipe card for slow cooker instructions.
- Add a cube of chicken bouillon.
- Add more water.
If you made plenty of that delicious homemade chicken broth when you were cooking the chicken, you can skip this step.
You can always use salt instead of bouillon.
- Cover the stock pot and bring to a boil.
- Let it simmer for 45 minutes.
Your house will smell amazing! Your neighbors will envy you, and your family will love you. Love is all you need, or so the Beatles have told me.
How Long Does It Last?
- In the fridge, this white pozole recipe will lasts up to 5 days.
- In the freezer, it lasts up to 3 months.
More Mexican Soups:
Toppings:
- Mexican oregano
- shredded cabbage
- cilantro
- lime wedges
- chile de árbol
- radishes
- white onion
What are the Different Kinds of Pozoles?
- Red Pozole: Made with a guajillo chiles and ancho chiles red sauce.
- Green Pozole: Made with a green chile sauce of pepitas, poblano peppers, cilantro, or serranos.
- Pozole Blanco: A basic soup with no chile sauce added. However, chile can be added as a topping. (See my recipe below)
- Pozole Negro: Made with huitlacoche, or a black mushroom fungus. Sometimes served with black beans.
HUNGRY FOR MORE?
Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter for my latest recipes and videos.
Pozole Blanco (Chicken Pozole)
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken chopped into pieces.
- ½ onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- 10-12 cups of water divided
- 4 cups canned hominy drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 cube of chicken bouillon or substitute for chicken broth
- Optional Toppings:
- Diced Onions
- Dried Oregano
- Shredded Cabbage or Lettuce
- Chile de Arbol
- Lime
- Cilantro
Instructions
- Add all the chicken pieces to a large stock pot.
- Add ½ onion, 2 garlic cloves, salt and pepper.
- Add water. About 5-6 cups. Enough to cover the entire chicken.
- Put a lid on the pot and cook for 1 hour.
- Remove the chicken from the pot and let cool slightly.
- Reserve all the liquid.
- When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred.
- Return the shredded chicken to the pot.
- Add the hominy and oregano.
- Pour remaining water into the pot.
- Add chicken bouillon.
- (You can omit the chicken bouillon and use chicken broth instead).
- Cover and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and cook for 45 minutes.
- Serve and add desired toppings.
Video
Notes
- In the fridge, pozole lasts up to 5 days.
- In the freezer, pozole lasts up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Maggie Unzueta is the writer/blogger, photographer, recipe developer, videographer, and creator of In Mama Maggie's Kitchen. She has been developing easy and authentic Mexican food, Mexican-inspired recipes, and traveling tips since 2010. From family recipes to her extensive travels throughout Mexico, she brings traditional Mexican flavors from South of the Border and into your kitchen. Maggie has been featured in notable culinary websites and other media outlets. For more details, check out her About page.
Loved how tender the chicken was in this pozole blanco! Will definitely make again!
So glad you enjoyed it Michele!
Nothing beats some good ole Mexican comfort food – delicious!
I think so too. Hope you try this recipe!
What a delicious recipe, it looks so great. All those flavors. I’m going to save this for those cold winter nights.
It’s delicious. Hope you try it!
Wonderful – I love that it can be made in a slow cooker!
Isn’t it great? Hope you try it!
Oh how I love Mexican dishes, Maggie! This Pozole Blanco looks really delicious.
Glad you liked it Dennis!
So full of flavour – we love this dish. A great new way for us to enjoy chicken!
Right? It’s delicious!
Oh my, this looks so good! I always think of pozole as green but I can’t wait to try this one!
Hope you try this recipe. It’s amazing!
I love that this has a slow cooker option! So helpful for those busy days!
And so easy too! Hope you try this recipe
Just made this. My first time making Pozole. It was easy. And it tastes great.
So good right? We love this one too
I’ve never heard of hominy before, but I’ve just Googled it, and I think I ate it when I was in the Dominican Republic – my mum and I couldn’t work out what it was! It’s like the texture of chickpeas, but the flavour of sweetcorn 🙂 x
Exactly! Hominy is delicious. I love the texture. A spoonful of Pozole Blanco with hominy… YUM!
My mouth’s watering after reading this! I love Mexican food, so will definitely be trying out this recipe for the family
Aww.. thank you. I’m sure your family will love this recipe.
This sounds delicious, I definitely want to attempt to make it x
Yes! So delicious! Pozole blanco is one of those dishes that’s super yummy especially during the winter months.
I am definitely going to be bookmarking this page. I love pozole but I would have been nervous to try making it at home. This doesn’t look too hard, and I know it’s delicious already. Yummy!
It’s really not hard to make pozole blanco at all. Just follow the pictures or the video, and you should be fine. Enjoy!
This looks lovely, Mexican is one of my favourite meals. I could eat this now.
Me too. Chicken Pozole is the best on cold days. Yum!
This is amazing! The lime just makes it seem that this dish is tangy and sweet in taste!
Yes to all of that. I love adding lime to the pozole blanco. Makes it taste soooo good.
Oh my, my mouth just watered! I wish I knew how to make pozole.
Making pozole blanco is super easy. It’s all the garnishes that make it look like it’s a hard dish. Watch the video for help. Hope you make it one day.
This is such a cozy dish! Perfect for all-day rest at home and maybe on the days when it rains and pours. I love calamansi or citrus fruits to add up some accent to dishes!
Pozole Blanco is just that: COZY! I made this when it was raining. Such a great, comforting dish.
I’m always looking for interesting check dishes. I can’t wait to try this one. It looks amazing!!
Sounds great. Hope you enjoy this pozole blanco. 🙂
this looks wonderful , i am fan of tastsy chicken and will defintely try this out
I love a good chicken recipe. This pozole blanco (chicken pozole) recipe is a must try!
This looks absolutely delicious! I am a sucker for Mexican food, and this looks like it would be really great to make with the family one night! I think even my kids would like it.
My son loves a big bowl of Pozole blanco. It’s not spicy, but you can make it spicy by adding some of the spicy toppings.