My Family's Comforting Pozole Rojo Relies on This 1 Game-Changing Ingredient

Pozole in its many iterations has been a beloved part of celebrations and family gatherings in Mexico for centuries. I grew up eating pozole rojo, a hearty pork version of the soup infused with a blend of fruity chiles and warm spices. The soup—which is studded with tender morsels of pork and hominy and finished with a rainbow of toppings like tostadas, lime wedges, thin slices of cabbage, onion, avocado, and more—was a mainstay at family birthdays and other celebrations. My aunts would (and still do) pull out an extra large stockpot just for pozole and simmer vats of the rich chile-tinged pork broth on an extra large outdoor burner, while children ran around playing and grownups gathered to laugh together. 

My family always makes batches large enough to serve dozens. We, like many Mexican families, believe pozole actually tastes better the day after it's made, as the flavors mingle and the meat and hominy soak up the broth. It’s common for families to get together the morning after a party for pozole leftovers in what’s known as the “recalentado,” which translates to "reheated" in English—it’s a solid cure for a hangover from the night before.

My first attempt to make pozole rojo without my family's help was on Valentine’s Day three years ago, for my then girlfriend. Some words of advice: Never make a dish for the first time on a special occasion. I took shortcuts and Frankensteined together an over-the-top version with seven types of dried chiles, too much cumin, and chunks of tough meat. After this failed experience, I turned to my family for help and eventually learned how to make great pozole. My recipe, which I'm sharing here, must be pretty good because my then girlfriend is now my fiancé, and I like to think my pozole has something to do with that.

Origins and Types of Pozole

It is impossible to overstate pozole rojo’s significance in Mexico's culinary canon. Pozole is more popular than ever in Mexico and has become appreciated worldwide but the soup predates the 16th century Spanish conquest of Mexico; it was an Aztec recipe centered on their staple food, corn. Today it’s usually prepared with chicken or pork, but pre-Hispanic renditions were made with animals native to Mexico like turkey or deer. (Stories about pozole originally being made with human flesh have been largely debunked as the product of colonizers who lied or exaggerated claims of cannibalism to dehumanize indigenous groups.)

The Aztecs ate pozole on special occasions and the dish continues to be significant to the people of Mexican descent in Mexico and beyond. In Mexico and Mexican communities today, pozole is both part of a weekend routine as a nourishing Sunday morning meal to share, and a go-to, feed-a-crowd dish for holidays and events.

Like many beloved, iconic recipes, pozole shapeshifts from region to region and family to family. The countless variations can be loosely classified by their colors: blanco (a simple thickened broth with meat and hominy, which often serves as the base for other types of pozole), verde (which adds blended tomatillos and other green ingredients to the mix), and rojo, which gets its brilliant hue from puréed dried chiles—the colors of pozole are the same ones that make up the Mexican flag. People are as passionate about their preference as they are about their favorite soccer team. I grew up eating just red pozole, and I didn’t even taste green pozole until after I was old enough to drive.

The Broth

While pozole can be made with a variety of meats, as mentioned above, pork broth based pozole is the most common. Pork pozole broth is typically made with shoulder meat that’s rich in collagen. The collagen releases gelatin as it slowly simmers, and thickens and imparts rich flavor to the soup as the meat tenderizes.

Along with pork shoulder, I also add pig’s feet to the broth, something I learned from my family. Simmering pig's feet with the broth is fairly common in pozole recipes, and some people even serve them in the finished dish. Pig’s feet have even more collagen than pork shoulder to further boost the broth’s porky flavor. For those less acquainted with cooking with pig’s feet, you're in for a treat: Once simmered,they’re unctious and tender and increase the broth’s meaty flavor considerably. You’ll need to look for a good butcher or go to your local Latin American, Asian, or even Polish market to find pig’s feet. If you can find them, you can also use espinazo de puerco, pork backbone, as the bones will also lend flavor and body to the soup. Or you can leave out entirely, but the soup won’t be as rich.

Beyond using the right cuts of pork, the seasonings in the basic pork broth are simple— just onion, garlic, and bay leaves. The key to a great pozole broth is to cook it low and slow to extract the most flavor and give the meat time to tenderize. Simmer or boil the broth too hard at the start of cooking, and the meat will tighten and become tough. 

The pork is served in large chunks, so it needs to be soft enough to bite through or tear a piece off with a spoon, but it shouldn’t fall into shreds when handled. To avoid this, be careful not to overcook the broth and meat in the first stage of cooking, before the chile sauce is added.

The Hominy

While a rich pork broth is the foundation for great pozole, pozole’s signature ingredient is hominy—plush, chewy kernels of nixtamalized corn. Hominy is both pozole’s oldest ingredient—the first recipes contained little more than hominy and water—and its most essential. 

Hominy is corn that has undergone nixtamalization, a process in which corn kernels are plumped by being boiled in an alkaline solution of calcium hydroxide (also simply known as cal). Nixtamalized corn can be ground into masa—which is a staple in Mexican kitchens for producing tamales, tortillas, and more—or it can be left as kernels that are rehydrated and enjoyed in soups and stews. While you could start with dried hominy when making pozole at home, I opt for the more convenient and accessible canned hominy to save a bit of time in what is already a lengthy recipe. Canned hominy is available in white or gold and while both shades of canned hominy have a fairly similar flavor and texture, gold hominy tends to be a little sweeter. 

Unlike other starchy soup additions like rice or pasta that fall apart if simmered for too long, hominy will retain its shape and pleasantly chewy texture even when simmered for long periods of time. I prefer to add the hominy when adding the chile puree so the hominy simmers in the soup for over an hour. The longer simmer time imparts hominy’s distinctive subtle nutty flavor throughout the broth.

The Chile Sauce Base

The chile purée that gives pozole rojo its name should be bold in hue but subtle in flavor—the soup should never be overpoweringly spicy. Dried chiles bring so much more than heat to the table, and in many ways, pozole is a celebration of chiles understated flavors. 

The chiles and spices used in red pozole recipes vary across families and regions. I prefer a blend of California, guajillo, and ancho chiles for a sweet, fruity, mildly spicy combination. They produce a bright red soup with little to no heat and a strong dose of acidity to balance the richness of the pork broth. 

Preparing the purée is a straightforward process: The chiles are toasted to wake up their flavor and steeped in water to soften before being blended with the soaking water, alliums, and warm spices. I always add a small amount of chicken bouillon as well for a savory boost of flavor.

The Toppings

A bowl of pozole rojo is not complete without an assortment of fresh and colorful toppings. Sitting down for a bowl of pozole should be an interactive experience in which you’re adding toppings for each bite. Always serve pozole equipped with a platter of limes, onions, tostadas, crema, radishes, avocados, and tostadas, and any other desired toppings.

While some people can be defensive about “authenticity” surrounding pozole, you should never be deterred from experimenting with toppings or flavors to enjoy it the way you want. Toss in a handful of chiles de arbol for heat or a drizzle of fish sauce for salty, savoriness. Some people crack their tostadas into their bowl to soak up the soup, while others slather crema on their tostada and eat it on the side—kind of like eating soup with crusty bread. A dusting of dried oregano is common. A shot of mezcal or tequila dropped straight into the soup is less common but not unheard of.

You don’t need to wait for a special occasion to make pozole, just make sure to share it with those you love.