Vegetarian Red Pozole

4.95 from 17 votes

This is a great Vegetarian Red Pozole recipe to keep in mind! Be sure to add some savoriness to your Pozole -- I used some veggie stock with nutritional yeast, but you could also just add some fat to your broth to get the same effect.

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Servings:

Calories: 145kcal

Author: Mexican Please

Ingredients

5-6 Ancho dried chiles
5-6 Guajillo dried chiles (or New Mexican)
1 small onion
6 cloves garlic
10 cups stock (2.5 quarts)
1-2 cans hominy (approx. 30 oz. cans)
1/2 cup rice (optional)
carrots, cooked beans, other veggies (optional)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
pinch of ground clove (optional)
pinch of ground cinnamon (optional)
freshly cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon salt (plus more to taste)

For the garnish (choose your favorites):

thinly sliced cabbage (tossed with lime and salt)
thinly sliced radishes
avocado slices
thinly sliced Serrano or Jalapeno chiles
freshly chopped cilantro
crispy tortilla strips
squeeze of lime

Instructions

Start by wiping off the dried chiles, then de-stemming and de-seeding them. Give the chile pieces a quick roast in a 400F oven for 1-2 minutes. Add the roasted chile pieces to a bowl, cover them with hot tap water, and let them reconstitute for 20-30 minutes or until you need them.
Finely chop an onion and add it to a large soup pot along with a glug of oil. Cook the onion over medium heat until softened and then add 6 minced garlic cloves. Briefly cook the garlic. Scoop about half of this onion-garlic mixture into a blender where it will become part of the chile puree, and leave the other half in the soup pot.
Add 8 cups of stock to the pot along with the drained and rinsed hominy. I used two 30 oz. cans of hominy for this batch and that will make your Pozole a bit more chunky. For a brothier Pozole use just a single can of hominy.
Before draining the chiles be sure to take a taste of the soaking liquid. If you like the taste then you can use it to make the chile puree. If it tastes bitter to you then discard it and use stock to blend the chiles (that's what I did for this batch). Note: if you like the flavor of the chiles' soaking liquid you are also welcome to use more of it for the Pozole broth in place of stock.
Drain the chiles and add them to the blender. Half of the onion-garlic mixture should already be in the blender. Add 2 cups of stock and combine well. Add the chile puree to the soup pot. You can optionally strain the chile puree to remove any seeds or bits of skin, but lately I skip this step.
Add the remaining spices to the soup pot: 1 tablespoon Mexican oregano, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, a pinch of ground clove (optional), a pinch of ground cinnamon (optional), some freshly cracked black pepper, and 1 teaspoon salt. I also added 1/2 cup uncooked white rice and some diced carrots, but this is optional. Stir well and bring to a boil. Lower heat to maintain a simmer, cover, and let simmer for 20-25 minutes.
Be sure to take a final taste for seasoning! I added another generous pinch of salt to this batch, but keep in mind that salt level will depend on which stock you're using. I used a low sodium homemade stock and had to add 2 heaping teaspoons of salt to this batch, but if using store-bought stock you won't need to add as much salt as I did.
Serve immediately with your choice of garnish. I topped with thinly sliced cabbage that was tossed with lime juice and salt, avocado slices, serrano chile slices, and freshly chopped cilantro.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge where it will keep for a few days. To reheat simply add Pozole to a saucepan over medium heat and cook until simmering. If it seems thick when re-heating I will typically add a splash of stock (or water) to thin it out.

Notes

I used this Better Vegetable Stock that contains nutritional yeast for some umami flavor. So what happens if you add nutritional yeast directly to a batch of vegetarian Pozole? Haven't tried that yet but let me know if you do!

There's leeway on the dried chile combo. I love combining Anchos with either Guajillos or New Mexican chiles, but you'll still get a good result if you only have Anchos available.

Be sure to add a final burst of acidity to your Pozole as it makes a big difference in flavor! A squeeze of lime does the job quite well. For this batch I tossed the thinly sliced cabbage with lime juice (and a pinch of salt) and it was yummers :)

Nutrition