Vegan Pozole
Vegan Pozole! Hearty, protein-rich, flavorful soup made with hominy, peppers and beans. Vegan and gluten-free.
Back in grad school, pozole was known as the ultimate hangover cure. My roommates would rock-paper-scissor to see who would run down to the taqueria Sunday morning to grab a few bowls. I vaguely remember the smell of chili pepper, rendered fat, and smoky broth.
A vegetarian then, I never got the chance to try pozole. While my roommates would argue over the last bite, I was comforted in my cheese quesadilla or breakfast burrito, two fabulous hangover cures in their own right. But, I’m always curious about traditional dishes that I miss out on.
Hence, the inspiration for this Vegan Pozole.
A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon hominy in the store. I was instantly brought back to 2007, reminiscing about the previous evening over bowls of pozole. I’m sure hominy is used in countless dishes, but there’s only one that I know about. So, I bought a few cans, came home and got to work. I can’t promise that this is authentic pozole, but it’s pretty damn good.
You’ll need dried chilis to make the flavorful broth, which can be found in traditional grocery stores, specialty marts or online. I tend to find dried chilis near the produce section.
From there, it’s all about layering chili spices, hominy, and peppers. To up the protein, I added kidney beans, which provide the right amount of bite and heft. Pozole is like chili, it doesn’t really count if there aren’t toppings. Try lightly fried tortilla strips, radishes, cilantro, and avocado. Always avocado.
This is one vegan stew you can enjoy all winter long, with or without a crazy night of tequila.
If you try this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, and tag your Instagram photos with #delishknowledge . I absolutely love seeing your creations. Happy cooking!
Vegan Pozole
Ingredients
- 2 dried chiles de arbol
- 2 dried ancho chiles
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- Yellow onion, diced
- Poblano pepper, diced
- 1 tablespoon each: chile powder, ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano, can sub regular oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 x 15 ounce cans hominy, drained
- 1 x 15 ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 cups vegetable broth, I prefer Pacific Food’s vegetable broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
- toppings of choice: sliced radishes, diced avocado, cilantro, lime wedges, crispy tortilla strips
Instructions
- First, remove the stems from the dried chilis and as many seeds as possible. Next, place dried chilis in a bowl with hot water, submerging the chilis with a plate if needed until soft, about 15 minutes. Then, transfer the chiles and 1 cup of the soaking liquid to a high-powered blender along with the garlic. Puree until smooth.
- Next, in a stock-pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and poblano pepper and cook until brown, very soft and tender, about 15 minutes.
- Then, add in the spices (chile powder, cumin, dried oregano, paprika) and cook another minute or two.
- Then, stir in 1 cup of the chile sauce (can add more depending on spice preference), hominy, beans, vegetable broth, bay leaf and bring to a boil.
- Next, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, until thickened.
- Finally, stir in the lime juice and cilantro and season to taste as needed, with salt and pepper.
I now see where the garlic is added. For meat eaters adding shredded browned jackfruit makes a great meat like texture.
Love the idea of shredded jackfruit!
A Mexican friend has adopted this recipe and serves it to her siblings, children and grandchildren in Mexico! It’s a hit! I have re-read it several times and no mention where or when to add the garlic. I am putting in at the same time as the dried spices.
This was delicious! We didn’t have a poblano so we substituted a Serrano. It was definitely a little spicy, but perfect for our tastes. I’m excited to have leftovers today as I think the thickening over night will make it even better. Thank you for the simple and tasty recipe!
Recipe is awesome. FWIW, I added a yellow pepper to the poblano and some basil + chipotle to the spices. Also found that using the kidney bean + hominy water with bouillon (ILO broth) and dried shitake (2x) upped the umami.
So glad you liked it! Thanks Darren!
It says a lot about your worldview that you call Italian oregano “regular” even though Mexican food is native to your Homeland and the Europeans we’re immigrants.
Thanks for sharing this recipe, it’s delicious.
Hi Karl, my dad is from Italy so actually, Italian oregano is “regular” to me. Glad you liked it!
I omitted the chili powder (not missed from ‘heat’ or flavor) and used only 1/2 of the pepper sauce (wow, I could smell the heat after I took the cover off from blender). This was absolutely DELICIOUS and spicy enough. Layers of flavor and texture is very good, I also loved the extra protein with kidney beans!