My vegan pozole rojo is made with an intensely flavorful base of blended chiles and spices, hearty black and pinto beans, and hominy. It is so hearty, and the taste will blow you away!
Pozole is the ultimate Mexican comfort food. Seriously, I love my vegan tacos, vegan enchiladas, or a good black bean burrito, but this vegan pozole takes comforting to a whole new level. This cozy stew is made with a base of spices and chile peppers, along with beans, hominy, and ALL the toppings.
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Traditional pozole is a meat-based stew, and when I decided to veganize it I considered all kinds of plant-based alternatives, and ended up using trusty old beans. They're hearty, delicious, and work great with the other flavors in this recipe. Vegan pozole made with beans is also much, much simpler to make than traditional meat-based versions, because beans are easy to work with and don't require much cooking time.
Pozole also comes in a handful of varieties, including pozole blanco (white pozole), pozole verde (green pozole), and, the type we're making today, pozole rojo, which gets it's name from that gorgeous red color created by the blended chiles and tomato sauce.
Ingredients You'll Need
- Dried chiles. We're using dried guajillo chiles and chiles de arbol. Some regular grocery stores will carry these, but if yours doesn't, you can buy them in a Latin American grocery store or online. The guajillo chiles are essential! The chiles de arbol can be omitted if you want to reduce the heat level of your stew.
- Olive oil. Other high heat oils can be substituted if needed, such as avocado oil, corn oil, or canola oil.
- Onion.
- Garlic.
- Spices. You'll need dried cumin, dried oregano, ancho chile powder, smoked paprika, and bay leaves, all of which you can find in the spice aisle of most grocery stores.
- Vegetable broth.
- Hominy. Is this a new ingredient to you? Hominy is alkali treated corn kernels. The treatment process is similar to that used for masa harina, which is used to make corn tortillas, and I find the flavor of hominy to be pretty similar to corn tortillas. You'll also find it has a starchy texture. Most stores sell hominy in cans, in the international foods aisle. It's available in white and yellow varieties, and either will work in this recipe.
- Beans. We're using a can of black beans and pinto beans, but these varieties aren't critical. You're welcome to use two cans of black, two cans of pinto, or even another variety like kidney beans.
- Tomato sauce.
- Salt and pepper.
- Toppings. Toppings are essential to a delicious bowl of pozole! I've suggested cabbage, radishes, avocado, and fresh cilantro. You don't need all of them, but use at least some or you'll be missing out, big time. Feel free to use additional toppings as well, such as shredded vegan cheese, guacamole, vegan sour cream, and/or cashew cream.
- Lime wedges. Serve your pozole with some lime wedges on the side, so guests can squeeze some lime juice into their bowls.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Step 1: Soak your dried chiles. Place them into a small container and cover them with just boiled water. Let them sit for about fifteen minutes.
Step 2: Place the dried chiles and water into a blender, then blend everything until smooth.
Step 3: Heat your olive oil in a large pot, then add diced onion. Cook the onion for a few minutes until it starts to soften up.
Step 4: Add minced garlic, cumin, oregano, ancho chile powder, and smoked paprika to the pot. Sauté the mixture for about a minute.
Step 5: Now stir in your broth, hominy, beans, tomato sauce, and bay leaves, along with the blended chile pepper sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
Step 6: Once the stew has finished simmering, take the pot off of heat and remove the bay leaves. Add some salt and pepper to taste. Feel free to adjust any other seasonings to your liking at this point.
Step 7: Your vegan pozole is ready to enjoy! Ladle it into bowls and pile on the toppings. Serve it with some lime wedges on the side.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover vegan pozole will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about three days, or in the freezer for about three months.
Variations
- Sweet potato pozole. Replace one can of beans with a diced sweet potato. The smoky, spicy flavors in this stew go great with sweet potato!
- Smoky chipotle pozole. Add a few tablespoons of adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers for an extra smoky, extra spicy stew.
- Jackfruit pozole. I only recommend making this version if you've cooked with jackfruit in the past. Add a can of drained and rinsed young green jackfruit at the same time as the onion. Shred the jackfruit with a fork as you cook it. It will take on a texture similar to pulled pork. If you make this variation, I recommend cutting down the amount of beans to just one can.
Frequently Asked Questions
It sure is!
The chiles de arbol add some heat, but it's still on the mild side. You can omit them for an even milder version, or if you want more control over the heat level, season the stew with cayenne pepper or your favorite hot sauce to taste instead.
Sure, although it won't really be pozole without the hominy. Having said that, you could swap it out with 3 ½ cups of fresh or frozen corn kernels. If using frozen, be sure to thaw them out first, and add them during the last three minutes of simmering.
More Latin American-Inspired Soups & Stews
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Pozole Rojo
Ingredients
- 1 ounce dried guajillo chiles
- 2 dried chiles de arbol (Note 1)
- ¾ cup just boiled water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon ancho chile powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 5 cups vegetable broth
- 2 (15 ounce/425 gram) cans hominy, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15.5 ounce/439 gram) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15.5 ounce/439 gram) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
- 8 (8 ounce/227 gram) can tomato sauce
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For Serving
- Shredded cabbage
- Sliced avocado
- Sliced radishes
- Chopped fresh cilantro
- Lime wedges
Instructions
- Place both kinds of dried chiles into a small container. Pour the just boiled water over them. Try to get the peppers submerged under the water as best as you can. Let the peppers soak for about fifteen minutes, stirring them occasionally. You can prep your other ingredients in the meantime.
- Transfer the chiles and their soaking water to a blender. Blend until smooth. Set this aside for now.
- Coat the bottom of a large pot with the oil and place it over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the onion. Sweat the onion for about five minutes, stirring occasionally, until it becomes soft and translucent.
- Stir in the minced garlic, ground cumin, oregano, ancho chile pepper, and smoked paprika. Sauté the mixture for about a minute, stirring constantly.
- Stir in the broth, hominy, black beans, pinto beans, tomato sauce, bay leaves, and blended chile peppers. Raise the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Lower the heat and let the mixture simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove the pot from heat. Remove the bay leaves and season the stew with salt and pepper to taste.
- Ladle into bowls, then top each with shredded cabbage, sliced avocado, radishes, and chopped cilantro. Serve with lime wedges on the side.
Notes
- Chiles de arbol will add some heat to the stew, but it should still be rather mild if you only use two. For an even milder stew, use just one or omit them entirely. For a spicier stew, use a few extra.
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Not a bad recipe the posole with sweet potatoes. Used roasted Big Jim green chilies instead of the poblano pepper and substituted smoked paprika. Definitely some heat and real big flavor. Nothing subtle about it.
Sounds delicious!!
Hi. This was delicious, but a little to spicy for us. Would the heat have come from the poblano, or from the chipotle chili. I may have used too big of a poblano. Love the hominy!
I'm glad you liked it, even though it was too spicy! The heat actually comes from both. With poblano peppers there's a big range of potential heat level - some are super spicy and some very mild. If you want to be on the safe side you could sub a bell pepper. The chipotle adds heat and smoky flavor, so if you'd like to cut back on that try replacing some of it with smoked paprika.
Take a jalapeno or two as you wear gloves cut the tops off and clean out.all the seeds. After that boil in water or water with a few tablespoons of vinegar. Boil for about 5 minutes. Should take a lot.of the spice out of the pepper it does work on other peppers also like the poblano. I was taught this by a guy who makes Jalapeno poppers cream cheese bacon wrapped style.
Runs a BBQ joint and makes over 1,000 just on Sundays. Yet he gets orders for mild poppers so this is how he mellows it out. He said sugar also helps but never tried it. Warning stem will irritate your eyes and skin you have a pot full of water and pepper oil homemade mace so dump it down the toilet or sink right away.
Love the positive winter comments! I agree winter is beautiful. This is what's for dinner tonight! I just discovered your site and I am super excited by so many of the recipes. They are great! Made the chorizo spiced lentil stew last night and it was yummy.
Yay!! I love hearing from others who are all about the cooler months! Glad you enjoyed the lentil stew! I hope this one was a hit too!
When do you add the sweet potato?
With the spices! Thanks for catching that! I've fixed it. :)
This was amazing and oh so tasty!! I took some for lunch and everyone was saying oh that smells so good and looks so yummy!! Thank you for this receipe
Awesome!! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks Debbie!
I love winter but I am a little glad it is over. Mostly because my kiddo doesn't like to go for long walks in below 40 degree weather. I can't imagine why lol I even got a souped up attachment for his stroller to be extra cozy warm. I have a feeling next winter will be more fun for him though.
ANYWAYS- I am excited for this recipe. Hominy was on sale at my grocery store so I bought it.... and didn't think about what to do with it lol So This might be a good starting point.
I'm definitely for team winter, BUT I totally get what you're saying because I can't stand going for walks in the cold. :) I think this would be a great starting point for the hominy - if you're anything like me though you might want to start putting it in EVERYTHING.
Pozole is s Mexican dish, delicious but full of fat. I celebrate this idea if yours. The plate is meatless, full of color and very healthy. Thanks. I'm ready for having it tomorrow with everything home made.
Thanks Sandra! I hope you enjoy it!!
I'm always looking for easy meatless meals, and this one looks delicious! We haven't had much of a winter, either. Crazy!
Thanks Melissa!! We got a little bit of snow over the weekend so that made me happy. :)