20-Minute Easy Vegan Pozole Verde

20-Minute Easy Vegan Pozole Verde – Think pozole needs meat? Think again! You’ll never miss the meat in this EASY, hearty, and satisfying pozole that’s full of authentic Mexican flavors!! PERFECT for busy weeknights and chilly weather!!

What’s In The Pozole Verde?

Let me start by saying I know it’s not typical to have a vegetarian or vegan pozole in Mexico but the great thing about the world we live in these days is that you can customize recipes so they suit your needs, thanks in large part to pulling elements of various recipes from the internet, and combining them to suit your tastes. 

So although this pozole may not be traditional sans pork or beef, it’s full of lots of authentic pozole flavors, it’s super filling, satisfying, and hearty.

It’s also easy, ready in 20 minutes, healthy, naturally gluten-free, and perfect for busy weeknights and cold weather.

The pozole contains:

• Tomatillos
• Poblano peppers
• Jalapeno peppers
• White onion
• Vegetable broth
• Garlic
• Cumin
• Mexican oregano
• Coriander
• Kidney Beans
• Hominy
• Cilantro
• Lime Juice
• Salt and pepper
• Your favorite garnishes such as radishes, avocado, cotija cheese (skip or use a vegan cheese if you want to keep it vegan rather than vegetarian)

How To Make Pozole

To a blender add raw tomatillos, poblanos, jalapenos, onion, vegetable broth, and blend.

Meanwhile, saute additional poblano peppers and onion with olive oil before adding garlic, cumin, oregano, and coriander.

Add the blended mixture to the sauteed mixture and then add kidney beans, hominy, and finish with cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper to taste, and your favorite garnishes.

It’s really such a simple recipe that is bursting with so many vibrant green vegetables and herbs.

How Does The Pozole Taste?

When my daughter saw a blender canister full of raw tomatillos, poblanos, jalapeno, onion, and broth she was highly concerned about what I was making, but after she tasted the pozole she was pleasantly surprised by just how good it tasted.

It’s herbaceous, and even though it’s a cooked soup, it’s still tastes fresh and clean.

Despite a variety of peppers, it’s not spicy in the least because I removed the seeds from all the peppers. If you want it to read spicier, include the seeds, or just sprinkle in a few pinches of cayenne pepper.

The hominy adds wonderful chewiness. Hominy is corn but if you’ve never had hominy I would almost say that it tastes like corn meets gnocchi meets a potato. It’s really chewy thanks to a process called nixtamalization which you can read all about on Google. Suffice to say, it’s a must-have for pozole.

The kidney beans are perfect but other types of beans would work including pinto beans or even black beans. Again, we’re back to embracing non-traditionalism here.

I went heavy handed on the cumin as well as the coriander and Mexican oregano. You can always start with less and add more if you’re concerned about adding too much at once. However, you need to flavor lots of green plants here and the best way to do that is with plenty of spices. And salt.

It’s important to salt soup adequately so it doesn’t taste bland. If it tastes bland in the least, add a pinch more salt and keep adding until it has the right flavor balance.

I used 16 ounces of vegetable broth but if you want more broth or like brothier soups, add additional broth to taste.

Pozole Garnishing Options

I used radishes and cotija cheese which isn’t vegan, but I am pointing it out again so that the vegan police don’t come commenting harshly. Use vegan cheese or omit it if the vegan aspect is important to you.

Raw onions, shredded lettuce or cabbage, avocado, lime wedges, or extra cilantro all make for great garnishes. 

Easy Salsa Verde 

If you’re ever in need a quick and easy homemade salsa verde, the blender portion of the tomatillos, poblanos, jalapenos, onion, and vegetable broth is exactly what I’d recommend and it’s perfect. 

Just mentioning this as a tip because in the future I may likely reference back to this post about how to make salsa verde and now it’s here.

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5 from 8 votes

20-Minute Easy Vegan Pozole Verde

By Averie Sunshine

20-Minute Easy Vegan Pozole Verde - Think pozole needs meat? Think again! You'll never miss the meat in this EASY, hearty, and satisfying pozole that's full of authentic Mexican flavors!! PERFECT for busy weeknights and chilly weather!!

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 6

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Ingredients 

Blender

• ▢ roughly chop or quarter all ingredients depending on how powerful your blender is:
• ▢ 1 pound tomatillos, husks removed
• ▢ 2 large poblano peppers, seeds removed
• ▢ 2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed
• ▢ ½ of 1 extra-large white onion, peeled
• ▢ 1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth, or more if needed to get your blender moving

Stockpot

• ▢ 3 tablespoons olive oil
• ▢ 1 large poblano pepper, seeds removed and diced small
• ▢ ½ of 1 extra-large white onion, peeled and diced small
• ▢ 6 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
• ▢ 2 to 3 teaspoons cumin, start with 2 and add more to taste later, if desired
• ▢ 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• ▢ 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano, regular dried oregano may be substituted
• ▢ two 15.5-ounce cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• ▢ two 15.5-ounce cans white hominy, drained and rinsed
• ▢ 2 + teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste
• ▢ 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• ▢ ¼ cup lime juice, or to taste
• ▢ 1 + cup low-sodium vegetable broth, optional or more if desired
• ▢ ¼ to ⅓ cup fresh cilantro, finely minced; or to taste plus more for garnishing if desired
• ▢ radishes, sliced thin for garnishing
• ▢ cotija cheese, optional for garnishing
• ▢ avocado, optional for garnishing
• ▢ cilantro, optional for garnishing

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions 

• Blender - To a large canister of a high-speed blender, add all ingredients, and blend on high power until smooth, about 30 seconds; set aside.
• Stockpot - Add the olive oil, poblano, onion, and saute over medium-high heat for about 7 minutes, or until vegetables have softened; stir intermittently.
• Add the garlic, cumin, coriander, oregano, and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant, stirring nearly continuously.
• Add the blender canister mixture to the stockpot and stir to combine.
• Add the beans, hominy, salt, pepper, lime juice, stir, and allow the mixture to simmer for about 5 minutes, or until hot. Optionally, if you prefer a more brothy pozole, add an additional 1 cup vegetable broth, or more if desired.
• Add the cilantro, stir to combine, and taste the pozole. As necessary, add additional salt, pepper, or spices. I added about 3 heaping teaspoons kosher salt in total. Tip - If your pozole tastes at all flat or bland, it likely needs more salt.
• Garnish with radishes and optionally with cotija, avocado, additional cilantro, or your favorite pozole garnishes. Recipe will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 343kcal, Carbohydrates: 46g, Protein: 11g, Fat: 15g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g, Cholesterol: 1mg, Sodium: 899mg, Fiber: 12g, Sugar: 11g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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