Easy Pozole Mexican Soup Recipe & Simple Mexican Food Menu

Looking for easy pork recipes? Try this simple version of Pozole Mexican soup. It's a healthy, homemade soup recipe for a simple holiday Mexican food menu.

Authentic, traditional Mexican Pozole is made by simmering a pig head. In addition, the dried, specialty corn has to be soaked for hours in lime water, the hard outer shell rubbed off each kernel, and then the swollen corn rinsed several times.

This unusual dish was not exactly what I had in mind when I’d told the newest addition to the boys’ home (where I worked as the food manager and cook) to let me know if there was anything he was particularly missing.

“My dad’s a Mexican,” he said. “My mom only cooks Mexican food. I’m used to eating it every day.”

He stood there, waiting for me to say that the Mexican food menu he proposed was possible, but I hesitated. While I knew how to make the healthy, homemade pork and hominy soup he was asking for, my options to buy the needed ingredients was a super Walmart and a corner grocery. Located out in the middle of nowhere, that wasn’t likely. Not unless I took a few American short-cuts.

Mexican Food Menu Made Easy – Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Healthy Homemade Soup Recipe

Pozole is a specialty. It’s traditionally served as a celebratory, homemade soup made with pork or chicken, and believed to bring good luck throughout the coming year if eaten on New Years’ Eve. This one-bowl meal that everyone garnishes themselves, and served with hot corn tortillas or crunchy tortilla chips on the side, makes an extremely easy gluten free, dairy free Mexican food menu when entertaining; and especially simple for the holidays.

Depending on the region, this chicken or pork recipe can be made in one of three different ways, with each version taking upon itself one of Mexico’s national colors: white, red, or green. The white version called Pozole Blanco consists of pork, pozole corn (or hominy), and little else. The red version called Pozole Rojo is made with an assortment of dried chilies and either chicken or pork. The green version called Pozole Verde is often made with chicken, along with pumpkin seeds and tomatillos.

While breaking away from authentic Mexican tradition, this simplified version also combines all three traditions into a single gluten free, dairy free Mexican soup. By overlapping the colors, and taking advantage of convenience foods such as stewed canned tomatoes, it makes an easy, healthy homemade soup good enough to serve on a regular basis.

To complete the menu, serve this tasty, easy pork recipe with wedges of fresh pineapple and a creamy, flan for dessert. If following a dairy free diet, the flan can easily be made with coconut milk or other dairy-free alternative. While not everyone enjoys baked custard, the Mexican soup received raves and was asked for on a weekly basis.

Easy Pozole Mexican Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon lard [1/2 oz]
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 5 or 6 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1-1/2 pounds of pork shoulder or butt, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 cups water [1 litre]
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt [9 g]
• 4 cups homemade chicken broth (or good quality canned) [1 litre]
• 2 large cans of hominy, drained and rinsed well
• 2 cans of stewed tomatoes, including liquid, tomatoes chopped
• 8-oz can chopped green chilies
• 2 large fresh jalapenos
• 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano [1.5 g]
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin [1 g]
• Dried red chili flakes to taste

For garnishing:

• shredded cabbage or lettuce
• sliced radishes
• chopped green onions
• chopped fresh jalapenos
• chopped avocados
• shredded cilantro
• crushed red pepper flakes
• fresh lime wedges (or lemons)

Method:

1. Heat lard in a large soup pot over medium heat.
2. Add onion and garlic, and saute until soft and just beginning to brown.
3. Add water, pork, and salt.
4. Bring to a boil over high heat; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 2 hours, until pork cubes are tender. Check frequently, and add more water if necessary to keep pork completely covered.
5. Add chicken broth, hominy, tomatoes, green chilies, and fresh jalapenos.
6. Season to taste with oregano, cumin, and crushed chilies.
7. Simmer on low for 1 to 2 hours, or more. The longer you simmer it, the better the flavor.
8. Place each of the desired garnishes in separate small bowls, and allow each person eating to serve themselves.
9. Serve with warm, softened corn tortillas; or tortilla chips.