Enjoy Beef Pozole Rojo at home with this easy recipe! The beef is simmered with spices until tender, creating a delicious broth. Add the hominy and then all comes together perfectly. It’s Mexican comfort food heaven!
***This post was originally published on Dec 2015. It has been updated to be more helpful.
Authentic Pozole
Hello!!! You know what time it is? It’s Pozole and Tamales time baby! These are the most traditional Mexican dishes of the festive season and I don’t know about you, but everyone I know associates December with Pozole and Tamales.
It’s the ideal hearty stew for chilly weather, Christmas and New Years, but Mexican food lovers enjoy it yearlong and especially as a weekend dish!
My mom used to make the best Pozole ever and it was always the most requested meal by family members for special occasions. She would cook a humongous pot that left us with lots of leftovers.
Speaking of leftovers, this is one of those dishes that tastes better the day after. Kind of like beef chili or meatballs in marinara sauce. So go ahead and make enough for leftovers and enjoy it even more the second day!
Ingredients
This recipe will feed about 4 people while having some leftovers. If you are feeding a crowd, good news: It doubles (or triples) beautifully! Just make sure to have a huge pot at hand.
- Meat: 1.5 pounds chuck roast trimmed and cut in 1 1/2″ chunks + 1 to 1.5 pounds bone-in shank center cut (if you’re using pork or chicken, use about 2.5 or 3 lbs of a combination of meat with bones)
- For flavor: white or yellow onion & garlic.
- Herbs: dried Mexican oregano, bay leaves.
- Seasoning: Beef bullion cubes, kosher salt, ground black pepper.
- Canned hominy.
- For the red chile sauce: 3 guajillo chiles & 3 ancho chiles (washed and with seeds removed) + garlic cloves, oregano & kosher salt.
- Garnishes: shredded cabbage diced onion, sliced radishes, fresh cilantro, lime wedges & hot sauce. Optional chopped avocados.
***Make sure to scroll all the way down to the recipe card to get the full ingredient list and written recipe.
What kind of meat should I use?
For this Pozole recipe I will use beef but it can also be made with pork or even chicken.
- Beef: Use chuck roast + bone-in shank center cut with bone.
- Pork: It can be a one of these or a combination of pork shoulder (espaldilla), pork loin or pork shoulder (lomo de puerco)
- Chicken: A combination of chicken breast, thighs & legs.
- Bones: These are essential for flavor and make sure to include some from whatever type of meat you’ll be using: neck or backbones are a good option.
How To Make Pozole Rojo
There are two main components when it comes to making pozole. First you make the chile based sauce for the broth then you cook the beef and hominy until everything is nice and tender.
Let me show you step by step how to make pozole…it’s easier than you think!
1) Make The Sauce
You can make the sauce before you start cooking the pozole up to a week in advanced. Or start this process while the meat cooks. It’s up to you!
Another sauce you can use is my delicious red sauce recipe
- Start by removing the stem and seeds from the chiles. Rinse well to remove any dust.
- Place in a medium pot along with the onion, garlic, spices & water.
- Cook on low heat for about 20 minutes or until the chiles are soft. Remove pot from heat and cool.
- Transfer to a blender or food processor along with 1 cup of the water where the chile cooked on.
- Puree chiles very well
2) Make the pozole soup
- 1) In a large pot, add the water, whole onion, oregano, bay leaf, beef bullion, salt & pepper.
- 2) Cover and bring liquid to a boil over medium high heat. Add the two cups red sauce and continue to cook on low heat for about two hours
- 3) Once the beef is tender, remove & discard the bones, onion, garlic and bay leaf.
- Note: You can shred the beef if you want or serve in chunks as is.
Add the hominy and cook for about 30 more minutes or until soft. Taste for seasoning.
- When done, ladle soup into bowls and garnish with any of these ingredients that you like: shredded cabbage, chopped cilantro, minced onions, lime juice, hot sauce.
How to serve pozole
This soup is a one pot dish and there is no need to worry about side dishes. However, garnishes and some sort of accompaniment are a must!
Serve pozole with corn tortillas, tostadas or tortilla chips. Garnish with any of these ingredients:
- Shredded cabbage – don’t use lettuce as it doesn’t stand the heat of the soup and it will end up just a wilted mess!
- Chopped cilantro and minced onions
- Sliced radishes
- A squirt of lime juice,
- Hot sauce or dried chiltepines.
- And for a drink? Horchata or cebada are a must! These milky drinks go perfect with spicy food.
How to Store Leftovers
Fridge: Once the soup has cooled down, you can refrigerate in a glass container with a lid or any airtight storage container for up to a week.
Freezer: After letting the soup cool completely, pour pozole into a freezer safe container. Here are a few things to keep in mind when preparing to freeze soup.
- Liquid expands when you freeze it so do not fill your freezer safe container all the way full. Leave 1-2 inches of space in a bag or container for the liquid to expand.
- Line the top of the soup with a piece of plastic wrap to reduce the risk of freezer burn. The less air in the container the better.
To reheat: The best way to reheat leftovers is to place in a sauce pot and cook over medium-low heat until heated thru. Cooking it again in real heat (versus microwave) will help develop the flavors even more!
But if you can’t use a stove, go ahead and reheat in microwave for a couple of minutes per serving.
FAQs:
Per this page “A half-cup of canned yellow hominy contains 58 calories, 2 grams of fiber, 276 milligrams sodium and about 1 gram each of protein and fat. A half cup of plain cooked hominy grits contains 76 calories, about 1½ grams of protein and 1 gram of fiber, and traces of sodium and fat. Hominy grits often are enriched with thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid and iron; vitamin D and calcium are added to some brands.”
Even though it may not have a major nutrition factor, it is not unhealthy per se! So go ahead and eat it without any fears 🙂
The chiles used to make the sauce are not spicy but they do have a little bit of a kick. If you don’t want it to be spicy, don’t add extra hot sauce after it’s cooked.
MORE delicious…
Mexican Soups For You To Try
If you enjoyed this recipe I’d love it if you take 5 seconds to rate and review it below on the blog. It’s also super helpful to me and other readers if you share any changes you made to the recipe. Gracias!!!!
Print Recipe:
Best Beef Pozole Rojo
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds chuck roast trimmed (see note #1 below) fat trimmed off and cut in 1 ½" chunks
- 1 to 1 ½ pounds bone-in shank center cut with bone (see note #2 below)
- 1 large white onion remove outer skin but keep it whole (do a cross cut one the top of the onion only to help release the flavors)
- 1 whole garlic head cut a little bit of the top
- 12 cups of hot water (plus more as needed) about 3 liters
- 2 cup prepared red sauce (or more to taste) ingredients to make below
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 to 3 bay leaf
- 2 beef bullion cubes
- 2 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 6 lbs & 12 oz can Mexican style hominy drained and rinsed
- 3 dried chile guajillos seeds removed & rinsed
- 3 dried ancho chiles seeds removed & rinsed
- ¼ medium onion (yellow or white)
- 3 garlic cloves
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt (if using table salt use a little less teaspoon)
- 4 cups water
- Shredded cabbage, finely diced onion, sliced radishes, fresh cilantro, lime juice & hot sauce.
Instructions
- In a large pot, add the water, beef, whole onion, oregano, bay leaf, beef bullion, salt & pepper.
- Bring liquid to a boil then cover and simmer until beef is tender (about two hours). As water begins to evaporate, add boiling hot water to keep the broth at the same amount.
- Once the beef is tender, remove & discard the bones, onion, garlic and bay leaf.
- Add the hominy and 2 cups red sauce (instructions below). Cook for about 30 more minutes. Taste for seasoning.
- When done, ladle soup into bowls and garnish with any of these ingredients that you like: shredded cabbage, chopped cilantro, minced onions, lime juice, hot sauce.
- serve with tostadas or tortilla chips.
Make the sauce (while the meat is cooking or make ahead)
- Remove the stem and seeds from the chiles. Rinse well to remove any dust.
- Place in a medium pot along with the onion, garlic, spices & water.
- Cook on low heat for about 20 minutes or until the chiles are soft. Remove pot from heat and cool.
- Transfer to a blender or food processor along with 1 cup of the water where the chile cooked on.
- Puree chiles and then pass thru a strainer to remove the remaining seeds and skins. If you have a lot of pulp left, you may add it back to the blender along with ½ cup of the chile water. Blend and strain again.
- Set aside.
Muy Delish Notes:
- Bring meat to room temperature before cooking.
- If you’re using pork or chicken, use about 2.5 or 3 lbs of a combination of meat with bones.
- If you need to add more water when cooking the meat, make sure it’s boiling hot as you don’t want to bring the temperature down.
Add Your Own Private Notes
Whenever you come back to this recipe, you’ll be able to see your notes.
Nutrition
The nutritional information and US conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this is important to you, please verify with your favourite nutrition calculator and/or unit conversion tool.
Thanks for the recipe! Very good!
Can I use the instant pot for the meat to make it extra tender and juicy?!
I am doubling the recipe do I only use 24 cups of water to boil my red meat? And just add more as it evaporates? How much more do I add? I have beef broth I’m using vs cubes should I wait to use that towards the end so it doesn’t evaporate in the water? First timer here!! Thx u
Hi Erica! Sorry for the late reply! Yes! You can proceed exactly how you wrote it. Good call! Enjoy!
What can I use to replace the ancho chiles?! I can’t find them anywhere in stores near me
HI Vanessa! Look for pasilla since sometimes it goes by that name. Or use New Mexico, a little chile morita or just replace it with more guajillo and add a little chipotle pepper to add a little smoky taste. What other peppers do you see available?
Omgosh I was able to find some thank you! Can I cook the beef in an instant pot for 2 hours to make it super tender?!
I’m so happy you found some! I haven’t made pozole yet in an instant pot but I don’t see why not! The key is to cook the meat until tender so it should work. Enjoy and happy holidays!
Hola! Your recipe reads “2 boullion cubes”, but the image appears to be the larger cubes, that would make 2c of broth, each. Since boullion cubes come in different sizes (1tsp and 2tsp) and there’s other products availble such as “Better than Boullion”, can you confirm if it’s 4 tsp bouillion. I’m guessing so based on the photos but would be great if the recipe confirms that so I don’t over or under flavor. Can’t wait to make this!
Que delicia de receta de pozole ? Tradición Mexicana acorde con esta fecha de celebración ??? Muchas gracias Ana!! ? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
What if I can’t find Ancho Chiles? What can I substitute for them? I have dried chipotle peppers will that work?
Hi Crystal! That should work as they have a smoky flavor too. I would just add a couple since they do tend to be more spicy.
Let me know if you have any other questions! Enjoy
It came out Delish!!! Thanks so much for the recipe this will def be used many more times!!! ?
Yay!!!! I’m so happy to hear this Crystal! Once you know how to make Pozole, you’ll never order it at restaurants again! Have a great day!
xo, Ana
I’m gonna make recipe for 20 people. Gonna quadruple recipe.
I did the math and came up with 48 lbs of hominy. Do you think that will be too much? I’ll let you know how it comes out.
Hi Thomas! How exciting that you’ll be making this much! Do you have two pots or a super large one? For 20 people I would just triple the recipe as the original quantities allow for lots of leftovers. Even with 3 large cans of hominy, meat and broth, you’ll need 2 very large pots!
I have no doubt yours will be amazing but please do let me know how it comes out and the quantities that you ended up using! Thanks for making it!
Ana
I tripled recipe and Had plenty for everyone. The Pozole was a hit. People took some home.
I really enjoyed making it from scratch and look forward to making it again. I enjoy all your other recipes and plan on making other meals for the family.
Thank you
This recipe more like hominy soup instead of pozole. It’s really important to use gelatin bones. Use espinazo (spine) and even hooves/foot meat. DO NOT REMOVE THE BONES.
Hi Zenon, did you make the recipe? It has plenty beef! This recipe calls for “bone-in shank center cut” (chamorro en Español) with bone has gelatin inside the bones so I’m not sure why you commented that mine does not have it. Thanks for stopping by
This Pozole is delicious! I added just the right amount of the sauce for my family and saved the rest. I’m so glad there are leftovers! I was intimidated at first but found it quite simple. I used my pressure cooker for the meat while I made the sauce on the stovetop.
This is great to hear Angela!!! I’m thrilled that you liked this Red Pozole and that you found it simple to make. I appreciate the feedback and happy holidays!
Ana
Pozole was a hit with the family! I tripled the recipe and there was plenty. People took some home. I enjoy your other recipes and plan on trying to cook with them for my family and friends.
Thank you
Am I supposed to add 1 cup or 2 cups of red sauce? The recipe calls for 1 cup prepared red sauce, but the directions say to add 2 cups…?
Add two cups of the red sauce to the pozole. enjoy!
If I use chicken to make the pozole would I use chicken buliion instead of the beef bullion? What do you recommend
Hi Mari! You can use Chicken bouillon or even beef one. For soups sometimes I mix the flavors with great success! You can use the classic Knorr one or Better than bullion which is more natural.
I decided to make pozole for the first time to celebrate Mexico’s independence day. I used pork loin and followed the recipe fairly closely (substituting the garlic cloves with granulated garlic). I cooked the soup low and slow for 2.5 hours. My wife and I were thrilled with the result–flavorful and pleasant mouthfeel. Thanks for the recipe, Ana!
Great to hear this Mathew!!! I hope you make it again soon 🙂
Hello,
Do you ever add pinto beans to your posole?
Thank you,
Lisa
I was craving my mother in laws pozole bit she only makes it at Christmas. Found this recipe and it tastes arguably better? Thank you for this!
Awe thanks so much for the kind review Paula! I’m so happy you found this recipe and enjoyed it. I make it several times a year (even in the summer!) since I’m like you, got to eat Pozole not just at Christmas! Hey, I’ll keep your secret safe that you enjoyed it a little better than hers lol!
Stay well! xo, Ana
hello,
i have a beef sirloin tip whole. is that ok to use? i really want to make this with with rather than a roast.
Hi Franchesca! That actually works! Just make sure it’s cooked until soft. Enjoy!
I looooooooved your recipe!!! Thank you so much!
Yay!!! This makes me so happy Franchesca!! This pozole is actually easy to make once you get started. Thanks so much for coming back to give me the review. It’s much appreciated 🙂 xoxo, ana
I just make your recipe today, the best by far and a keeper for sure. My family love it
Hola Jeannette!!! I’m sooo happy you and your family loved it! I really appreciate you stopping by to let me know. Feliz Navidad!
I used organic meat from Whole Foods and followed this recipe exactly as written and it was soooo good. Just like my moms but better lol don’t tell her I said that. I made sure to save this recipe for years to come.
Hi Candice! Thank you so much for the kind review! Oh and I won’t tell your mom lol! I hope you have a wonderful holiday! xo, ana
Could I use chuck roast only?
Yes you can! I have done it in the past when I could not find “chamorro”. If you can add some kind of beef bone to it when cooking the meat that will be great! If you can’t that’s okay too. Enjoy!
Perfect, hearty, tasty winter meal! My mouth was watering looking at the pictures. I could almost taste and smell it. I added cabbage, onion, cilantro and a splash of lime. The broth is so flavorful and would be hit even by itself. This pozole will now be a regular part of my holidays and a few other times a year I’m sure
I love Pozole and this recipe knocks it out of the park! Can’t wait to make it again!
Hola Ana C. as you know, for me and my kids, this is our favorite dish. The one shown in the picture looks so delicious and I bet it was ?
My favorite to make. I always have to make double just to have enough for leftovers.
This is soooo delicious! I ate it for every meal until there were none left and I wished there were more!
Muuuuuy ricoooo!!!
Gracias Ana
Gracias Malena!!! Thanks so much for the feedback on this pozole recipe! Have a great one 🙂
Absolutely one of my favorite recipes!!!
Thank you so much Brenda! I’m so glad you enjoy this Mexican pozole!
Love this! I have a spice-sensitive person in the family who really enjoys posole, but doesn’t want quite so much chile flavor. I vary the recipe by using 5 cleaned New Mexico chile pods in the broth and keeping the red chile/chile colorado separate so people can stir in as much or little as they like.
Great idea on the separating the chile for those that want less!!! Thanks so much for the feedback Gaylon! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed it. Stay well!
This was so delicious with only one fault. I followed the recipe as written, but will significantly reduce the salt in the future. 2 tablespoons of salt was way too much not for my taste. Thanks so much!
Thanks for letting me know Claudia! I use kosher salt and I think it tastes a little less salty. I’ll add that to the notes. Thanks for the feedback and I’m so happy to hear you liked it!
I’m not able to pull up the red sauce recipe. The link doesn’t work. 🙁
Sorry about that Maria Cecilia! I fixed the link! You can find it here and on the post as well. https://www.muydelish.com/red_sauce/
Thanks for the heads up and happy cooking!
XO,Ana
Se me antojo !!!!
es Delicioso!!!
I keep making this for my family over and over! Make sure you add enough broth so that it doesn’t taste like chili sauce only. So good!
This is so good to hear! and good point Monica. Thanks for the feedback
Could you tell mm e whst I cou k d have done wrong. My pozole taste more like chile.
Thank you
Sonya
Hi Sonya! Is your chile bitter? that could be one way that may be overpowering the rest of the flavors. Just add a little more broth and that may do it. Don’t forget to add lime! it helps to balance the chili flavor too.
Hi i was wondering if this recipe could be made vegetarian and what type of seasoning could you add to give some flavor instead of the meat. Thanks!
Hi Elizabeth! I have never made it vegetarian but I don’t see why not. I would use vegetable broth when cooking it and if possible can you still use beef bullion? If not experiment with vegetable bullion. I’m very curious how this turns out if you decide to make it. If you don’t mind I would love to hear back from you. Thanks so much for stopping by and happy holidays!
xoxo
Love the photography.. this pozole looks delicious!
Hi Thalia! Thank you so much! I appreciate the nice comment ? xo, ana
I used carne deshebrada (shredded beef) and in place of the bouillon I used a tsp of cumin. Wonderful recipe. I’ve made it now 3 weeks in a row. Thank you Ana. My husband can’t wait to have it every week.