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.
One of the things that helps me stay connected to my culture and traditions is to continue cooking dishes that I grew up eating in my beloved Mexico. I've been wanting to share this family recipe for a long time and there is no better time than now. Last year I shared how to make Red Tamales so you can say I'm feeling very accomplished now 🙂
My mom used to make the best Pozole ever and it was always the most requested meal by family members for special occasions. Since we're a humongous family (9 kids!!!) she used to make it in the largest pot you could imagine to feed us all plus more. Seeing her cook for so many people taught me to always cook a lot and I still can't break that habit. That's not always a good thing since most of the time I cook for two and end up with tons of leftovers.
Ugh, when will I learn?
Speaking of leftovers, after photographing these bowls filled with Pozole I ate one of them (of course) and it reminded me that 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!
Serve with tostadas or tortilla chips and garnish with any of these ingredients that you like: shredded cabbage, chopped cilantro, minced onions, lime juice, hot sauce.
Note: You can find the recipe for my red sauce here
Red Beef Pozole
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
- 1 cup prepared red sauce (or more to taste) see 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
Red Sauce (chile colorado) - Makes 2 cups
- 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
Garnishes
- Shredded cabbage, finely diced onion, sliced radishes, fresh cilantro, lime juice & hot sauce.
Instructions
- In a large pot Add the water, 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 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.
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.
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