Instant Pot Easy Posole—An easy, dump and go recipe for chicken (or pork) and hominy soup that you can make in the Instant Pot or slow cooker.
Note: SLOW COOKER instructions are in the recipe card below
Each week in 2020 I’m sharing a recipe inspired by one of the 50 states. (See all the state recipes I’ve covered so far.) Today’s recipe is inspired by the Grand Canyon State, Arizona. When I think of Arizona I think of HOT weather, the Grand Canyon, snowbirds, desert and cactus, Indian reservations and the four corners.
In terms of food Arizona has Native American, Mexican, Frontier, and contemporary influences. Traditionally, Arizona’s cuisine was heavily influenced by its Native American and early Mexican settlers. Once Americans began migrating in from the South and the Midwest, those cuisines have also been added to the mix.
Instant Pot Easy Posole
Posole, or Pozole originated in Mexico and has established itself as a staple in Arizona. Posole can be prepared in many ways, but all variations include cooked hominy in the broth. Typically pork is included in the soup; however, sometimes chicken is used (that’s what I used in my version).
According to Wikipedia, “The three main types of pozole are blanco/white, verde/green and rojo/red. White pozole is the preparation without any additional green or red sauce. Green pozole adds a rich sauce based on green ingredients, possibly including tomatillos, epazote, cilantro, jalapeños, or pepitas. Red pozole is made without the green sauce, instead adding a red sauce made from one or more chiles, such as guajillo, piquin, or ancho.” My version is a short cut recipe that would be considered blanco/white pozole.
One of the most fun parts of pozole are the toppings that can be used. Some ideas are chopped onion, shredded lettuce, sliced radish, cabbage, avocado, limes, oregano, tostadas, chicharrón, and chiles. I used cabbage, cilantro and lime in my bowl and it was so tasty!
Try out Instant Pot easy posole this week for dinner! It’s pretty healthy and loaded with flavor. We all loved it at my house.
More Instant Pot Soup Recipes…
Instant Pot Green Enchiladas Chicken Soup
Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup (with actual tortillas!)
Instant Pot Chicken Bacon Chowder
Instant Pot Mexican Street Corn Soup
Instant Pot Easy Posole
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
An easy, dump and go recipe for chicken and hominy soup that you can make in the Instant Pot or slow cooker.
Ingredients
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (you can also use pork loin)
- 2 poblano or anaheim peppers, cored and diced
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1 Tbsp cumin
- 1 Tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 (30 oz) can hominy, drained and rinsed
- Juice from 1 lime
- Half a head of green cabbage, shredded
- Fresh cilantro, chopped
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Add broth, chicken, peppers, onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, chili powder, salt and hominy into Instant Pot.
- Cover and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the SOUP button to 15 minutes. When the time is up let the pot sit for 10-15 minutes and then move the valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Move chicken to a cutting board and shred or chop. Add it back into Instant Pot.
- Stir in the lime juice.
- Ladle into bowls and garnish with cabbage and cilantro. Eat and enjoy!
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Add broth, chicken, peppers, onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, chili powder, salt and hominy into slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
- Move chicken to a cutting board and shred or chop. Add it back into slow cooker.
- Stir in the lime juice.
- Ladle into bowls and garnish with cabbage and cilantro. Eat and enjoy!
Notes
Recipe adapted from Delish.
Make in the 6 or 8 quart pot* with no changes. Halve the recipe if making it in the 3 quart pot.
- Category: Soup
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
This is one of my favorites! Probably made it 50+ times now. All my friends and family come over for big posole feeds at my house. I double the amount and make a big batch. Any suggestions for different toppings to add just to mix things up? I have found all my friends like adding tortilla chips and avocados along with the cabbage. Thanks for posting!
★★★★★
50 times! Wow you are an expert! Some suggested toppings include: diced avocado, dried Mexican oregano, sliced radishes, chicharrones, cilantro, diced white onion, lime wedges, shredded cabbage, tostadas or tortilla chips and your favorite salsa.
I couldn’t find hominy could I still make this?
Yes you can use corn if you’d like!
This posole was amazing. My husband thought he didn’t like hominy, now he knows that he does. I work in a bakery & cafe and this is so good, I may convert it to a stockpot to feed a crowd.
Thank you for an easy, fabulous recipe!
★★★★★
I’m glad to hear it Diane! Thanks so much for the 5 stars!
Amazing soup! Could not find poblano peppers in supermarkets here in NH, so used can of green chilis. This will a definate repeat meal!
★★★★★
Green chiles are a great idea! Thanks for the 5 stars.
Can you use frozen chicken breasts?
Yes you can, keep the same cooking time
I made this soup this morning and it was so full of flavor and tasty! If I used canned or dry beans instead of chicken would the cooking time stay the same or change? I am going to send this recipe to my friend who is a vegan.
Thank you,
★★★★★
canned beans you could reduce cooking time to 5 minutes. for dried beans depending which type you might need to cook for 20-25 minutes.
Thank you!
★★★★★
This is delicious! The poblano peppers I bought were pretty large, so I cut it back to one. But the soup is still very tasty and spicy enough. Will definitely make this again—thank you!
★★★★★
You’re welcome Kristin!
I want to give this a try. I have a Foodi which does not have a SOUP function. Do we just use the “PRESSURE COOK” option?
Yes that will work just fine.
I made this recipe yesterday and it turned out great. Instead of chicken I used some pulled pork I had in my freezer. And I used beef broth because I thought it would stand up better to the pulled pork. Those are the only substitutions I made. I put some of the pork in at the beginning and put the rest in to warm after the soup was done. I topped the soup with shredded cabbage, cilantro, Mexican shredded cheese, sliced radishes and a little bit of chopped onion. Adding all these toppings makes the posole a hearty and filling meal. As with all soups, I think it tastes better the second night because last night the broth’s canned taste was evident and I didn’t particularly like that. But leaving the soup overnight in the fridge blended everything together so nicely. I will be making this soup again.
★★★★★
Sounds like a great version and yes to letting it sit overnight!
Barb,
What brand of canned broth did you use? Some brands are definitely better than others. Or to eliminate canned flavor, give Better Than Bouillon a try.
Why not buy some Better than Bouillion “, soup base.it’s much better than canned or Carton broth. It has real beef or chicken in the ingredients. It reconstitutes 1 tsp per 1 cup of water. You get alot of cups of fluid out of one bottle of this. I buy mine at costco, but amazon must sell it too.
I made this tonight and it was delicious. The nutrition is for one serving but how much is each serving? 1 cup?
★★★★★
Yes 1 cup
Not all of us have social media sites. How about email. Orherwise, Ican’t share any recipes with my friends,
Just copy paste into your email.
Posole is THE BEST! Thank you for the instant pot version! Other than that! Thank you!
You’re welcome! Enjoy!
Karen – I’m really not trying to be a nag – I’m almost 80 years old and really am tired of cooking. I have raised 3 children, worked full time and was a single Mom most of the time. So I was busy – no regrets. ( I was a June Cleaver mom). Anyway – down here in Texas a Poblano pepper can be as small as 2″ or as large as 12″. It would really help if you put a measurement and not a number amount for the peppers.
Love your blog, Karen. I read it every day, makes my day. My daughter-in-law LOVES your chocolate lasagna. When she visits I make it at least twice. If I would make more that would be all she would eat.
Thanks for your hard work.
Jan Hough
Hi Janet, that’s a fair question! I would say the peppers were about 5 inches long. Hope this helps! Thanks for following along!
Where can i find your “chocolate lasagna” recipe? I love all your recipes and would definitely love to try this one.
Thanks
Hi Bruna, I do not have a chocolate lasagna recipe but that sounds really good!
Thanks Karen
I couldn’t find hominy could I still make this?
This sounds delicious! I love pozole (mostly because I LOVE hominy!!) but I’ve always made the red kind, with pork, but will have try this one now, too!
★★★★★
I hope you like it!
I have a question for you!
Given your now extensive experience with both slow cookers and pressure cooking, do you find that some recipes are better in one or the other?
I love the pressure cooker and use it often but still find myself pulling out the slow cooker for some old favorites.
That’s a good question! I like the clear lid for slow cooking and the oval shape of the slow cooker. I do like making roasts in the slow cooker all day long. But honestly the fast cooking times and convenience of the Instant Pot is hard to beat!