Pozole Rojo

Pork, red chile, hominy, and a table full of toppings. This one was amazing.

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¿Qué onda, hermano? Pozole rojo is a party in a pot. You simmer pork until it falls apart, blend toasted guajillo and ancho into a red sauce, then let the hominy swim in that broth until the whole kitchen smells like chile and corn.

Lime at the end is not optional. Neither are the toppings. Put them out in bowls and let people build their own.

⏱ Prep Time: 30 minutes 🔥 Cook Time: 3–3½ hours ⏲ Total Time: about 4 hours 🍽 Yield: 8–10 servings ⭐ Difficulty: Medium

Pork & broth

4–5 lb pork shoulder (or 3 lb shoulder + 1–2 lb pork neck/bones for better broth)
1 white onion, halved
1 head garlic, halved
2 bay leaves
Salt
Water to cover (about 4–5 quarts)

Red chile sauce

8–10 guajillo chiles
3–4 ancho chiles
2–3 chiles de árbol (optional, for heat)
4 garlic cloves
½ white onion
1 tsp Mexican oregano
½ tsp cumin
Salt

The rest

2 large cans white hominy (about 6 cups), drained and rinsed
(or 1½ lb dry hominy, cooked separately until tender)

Toppings (put these out in bowls)

Shredded cabbage or iceberg lettuce
Thinly sliced radishes
Diced white onion
Dried Mexican oregano
Limes
Crushed chile piquín or salsa
Tostadas or chicharrón

How to Make Pozole Rojo

1. Cook the pork

Put pork, onion, garlic, bay leaves, and a good amount of salt in a big pot. Cover with water. Bring to a boil, skim the foam, then simmer 2–2½ hours until the pork is very tender. Remove the pork, shred it, and strain the broth. Keep the broth.

2. Make the chile sauce

Stem and seed the dried chiles. Toast them lightly in a dry pan (10–15 seconds per side) until fragrant — don’t burn them. Soak in hot water 20 minutes. Blend the softened chiles with garlic, onion, oregano, cumin, a ladle of pork broth, and salt until completely smooth. Strain it if you want a silkier broth.

3. Combine

Pour the chile sauce into the pork broth. Add the shredded pork and the hominy. Simmer 30–45 minutes so everything comes together. Taste and salt it well. The broth should be deep red and taste like chile, pork, and corn.

4. Serve

Big bowls. Let people load their own toppings. Lime at the end is not optional.

Holler Tips from Luchador Cletus

Neck bones or extra pork bones make a better broth than shoulder alone.
Don’t burn the chiles. Bitter chile sauce will wreck the whole pot.
Strain the sauce if you hate skins and seeds in the bowl.
Canned hominy is fine. Rinse it. Dry hominy is the long-road version.
Chicharrón on the side with a spoon of crema is a power move.

Variations to Keep It Fresh

Milder: Skip the árbol chiles.
Hotter: More árbol, or extra piquín at the table.
Chicken pozole: Use a whole chicken like the caldo, then the same red sauce and hominy.
Next day: Even better. The chile settles into the broth overnight.

Cletus’s Kitchen Wisdom – Why This Works

Pork needs time. Chile needs toasting and soaking. Hominy needs that red broth. Separate jobs, then they meet in the pot. That’s why it tastes deep instead of like chili powder dumped in soup. The toppings are half the recipe — crunch, lime, heat, onion.

Serving Suggestions

Big Saturday pot for company
Tostadas on the side for scooping
A cold drink after, or Luchador iced coffee if it’s morning-after leftovers

Storage & Make-Ahead Tips

Fridge 4 days. Freezes well. Keep toppings separate. Reheat to a simmer and add a splash of water if it got too thick. Salt again after it sits.

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Back to Luchador Cletus. Also: Caldo de Pollo · Mexican Crema · Mexican Brown Gravy · Nopales · Luchador Iced Coffee. Got a tweak? Holler at me.