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Made with shredded chicken and hominy in a comforting red chile broth, this Slow Cooker Chicken Posole is easy to make and full of authentic Mexican flavors to warm you up! (gluten free)
It finally happened. I made a dish that I never thought I would make without the step-by-step instructions from my parents. I made posole!
If you’ve never heard of posole, you’re not alone. It’s not a dish that is normally found at Mexican restaurants, at least not in the United States. and definitely not in Pittsburgh.
What is posole?
Posole (which translates to hominy in English) is a Mexican chile soup or stew traditionally made with pork and hominy covered in a chile broth. There are countless variations of this dish, such as:
- some made in a red chile broth
- some with green chiles and tomatillos as the base (like this Chicken Pozole Verde)
- some with no chiles at all (why, God, why?!)
- some made with pork (like this traditional Red Posole)
- some with chicken
- some with no meat at all
And just so you know, I plan on making ALL those variations for you at some point. This is only the beginning. I’m getting excited just talking about it.
Posole is kind of a big deal in my house. My parents don’t make it every day, every week or even every month. It’s usually made on special occasions when the whole family is together, like birthdays and holidays so my Mom or Dad can make a huge batch and feed everyone for days. And I mean dayyyysss.
And while I’ve seen my parents make this soup probably hundreds of times by now, I had never attempted to make it myself…until now.
I must say that I’ve definitely taken some liberties with my parents’ recipe.
First of all, they’ve never made posole in the slow cooker. I, on the other hand, wanted to create this dish as easily as possible and so I knew the crock pot would be perfect for the job.
Second, my parents’ usually make the red chile base specifically for their posole. But not me. Again, because I’m lazy, I used a batch of my Red Enchilada Sauce that I had in the fridge. My sauce is still homemade, it’s insanely easy to make and most importantly, it’s still has all the same flavors of the red chile broth that are in my parents’ posole.
But a word of caution – while you could certainly use store-bought enchilada sauce instead of my enchilada sauce recipe, I don’t recommend it. It truly doesn’t have the same depth of flavor and just isn’t as tasty as the real stuff. If you’re hesitant to make enchilada sauce just for this recipe, I suggest making a double or even triple batch and storing it in the freezer so you can use it again for future recipes like these:
- Red Chicken Enchiladas
- Easy Red Chilaquiles
- Chicken Enchilada Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
- Chicken Enchilada Roll-Ups
The right sauce makes a huge difference.
How to serve slow cooker posole
Once the crock pot posole is ready to go, it’s usually served with radishes, cilantro, finely shredded cabbage, limes, dried oregano, red chile flakes, white onions and even avocados.
For these photos, I just used radishes, limes and cilantro, but I frequently also top it with shredded cabbage. It’s adds a nice crunch that is just delightful.
I truly hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do.
More Mexican recipes you’ll love
Slow Cooker Chicken Posole
Ingredients
For the posole
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 batch Red Enchilada Sauce (or 2 1/2 cups store-bought red enchilada sauce)
- 1 shallot, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 25-ounce cans white hominy, drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- salt and black pepper, to taste
For the toppings and mix-ins (optional)
- finely shredded cabbage, lime juice, sliced radishes, cilantro
Instructions
- Add the chicken, chicken broth, enchilada sauce, shallot, chili power, minced garlic, cumin powder, and salt to the slow cooker. Mix until well combined.
- Cover and cook for 7 1/2 hours on low or 3 1/2 hours on high.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove chicken from slow cooker and place onto a large plate or cutting board. Shred using two forks.
- Add in the shredded chicken, hominy and oregano. Cover and cook for another 30 minutes.
- Serve posole in bowls with lime juice, radishes, cilantro, finely shredded cabbage and other toppings.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My very first time making pozole and it was a huge success, love the enchilada sauce recipe! I did however use chicken thighs instead of breast…
Best part was that all ingredients were simple to find st my local grocery store, and the recipe was simple yet had a lot of flavor !!
Thanks, Maria! The enchilada sauce is definitely the key 🙂
When you say to put in the hominy and shredded chicken for another 30 minutes, is that on low or high?
Just curious Isabel do you think it would work if I leave all the ingredients in at the same time including the hominy and just increase the cooking time on low? Or will it overcook hominy?
Hi Michael, I think if you’re using cooked hominy, it will overcook it and may get a little mushy. I’d recommend adding it in later.
I’m from South Africa, where hominy is called samp and traditionally cooked with beans (omnonmon – a childhood favourite). I only know that it’s the same thing because a friend ordered Pasole when I was visiting her in Tennessee. It’s difficult to find in England, but I managed to buy a bag of the dried stuff. My question is, would you have to cook this first if you’re not using canned hominy? I’ve just been given a slow cooker & I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Yes, this recipe calls for cooked hominy.
This was my first time making posole and I’m really happy I found your recipe. I recently moved away from my family and it wasn’t until moving away that I realized I had taken for granted the availability of authentic food. I grew up with my dad’s family making it during the holidays and just assumed I would always have it!
This was amazing! I made this chicken posole with your red enchilada sauce recipe and I don’t think I’m ever buying enchilada sauce again! It was so easy to make! I don’t believe the standard grocery chain will have the ingredients for making the sauce, but I did find them all at a small latin market in my city.
My husband and I love this recipe! This is a keeper! Thank you!
Hi! If we opt to use pork instead of chicken, do you recommend that we use the same amount of time in the slow cooker as outlined in your recipe? Going to make this next weekend 🙂 Thank you!
Hi Valerie, yes, I would use the same amount of chicken instead of pork.
How much enchilada sauce do I use if I use the canned sauce? Thank you
Hi Liz! About 2 1/2 cups of enchilada sauce.
So one batch as listed on your recipe is how much? Thanks can’t wait to make it!
Hi Cathy! This recipe makes 8 servings!
I made this last night. My first posole. It was delicious! My family loved it! I, too, used canned enchilada sauce. I added some chipotle chili powder for a little kick! Needless to say this recipe will be a regular for us! Thank you! (This is my first comment ever-so you know it was good!)
Aw, thank you so much, Barbara! Posole is one of my favorite things, especially when it’s in the slow cooker. Super easy! And I’m so happy I was your first ever comment 🙂 That makes me so happy.
This is the first time ever that i write a review for a recipe. This was just that good. I’ve made this 2 times now. I tweaked the recipe a bit. I added some onion to the sauce, and i strained the sauce before adding it to the pot. other than that i followed your recipe completely. I’m in love with this pozole. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much, Lupita! I’m so glad you liked it!
I made it last night my family loved it.Im going to try it with pork this weekend my husband wants to compare. Thank you.
I’m so happy to hear that, Yvonne! 🙂
When you say you are going to use pork, what exactly to I buy! If I were to use beef what piece of meat do Inuse? How do you cook the pork and meat for the Pozole this sounds so good!
Haha, so many options! I know what you mean, it can be confusing. So for pork, I suggest using pork shoulder. For beef, I suggest using beef shank or short rib if you can. And I would cook it just like the chicken in the slow cooker – cut it into chunks and throw it in with the other stuff.