Vegan pozole with black beans and poblanos

Easy vegan pozole recipe with black beans, poblanos, and red chiles! A vegetarian version of pozole rojo loaded with hominy, peppers, and flavor.

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Hey, Rhubarbarians! We are so excited to be sharing this vegan pozole rojo recipe with you!

We've been making this Mexican hominy soup regularly for years now. It's become one of our favorite vegan comfort food meals!

Jump to:

• What is pozole?
• Pozole for vegans and vegetarians
• What is hominy?
• Ingredients and equipment
• Step by step instructions
• Serving suggestions
• Recipe tips and substitutions
• Prepping, storing, and freezing
• FAQs
• Recipe

What is pozole?

Pozole (or posole), which is the spanish word for hominy, is a Mexican soup or stew traditionally made with hominy, chile peppers, and meat (usually pork). It's garnished with cabbage, lime, avocado, or radish. Hominy is rehydrated dried corn kernels that you can usually find canned in most grocery stores, and is essential to making a true pozole recipe.

Pozole is often eaten in Mexico as a celebratory dish around Christmas or New Year's.

Have you tried our vegan crispy tofu tacos with cilantro cream?

Pozole for vegans and vegetarians

We created this meatless version of pozole inspired by traditional Mexican pozole flavors and ingredients.

We build a flavorful broth with garlic, onion, spices, and red chiles. We load the soup with black beans, peppers, carrots, and of course hominy.

Serve alongside warm tortillas like these ancho chile lime homemade tortillas!

Why this recipe works: We build so much flavor into the broth with red chiles, spices, garlic, and onion! Although we swap traditional pork for black beans, this vegan pozole is just as satisfying with black beans, poblanos, and hominy. Delicious!

What is hominy?

According to Wikipedia, "Hominy is a food produced from dried maize (corn) kernels that have been treated with an alkali, in a process called nixtamalization (nextamalli is the Nahuatl word for "hominy")."

Most commonly here in the United States, It's dehydrated corn that is rehydrated and canned. It looks like a cross between a pale corn kernel and a bean!

You can find hominy in the canned vegetables aisle of most grocery stores. If you can't find it there, check the imported foods aisle with the other Mexican ingredients. Alternatively, you can purchase it on Amazon.

Pozole is essentially a pepper and hominy soup, so please don't skip it!

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Ingredients and equipment

Ingredients: Full ingredients and instructions for this vegetarian pozole are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this article.

• Olive oil or avocado oil: for sautéing the onion, garlic, and soup ingredients.
• Onion, garlic, and carrot: these are some of the aromatics for the broth.
• Peppers: poblano peppers, red bell peppers, and serrano peppers.
• Spices: sweet paprika, cumin, cinnamon, oregano, and ancho chile powder.
• Fire roasted tomatoes: these have a bit of a smoky flavor to them!
• Dried red chiles: ancho chile and arbol chiles.
• Hominy: you can't make pozole without hominy!
• Black beans: acts as a protein or pork substitute in this vegan pozole.
• Vegetable broth: our favorite is the Better than Bouillon seasoned vegetable base!

Equipment: Full ingredients and instructions are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this article.

• Sharp knife: for chopping your ingredients.
• Cutting board: for chopping your ingredients.
• Measuring cups: for measuring your ingredients.
• Measuring spoons: for measuring your ingredients.
• Can opener: for opening the canned goods.
• Soup pot or large dutch oven: for cooking the pozole. We love our Lodge dutch oven!
• Stirring utensil: we love wooden spoons!
• Ladle: for serving.

Step by step instructions

Full ingredients and instructions are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this article.

• First, prep and chop all of your ingredients before you start. This is a large batch of pozole and you won't have much time in between sautéing veggies to chop them. Also make sure that your cans are open and the beans/hominy are drained and rinsed. (The beans and hominy can be combined together in a colander and rinsed)
• Start cooking the pozole by heating the oil in a large soup pot and sautéing the onion until softened. Add the rest of your veggies and saute those until softened.
• Add your spices and hit them with some heat in the pot. Then add the tomatoes, hominy, beans, dried peppers, and broth.
• Bring the broth to a boil then reduce the heat to simmer and let simmer until the veggies are soft and the flavors have melded nicely.
• Carefully remove the dried chiles from the pozole.
• Squeeze in the lime juice and stir. Taste and season to your liking with salt and pepper.
• Serve with all your favorite toppings!

Serving suggestions

We love serving this warming bowl of soup as a main course. It's very filling!

Top the soup with chopped cabbage, slices of avocado, fresh cilantro, slices of radish, and lime wedges for an extra squeeze of lime juice.

Serve hominy soup with warm tortillas or tortilla chips on the side. It's always great to have salsa and guacamole too!

Here's a fun idea: host a pozole party! Make a big batch of meatless pozole and then let everyone pick their own toppings from a toppings bar. Shredded cabbage, avocado, cilantro, radish, lime slices, tomato, onion, or even cojita cheese for the non-vegans! Don't forget the warm tortillas or chips with some chips and guacamole.

Recipe tips and substitutions

• This soup has a bit of a spicy kick to it from the dried peppers. If you'd like to omit the spice, don't include the dried peppers. For an even milder soup, omit the serrano peppers as well.
• We personally find this pozole to be better the next day. The hominy, beans, and peppers soak up the flavor of the broth and it makes it so flavorful!
• Let the onions and peppers brown before adding the broth. You want to build that flavor and don't want the soup to taste like raw onion.
• You can find hominy in the canned vegetables aisle of most grocery stores. If you can't find it there, check the imported foods aisle with the other Mexican ingredients. Alternatively, you can purchase it on Amazon.
• If you can't find the dried chiles (look in the Mexican foods section at your grocery store), substitute a teaspoon or two of ground cayenne pepper.
• If you can't find fire roasted tomatoes, substitute for regular diced tomatoes and add one teaspoon of smoked paprika.

Have you tried our sheet pan butternut squash and black bean tacos?

Prepping, storing, and freezing

• Prepping: The ingredients can be prepped ahead of time (vegetables chopped and canned goods drained and rinsed). Keep them in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
• Storing: Store any leftovers (without toppings) in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to 5 days.
• Freezing: Freeze the soup (without toppings) in an air tight freezer safe container for up 6 months. Reheat from frozen in a pot on the stove top or in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl.

FAQs

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Recipe

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