Jackfruit Vegan Pozole Rojo
Pozole is a hearty, spicy, satisfying Mexican soup. It is said to be a hangover cure, which I cannot confirm, but it is certainly a special occasion dish and is often served on Christmas and New Year’s. In this vegan recipe jackfruit and hominy are simmered in a spicy guajillo and ancho chile broth, then topped with shredded cabbage, radishes, and oregano.
What Makes This Recipe Great
This is an adaptation of my grandmother’s famous recipe. Every Christmas for as long as I can remember my grandmother would make two of the biggest pots of pozole and menudo I have ever seen. We would all salivate as we waited for the cooking to be done. When I stopped eating meat I decided to adapt my grandmother’s recipe and I’m so glad I did. This version is vegan, gluten-free, and as absolutely as salivating as my grandmother’s recipe.
A History
Pozole is a dish of pre-Hispanic origins, the name comes from the Nahuatl word “pozolli ”which means frothy. Which is believed to refer to the appearance of the cacahuazintle corn during the cooking process. It was eaten as part of a ceremonial ritual for the god Xipe Totec, the lord of fertility and regeneration of corn. Today you can find pozole in three versions red, green, and white.
Ingredients
White hominy: Hominy is dried field corn that has been through the process of nixtamalization, which results in tender and plump corn. You can find hominy in white and yellow varieties dried or canned. For this recipe, I used canned white hominy which can be found at your local grocery store or Mexican market.
Guajillo Chile: Guajillo chiles are the dried form of the mirasol pepper. They are a deep red color and about 3 inches long. You can also find them labeled as chile colorado. You can find them online or at your local Mexican market. New Mexico chiles would work as a substitute if you can’t find these.
Ancho chile: Ancho chiles are the dried form of poblano peppers. They are a black-reddish color and are large and flat. You can find them online or at your local Mexican market.
Chile de Arbol: Chile de Arbol is a very small elongated dried chile. It is known for being very spicy, so keep that in mind when working with them. For this recipe, I call for five of them!! If you don’t eat spicy food I recommend you omit them or reduce the amount to one or two. You can find them online or at your local Mexican market
Young green jackfruit: Jackfruit is a tropical fruit used as a meat substitute when it is unripe, due to its stringy texture similar to pulled meat. You can find it canned online or at Asian grocery stores.
How to Make Vegan Pozole Rojo
- Simmer jackfruit in water with onion and garlic for 10 minutes.
- Shred jackfruit with your hands.
- Place in a clean towel and squeeze all the water out of it.
- Let guajillo, ancho, and arbol chile in hot water for 15 minutes.
5. Place garlic, onion, the soaked chiles, and the reserved chile soaking liquid in the blender.
6. Puree the sauce until completely smooth and pass it through a fine mesh strainer.
7. Saute jackfruit until golden brown.
8. Pour in the chile puree and simmer for 10 minutes.
9. Heat vegetable stock and hominy in a large pot.
10. Blend one cup of broth and hominy to make a puree.
11. Add jackfruit and zucchini (optional)into the pot.
12. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the zucchini is tender.
Vegan Pozole in the Instant Pot
To make vegan pozole in the instant pot make your chile sauce first. Then in the Instant Pot set to “Saute” cook the jackfruit until it begins to brown. Pour in the chile pure and simmer for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce has thickened slightly. Add the hominy and enough broth to fill the instant pot to the 2/3 max fill line. Pressure cook on “Manual” for 20 minutes, and allow for natural release for 10 minutes.
Serving
Serve immediately with shredded cabbage, lime juice, oregano, and tostadas.
Storing
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for 6 months.
FAQ
I use jackfruit in this recipe, but it also works with soy curls or shredded oyster mushrooms.
Red pozole is seasoned with a red chile sauce that usually includes chile guajillo, ancho, and arboo. Green pozole is seasoned with a green chile sauce made with poblano pepper, serrano pepper, tomatillo, epazote, spinach, and pumpkin seeds.
More Vegan Mexican Soups
Jackfruit Vegan Pozole Rojo
Ingredients
- 3 cans (15 oz.) White hominy, drained, rinsed
- 2 ½ quarts Vegetable Stock
- 5 Chile guajillo, dried, stemmed and seeded
- 2 Chile ancho, dried, stemmed and seeded
- 5 Chile de árbol, dried, stemmed and seeded
- 6 cloves Garlic
- ½ Onion, white
- 1 tbsp. Vegetable oil (optional)
- 2 cans (20oz./ea) Young green jackfruit brine, drained (see note)
- 1 Zucchini, medium, cut into dice
Toppings
- 1 White onion, small, minced
- 6 Red radishes, sliced into batons
- 2 tbsp. Oregano, dried
- ½ Green cabbage, cored, thinly sliced
- 4 Limes cut into quarters
- 1 bag Corn chips or tostadas
Instructions
- In a large pot, combine the vegetable stock and hominy and bring to a LOW simmer.
- While the hominy is simmering, remove stems and seeds from the chile ancho, arbol, and guajillo. Rinse and place in a medium pot with water.
- Bring pot to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 min.
- Drain chiles, but reserve 1 ½ cups of the chile water. Place chiles, garlic and onion in the blender, add the chile water and blend until smooth. Strain.
- To prepare the jackfruit, drain the jackfruit, rinse, and pat with paper towels. Cut out the core of the jackfruit (tip of the triangle pieces), and cut pieces in half. Heat 1 tbsp. of oil in a large sauté pan set to medium heat. Add the jackfruit and cook for 3 -4 minutes on each side or until it begins to brown. Pour the chile sauce over the jackfruit and reduce heat to low-medium. Simmer for 10 minutes or until jackfruit begins to break down and the sauce has thickened slightly. Use a fork to shred the jackfruit as it cooks down. Season with salt and pepper.
- Your hominy should still be simmering very slowly. Scoop out one cup of the hominy-vegetable stock mixture and blend until smooth. Pour this back into the pot with the hominy
- Raise heat to medium-low, and add the zucchini and shredded jackfruit with sauce. Let simmer for 8- 10 minutes or until the zucchini is tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve your pozole with all of the toppings on the side.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Although dorastable.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates.
I cooked this posole for the first time, it came out real bland for me. I’m wondering if I used the wrong broth.
Hi Yvonne, salt it needs salt. I usually don’t specify the amount of salt so you can salt it to your taste.
Fácil y rico!! This is so rich and delicious. Excellent recipe. Reminds me of mi suegra’s recipe without the pork. Amazing. Thank you Dora
Not bad ! Not quite like a pork pozole but still pretty good
I made this for the first time this past weekend for my Vegan son’s birthday dinner. He loved it…the whole family did. I will make it again but will not use the reserved Chile water, instead will use either plain water or vegetable broth. The Chile water made the sauce bitter and I had to add sugar to the sauce to eliminate the bitterness. I also added a teaspoon of powdered cumin. Delish!
Why do we strain the Chile. I’m trying to strain and it’s really not pouring out there’s a lot left in the strainer?
If you have a good blender you don’t need to strain it
I just tested out this recipe. It was my first time using jackfruit. I can’t figure out if it is the jackfruit or the combination of chiles that makes the pozole a little sweet. Any recommendations on how to make the pozole more savory and less sweet?
Hi Andrea, what kind of jackfruit did you use. You should me using green jackfruit in water or brine. To get the briny taste out you can simmer the jackfruit for 10 minutes in water, with onion and a bay leaf. Drain it, let cool and squeeze out all the water then proceed with the recipe. I find that sometimes people just aren’t into jackfruit. I have also made this recipe with shredded oyster mushrooms and it comes out really good.
hi there! i’ve made this recipe so many times now, i love it!! the calories say 158kcal, is that really 158,000 calories??
no kcal stands for kilo calories which is just regular calories. So it would be 158 calories per serving
This recipe is to die for! SOOO GOOD! Thank you!!!
Hi,
Can you do this in the instapot?
Thanks, Alicia
Yes, you can do manual high pressure for 20 minutes.
I’ll be preparing this for Christmas =)–I have an instapot–at what step do I put it in Instapot for manual pressure of 20 min HIGH–step #7?
I’m sorry if it’s a dumb question–I’m a novice cook
Yes step 7, but I would only do 8 min on the instant pot on manual set to HIGH
Is there an alternative to cooking the chiles?
You have to soak the chiles in order to make the puree
Great recipe! I’ve made this with the jackfruit and with mushrooms instead of jackfruit and it’s delicious both ways. My kids & my husband love it too! We eat a plant-based diet, so I was excited to find a vegan pozole recipe!
So glad you liked it! I love it both ways as well
This was absolutely delicious. I followed your method exactly, Dora, and everything came out perfect. Thank you for the tip about trimming the jackfruit! There were no tough bits, everything shredded beautifully. Thank you for this delicious recipe!
Hi!
How much sauce should we end up with after straining? Making this now!
Thank You!
about 1 – 1 1/2 cups
Really good! I only find jackfruit in water does this make a difference? Does it change the flavor?
No, it won’t make a difference as long as its green jackfruit
What is the spice level on this meal?
Hi Sharon, it’s pretty spicy, but if you want it to be mild you can omit the arbol chiles
Incredible recipe, Dora. I threw in some oyster mushrooms instead of Zucchini and love love love the texture
I love it with oyster mushrooms!1
This recipe sounds super delicious! But has anyone used fresh jackfruit? Every recipe I’ve found with jackfruit says canned.
I’ve never tried it with fresh jackfruit, but I think as long as you use green jackfruit not ripe jackfruit it will work!