Whenever I have leftover pulled pork in my fridge, this easy 30 Minute Posole recipe is the only thing on my mind. It’s my budget-friendly, quick take on traditional posole, made with pantry staples and ready in half an hour. This filling, flavor-packed, comforting stew is leftovers done right. It’s a weeknight dinner you’ll purposefully make extra pork for, just so you have an excuse to whip it up again. 😊
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“Don’t let this recipe pass you by. This recipe has become our “go to”. It’s so flavorful, easy and quick. Don’t forget the lime and cilantro at the end, it really makes it pop! So delicious.”
Margaret
Quick & Budget-Friendly Posole
Posole, or pozole, is a rich stew, typically made with slow-cooked pork, hominy, chiles, and lots of delicious toppings. The “posole” I made here is definitely not authentic; it’s more of a quickie stand-in for the good stuff. Kind of like ramen you buy in a 50-cent pack versus real ramen. If you want to make real posole/pozole, here is an authentic Mexican Pozole recipe from My Latina Table, so you can see what it’s really all about.
I used up leftover pork from my chili rubbed pork recipe, which helped my “quickie posole” come together really fast, so this recipe is a great way to take advantage of those leftovers on busy nights!
Recipe Tips & Suggestions
- Try a different meat. Pork is the typical meat for posole, and some readers have swapped the pulled pork for leftover cooked pork chops (roughly chopped). But if you have leftover shredded chicken or beef, I say, why not go ahead and use that. I think it would be equally as delicious!
- Like our chicken enchilada soup, I used my homemade red enchilada sauce as a base for this soup, which helped thicken the broth and provide a TON of instant flavor. I don’t recommend substituting with store-bought enchilada sauce as I don’t think it’ll work quite the same!
- To make this recipe vegetarian/vegan, use vegetable broth and add an extra can of hominy in place of the pulled pork. Canned pinto, kidney, or black beans (drained) would also be delicious and add some protein.
- Add your favorite toppings! I kept the toppings for my soup simple to keep costs low, but if you want to splurge, I think this soup would be awesome with a little shredded cheddar, pepper jack, sour cream, avocado, shredded cabbage, or thinly sliced radish, too.
Easy 30 minute Posole
Cost $8.50 recipe / $1.42 serving
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.08)
- 1 yellow onion (diced, (1 cup, 150g) $0.54)
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour ($0.02)
- 2 Tbsp chili powder (mild, $0.22*)
- 2 cups water ( $0.00)
- 3 oz. tomato paste ($0.43)
- ½ tsp ground cumin ($0.02)
- ½ tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper (optional, $0.03)
- ¾ tsp salt ($0.03)
- 3 cups chicken broth ($0.35**)
- 1½ cups shredded pork (pre-cooked, (or chicken or beef) $3.79)
- 4 oz. can diced green chiles ($0.88)
- 15 oz. can hominy (golden or white, (drained) $1.42***)
Toppings
- 1 fresh lime ($0.25)
- ½ bunch fresh cilantro ($0.42)
Instructions
- Gather and prep all of your ingredients.
- Finely dice the onion, then add it to a large soup pot along with the cooking oil. Sauté the onion in the oil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, or until it is tender and transparent.
- Add the flour and chili powder and continue to sauté for two minutes more. The mixture will be fairly dry, so stir continuously to prevent burning.
- Add 2 cups water, tomato paste, cumin, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and salt to the pot. Whisk the ingredients together until the tomato paste is dissolved. Allow the mixture to come to a simmer, at which point it will thicken.
- Finally, add the chicken broth, shredded meat, diced chiles, and hominy (drained). Stir to combine and then heat through (about 10 minutes).
- Cut the lime into wedges and roughly chop the cilantro. Top each bowl with chopped cilantro and a wedge of lime to squeeze over top.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Large Pot
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Posole Step-by-Step Photos
Gather all of your ingredients.
Sauté the onion: Dice 1 yellow onion and add it to a large soup pot along with 2 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil. Sauté the onion in the oil over medium heat until it is soft and transparent.
Although 2 Tbsp oil seems like more than needed to sauté one small onion; that amount of oil is needed to make the roux in the next step, which provides the thickening power for the soup.
Make the roux: Once the onion is soft, add 2 Tbsp flour and 2 Tbsp mild chili powder. Continue to sauté this mixture for two minutes to toast the flour and chili powder. It may be slightly dry, so stir continuously to prevent burning.
Add the sauce base: Whisk in 2 cups water, 3 oz. tomato paste (half of a 6 oz. can), ½ tsp cumin, ½ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, and ¾ tsp salt, until the tomato paste has completely dissolved. Allow the mixture to come to a simmer, at which point it will thicken. This is basically my easy red enchilada sauce (plus an onion).
Make the soup: Drain one 15 oz. can of hominy and add it to the pot. Then add a 4 oz. can of diced green chiles and 1½ cups of pre-cooked, shredded meat (I used pork, but chicken or beef would also work). Finally, stir in 3 cups chicken broth and heat through.
Serve: Toppings are one of the most fun parts of this dish, so I chopped up about ½ bunch cilantro and cut 1 fresh lime into wedges. The lime juice adds a really nice tart/fresh flavor to the broth. Top each bowl with the chopped cilantro and a wedge of lime when serving. Enjoy!
What to Serve with Posole
I would absolutely love this soup with cornbread on the side, so I could crumble the cornbread into the soup and soak up all that wonderful broth! A scoop of cooked rice would also be a great topper for the soup to round out the meal. I’d also serve this posole with a tostada shell or air fried tortilla chips for dipping.
Storage & Reheating
It’s recommended to use up leftovers within 3-4 days, so how long you can store this soup for will depend on the freshness of your leftover pulled pork (or chicken/beef). Keep leftovers stored in an airtight container in the fridge. This quick posole can also be frozen for up to 2-3 months. Reheat the leftovers in the microwave or on the stovetop before enjoying again. Let frozen leftovers thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
More Mexican-Inspired Soup Recipes
Our 30 Minute Posole recipe was originally published 12/8/15. It was retested, reworked, and republished to be better than ever 10/10/25.
Kind of bland and too much liquid. I might try again with a can of spicy tomatoes and less water.
My stepdaughter loves posole so when I saw this recipe from years ago I had to try it and she absolutely loves it! Will make it for her next weekend since the weather is getting colder.
Love this recipe! It’s so good and so easy. Also uses up leftover pulled pork/chicken that doesn’t have anything to do with BBQ!
This was so good!!! I made a couple tweaks based on my household and pantry, since this was a last-minute use-the -leftovers meal.
Shredded pork: I had a couple thick boneless leftover pork chops, so I very thinly sliced them instead of shredding. 10 minutes of simmering in a tomato base and they get very tender anyway.
Flour: I have someone here with a gluten allergy, so I omitted the flour from the base. After simmering the whole soup for 10 minutes, I added a couple very finely chopped/sliced corn tortillas and simmered about 5-10 minutes longer. The tortillas help thicken it up and give it a nice masa flavor.
Rotel: I planned to add the tortillas and knew I’d need a little extra liquid, so I added a can of Rotel plus the small can of diced chilies
Hominy: I didn’t have hominy in the pantry (will use next time!) so I added a drained can of corn instead
Lime/cilantro: I didn’t have fresh limes or cilantro on hand, so I added a couple tablespoons of lime juice and some dried cilantro to the soup and let it simmer.
I made this today to simmer for dinner tonight. So far it has a very bland taste. Going to see what I can add to flavor it up.
Don’t let this recipe pass you by. This recipe has become our “go to”. It’s so flavorful, easy and quick. Don’t forget the lime and cilantro at the end, it really makes it pop! So delicious
I LOVE this recipe! It is so quick & easy and a great way to use the pulled pork my husband makes on the smoker!!
I LOVE this recipe! It is so quick & easy and a great way to use the pulled pork my husband makes on the smoker!!
I have tried the Easy Pozole recipe and loved it. Going to make it again for New Years Eve!
Awesome can’t wait to see what else she has
I made this, but I added some cilantro and lime juice in the soup itself and let it simmer together to infuse more flavor. Also, I topped my tostada with sour cream, red, cabbage, red onions, queso, fresco, cilantro and radishes
Excellent recipe. I went a little fancy with it and made my hominy from dried kernels and smoked two chicken breast’s to put in. It turned out amazing. But the base of this recipe is so good that you can totally stick to it and it will be fantastic.
Hi, I live in the UK and don’t have access to hominy. Can you recommend some subs?
You could use fresh, frozen or drained canned corn!
I look forward to using g this 30 minute recipe 😋
Made this just as written and it was fabulous!