Green Pozole Crockpot Recipe with Pork and Hominy

Name: Green Pozole Crockpot Recipe with Pork and Hominy
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 8 h
Total time: 8 h 25 min
Ingredients: 2 lb boneless pork shoulder, cut in 2-inch chunks; 1 1/2 lb tomatillos, husked and rinsed; 2 poblano peppers, halved and seeded; 1 jalapeno, halved and seeded; 1 medium white onion, quartered; 5 cloves garlic, peeled; 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves and stems; 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth; 2 cans (15 oz each) white hominy, drained and rinsed; 2 tsp ground cumin; 2 tsp dried Mexican oregano; 2 tsp kosher salt; 1/2 tsp black pepper; 2 limes; shredded cabbage, sliced radishes, diced avocado and tostadas, for serving

By Iren Pavlenko · Last updated: 10 Nov 2026

Green pozole is a bright, tangy Mexican soup of pork, hominy and a blended sauce of tomatillos and green chiles. This green pozole crockpot recipe does the long simmering for you, so the pork turns soft and the broth is deeply flavored.

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Green Pozole Crockpot Recipe with Pork and Hominy

Recipe by Iren Pavlenko

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: SoupDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

hours

Pork shoulder simmers with hominy in a tangy tomatillo and chile broth. The bowls are finished with fresh toppings like cabbage, radish and lime.

Ingredients

2 lb boneless pork shoulder, cut in 2-inch chunks
1 1/2 lb tomatillos, husked and rinsed
2 poblano peppers, halved and seeded
1 jalapeno, halved and seeded
1 medium white onion, quartered
5 cloves garlic, peeled
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves and stems
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cans (15 oz each) white hominy, drained and rinsed
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried Mexican oregano
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 limes
shredded cabbage, sliced radishes, diced avocado and tostadas, for serving

Directions

Set the oven broiler on high. Place the tomatillos, poblanos, jalapeno, onion and garlic on a sheet pan.
Broil for 8 to 10 minutes, turning once, until charred in spots and the tomatillos have softened. Cool slightly.
Put the roasted vegetables, cilantro and 1 cup of broth into a blender. Blend until smooth.
Season the pork with the salt, pepper, cumin and oregano. Put it in the slow cooker.
Pour the blended green sauce over the pork. Add the remaining 3 cups of broth.
Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours, until the pork is fork-tender.
Shred the pork directly in the pot with two forks, breaking the chunks into bite-size pieces.
Stir in the hominy. Cover and cook on HIGH for 30 minutes to heat it through.
Squeeze in the juice of one lime. Taste and add salt as needed.
Ladle into bowls and top with cabbage, radish, avocado, lime wedges and tostadas.

Notes

Chicken thighs can replace the pork, cooked 5 to 6 hours on LOW. For a thinner broth, add another cup of chicken broth. Leftover pozole keeps 4 days in the fridge and tastes better the second day. Keep the toppings fresh and separate.

Why green pozole belongs in a slow cooker

Traditional pozole simmers for hours until the pork collapses and the broth takes on body. That long, even heat is what a slow cooker does well. You roast the sauce for ten minutes and then walk away. It is the kind of soup that makes a whole house smell good, and it feeds a crowd for little money.

Pork shoulder has enough fat and connective tissue to stay juicy through eight hours. As it cooks, it gives richness to the tangy tomatillo broth, so every spoonful balances sour, flavorful and a little heat. Many cooks serve it for holidays and family gatherings because it holds well on a warm setting for hours.

Ingredient notes

Pork shoulder: also called Boston butt. Look for good marbling and cut the chunks evenly so they cook at the same rate. Trim any very large pieces of fat, but leave some, since it adds body to the broth.

Tomatillos: they should be firm and bright green, with the papery husks removed. Rinse off the sticky film before roasting.

Poblano peppers: these give mild, earthy heat. Add the jalapeno only if you want more spice. Keep the seeds in one pepper if you like heat, and remove them all if you cook for children.

Hominy: canned white hominy is soft and chewy. Rinse it to remove the canning liquid.

Mexican oregano: it has a citrusy, earthy flavor that is different from Italian oregano. Regular oregano works if that is what you have.

Tips for a bright, balanced pozole

Roast the vegetables first: charring tomatillos and peppers turns a flat sauce into one with smoky depth. Skipping it gives a sour, plain broth. Broiling takes about ten minutes, and the browned bits on the skins end up in the broth.

Add the hominy late: it is already cooked and only needs heating. Eight hours in the pot makes it mushy. If the broth is too sharp from the tomatillos, a pinch of sugar rounds it out.

Do not skip the toppings, the most common mistake: fresh crunch and lime are half of what makes pozole taste right. The warm soup needs cold, sharp toppings.

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Swaps and variations

Use chicken thighs for a lighter soup, or add a can of white beans for extra body. Swap hominy for chickpeas if you cannot find it. Stir in a handful of spinach at the end for added color. A sliced jalapeno on top gives extra heat for those who want it.

Do not use raw tomatillo sauce without roasting in this recipe. The sauce will taste sharp, grassy and raw even after long cooking, and the broth will not have its usual depth.

What to serve with it

Serve pozole in wide bowls with toppings in small dishes: shredded green cabbage, sliced radishes, diced avocado, chopped onion, cilantro and lime. Crispy tostadas or warm corn tortillas on the side make the meal complete. A cold beer or a glass of lime agua fresca goes well with the meal.

Storing and reheating

Cool and refrigerate the soup for up to 4 days. Keep toppings separate and add them only after reheating, so they stay crisp. Pork can soak up broth overnight, so loosen with more broth when you warm it.

Freeze the soup without toppings for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat on the stove over medium heat. Add a splash of broth if it has thickened.

Green Pozole Crockpot Recipe with Pork and Hominy at a glance

Prep time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 8 hours
Servings: 8 servings
Ingredients: 15, led by boneless pork shoulder, tomatillos, poblano peppers, jalapeno

Tips for Green Pozole Crockpot Recipe with Pork and Hominy

Green Pozole Crockpot Recipe with Pork and Hominy FAQ

How long does Green Pozole Crockpot Recipe with Pork and Hominy take?

Green Pozole Crockpot Recipe with Pork and Hominy takes 8 hours of cooking after 25 minutes of prep.

How many people does Green Pozole Crockpot Recipe with Pork and Hominy serve?

This recipe makes 8 servings.

What do I need to make Green Pozole Crockpot Recipe with Pork and Hominy?

15 ingredients, led by boneless pork shoulder, tomatillos, poblano peppers, jalapeno. Amounts are in the recipe card above.

Iren Pavlenko

Hi, I'm Iren Pavlenko. I read the top-ranked slow cooker recipes for a dish side by side and write down what they disagree on and what they all leave out — the cut, the pot size, and both the LOW and HIGH times. I write these guides so your weeknight dinner doesn't turn into a dry roast because a recipe never said which of those four things mattered.