Chicken Poblano Soup With Hominy

This chicken poblano soup is bright with lime juice, savory with tender chicken, Southwestern in nature with hominy and lively spices. A hearty soup that fresh, tasty and very weeknight friendly

Course Soup, Stews and Chilis

Cuisine Southwestern

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Total Time 1

Servings

Calories 512kcal

Author Lea Ann Brown

Ingredients

16 ounces rotisserie chicken meat removed from bones and shredded
1 Tablespoon neutral oil canola works good here
1 medium sweet onion chopped, about 1 ½ cups
1 jalapeño deveined, deseeded, minced
2 poblano peppers roasted, tops and seeds removed and diced
4 cups chicken broth If using dried or frozen hominy, you may need additional broth, as these varieties can soak up more liquid, even after cooked.
15-ounce can hominy drained. White or yellow hominy
⅛ teaspoon Turmeric
1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano crumbled if the leaves are large
½ teaspoon fresh thyme
4 Tablespoons lime juice fresh squeezed
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
½ cup cotija or feta cheese

Instructions

Heat the oil in a 6-quart pot over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in jalapeño and cook, stirring until fragrant, about a minute.
Add the poblano peppers, broth, hominy, oregano, turmeric, and thyme. Raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, cover, and simmer gently for about 5 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Add shredded chicken to simmering soup and let it cook about 5 minutes. stir in the lime juice, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls, top with the cheese, and serve immediately.

Notes

Additional toppings: I like to lightly crush tortilla chips and sprinkle over the soup, or a tasty little crunch. Fresh cilantro is always a welcome topping and is a good twist of freshly ground pepper.

Using a rotisserie chicken is not the number one key to success to this recipe. It just makes this recipe easier. Substitute shredded cooked chicken breast or cooked chicken thighs if you wish.

Roasted Poblano Peppers: For this recipe we're roasting the poblano peppers before adding them to the soup. If you have a gas stove top, place the peppers directly over medium high flame and turn, turn, turn. Using tongs works well here. Once the peppers are charred (not burnt) place them in a plastic zip-loc bag. Don't seal the bag and let the peppers steam for about 10 minutes. Then using your hands (not water) scrape most of the charred skin from the peppers. I like to leave a little skin on for a smoky flavor. You're ready to chop and peppers and add them to the soup. I have a video on You Tube about roasting poblanos. Check it out.

Hominy Guide For This Recipe

Using canned hominy will make this recipe a very easy fix. However, if you can find frozen posole I urge you to purchase a couple of bags and keep a stash in the freezer.

Frozen pozole (healthy ¼ cup) doesn’t have to be soaked ahead of time. For this recipe, using a 3 quart saucepan, add enough water to cover the pozole by a couple of inches. No need to thaw it first. Bring it to a simmer and cook until tender, about 2 hours. Then proceed with the recipe. The texture of of frozen vs. canned is far superior.

You can also use dried posole (healthy ¼ cup), found on the Mexican food aisle at the grocery store. but plan ahead as you'll need to soak the dried pozole overnight. And then cook it stovetop until tender. Again, add enough water to cover the dried hominy by two inches. Soak overnight. The dried pozole will soak up some of the water, so the next morning add more water to cover by two inches and then simmer for about 3 hours or until tender. Drain and proceed with recipe.

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