Slow cooker pozole
Classic red pork pozole without the babysitting: blend the chile sauce in the morning and come home to a pot that tastes like it simmered all day.
- 545 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 6
- About $2.88 a serving
- 640 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 6 dried guajillo chiles
- 2½ lb pork shoulder, boneless
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 white onion, halved
- 3 cans canned white hominy, 15.5 oz cans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups green cabbage, thinly sliced
- 6 radishes, thinly sliced
- 2 limes, cut into wedges
From your pantry
- 2 cups water
- 2 tsp salt, divided
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 bay leaves
Each serving has about 640 calories, 38 g protein, 44 g carbs and 35 g fat, and costs about $2.88 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No green cabbage? Red cabbage or coleslaw mix works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Snip the stems off the chiles and shake out the seeds. Put the chiles in a microwave-safe bowl with the water, microwave 2 minutes, then let them soak 15 minutes, until soft.
Timer: 15 min
Dolly’s tip: Kitchen scissors are the easy way: cut off the top and the seeds shake right out.While they soak, cut the pork into 2-inch chunks, off any thick fat, and put it in the slow cooker with 1 teaspoon of the salt. Wash your hands and the board.
Trim. Trimming means cutting off the parts you don’t eat, like stem ends, tough bits or thick fat. It keeps chewy or bitter bits out of the finished dish.
How you’ll know: What’s left is the good part, with no dry ends, woody stems or thick white fat.
Blend the chiles and their water with the garlic, oregano, cumin and the rest of the salt for a full minute, until very smooth.
Dolly’s tip: If you still see flecks of skin, pour the sauce through a strainer and press it through with a spoon.Pour the sauce over the pork, add the broth, one onion half and the bay leaves, and .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Cover and cook on low 8 hours, until the pork falls apart when you press it with a spoon.
Timer: 480 min
Dolly’s tip: Try not to lift the lid. Every peek lets out heat and adds about 20 minutes.Food safety: Steak, pork chops and other whole cuts are safe at 145°F in the middle, then let them rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
Stir in the hominy, cover, and cook on high 30 minutes more, until it’s hot all the way through.
Timer: 30 min
Fish out the onion and bay leaves, the pork into bite-size pieces with two forks right in the pot, and taste for salt.
Shred. Shredding means making thin strips, either on the big holes of a grater or by pulling cooked meat apart with two forks. Shreds soak up sauce and mix evenly through a dish.
How you’ll know: Cooked chicken pulls apart into strands with little effort, and cheese comes off in long, loose strips.
the other onion half and set it out with the cabbage, radishes and limes.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Ladle into bowls and top with the onion, cabbage, radishes and a squeeze of lime.
Dolly’s tip: Freeze leftovers in single portions for up to 3 months. Keep the toppings fresh and add them after reheating.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
