It’s still cold outside! Let’s cozy up with some soup and trust that warm spring weather is on its way. If you enjoy bean-based chili recipes and tortilla soup, you are going to love this pinto posole.
I traded pinto beans for the pork you’ll find in traditional posole recipes, so this stew is vegan. It’s also hearty, spicy and delicious.
You’ll just need one pot for this stew, and I opted to use canned beans to cut the cooking time down to about 30 minutes. Leftovers taste even better the next day, and this dairy-free recipe freezes great for later, too.
What is posole?
Posole, pronounced poh-sOH-lay, is a Mexican stew that typically features shredded pork, dried chilis, hominy and cumin. In Mexico and New Mexico, it’s often served on celebratory occasions like Christmas or New Years, but it’s great on any chilly day.
My variation with pinto beans instead of pork is not quite authentic, but it’s full of redeeming fiber and protein. It straddles the line between a soup and a stew, so I’m using those words interchangeably here.
What is hominy?
Hominy is a variety of dried corn (maize) kernels that have been treated with an alkali, such as lye, to improve digestibility. You buy it dried or in cans, in a well-stocked grocery store (check the international aisle or look near the canned corn) or Mexican grocery store. I used canned corn for this recipe but you could substitute freshly cooked hominy, too.
What are guajillo chilis?
I’ll never forget the first time I tried guajillo chili-based enchilada sauce. Life changing! Guajillos offer a deep, intriguing mild-to-medium spice factor, unlike fiery-hot cayenne. You’ll find dried chilis in a well-stocked grocery store (again, check the international aisle) or Mexican grocery store.
Use two chilis for mild soup, or four for spicy soup (I like my posole spicy). Since the seeds contain the most heat, you’ll remove those before briefly toasting the chilis against the pan. If you want extra-spicy soup, you could even reserve those seeds to add after the soup is cooked, to taste.
I simply cooked the soup with the chilis and then discarded the chilis at the end. I just read a Bon Appetit recipe that suggested puréeing the simmered chilis with some broth and pouring the mixture back into the soup. You could try that if you want extra-rich chili flavor and don’t mind busting out the blender, but add the purée to taste instead of pouring it all in at once.
Pinto Posole
- Author:
- Prep Time: 22 minutes
- Cook Time: 33 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mexican
This hearty vegan posole is made with pinto beans instead of pork! This easy Mexican posole recipe is healthy, spicy and delicious. Leftovers taste even better the next day. Recipe yields 4 bowls.
Ingredients
- 2 to 4 guajillo chili peppers*
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large white onion, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- ½ cup (4 ounces) tomato paste
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 cans (15 ounces each) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can (15 ounces) hominy, rinsed and drained
- 32 ounces (4 cups) vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro, divided
- 1 lime, halved
- Recommended garnishes: sliced avocado, shredded green cabbage, chopped radish, onion and/or jalapeño
Instructions
- Cut off the stem ends of the chilis and shake/flick the chilis to remove as many seeds as possible (it’s ok if some remain). Rinse them and pat them dry.
- Heat an empty Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat until a few drops of water evaporate quickly from the pan. Toast the chilis in the dry pan, pressing them flat with a spatula for a few seconds until fragrant, then flip them over and press them again for a few seconds. Remove the toasted chilis and set them aside for now.
- In the same pot (still over medium heat), warm the olive oil until shimmering. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until the onions are tender and translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant while stirring, about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook, while stirring, for 1 minute. - Add the toasted chili peppers, bay leaf, hominy, beans, vegetable broth and water to the pot. Stir in ½ teaspoon salt and raise the heat to medium-high. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then reduce heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally, and cook for 25 minutes.
- Remove the chili peppers and bay leaf from the soup and discard them. Stir the cilantro and juice of ½ lime into the soup. Taste, and add more salt (I usually add at least ¼ teaspoon more) and/or lime juice if necessary. For extra richness, add a little splash of olive oil and stir it in.
- Cut the remaining lime into small wedges. Divide the soup into bowls and garnish with lime wedges and other garnishes of your choice.
Notes
*Pepper note: Use 2 peppers for mild soup and 4 for spicy soup (I like my soup spicy). If you want extra-spicy soup, you could even reserve the pepper seeds to add after the soup is cooked, to taste. If you can’t find guajillo chili peppers, dried ancho chili peppers are a good alternative. Or, use 1 tablespoon mild chili powder instead—start the recipe with step 3 and add the chili powder with the garlic and cumin.
Change it up: For more color and textural variation, substitute one can of black beans for one can of pinto beans. For extra pepper flavor and color, sauté a chopped red bell pepper and/or jalapeño with the onion.
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Tara Goozee Mason
Hi Kate, and Cookie (I have 2 dogs Miss Lily and Poppy )
Thank you for all the delicious recipes!! I made posole for the 3rd time today…love it and the other day I made the veggie black bean echiladas…fantastic!!!!
★★★★★
Linda Ingram
Made this a couple nights ago. I followed the recipe exactly this first time including using the hominy. And I followed the Bon Appetit recommendation to blend the chilis with some broth and add in to the mix. I only used two chilis vs four based on the idea that it would be mild. In the future I will go all in with four because there was really no heat. I did not put any seeds in so you could add some seeds as well to up the heat. I really liked adding the blended chilis at the end. Added some thickening and flavor. Might try corn vs hominy next time also. Not that big a fan of of the hominy flavor/texture. Overall an easy and excellent recipe for a vegetarian one pot meal.
★★★★
Inna
Hi Kate! I love your blog. I have tried different pozole styles in Mexico City before. Thought yours was interesting and tried it I have to say I’m not quiet there yet with this one. It just doesn’t taste authentic to me. You should try squash blossom and mushrooms instead of beans. It’s a fantastic vegetarian option for pozole. Yes, pozole is spelled with Z :)
★★★
Larry Zuiker
I was reviewing your recipes and saw this. I thought it looked like an easy and delicious meal to make. It turns out my wife loved it, and she and I ate leftovers for three days.. She said it was the best recipe I have ever made, and we have been married for almost 40 years! Thank you.
★★★★★
Kate
Hooray! That’s great to hear, Larry. Thank you for your review!
Katy
Kate, I love following your blog updates and my friend and I always enjoy pinging each other on your Insta posts we so appreciate your work!
Anyway, I’ve tried so many of your recipes.. they’re always reliable and super good! But this one right here, the pinto posole, is absolutely fantastic. The flavor and umami provided from the roasted chiles is unmatched. It’s even a huge hit with my meat eater friends!
Love your work and creativity
★★★★★
A.B
Hi Katie :)
Thank you so much for posting this recipe!!! I just started cooking for myself and was always intimidated to be in the kitchen. This was my first time making the Posole and it came out GREAT. I even scouted some of the Guajillo peppers the day before. Loved it and looking forward to trying more dishes in the future.
★★★★★
Kate
You’re welcome! I’m excited you enjoyed it A.B. Thank you for your review.
Kim
I made this today and decided to add a jalapeno pepper with the onion as suggested. Be careful if you choose to do that: it’s delicious but the fumes were very strong! Make sure your kitchen is well ventilated and you aren’t standing right above the pot and you should be fine. I will definitely make this again!
★★★★★
Kait Clark
I intended to make this weeks ago but something was holding me back – only got around to it tonight (thankfully most of the ingredients keep for ages!). That was a mistake – this was fantastic. I am not a fan of tomato so maybe that was my hangup. (For any other tomato skeptics, the tomato paste in the broth is so minor that it certainly does not detract from the other great flavours in this.) I like a lot of heat, so I went with 4 guajillo chillis in the soup and also added the seeds at the end plus 1 pureed chilli. It still could have been spicier! I think next time I might add more (or all?!) or the chillis to the blender to puree at the end. Important bit is – there *will* be a next time. Fab recipe.
★★★★
Kate
Hi Kait! I’m happy you made it and loved it. Thank you for sharing how you added more heat!
DJ
I don’t usually comment/rate recipes but just had to for this one. Delicious and easy. I just keep coming back to your recipes; last night was black bean soup and that was also great!
★★★★★
Anne
Love this recipe! Been making it for years, and it was the first soup I made this fall. I was so excited for the weather to cool down so I could make it again. Recommend the avocado garnish and a side of Trader Joe’s cornbread :)
★★★★★
Kate
I love that! Thank you for sharing, Anne.
Trisha
Can I substitute or leave out the tomato paste? I can’t eat foods that are acidic.
Kate
Hi! You can omit, although it adds significantly to the overall flavor.
Terri
Wonderful fall/winter soup with complex spices. So warming. Thank goodness I only used one guajillo chili! Maybe our chili was extra big, but we would not have wanted the stew any hotter! Sour cream on top countered the heat beautifully.
★★★★★
Valentine
Made this tonight and it was phenomenal, thank you so much! I slow cooked my pinto beans in thyme, paprika, salt and veggie stock instead of using canned beans and the added flavor was great :)
Laura
Super easy to make and very flavorful!
★★★★★
Lydia
I followed the Bon Appétit recipe you shared, but added pinto beans and a ham bone in place of the pork ribs in the recipe. It turned out wonderfully delicious! Thanks for sharing a vegetarian version of this soup.
★★★★
J
Double the amount of hominy in this recipe, trust me. I also recommend using New Mexican Red Chile pods turned into a paste instead of guajillos if you want to taste the NM way. (also in NM we don’t use much cilantro or lime) great recipe and super easy and tasty! I can finally make and share posole with my veggie friends!
★★★★
Kate
Thank you for your feedback, J! I’m happy you enjoyed it.
Ner
I love this posole and have made is more than a dozen times. I do add potatoes because my daughter loves them in soup. Please keep the recipes coming
★★★★★
Kate
I love that this one is a favorite, Ner! Thank you for your review.
Ner
I love this pozole and have made is more than a dozen times. I do add potatoes because my daughter loves them in soup. Please keep the recipes coming
★★★★★
laura
I am away from my family this holiday season and really homesick for Tex Mex and my family. I made this for myself for brunch to try to lift my spirits and even the smell of the chiles toasting made me feel at home. 10/10 delicious. Added cabbage and radish for toppings. Thanks Kate!
★★★★★
Kimberly Colburn
Hi, I’m new to “posole”. I noticed some folks using fresh Chile peppers and others mentioned toasting dried peppers. Does it matter? Recipe just calls for peppers, not dried peppers. Thanks! I did make this with fresh and it is very mild but delicious!
Kate
Hi Kimberly! See my note below the instructions on the peppers. I hope that helps!
tere
Can I freeze the leftovers?
★★★★★
Kate
Hi! I don’t freeze all my recipes, but soups tend to freeze well. Let me know!
Ann Bush
Since it’s just me, I always freeze half of the soup, This one freezes great!
★★★★★
Ann Bush
This is my favorite! It’s hearty and delicious. I love to eat it with a corn muffin crumbled in it. It makes my tummy warm and happy!
★★★★★
April
This was delicious and perfect for this snowy day- topped with green cabbage, cilantro and radishes like you recommended- broth and beans were so good!
★★★★★
Deborah Bach
This was a great recipe overall and a nice twist on traditional pozole. I used four peppers and added some seeds at the end, since I like my food spicy. I topped it with shredded cabbage, which was a great addition. I also blended a little of it with an immersion blender to give it a slightly thicker texture. The one thing I might change next time is to scale back on the tomato paste a little, since the tomato taste was pretty strong. Love your site and recipes, Kate!
★★★★★
Iva
Hi Kate, I love making your soups and other things, they’re such healthy and delicious options. Quick question…do I use fresh or dried chilies for this recipe? Dried is all I could find. And if I use dried chilies do I still omit the seeds? Thank you very much. And how many dried chilies would I use? Thank you.
Kate
Hi Iva! You will want to use dried, see the notes on making it more spicy or more mild.