Instant Pot Posole
Hearty, comforting, and loaded with flavors, this instant pot posole recipe makes the ultimate satisfying lunch or dinner. If you’ve never tried this classic Mexican soup recipe, you’re in for a treat.
It’s no secret that I love Mexican food. I will eat just about anything that showcases Latino food and say, “Yes, I’d like seconds, please.”
I’m also well known for loving soups and stews, especially if they are as hearty and delicious as this posole soup.
A long time ago when I worked at the Mexican restaurant, I asked one of the cooks, who happened to be Mexican, what his favorite soup was. I expected him to name one of the soups we served: tortilla or albondigas.
To my surprise, he told me that his favorite soup was posole. I had never heard of it and asked him to spell it. He spelled it with a ‘z’, so pozole. He proceeded to tell me that in some regions, people spell it with an ‘s’, so posole, but where he came from, it’s pozole.
I chose to go with the ‘s’ because that’s how I’ve seen it spelled most often since I first heard of posole. How do you spell it?
Another thing that my friend at the restaurant stressed when he talked about this soup is that if you don’t add hominy to it, it’s not really posole and I agree with him. Hominy lends such an earthy flavor and glorious mouthfeel to the soup.
Try it and see.
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Helpful tips
- You will see a few guajillo chile peppers in the ingredient photo but alas, I didn’t use any in the soup because hubby is very sensitive to spicy foods. If you’re interested, here’s a great website on how to toast them.
- If you decide to use the chile peppers, I recommend using only two. That makes the soup moderately spicy. Four would make the posole spicy. Or you can add 1 tablespoon of chili powder.
- After you toast them, you can add the chile peppers to the IP before you seal it. Once the soup is done, remove and discard the cooked peppers.
- Usually, posole is made with meat such as pork but I make mine meatless, with a lot of beans. I just prefer that combination of flavors.
- If you’ve never had hominy before, you are in for a treat. You can buy it from Latino stores and sometimes you can get it at the regular grocery store. I buy mine at nuts.com.
- If you can, buy the hominy uncooked. It’s easy to cook yourself and it tastes a lot better than canned hominy.
- But if you can only get hominy in cans, do that instead of going with canned corn.
- I make the hominy either the night before or earlier in the day that I’m going to make this posole. See recipe card notes for how to cook hominy.
- This posole can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 7 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
What to serve with posole
I love to garnish the soup with sliced avocado, lime wedges, dollops of sour cream, and either tortilla chips or soft flour tortillas.
You can also sprinkle the soup with chopped cilantro, shredded cabbage, shredded lettuce, sliced radish, or Mexican cheese if you like.
How to make instant pot posole
Pre-step
Make the hominy prior to making the soup. See the recipe card note section to see how.
Get out your pressure cooker or instant pot.
Step one
Gather the ingredients – a medium onion, cooked hominy kernels, canned pinto beans, tomato paste, chicken broth, cumin, basil, chipotle powder, salt, garlic and a bay leaf.
Step two
Chop the onion in smallish chunks and add it to the instant pot container. (A)
Step three
Add basil, cumin, salt and chipotle powder. (B)
Step four
Add tomato paste. (C)
Step five
Open the cans of pinto beans, place them in a sieve and rinse and drain them. Add to the instant pot container over the other ingredients. (D)
Step six
Add chicken broth (you can use beef broth if you prefer.) (E)
Step seven
Take a rubber spatula and stir the ingredients until the tomato paste has melted and everything is mixed together. Add a bay leaf. (F)
Step eight
Place the lid on the pressure cooker and seal it. Make sure the venting knob is in the sealed position.
Press the pressure cooker button and set the timer to 10 minutes. Make sure the mode is on normal and the pressure is set to high.
Step nine
After the IP beeps that it’s done cooking, do a quick release after 10 minutes. Make sure you protect yourself by wearing an oven mitt when you move the knob from sealed to venting.
Look at how rich and delicious the posole looks below.
Step ten
Add 2 cups of cooked hominy. (G)
Stir the hominy into the soup so it’s evenly distributed. (H)
Either serve the soup from the instant pot container or transfer to a serving bowl.
I cut some avocado slices and some lime wedges.
Time to serve some soup! I love the squeeze some lime juice to the soup right before I eat it.
It’s so good!
I hope you enjoyed this instant pot posole recipe!
Other instant pot soups
If you’ve tried this recipe, I’d love the know what you thought about it in the comments below. I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more of my delicious food and delightful cocktails!
Instant Pot Posole
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion (chopped medium small)
- 2 teaspoons cumin (heaping)
- 1 teaspoon basil (heaping)
- 1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder (a few shakes)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 teaspoons garlic paste (or 3 cloves, crushed)
- 6 ounces tomato paste (small can)
- 3 cans pinto beans ( 3 – 15.5 ounce cans. Rinsed and drained)
- 4 cups chicken broth (or beef)
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cups hominy (cooked)
Optional
- 2 guajilla chiles (see this site on how to prepare)
Instructions
Hominy
- See recipe notes on how to cook hominy.
Posole
- Add onion to instant pot container.
- Add basil, cumin, garlic, salt, chipotle powder, tomato paste, rinsed and drained cans of pinto beans and broth.
- Stir together to melt the tomato paste and combine the ingredients together. Add bay leaf. (AND OPTIONAL – add the toasted and seedless guajillo chiles if you are going to use them.)
- Seal the instant pot, make sure the mode is set to normal and the pressure is set to high. Also insure that the venting knob is set to sealed.
- Press the pressure cooker button and set the time to 10 minutes.
- Once the IP beeps that it is done cooking, let it rest for 10 minutes before doing a quick release. Here's how: don an oven mitt and carefully nudge the venting knob to the venting position. Keep away from the steam as it releases.
- Once the pressure indicator drops, open the IP and add the cooked hominy and stir to combine. (AND OPTIONAL – if you used the chiles, remove and throw them away.)
- Transfer to a serving bowl
- Eat
- Smile
- Enjoy
Equipment
See all my favorite tools and gift ideas at my Amazon Store page!Check out Elaine’s Amazon Store!Notes
- Add 1/2 cup dry hominy and 2 cups of water to a medium saucepan.
- On medium/high heat, bring the hominy to a boil and cook for 2 minutes.
- Shut the heat off under the pan and let it sit for an hour.
- Rinse and drain the hominy.
- Add hominy to a pressure cooker and add 2 cups of water. (Don’t salt because the soup will be salted).
- Seal pressure cooker and make sure the venting knob is at the sealed position and press the pressure cooker button and set the time to 40 minutes. The mode should be normal and the pressure should be high.
- After the PC beeps that it’s done cooking, you can either let the pressure release naturally or do a quick release after 10 minutes.
- Rinse and drain the hominy and set aside to use for posole.
-
- You will see a few guajillo chile peppers in the ingredient photo but alas, I didn’t use any in the soup because hubby is very sensitive to spicy foods. If you’re interested, here’s a great website on how to toast them.
- If you decide to use the chile peppers, I recommend using only two. That makes the soup moderately spicy. Four would make the posole spicy. Or you can add 1 tablespoon of chili powder.
- After you toast them, you can add the chile peppers to the IP before you seal it. Once the soup is done, remove and discard the cooked peppers.
- Usually, posole is made with meat such as pork but I make mine meatless, with a lot of beans. I just prefer that combination of flavors.
- If you’ve never had hominy before, you are in for a treat. You can buy it from Latino stores and sometimes you can get it at the regular grocery store. I buy mine at nuts.com.
- If you can, buy the hominy uncooked. It’s easy to cook yourself and it tastes a lot better than canned hominy.
- But if you can only get hominy in cans, do that instead of going with canned corn.
- I make the hominy either the night before or earlier in the day that I’m going to make this posole. See recipe card notes for how to cook hominy.
- This posole can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 7 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
