Pressure Cooker Chipotle Chicken Pozole

Pressure Cooker Chipotle Chicken Pozole
Julia Gartland for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Total Time
50 minutes
Rating
5(1,650)
Comments
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A pressure cooker is the perfect tool for making a quick pozole that tastes like it has simmered for a long time. Traditional red pozole usually requires toasting and puréeing dried chiles for a flavorful broth, but this one relies on canned chipotles for smoky complexity. Chipotles can be fiery, so feel free to use fewer peppers if you’re concerned about the heat, but don’t skimp on the adobo sauce: It’s milder than the peppers and is packed with loads of smoky, garlicky flavor. Serve the soup in bowls with plenty of crumbled cheese, diced avocado and crushed chips, for topping.

The slow-cooker version of this dish uses bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, carrots and celery, is available here.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • 2tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1large red or yellow onion, finely chopped
  • Kosher salt
  • 8cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1(7-ounce) can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
  • 1teaspoon onion powder
  • 1teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½teaspoon dried oregano
  • pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 5cups chicken broth or stock
  • 1cup frozen corn
  • 1(29-ounce) can pozole (hominy), rinsed and well drained
  • Juice of 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons), plus more as needed
  • Crushed tortilla chips, shredded cabbage, diced avocado, crumbled queso fresco, minced red onion and cilantro, for topping
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

389 calories; 15 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 18 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 44 grams protein; 1117 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Using the sauté setting, heat oil in a 6- to 8-quart pressure cooker. Add the onion, season it with salt and cook, stirring often, until the onion is softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until slightly softened and fragrant, 2 minutes. Turn the sauté setting off.

  2. Step 2

    Open the can of chipotles and remove the chiles, leaving as much of the adobo sauce behind as possible. (Scrape the sauce off the chiles with your fingers as best you can.) Set the chiles aside and add the adobo sauce to the pressure cooker. Chop 1 to 4 of the chiles until they are almost a paste. (Determine the number of chiles according to your desired level of heat: 1 chile for a very mild soup and 4 for a very spicy soup.) Add the chiles to the pressure cooker. (Store remaining chiles in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5 days and in the freezer indefinitely.)

  3. Step 3

    Using the sauté setting, add onion and garlic powders, cumin and oregano to the pressure cooker. Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant and heated through, about 1 minute. Stir in the chicken until coated, scraping the bottom of the pan. Add the broth and ½ teaspoon salt (but hold off on the salt if you are using fully salted broth.) Close the lid and cook on high pressure for 18 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then release remaining pressure manually. (If hot liquid spurts out of the knob along with the steam, carefully close it and wait 5 more minutes before releasing remaining pressure.) Using a ladle, skim excess fat from the surface of the soup, if desired.

  5. Step 5

    Using the sauté setting, coarsely shred the chicken in the pot using 2 forks. Add the corn and the pozole and simmer until warmed through, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the lime juice and taste; add more salt or lime juice if necessary. Serve the soup in bowls with the toppings of choice.

Ratings

5 out of 5
1,650 user ratings
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Comments

Just a hint on step two. Since I use Chipotles in Adobo quite often, I puree a whole can at a time, with my immersion blender and freeze in one tablespoon aliquots. A tablespoon is close to one chile. They give a nice smoky heat to many recipes. In step two, just throw in one to four cubes during the sautee.

I'm sure it's just me, but I've never seen frozen kernel corn in a posole. I personally prefer cooked dried hominy to canned; maybe the pressure cooker would be good for that. For the chile component, my favorite is New Mexico chile powder added after you cook the onions. Cook that through, then you add pre-cooked chicken and the cooked hominy, etc. and simmer for 30 minutes. Vegetarians could substitute pinto beans for the chicken, canned (rinsed) or cooked from dried beans.

Can this be made in a slow cooker?

Just as there are many dishes called "chili" that have little more than chile powder in common, there are many versions of pozole. If you know pozole, this one may not be for you. It's more like chicken soup with a little chipotle and hominy. Took a lot more than 50 minutes, too. Pozole is all about the hominy and chiles. This one falls pretty short on both. Instead of a can of corn, try a second can of hominy next time, and a couple T of chile powder in place of most of the chipotles.

This was delicious - the whole family liked it. I am kind of a baby when it comes to spice. I used 2 of the chipotle chilies and all the sauce - it was a little too spicy for me. Husband who loves spice thought it was good, and could have used more spice. It would have been good with less chicken, too.

I decided to make posole at the last minute and didn’t have chipotles in adobo. I sautéed 1.5 pounds of chicken thighs in 2 tbsp of chili powder. I only had 1 15.5 ounce can of hominy and 1 cup of leftover corn. The recipe was still a huge hit, even with my picky kids who claim that food seasoned with black pepper is “too spicy.” I squeezed a lime wedge in mine for a bit more acidity and it was perfect.

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