A wonderful Mexican one-pot meal is Posole (the New Mexico spelling, or Pozole, which means ‘Hominy’). Instant Pot Posole – Pork Stew is full of chunks of tender, fall apart pork, poblano peppers, hominy, and a rich broth made with ground red chile pepper, garlic, herbs & spices. Pressure cooker Posole is delicious!
Instant Pot Posole – Pork Stew
It has always fascinated me how every culture on Earth has a soup or stew that can define it. When I think of Potato Leek Soup, I think of Wales, where my grandpa was from. China has Hot and Sour, Borscht from Russia, Matzo Ball Soup is Jewish, and on and on.
Maybe there isn’t always just one soup that we associate with a culture, and maybe a variation of one soup is shared by more than one culture (e.g., Chicken Soup).
When I think of soup or stew from Mexico (and New Mexico), I think of Posole. There are several variations of this stew, which usually has a fair amount of broth.
There are three main types of Posole: Blanco, Verde, and Rojo (white, green, red). This Instant Pot Posole – Pork Stew is the Rojo, or red variety, which is from the ground New Mexico chile peppers.
You can use plain old chili powder if you don’t have the NM variety, and it will still be excellent.
Instant Pot Posole – Pork Stew features Pork shoulder (aka pork butt) as the meat of choice. As it cooks in the pressure cooker, it becomes fall apart tender. So good!
I amped this Posole up a little more with the addition of beer, and some poblano chile peppers. They add a nice depth of flavor.
Canned hominy is the perfect choice to finish off the list of starring ingredients. The hominy has a nice chewy bite and cooks along with the pork and peppers.
Gather everything you will need and have it there by your Instant Pot® so you can enjoy the process of cooking this Instant Pot Posole – Pork Stew! ¡Es muy deliciosa!
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I made this recipe in my 8 Quart Instant Pot® Electric Pressure Cooker. If you have a 6 quart model, reduce the recipe by 1/2 or by 1/3.
Instant Pot Pork Stew is full of chunks of tender, fall apart pork, poblano peppers, hominy, and a rich broth made with ground red chile pepper, garlic, herbs & spices.
- 3 lbs Pork Shoulder / Pork Butt, Cut in 2" chunks
- 2 tsp Salt (to season pork)
- 2 tsp Pepper (to season pork)
- 3 Tbsp Peanut Oil (or canola, sunflower)
- 2 Onions, chopped
- 1 large Bay Leaf (or 2 smaller ones)
- 1 3" Cinnamon Stick
- 6 cloves Garlic, pressed or minced
- 2 Tbsp Chili Powder (New Mexico Red, or just regular red)
- 1 tsp Ground Cumin
- 1 tsp Mexican Oregano (or regular is fine)
- 1 Tbsp Paprika
- 1 Tbsp Adobo Powder (such as Goya)
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt (or 1/2 tsp table salt)
- 3 Poblano Chile Peppers, cut in large dice
- 1 12 oz Bottle of Beer, (I use a Mexican dark beer, or a lager)
- 1 Chipotle in Adobo, and 2 Tbsp of the adobo sauce from the can (use more if you like it spicier)
- 1 (25 oz) can Hominy, drained
- 5 cups Chicken Broth, low sodium
Gather and Prepare all of your ingredients. Cut up the pork, chop the onions and chile peppers, mince or press the garlic, measure the spices, etc. This will make the process much smoother for you!
Salt and pepper the pork chunks. Set aside.
Turn the pot on to the Sauté function (Med/Normal heat). When the display reads Hot, add the peanut oil. Then add half of the pork. Let it brown on first side, then stir it around to brown on all sides. Remove to a bowl. Do this with second half also.
Add the onions, bay leaf, and cinnamon stick to the pot and stir. Let the onions cook until just turning translucent, stirring occasionally, and scraping the brown bits (fond) off the bottom of the pot. You might need a splash of broth or water to help loosen it up.
Add garlic and all of the spices. Stir well.
Add the Poblano chile peppers, beer, chipotle in adobo, hominy, pork chunks, and broth. Stir well.
Put the lid on the pot and lock in place. Turn the steam release knob to the Sealing position.
Turn off the Sauté function and press the Manual (Pressure Cook) button. Then use the +/- to choose 30 minutes.
When cooking cycle has ended, let the pot sit undisturbed for 25 minutes while it naturally releases pressure. Then manually release the remaining pressure by turning the steam release knob to the Venting position.
When the pin in the lid has dropped, open the lid. Use a large spoon to skim off some of the fat. Discard bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Then stir and serve.
Garnish with cabbage, radish, sour cream, avocado, green onion, cilantro, Cotija cheese, tortillas, or whatever you like!
RESOURCES TO MAKE Instant Pot Posole – Pork Stew recipe and more
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Pozole is spelled with a z
Hi Joe, thank you for the comment. In New Mexico it is spelled Posole, at least it has when I have seen it there. I did reference the alternate spelling in my post. 🙂
Even on low pressure, 30 minutes is way too long to pressure cook the vast majority of foods. Also, what’s the benefit of sauteing the pork before pressure cooking it?
I like the pork to get very tender, and this time works for me. You can cook it less if that suits you. 🙂 Have you heard of the Maillard Reaction? That is the purpose of browning the meat prior to pressure cooking it. Flavor! You can Google it as I’m not great at explaining it, lol!
Delicious, thank you so much! I have traveled extensively to Mexico and become a huge fan of posole, so it was a treat to see this instant pot version. I agree that 30 minutes at pressure makes the meat super-tender without over-cooking the hominy. Next time, I might cut back on the paprika and/or chili powder a bit because there were some “muddy” notes and I prefer a brighter stock. But overall, superb. Thank you!
Hi Renee, I’m glad you liked this Posole! Thank you for your review!
Absolutely delicious! I added cumin, oregano, three corn tortillas cut in squares, one dried Chipotle pepper (I was out of chili). Substituted coconut oil for peanut oil, Plus additional 1.5c Mexican hominy.
Hi Peter, so glad you liked it! I just got some dried chipotles from Hatch, NM! Can’t wait to use them. Thank you for your review!
I will try this recipe again, only without the cinnamon stick. It totally ruined it for me. With an Instant Pot you have to be careful with your spices as they sometimes overwhelm your final flavor. All I could taste was cinnamon. I do think the recipe is a good one, however.
That’s too bad. I use a 3″ cinnamon stick and it has never overpowered it. There are different kinds of cinnamon, however, so that could be an issue. I hope you like it better next time.
Made it and loved. Thanks for awesome recipe. Was my first in my new instapot!
That’s awesome! So glad you liked it!
Suggestion for a substitute for the beer? We don’t care for beer, and I hate to buy six bottles when I will only need one. Thanks, looks amazing!
You can use chicken broth, or unsweetened apple cider.
This was so yummy! I used my 6 qt IP, so I reduced the recipe by about a third. I made just a few adjustments. I didn’t have a cinnamon stick, so I used just a dash of cinnamon. I only used about 3/4 cup of beer (I used Modelo Negra) instead of a full 12 oz, and I added a little extra hominy. I garnished with shredded cabbage, cilantro, radishes, green onions and lime. Absolutely delicious! A definite keeper! Thank you.
I made this tonight and it was amazing! I only had a 1.5 lb roast, but kept all the spice measurements the same and just used 3 cups of broth. I didn’t have cinnamon sticks so just used about 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, and I didn’t have beer or adobo powder so left those out and it was still incredibly delicious. I used a 7 oz can of diced green chiles in place of the poblanos, and only used one chipotle chili and the two tbsp sauce and it was plenty spicy (my nose was running in a good way :-). I served it with shredded cabbage, cilantro, avocado, lime and a sprinkle of queso fresco. I can’t wait to have it for lunch tomorrow! Thanks for the awesome (and super easy!) recipe.
That’s great, Lisa! Nice way to use what you had on hand! Thank you for your review!
I’m saving this recipe to make this again! Thank you! It was so good.
Thank you for putting free recipes out for us to try. I have never used an instant pot before. I loved the fact that I thought of something I might like to try to make for my first instantpot meal and there was your recipe with all the ingredients and information on how to prepare. I am looking forward to trying this out. I grew up eating pozole and learned to make my own from scratch. It can take several hours. This seams like a much quicker way to create a delicious family meal.
Hello,
Any suggestions on using a leftover pork should in this recipe? Adjustments for cooking times?
Thank you!
I would cook for half the time, and don’t cut the pork in small pieces. Leave the chunks large, if possible.
I made this tonight and it is delicious!!! I will be bookmarking this recipe. This is by far the best posole recipe I have tried! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much, Dee! I’m very glad you liked it.
Thank you! I can hardly wait to make this! I have to tweak it a bit, low sodium diet requirement. This will be fun though. Thanks again!
Bought my 8 qt Instant Pot just before Xmas, finally got around to using it about a month ago. This was the 3rd meal I’ve made using it and all were pretty darn tasty!! Pot Roast, 3 Bean Chorizo Chili and now Pozole.
Having never had pozole before, I have nothing to compare it to. But I can say this stuff was AWESOME!! I will definitely be making this again! I used pork shoulder that was trimmed and cut into ~2″ cubes. The meat came out PERFECT, fork tender but not falling apart. I thought the cinnamon stick added a nice layer of flavor to the meal without overpowering it. Between the cinnamon, the poblanos, the spices and the chipotle peppers, this had a nice little bit of heat with an abundance of flavor.
After feeding my roommates, who also gave it thumbs up, I took the leftovers to work and fed it to our inmate workers, the majority of whom were Hispanic. Granted, they’ve been eating inmate food for a while so anything home cooked is a treat for them. They all agreed that it was damn good!
Thanks for sharing this recipe! It was nice to not only put my Instant Pot to use but to experience a food that I’ve never had before. I’m sure it won’t be the last!!
Hi Bob, how awesome is that?! I love how you shared with others, and those inmates, who I’m sure appreciated your kindness. Thank you for sharing your story, and I am very happy to know this recipe worked well for you!
This looks delicious! Could I use the same process just more time in a crock po? Not moved up to the instant pot yet.
I think so.