Shrimp Pozole Verde
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This pozole verde puts a seafood twist on a traditional spicy Mexican stew with hominy. Make this recipe for delicious Mexican shrimp soup!
The traditional hearty Mexican stew known as red pozole (or pozole rojo) gets a little switch up here. Typically, the dish is made with chicken or pork. When it’s made with shrimp, it’s known in Spanish as pozole de Camaron.
Another difference is that this recipe makes a green pozole rather than red one. With fresh shrimp that’s quickly poached in the pozole broth, it’s a quick soup to make on a busy night.
Incidentally, this soup is hearty and filling; it eats more like a stew, and it has a wonderful kick of heat. If you aren’t a fan of spicy shrimp, no worries; the ingredients can easily be adjusted to suit your tastes.
Or, if you’d prefer a milder seafood dish that still has plenty of Mexican flavor, you could make shrimp ceviche or grilled shrimp fajitas.
Shrimp Pozole Verde
One reason this recipe is so fantastic is that it has tons of flavor but only takes 30 minutes to make. Actually, if you use frozen cooked shrimp, you could probably have dinner ready in 20 minutes!
Want some other easy Mexican dinner ideas?
Nothing says “speedy easy Mexican dinner” like Baja style battered fish tacos cooked up in 20 minutes, or a quick beef enchilada casserole.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Stock or broth– I used chicken stock because I had it on hand. If you’d rather use something else, both vegetable and seafood/shrimp stock are great options.
- Tomatillos– Using fresh tomatillos will give you the best flavor for the pozole verde but if you can’t find them fresh, canned tomatillos will work. Just be sure to drain the liquid first.
NOTE: If you use fresh tomatillos, keep in mind that the papery husk (called a lantern), leaves, and stem of the plant are poisonous. So, be sure to toss them in the trash and keep pets/children away from them. Also, be sure to wash the tomatillos well with a produce wash. - Hominy– Keep things simple by using a can of cooked hominy, or feel free to cook fresh hominy from scratch.
- Shrimp– Fresh shrimp are usually sold in either medium or large size and either will work. If you’d like to cut the cooking time by a few minutes, buy frozen cooked shrimp. If you’ve never cleaned fresh shrimp, there are instructions further down in this post.
- Green chiles and hot sauce– Because this is a green pozole, it only makes sense to use green chiles and green hot sauce. Any variety will work; I use fresh Serrano chili peppers and green Tabasco sauce.
Video: Making the Mexican Shrimp Soup
Because the recipe calls for premade stock and fresh shrimp cook up so quickly, this may be one of the easiest Mexican soup recipes you can make.
To see the process from start to finish, watch the video located in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
It’s the herby fresh flavors and shrimp that make this meal so special. The soft, chewy hominy is offset by the crunchy sliced radishes and sliced chiles. A good squeeze of lime on top and you’re good to jump in and eat.
How to Clean and Devein Fresh Shrimp
If you aren’t able to remove the veins completely, there’s no reason for concern. They’re unpleasant to look at, but eating them won’t hurt you.
- Gently pull the legs apart to loosen, then peel the shells from all of the shrimp.
- Run the tip of a paring knife along the curved back to create a slit in the shrimp, then use the tip of the knife to lift up the thin, grey vein.
- Use your fingers or a pair of tweezers to pull the entire vein up and out.
- Repeat with remaining shrimp, then rinse them under cool water and pat dry.
What to Serve with Pozole Verde
As mentioned earlier, the soup has a thicker consistency, almost like a stew. You can garnish the soup with thin slices of radish and chile peppers if you’d like. Definitely add a squeeze of fresh lime juice over the top!
I also like to serve a loaf of warm French bread or Mexican cornbread with each bowl of green pozole. It’s such a delicious and hearty meal!
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This post, originally published on Kevin Is Cooking Sept 14, 2016, was last updated with new content on Sept 16, 2021.
Shrimp Pozole Verde + Video
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 shallots diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 Serrano chiles thinly sliced, divided
- 1 lb medium tomatillos husks removed, rinsed
- salt freshly ground pepper
- 1 cup cilantro leaves
- 1 pound shrimp cleaned deveined and tails removed (See NOTE 1)
- 12.5 oz canned white hominy rinsed
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 tbsp Tabasco Green Pepper Sauce
- 3 small radishes trimmed, thinly sliced
- 1 lime wedges
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Saute onion, shallots, garlic and 1 thinly sliced Serrano chile until soft, 8 minutes.
- Purée tomatillos in a blender until smooth.
- Add half of tomatillo purée to stock pot and cook, stirring often, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add 1 cup cilantro to remaining tomatillo purée in blender and blend until smooth; set aside.
- Add hominy, chicken stock and Tabasco Green Pepper Sauce to pot. Bring to a simmer and gently cook over medium-low for 5 minutes. Add shrimp and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in reserved raw tomatillo-cilantro purée, season with salt and pepper.
- Divide stew among bowls and top with radishes and remaining chile. Serve with lime wedges.
Video
Notes
- Frozen cooked shrimp may be substituted for fresh. Add thawed shrimp to the soup 3 minutes before cooking is complete, or if still frozen, cook for 5-6 minutes.
- Recipe adapted from Chris Morocco’s recipe for Green Posole With Cod And Cilantro in Bon Appetit.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Question, your recipe looks fine but a small (12.5oz) can of hominy to this recipe to feed 6 people just seems impossible.
Feel free to add more hominy if you prefer, but there are plenty of ingredients here for a meal. You can also make this for 4 large servings.
Can’t wait to try this. It ticks all of my food love boxes, shrimp, chewy hominy and
the mexican flair! Thanks for sharing!
WILL SALSA VERDE WORK INSTEAD OF TOMATILLIOS ?
Yes, you could do that Mary.
Wow superr!! thanks for sharing..
I am glad you found this recipe!
Forgot to give this a rating. I’d rate it more stars if I could.
You’re too kind. Thanks!
Oh my gosh – I made a half recipe of this for my dinner last night. It was so good – and also very easy. In fact, Its so good I keep sneaking tastes right out of the refrigerator of what is supposed to be my dinner tonight!
Haha! Now I love to read comments like this! Thanks for coming back and letting me know Kathy!
Kevin! your pozole looks amazing! surely what I need in my table today! Have a wonderful weekend my friend!
Oh thanks so much Gaila. I have been having fun living vicariously through your summer of vacations photos on IG! Looks like quite the fun. Cheers!