Chef Tom fires up the Yoder Smokers YS640s Pellet Grill for Pozole Rojo featuring grilled pork shoulder, an earthy red chile sauce and plenty of hominy!
WHAT YOU'LL LOVE
- Charring the onion before it goes into the sauce: Grilling the quartered onion over direct heat until blackened builds a smoky sweetness into the red chile sauce base that a raw or sautéed onion couldn't provide.
- Grilling the pork before it simmers: Charring the sliced pork shoulder over direct heat first builds a smoky crust, so the meat still carries grilled flavor even after simmering in the pozole broth.
- Toasting the dried chiles before rehydrating them: Briefly toasting the guajillo, ancho, and arbol chiles in a dry skillet deepens their flavor before they're soaked, instead of soaking them straight from the bag.
- Using the chile soaking water to thin the sauce: Blending in reserved soaking water instead of plain water keeps concentrated chile flavor in the sauce rather than diluting it with something neutral.
Category
Entree
Cuisine
Mexican
Servings
16-20
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
42 minutes
Calories
707
Grill up an authentic Mexican meal with Chef Tom's Pozole Rojo recipe! Featuring juicy grilled pork shoulder and a vibrant red chile sauce, this classic stew is sure to delight your taste buds.
Ingredients
- 3 lb Boston butt pork shoulder, sliced into 1/2” thick slabs
-
Cattleman’s Grill 8 Second Ride Carne Asada Seasoning
- 1 medium white onion, sliced thin
- 2 1/2 - 3 quarts chicken or vegetable stock
-
1 tbsp Cattleman’s Grill Mexicano Seasoning
- 2 (29 oz) cans white hominy, drained, rinsed
-
Noble Saltworks Hickory Smoked Flaked Finishing Salt, to taste
- 5 guajillo chiles, stems and seeds removed
- 5 ancho chiles, stems and seeds removed
- 5 arbol chiles, stems removed
- 1 medium white onion, quartered
- 6 medium garlic cloves
- 1 tsp dry Mexican oregano
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 head of green cabbage, finely shredded
- 1 bunch radishes, washed, thin sliced
- Limes, cut into wedges
- Cotija cheese
For the red sauce:
For the garnish:
Directions
- Preheat your Yoder Smokers YS640 Pellet Grill to 500ºF, set up for direct grilling with GrillGrates installed over the fire box.
- Grill the quartered white onion for the red chile sauce over direct heat until slightly charred on all sides and softened, about 10 minutes. Remove from the grill and dice. Reserve for the red chile sauce.
- Season your thin sliced pork butt with Cattleman’s Grill 8 Second Ride Carne Asada Seasoning. Grill over direct heat until charred. Flip and repeat. Remove from the grill. Dice the pork into bite sized pieces.
- To make the sauce, place the chiles in a hot dry Lodge 12” Cast Iron Skillet over medium high heat (on induction burner or stovetop) and toast until fragrant, about 30-60 seconds each side. Add enough water to cover the chiles and place a lid on the skillet. Let soak for at least 20 minutes.
- When the chiles have softened, remove from the water, but do not discard the water. Remove and stems and seeds from the chiles. Transfer the flesh to a food processor or blender. Add the remaining red sauce ingredients, except for the oil. Process until smooth, adding some of the reserved soaking water to help smooth out the sauce.
- Place a Lodge 7 Quart Dutch Oven on the GrillGrates inside the grill. Add the vegetable oil, then the red sauce to the dutch oven. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Add the diced pork and thin sliced onions. Stir to incorporate. Add the hominy, chicken or vegetable stock and Cattleman’s Grill Mexicano Seasoning. Bring to a simmer. Move the dutch oven away from the direct heat of the fire box and continue to simmer until the pork is tender, about 30-60 minutes.
- Taste and season with Noble Saltworks Hickory Smoked Flaked Finishing Salt, to taste.
- Serve the Pozole Rojo in soup bowls with your desired garnishes.
Recipe Note
Recipe FAQ
Why char the onion before adding it to the red chile sauce?
Grilling the quartered onion over direct heat until blackened builds a smoky sweetness into the sauce base that a raw or simply sautéed onion wouldn't provide.
Why grill the pork before it goes into the simmering pozole?
Charring the sliced pork shoulder over direct heat first builds a smoky crust on the meat, so that grilled flavor carries through even after the pork simmers in the broth to become tender.
Why toast the dried chiles before soaking them?
Briefly toasting the guajillo, ancho, and arbol chiles in a hot dry skillet deepens their flavor before rehydration, building more complexity than soaking them straight from the bag would.
Why use the chile soaking water instead of plain water to thin the sauce?
The soaking water carries concentrated chile flavor that plain water doesn't have, so using it to smooth out the blended sauce keeps that flavor in the dish instead of diluting it.
How do I know when the pork is done?
Simmer until the pork is fork-tender, about 30-60 minutes — there's no set internal temperature target here since the pork is diced small and cooked well past any minimum safe temperature by the time it reaches the tender texture pozole is built around.
How indoor-friendly is this recipe?
3 out of 5 — the sauce, simmering, and final pot all work fine on the stovetop; a stovetop grill pan or broiler can approximate the char on the pork and onion in place of the outdoor grill.
Recipe Highlights
Charred onion base: Adds smoky sweetness to the red chile sauce.
Grilled-then-simmered pork: Keeps smoky flavor even after the meat becomes tender.
Toasted dried chiles: Builds deeper flavor before rehydration.
Soaking water in the sauce: Preserves concentrated chile flavor instead of diluting it.
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Nutrition
Nutrition
- Nutrition Serving Size
- 8.25 oz
- per serving
- Calories
- 707
- Carbs
- 11 grams
- Protein
- 62 grams
- Fat
- 44 grams
- Sodium
- 415 milligrams
