This Instant Pot pork stew with hominy has that tender cooked-all-day comfort vibe, except it’s ready in just a little more than an hour. You’re welcome.
I used a few different shortcuts for this Instant Pot pork stew with hominy. Rather than follow the traditional method of toasting the chiles, then soaking and blending them, I used ancho chile powder and canned chipotle chiles for a quick, very flavorful, but not overly spicy blend. A bowlful of comfort, this stew will quickly become a favorite in your house.–Urvashi Pitre
☞ Table of Contents
Instant Pot Pork Stew FAQs
What is hominy and where can I find it?
Hominy is made from maize (also called field corn) and can be white or yellow. This type of corn is used in making cornmeal, corn flakes, grits, tortillas, and other grain products. You should be able to easily find both canned and dried hominy in any grocery store or market.
I don’t eat pork. Can I substitute another meat?
Absolutely! Chicken or turkey will substitute nicely.
What exactly is pozole, and how is it pronounced?
Pozole is a cross between a soup and a stew. It’s a popular choice to serve for large gatherings. Most pozole recipes contain pork, garlic, and large hominy kernels, but there are several versions that feature chicken instead, plus additional toppings such as shredded lettuce, hot sauce, diced onion, thinly sliced radish, a healthy squeeze of lime and avocado. It’s often served with tostadas and crema. This delicious, traditional Mexican dish is pronounced ‘po-SOHL-ay’.
Instant Pot Pork Stew with Hominy
Equipment
- Instant Pot or pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 1 pound pork shoulder cut into bite-size cubes
- 1 medium (8 oz) yellow onion chopped
- One (25-ounce) can hominy undrained
- 3/4 cup water
- 3 or 4 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 to 3 canned chipotle chiles in adobo chopped, with 1 to 2 teaspoons adobo sauce from the can (about 1/2 small can)
- 2 teaspoons ancho chile powder plus more if needed
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more if needed
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro for garnish
Directions
- In the insert of an Instant Pot or pressure cooker, combine the pork, onion, hominy and its juices, water, garlic, chipotle chiles, adobo sauce, ancho chile powder, cumin, oregano, and salt.
☞TESTER TIP: If you like your hominy more al dente, add half the can while cooking so it flavors and thickens the stew a bit, and save the other half to add after cooking.
- Secure the lid on the Instant Pot or pressure cooker. Close the pressure-release valve. Cook over high pressure for 30 minutes. At the end of the cooking time, allow the pressure to release naturally, 15 to 20 minutes. The pork should be very tender.
- Taste the stew and season with additional ancho chile powder and salt, if needed. Garnish with the cilantro and serve.
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Recipe Testers’ Reviews
I was excited to see this Instant Pot pork stew with hominy recipe. For one, I have a one year old running around and two, traditional posole recipes that I’ve seen are quite involved.
Now I do have to be upfront and say that I am not exactly sure what a traditional posole should taste like. But this recipe turned out great. There was minimal preparation and it was ready in time for dinner.
I garnished this with lime, avocado, and pork rinds.
There are times when I have success with an Instant Pot recipe, and I wonder why I ever make the dish the “regular” way. We had a test recipe a few years ago, roasted green pozole with chicken, which we adore. After making this pork and hominy stew, I remembered that I haven’t made the other posole in quite a while. I now want to try and adapt the other recipe to the Instant Pot, using this recipe as a guideline.
This recipe is solid, and one I’ll make when I have an extra chunk of pork butt in the freezer. This recipe calls for 3 or 4 garlic cloves. Being fond of garlic, I used 4 cloves.
The first thing that needs to be said is that the chipotles didn’t cook down. I didn’t chop or smash the chilies, because the recipe didn’t say to, and I wanted to follow the recipe as written. When I opened the Instant Pot, the chipotles looked exactly like they did when I put them into the pot prior to cooking. At that point I chopped the chilies and put them back into the stew. Yowza! This was spicy. We had company for dinner, and everyone agreed that I should have only put in 1. Thankfully, I had sour cream which tempered the heat successfully.
I used an old-fashioned pressure cooker for this recipe. I added all the hominy to the pressure cooker as I don’t care for al dente hominy at all, I prefer it to be soft. Once it came up to pressure, I cooked it over medium-low heat, just enough to keep the pressure steady for 30 minutes. It took 18 minutes to cool down and the pressure completely released once I took it off the heat.
The pork was done and very tender. I didn’t have the same amount of liquid as in the photo. I started out with a small amount of liquid and some of it was absorbed by the hominy. I think if you added one cup of broth, it would make the recipe much better.
Originally published March 12, 2021
I love Pozole, this looks amazing I will saving this recipe for later. My mouth is already watering I just need to get shredded cabbage & limes, warm corn tortillas on the side, YUM! Thanks for the post…
You’re welcome, Lisa. Can’t wait to hear how it turns out for you.