Mexican comfort soup at its best, this wholesome twist and nod to the classic posole is sure to have you doing your happy dance. Bursting with flavor and comforting goodness, this Easy Vegan Mexican Posole soup is filled with delicious warming spices, nourishing veggies, hearty hominy, and protein-packed beans. Ladle up a bowl with all those delicious classic fixings, and it will surely have the entire family running to the dinner table with soup spoon in hand!
Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free, no highly processed ingredients.
Hi there, Ameera here!
I really had to do some talking to get Mom into this soup! As you know Mom loves all things Mexican/Southwestern and she LOVES corn, but she had never had hominy before. She was cautiously optimistic on this recipe. When I whipped up this deliciousness for her, she took one slurp and was sold on it.
This post contains affiliate links, and we may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.
Flavor
This soup is so flavorful, it primarily gets its flavor from the enchilada sauce. AND I must say our Enchilada Sauce is the bomb diggity! LOL You can use your favorite store bought enchilada sauce if you like or a recipe you enjoy. Either way, this soup will sure to delight your taste buds.
WATCH Those Labels
Make sure you are using mild green chilies, mild enchilada sauce, and a chili powder that doesn’t blow your socks off from 10 feet away because it has too much heat!
Any of these three elements can influence the heat level of this soup drastically. The soup is spicy and flavorful, but it does not contain a lot of heat.
I’ll let Mom tell you more!
Hi! Robin here!
Love this soup! I wasn’t sure what to expect since I had never had hominy before but let me assure you that this soup is super yummy! I was dancing in my seat eating it.
We really hope you give this deliciousness a try! We just know you are going to love it!
If you try this flavorful dish, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
Products Used:
- Large ceramic/enamel lined Dutch oven, skillet, or similar large stock pot
Easy Vegan Mexican Posole
- Prep Time: 15 Minutes
- Cook Time: 25 Minutes
- Total Time: 40 Minutes
- Yield: 4 Servings 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mexican
Description
Comforting and flavorful, this Easy Vegan Mexican Posole soup is filled with delicious spices, nourishing veggies, hearty hominy, and protein-packed beans. Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free, no highly processed ingredients.
Ingredients
Base Ingredients:
- 1 cup yellow onions, fine dice
- 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 cup mild enchilada sauce *
- 1 – [ 4 oz. can ] mild green chilies *
- 1 cup vegetable broth *
- 1 ½ cups water (or broth)
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda *
Spice/Herb Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 Tablespoons dried minced onions
- ¾ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano *
- ½ teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
- 1 bay leaf
Other Ingredients:
- 1 – [ 15 oz. can ] hominy, drained and rinsed
- 1 – [ 15 oz. can ] pinto beans, drained and rinsed *
- 1 – [ 15 oz. can ] black beans, drained and rinsed *
Optional Toppings:
- Fresh chopped cilantro
- Lime wedges
- Sliced radishes
- Sliced avocados
- Tortilla chips
Instructions
Instructions
- Place the all the Spice/Herb Ingredients in a small bowl (except the bay leaf), mix well, set aside.
- In a large ceramic/enamel lined Dutch oven or skillet (or similarly large stockpot/skillet) add the chopped onions, sauté over medium-high heat until the onions soften, approx. 7 to 9 minutes. Add a splash of water (or broth) if needed, if the onions start to burn.
- Add the minced garlic, stir constantly for 1 minute. Then add the Spice/Herb mix, stir constantly to allow the spices to release their fragrance, approx. 1 minute, then add all the remaining Base Ingredients and the bay leaf, stir well to incorporate, increase the heat and bring to a boil, then immediately lower to a s Simmer for 3 minutes.
- After 3 minutes, add the hominy, pinto beans and black beans. Simmer for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to develop.
- Remove the bay leaf, served topped with freshly chopped cilantro, avocado slices and tortilla chips.
Notes
*TIPS for Success:
- Mild Enchilada Sauce: You can use your favorite enchilada sauce. We used our own Enchilada Sauce. If you purchase store bought enchilada sauce, the 10 oz. can is the about equivalent of 1 cup. Just make sure you purchase a mild enchilada sauce, be sure to read the labels carefully to ensure you purchase the mild enchilada sauce.
- Mild Green Chilies: Green chilies come in mild and hot. Make sure you select the mild. Also, do not drain the juice from the can. Add the entire contents of the 4 oz. can of mild green chilies.
- Chili Powder: Chili powders come in varying degrees of heat as well. We prefer Penzeys Regular Chili Powder. It has great flavor without the heat.
- Pinto Beans and Black Beans: If you prefer a lot of broth, then scale back on the amount of beans you add. We tried a can of each and there was not a lot of broth.
Notes Continued:
*Vegetable Stock: We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients.
*Baking Soda: Baking soda is often used as a neutralizer for dishes that contain a lot of acidity, typically from tomatoes. We use it in this dish to remove some of the tomato acidity (from the enchilada sauce) without losing the tomatoey flavor. When you add it, the mixture will bubble up, then settle down as it neutralizes the acidity.
*Mexican Oregano: If you have Mexican oregano, use it. If not, you don’t need to purchase it, you can use regular oregano. Mexican oregano has a slightly different citrus undertone to it. We really enjoy it.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Serving: 4
*Storage: Refrigerate and use within 5 days.
This post contains affiliate links, and we may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.
I made this last night with your enchilada sauce recipe, and it turned out great! Delicious! 😀
Hi there Susan 🙂
Yaaaay!!! We are super excited you enjoyed this recipe with our enchilada sauce. Thank you so much for your awesome feedback and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I received a bag of dried hominy and I’ve never used this before in a recipe. Do you think the dried to canned ratio will be the same? Excited to have a use for the hominy.
Hi there Kelly 🙂
We are so glad that you want to give this recipe a try! You would need to first rehydrate the hominy before adding it to this soup. We suggest about 1 1/3 cup of rehydrated hominy.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
i’m doing menu 98 this week. Starting with this. I super excited about this week, especially the eggplant dish. I live in a house of 8 and I’m the only WFPB person, but everyone eats your dinners. Thanks for all your hard work, awesome planning and delicious pictures. I tell friends and strangers about your site. Don’t ever stop!!!
Hi there Destiny 🙂
AWESOME!!! We are so thrilled that you are enjoying our recipes, and we truly appreciate your kind words. It is so exciting that your family (even non-wfpb people) are enjoying our recipes – *doing a happy dance* We appreciate your support and sharing our site with others. Thank you so much <3
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
taco Tuesday….hubby wanted a Mexican soup…he loved it!
Hi there Marla 🙂
Woo hoo!!! We are so thrilled that you and your hubby loved this soup. We appreciate you sharing your awesome feedback with us.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I live in Canada and hominy isn’t widely available. Would brown rice be an appropriate substitute?
Hi there Kathryn 🙂
Thank you so much for reaching out to us. We apologize for the late response. Hominy is similar to a large, slightly drier corn kernel. You could substitute with corn if you wish.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I’m making this for the second time today. It’s really good. I think it’s so odd,though, that you mention so many times to make sure to use mild everything. Ya’ll must have sensitive pallets lol. I think the spicier the better. Perhaps just saying you can adjust the spice level rather than putting such emphasis on using mild (and my opinion) more bland ingredients.
Hi there Tara, We are thrilled that you enjoy this recipe. We actually prefer things with some heat and a lot of spice, the issue is that we have had some really upset readers who make these recipes and didn’t even realize that there were different heat levels for enchilada sauce and green chiles, etc., They purchased HOT without realizing that MILD was an option and the dish had so much heat that it was inedible to them. We would hate for our readers to take the time to make one of our recipes and not be able to eat… Read more »
How is this in an instant pot?
Hi there Jessica,
Thank you for your question. We have not tested this recipe in an IP; however, we think it will work.
-Ameera and Robin
This is definitely not posole. More of a chile bean. Nothing in the recipe resembles posole. Nonetheless, it sounds delicious. Just not very thrilled about this and Rachel Ray calling chile beans, posole.
Hi there Anonymous,
Literally everything on our page is not going to be authentic. It is understood and agreed by nearly everyone in the Whole Food Plant Based community that nearly 99% of the recipes are NODs to the original dish. That’s just kinda how it works when it comes to WFPB food, right? Perhaps you didn’t realize what kind of blog website that you landed upon when you made your comment? Either way, we are happy that you believe the dish look delicious.
-Ameera and Robin