Get my newest recipe via email:

Pressure Cooker Instant Pot Butternut Squash Pozole

Sweet buttery squash in a rich chile-seasoned tomato broth, with creamy pink pinto beans and white hominy corn, all enlivened with an array of colorful garnishes, this healthy vegetarian butternut squash pozole is bursting with spicy flavor and toothy texture!

Butternut Squash Pozole in bowl ready to eat with avocado, cilantro, and lime wedge in separate bowls

Click here to PIN Instant Pot Butternut Squash Pozole!

JUMP DIRECTLY TO RECIPE

Vegetarians, vegans, and those wanting to eat less meat, rejoice–we have butternut squash pozole!!

This pozole begins with sautéed onions, garlic, vegetable broth, dried red chiles, and diced canned tomatoes. The toothy hominy, cooked pinto beans, and diced butternut squash go in the pot and and are simmered together until the squash is tender. Simple.

squash, chiles, onion and garlic for Butternut Squash Pozole

The classic and essential garnishes for pozole, sliced fresh radishes, toasted pumpkin seeds, cubes of avocado, and chopped cilantro, accent this stew-soup’s warm flavors, all in all making for a nourishing Mexican-inspired meal!

Using a pressure cooker or Instant Pot, you can cook butternut squash pozole in 20 minutes flat. That’s 5 minutes for it to come to pressure, 5 minutes cook time, and 10 minutes natural pressure release! Without a pressure cooker, plan on 30 minutes stovetop or until the butternut squash is tender.

Butternut Squash Pozole in Instant Pot pressure cooker ready to cook

While the soup simmers, under pressure or regular stovetop, prepare the add-ins, including lime wedges for squeezing into the soup at the very end. Arrange everything in separate bowls, so, at the table everyone can add the condiments to suit their own taste. For those who eat dairy, offer salty cotija or feta cheese crumbles. If you like crunchy, put out a bowl of crispy tortilla chips too.

Butternut Squash Pozole in soup bowl, garnished and ready to eat

You can make butternut squash pozole the day before. It freezes and reheats well. Prepared ahead, keep your pozole hot in the Instant Pot or slow cooker and you’ll enjoy cocktail hour feeling totally together!

What is pozole?

  • Pozole, aka posole, is a Mexican soup/stew that always includes the large chewy kernel corn known as hominy. Typically, pozole is made with pork, or sometimes chicken. Vegetarians, vegans, and those wanting to eat less meat will love this version of pozole.
  • Pozole, posole? Sometimes recipes will spell pozole with an S, posole. In Spanish the letter Z sounds like our English S. Any way you spell it, pozole is pronounced po-so-lay.
  • This butternut squash pozole would be considered a red pozole because it’s seasoned with smoky dried red chiles. A green pozole would include tomatillos and fresh green chiles, while white pozole is straightforward brothy, and served with ample shredded cabbage.

Just so you know, some of the links below are affiliates. When you purchase products via my links, it doesn’t cost you anything and I earn a tiny commission, which helps me continue to provide free content here on Letty’s Kitchen. Thank you!!

What is hominy?

  • Hominy corn kernels have the husk and germ removed and they’re larger and more chewy than sweet corn. Hominy is so inherent to pozole that in Mexican markets you’ll sometimes see fresh hominy in air-tight packages labeled pozole.
  • You can find hominy in a can (affiliate link) in the Mexican food section of well stocked grocery stores so that’s what I use in this recipe.
  • When ground, the white hominy kernels are called hominy grits and the ground yellow kernels are coarse cornmeal, or polenta grits.
  • BTW–You’ll love the hominy corn in this flavorful Greens and Potato Soup!

How to cut butternut squash–my best way:

  • Trim the ends off the squash, then cut it in half crosswise. Place the squash halves cut side down and using a sharp knife, slice away the peel, down to the orange flesh. Cut the peeled squash in half lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds. With the lengthwise cut side down, slice ¾-inch thick. Finally, cut those slices in ¾-inch chunks.
  • *** You can substitute frozen butternut squash cubes for fresh cut.

About guajillo chiles:

  • Dried guajillo chiles (affiliate link) have smooth maroon-colored skins. They measure 4 to 6 inches long, about 1 3/4 inches wide. Look for packaged guajillo chiles in Mexican food markets or well-stocked grocery stores.
  • Packages of dried guajillo chiles generally have more than the 6 chiles needed for butternut squash pozole.

What else can you do with dried red chiles?

To make butternut squash pozole in your slow cooker:

  • Place all the ingredients in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on High for 8 hours.

To get my latest recipe posts and newsletters, subscribe here. (I hate Spam too and will never share your email with anyone.)

  • Follow me on Instagram!
  • Peruse my Pinterest boards for more vegetarian recipe ideas.
  • Find daily vegetarian and healthy living ideas on my Facebook page.

PS If you make this recipe and love it, please consider leaving a blog post comment. Your comments help other readers learn more about the recipe. If you’d also give the recipe a ✮✮✮✮✮ rating, I’d be even more delighted!

2 comments

  • Zoska

    Wonderful favors! Love your blog, will definitely be looking for more plant-based recipes here. Reply · 8 August, 2020

Leave a Reply

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.