Is Pozole Healthy? (3 Tips For Weight Loss)

One of many cuisines available here in Los Angeles is Mexican cuisine. Many Mexican dishes are simple and fulfilling, prepared with only the freshest ingredients, such as Pozole.

 Pozole is a popular, traditional Mexican dish, as it is deeply embedded within the Mexican culture. It is usually served at festivities, such as Mexican Independence Day, birthdays, and the holidays, such as Christmas and New Year’s Eve but you can make this dish for any occasion and it serves as great comfort food for the colder days, even here in LA. 

 Pozole is a simple stew or soup made of either pork- or chicken broth and meat but can also be made vegetarian, by using vegetable stock instead. One of the main ingredients in Pozole is hominy - which is dried maize treated with alkali - and is complemented with other spices and vegetables. 

 Although Pozole is delicious, is it healthy?

 Pozole is definitely a healthy dish as it offers a balance of all three macronutrients which translates to a suitable range of calories. You can also find a large variety of vegetables and herbs that offers many different micronutrients, such as fiber and certain vitamins.

Pozole is a simple dish but it has a lot of elements that go into each simple ingredient shown.

If you want to stick to your diet and stay healthy while eating Pozole, then stick to these 3 steps to understand the benefits that Pozole can offer. 

Tip 1: What Goes Inside Pozole?

Tip 2: How Many Calories Does Pozole Have? 

Tip 3: How To Lose Weight While Eating Pozole

Now that we know our three steps, let’s get into the details on how we can eat Pozole and stay healthy.  

Tip 1: What Goes Inside Pozole? 

Pozole is a dish that can be prepared in many different ways, featuring hominy and either pork or chicken, with a variety of different vegetables and spices, such as shredded cabbage, sliced radish, avocado, limes, onion, oregano, and chilies. 

 Check out our recipe to make some Pozole for yourself.

 Each of these vegetables offers a certain textural element to the dish which makes every bit really exciting as you never get two of the same bite, as you do with many Mexican dishes.

The best part of Pozole, however, is that it is easy to make and it is versatile. Pozole can come in the white (Blanco) version, as well as the green (Verde) and the red (Rojo). The white version is prepared without adding any additional red or green sauce.

However, the green version of Pozole adds richness with the sauce made with green ingredients, such as cilantro, jalapeños, tomatillos, pumpkin seeds, or epazote - which is a Mexican type of herb. Red Pozole is made with red ingredients, such as guajillo, ancho, or piquin chilis, and tomatoes.

Traditionally, Pozole Rojo is made with pork and is popular throughout the entire country of Mexico, whereas Pozole Verde is made with shredded white chicken and is primarily consumed in central Mexico. However, either dish can be customized to your liking.

The main ingredient in Pozole is called “hominy” which is dried maize treated with alkali. You get the protein from either the meat you choose or beans if you’d like to make this a vegetarian dish.

There is so much balance in this dish which is what makes it really amazing. 

 You can find this dish in many Mexican restaurants.

 If you want to try to make it at home, here is a healthy recipe that I’ve found online that correlates to the nutrition facts that will be mentioned in section two of the article. 

 Now that we know what Pozole is, let’s take a look at the nutrition facts and see how many calories go inside a traditional cup of Pozole Rojo with pork. 

Tip 2: How Many Calories Does Pozole Have? 

 If we take a look at the nutrition facts, you can see that a typical cup of red Pozole with pork has 426 calories with a macronutrient ratio of 22 grams of carbs, 28 grams of protein, and 25 grams of fat.

This is not bad at all for a complete meal, as there are low fats and carbs, and a moderate amount of protein.

The issue with this dish is the amount of fatty meat - such as pork.

The key to dieting is really getting a nice balance of macronutrients which you don’t really get in a typical cup of Pozole.

This is why we recommend you try to make this at home and focus on using lean meat - such as chicken - instead of pork and add oregano since it’s high in antioxidants. You can even make it vegetarian, by substituting beans for the meat, as well as using vegetable stock for the base.

You can also add more veggies and less hominy, to make Pozole lower in calories. 

By using white chicken instead of pork, a cup of 300 ml Pozole will add 240 calories, with 34 grams of carbohydrates, 13 grams of protein, and 5 grams of fat. 

And although the carbs are higher in this version, I can guarantee you that carbs are not bad. They tend to have a bad rep because carbs can cause water retention and bloat.

However, carbs also give you the energy to burn, you just have to make sure you exercise enough. For anyone watching their weight, just be sure to eat fewer carbs for another meal.

When you eat a cup of Pozole, you get 4 grams of fibers which is a type of carb that really helps when dieting.

Fiber allows you to feel full and satiated which is key when you’re in a caloric deficit. 

Keeping healthy and fit is all about calorie or energy balance which means that you can still eat your carbs and stay in shape.

You just have to understand how many carbs you need to eat in a day and to make sure not to overeat on your total allotted calories for the day. 

Now that we know a little bit more about the nutrition facts of a typical Pozole dish, let’s take a look at how you can eat Pozole to stay in shape and get nice and lean. 

Tip 3: How To Lose Weight While Eating Pozole

We mentioned this in section two of the article but we’re going to stress again the importance of understanding how many calories you need to eat in order to stay in shape.

The fastest way to get out of shape is to overeat which is easy to do with unhealthy and processed meals. 

Eating something like Pozole which is customizable and filled with whole fresh ingredients is a great option if you’re looking to shed some fat and feel great.

Before we get into those tips, however, let’s go over how you can figure out your daily caloric needs and see how much of each macronutrient you should be consuming. 

Your daily allotted calories are more than you can imagine and are the only factors that determine weight gain, weight loss, or maintenance.

So, how do you know how many calories you should be eating in a day?

The answer is through trial and error and finding a calorie range that allows you to lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week. 

A good place to start, however, is to multiply your body weight by 12 or to use an online TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calculator. 

These will both give you very rough estimates that are not specific for your body but you’ll see that they can get pretty close. 

Once you get that number from either function, stick with it for a week and see how it affects your body.

For example, if either function tells you to eat 1600 kcals a day, eat that for a week and see what happens.

If you stay the same, drop the calories by 100 and see how that works.

You most likely won't have to drop too low as you’ll get a pretty low number to start off with regardless. 

So, how do you lose weight while eating Pozole?

You can see that a traditional cup of Pozole Rojo with pork is 430 kcals with macros, 22 grams of carbs, 25 grams of fat, and 28 grams of protein. You can just add that into your day and subtract that from your total daily calorie intake. 

The trick here is to find really satiating and filling foods like Pozole which is a mixture of whole fresh ingredients.

That’s where those macronutrients come in.

You don’t want all of your calories simply coming from carbs or fats, you want there to be a balance coming from carbs, fats, and protein.

A great ratio to stick to is 30% carbs, 40% protein, and 30% fats.

This can be a little low on the carbs but you can definitely increase them if you live an active lifestyle.

So just do the calculation of whatever calorie range that you find and split up your calories by following those macro guidelines. 

Pozole is a great food as it has the potential to offer everything you need in a healthy diet.

Once again, we recommend that you make this on your own and play around with the ingredients a bit to make it more favorable towards your diet. 

Make sure to eat whole fresh ingredients and save the bad stuff for your cheat days or social events with friends. Another great tip is portion control and sticking to smaller portions throughout the day.

The bulk of your meals should come from the fresh stuff so just keep yourself in check and see the difference you make when you take initiative to eat healthier.

THERE IT IS! 

Pozole is such a versatile food, as it has so many delicious components that complement each other.

The traditional Pozole dish is filled with great benefits and can be a balanced meal if you make sure to customize it and add some leaner proteins.

Overall, Pozole is a great example of a dish that features whole foods and offers not only a delicious flavor but great nutrition.

RECENT POSTS