Take a look at Nashville menus in every restaurant segment and you’ll see that it’s quite possible to have a bowl of Mexican tortilla soup every day for weeks without a repeat. And if you want to include Mas Taco’s runaway tortilla soup on your list, you’d better get there early.
Traditional chicken noodle soup has clearly been pushed aside by its more flavorful cousins, so if a pot of turkey soup made with your leftover holiday bird is in the plans, spicy Thanksgiving Posole is the way to go.
Our posole is a cool weather comfort soup combo of tortilla soup and the hominy-driven Mexican posole more commonly made with pork. It is chock-full of vegetables like carrots, cabbage, celery, and tomatoes, probably a wise move right after the Thanksgiving feast. Like all useful soup recipes, this one is easy to customize by adding more or less of anything to suit your style.
For the chile component, go red or green as you like using canned green chile or everyday red chile powder, even ancho or chipotle. Make your own turkey broth or use easy store-bought chicken (or vegetable) broth. Add whatever turkey survived the late-night turkey sandwich fest and if there’s none left, use chicken, just as good. Canned hominy provides the distinctive earthy corn flavor at the heart of posole, but if it is too corny for you, just swap it for regular corn kernels and/or diced potatoes.
The all-important garnishes top this healthy, hearty soup with color, crunch, and contrast so remember to add these to the Thanksgiving week shopping list and be sure to get the avocados early enough to ripen in time. With a pot of posole, stacks of crispy tostada shells and cold Mexican beer, you’re ready to text a few friends to pop over for a post-holiday hangout.