Traditional succotash is a dish consisting mostly of corn and lima beans. Several years ago I posted a Southwestern Succotash that I’ve been making for years and that is very close to the traditional southern succotash my mother always made. With Posole Succotash I’ve broken even further from tradition. Instead of yellow corn, posole succotash uses posole (a nixtamalized dried corn), and in place of lima beans, it uses edamame. However, like my southwestern succotash also it includes roasted green chile which one could substitute with poblano.
Another important characteristic of succotash is the thickener. A thickener is used to pull the ingredients together and create more of a creamy base, rather than a thin soupy base. Heavy cream or half and half are the normal thickeners, but with this posole succotash I chose to use a pumpkin seed thickener that is used in an Andean Hominy and Pumpkin Seed soup. It’s a blend of toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds), milk and oregano. Not only does it help to thicken the sauce, but it also adds another layer of flavor to a nicely textured and flavorful dish.
Posole succotash can be served as entree’ with a side of cornbread or corn tortillas or as a hearty side dish for turkey, chicken and pork loin. I hope you enjoy!
Posole Succotash
New Mexico’s version of a Southern classic. A succotash with posole, edamame, green chile and a pumpkin seed thickener. Serve as an entree’ with cornbread or corn tortillas or as a hearty side.
“*” See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
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- 1 Tbsp. olive oil (or bacon drippings)
- ½ large onion, chopped
- 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 poblano pepper or ½ cup mild to medium roasted chile*, chopped
- 6 large garlic cloves, minced
- 6 cups liquid* (2 cups chicken or vegetable broth + 4 cups water)
- 1 ½ – 2 cups frozen posole or 1 large can hominy*
- 1 tsp. crushed oregano
- 1 tsp. cumin coriander mix*
- ½ tsp. New Mexico red chile powder*
- ¼ tsp. thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- ¾ tsp. salt or to taste
- 1 cup edamame
- 2 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped
- Strained pumpkin seed thickener + 1 Tbsp. seed mash
- lime wedges – one per serving (optional)
- 1 ½ cup whole milk
- 1/3 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 tsp. oregano
- Toast the pumpkin seeds and add to a blender with the milk and oregano.
- Blend for about 2 minutes until seeds are emulsified.
- Let rest until ready to add to succotash.
- Heat oil in a Dutch over medium heat.
Saute’ aromatics (onion and peppers) for 2 minutes, then add garlic. Saute’ until onion is translucent. If using poblano, saute’ with the onion and red pepper.
Add liquid and bring to a boil. (If using hominy instead of posole, reduce liquid to 4 cups.)
- Add posole and seasonings. Simmer for 45 minutes. (If using hominy, refer to the Kitchen Notes as this point.)
- Add edamame and roasted chile (if using).
Strain the pumpkin seed thickener. Add the liquid + 1 Tbsp. of the seed pulp to the succotash. Simmer for 25 – 30 minutes for succotash to thicken.
If serving immediately, stir in cilantro and serve. If serving more than an hour later or the next day, let coo, reheat, add cilantro and serve.
(Optional) Squeeze a wedge a lime over each serving.
Posole vs. hominy – Frozen posole is my preference and it is handily available here in New Mexico. However, if you can’t find it, you can substitute with canned hominy. Because hominy is already cooked, using it reduces the cooking time by at least 45 minutes. When using hominy, reduce the liquid to 4 cups and eliminate “Simmer for 45 minutes” in Step 4. The rest of the recipe remains the same.
An important note for posole – Once tender, posole becomes relative “fragile” so be careful to only stir occasionally, otherwise, you break the posole and your dish becomes mushy.
Poblano vs roasted chile – If you don’t want a spicy dish, use the poblano. If you want a bit of a spicy succotash, use a mild – medium roasted green chile. This dish doesn’t need to be hot. In fact we prefer it mildly spicy.
Liquid – The stock for this dish is flexible. Use vegetable or chicken broth, pork or chicken stock. Once I had a large pork bone in the freezer, so I threw it in with water and left it in until the succotash was done. That was so good!
Pumpkin Seed Thickener – IMO, it’s best to strain this mixture once it is blended and allowed to rest. It you add the liquid and all of the seed mash, your dish will be a little gritty, a texture I’m not too crazy about. However, one tablespoon of the seed mash is unnoticeable and adds a little more flavor to the dish.
April 2018 by https://mjskitchen.com
Succotash has always been one of my favorite “mixed vegetable” dishes. That’s probably why I continue to play around with it. Now that you’ve been introduced to posole succotash, you might want to check these other succotash dishes.
Southwestern Succotash with Roasted Green Chile
Summer Succotash from Spicy Southern Kitchen
Mixed Vegetable Succotash from Magnolia Days
This is not a new twist on succotash it’s basically the way the Cherokee have always made it which is we’re the recipe originated by Native Americans using hominy and beans.
Josh, Thanks for your comment! Succotash is a very southern U.S. dish but made with corn, rather than posole. I grew up eating the southern version but when I moved to New Mexico in the 70’s, I started using posole and loved it. In fact, I love anything with posole. Southern succotash normally uses lima beans. If I may ask, what type of beans do you normally use – pintos, bolitas…? It would be interesting to try this dish with something other than lima or edamame. Cheers, MJ
What do you think about substituting pumpkin puree for pumpkin seeds? I happen to have some extra pumpkin puree and no pumpkin seeds…Alternatively, I have sunflower seeds and raw cashews – would either of these nuts make a better substitute than pumpkin?
Debbie, The sunflower seeds would work just fine. The seeds are add an extra texture which I like. The pumpkin puree wouldn’t provide that. Enjoy! Thanks for contacting me.
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I love Succotash, MJ, and this recipe looks amazing! I’m especially taken with the pumpkin seed thickener…this is such a wholesome recipe! Sharing later today on the Hearth and Soul Facebook page. Thank you so much for sharing, and for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Link Party. Have a great week!
Thanks so much April! The pumpkin seed thickener is pretty amazing. I could just drink it it’s so good.
Wow, the toasted pumpkin seed, milk, and oregano blend as a thickener really got my attention — that sounds amazing! Personally, I think toasted pepitas make everything better. 🙂
Totally agree with you on the toasted pepitas Judy! Almost every salad I make has either toasted pepitas or sunflower seeds. 🙂 When I saw the thickened in the Gran Cocina Cookbook I was curious. After using it a couple of times I was hooked. Thanks and hope you’re doing well!
A super comforting looking dish and again something completely new for me. I would love to try it!
Thanks Adina! Anything with posole is comfort food in the home. 🙂
What a unique and interesting dish – a great twist!! It looks scrumptious!
Thanks Amy!
Just by the looks of it I can say it is so tasty
thanks Raymund!
I had to explain what posole was to Bill when we were in Santa Fe. I’m not sure if he ended up ordering that dish or not, but I still haven’t tried this ingredient. Yous succotash looks like something I’d love, though!!!
Glad you were able to explain posole! A lot of people can’t. 🙂 In SF you probably saw very traditional posole dishes. I make them sometimes, but I love the posole ingredient so much that I love using it with non-traditional ingredients. Hope you had a great time in Santa Fe! Thanks for stopping by!
I have certainly never heard of this dish and I’m not sure I can buy frozen posole anywhere in Oz. But I will google and see if it is available. There are some wonderful ingredients in this dish and I can see how it would make an excellent side dish xx
Hey Charlie, How are you? Thanks for stopping by and hope all is well. Thanks so much for your comment. I’m not surprised if you can’t find posole where you are. It’s even pretty regional here. Can you get hominy? That’s probably just as hard to find. Hominy is a very southern US thing. 🙂
What is the country of origin of this recipe? We don’t have lima here in Bucharest, Romania though…
I’m in the southwestern U.S. Lima Beans are somewhat common throughout most of the U.S. but sometimes hard to find. They are mostly a crop from the southern U.S. Not surprised you can’t find them in Bucharest. Can you find edamame? I’m sure there would be a nice substitute where you are. Thanks for your comment!
Looks like a very interesting dish! I have read and seen posole but never had the chance to try it!
Thanks Katerina! Posole is a rather regional ingredient, but sometimes one can find it frozen. Do you have canned hominy? I would think that even that would be regional.
I’m so glad you mentioned frozen posole. I can find it, and I have purchased it, and didn’t quite know what to do with it. There were no instructions, it came from New Mexico and I wasn’t sure how to treat it. Thank you! I love this succotash recipe. Especially the chile and the cream. Pinning.
Thank you so much Lea Ann! You can use frozen posole in any of my posole dishes. It’s great stuff. Have fun and enjoy!
I’ve never had posole! This looks fantastic – I love the intermingling of flavors and the squeeze of lime (so good here) – this would be a complete meal for me! I’ll keep an eye out for frozen posole. ps: your thickener is brilliant.
Seriously?! Out there in California you certainly should be able to find it. It has such a unique flavor and so much better than canned hominy. Hope you get to try this or another of my posole dishes. Posole is my go to comfort food. 🙂
MJ, you will be surprised to learn I still have some posole… so I might try it in this delicious looking dish!
Your edamame twist sounds fantastic (though I wouldn’t have anything against lima beans either!) and certainly lighter, perfect for the season. I also love the pumpkin seed thickener. What a clever idea!
Thanks so much Sissi and YES, I am surprised that you have some posole! 🙂 Did you find it locally? A lot of stuff going on in this dish, but it all seems to work together. Lots of flavors and textures. I hope you enjoy!
I haven’t found it here yet. A kind fairy once sent me a package of posole… and I kept some of it (I am like this with some food products… I still keep a tiny piece of delicious artisan sausage frozen someone brought me two years ago….).
You are so cute. Must be time to send some more. 🙂
What a perfect solution for those who can’t stand that whole lima bean texture. We love edamame beans. Very interesting technique for the thickening agent! Love that idea.
Thanks Bobbi! You know, as a kid I really hated the texture of lima beans and eventually learned to deal with it, but the edamame does solve the problem completely. It is an interesting thickener. I tried it a while back and wasn’t so sure about it, but the flavor sold me on it. I have started straining it, because, again, a texture thing. 🙂
Such a hearty bowl of goodness. I’ll have to try this. It sounds fantastic!
thanks Vicki! Enjoy!
Never had succotash it looks so healthy & delicious at the same time. Would love to try it! Have a nice weekend!
Miriam x
Thank you Miriam! It’s not surprising that you’ve never had it. I’m sure it’s not very common in London. 🙂
I like succotash, too! This sounds like a fun version…almost could be called fusion with all the interesting things going on! I have subbed edamame for limas also and am always happy. Lovely!
It’s definitely a fusion – probably a 4-way with the NM posole / Asian edamame / Ecuadorean thickener / and southern concept. Thanks!
My mom’s traditional succotash was never a favorite of mine. The frozen lima beans were just too dry and mealy for me. Your version is so different and refreshing! All that southwest flavor really shines in this recipe!
Totally agree Deb! I’ve had to start using edamame is all of my succotashes because lima beans are really hard to find here. This actually turned out for the better, because the edamame provide such a different texture and taste. I’ll never go back to using lima beans. 🙂 Thanks!
This is so interesting; definitely will make this as well; please let me know about the colour of toasted pumpkin seeds. Thank you !
Thanks! Toasted pumpkin seeds start off green then turn brown as they are toasted. I usually shoot for a light to medium toast (i.e. a light to medium brown color).
I have never heard of posole…it looks very delicious combined with chili and edamame!
Here in New Mexico, posole is just a substitute for corn. It is a corn product, but a completely different flavor and there is so much you can do with it. Thanks!
What a fun dish! And very creative. I sometimes use posole (or hominy) in nontraditional ways, but you’ve taken things to a whole new level. Looks fabulous — so pretty, and really good, I’ll wager. 🙂
Thank you John! It is very good – so a good wager. 🙂