What Is White hominy and How Can I Use It?
White hominy rewards a little know-how: how to choose it, cook it, store it, and substitute in a pinch. Browse 12 recipes to cook with it.
Key Points
- White hominy is field corn nixtamalized in lime, hulled and swollen into plump, chewy kernels.
- Canned hominy is fully cooked: rinse it and add it to stews in the last 20 minutes.
- It is the heart of pozole and menudo and adds body to chilis and chowders.
- Long boiling turns the soft kernels pasty, so stir them in near the end.
- Dried hominy (posole) needs an overnight soak but cooks up firmer and deeper-flavored.
What is white hominy?
White hominy is dried field corn that has been soaked in an alkaline solution, traditionally slaked lime, in a process called nixtamalization. The treatment loosens and removes the tough outer hull and swells each kernel to two or three times its raw size.
The result is a plump, chewy kernel with a soft bite and a faintly sweet, distinctly corn-tortilla aroma. That smell is the giveaway, because nixtamalization is the same step that turns corn into masa for tortillas.
White hominy uses white corn; the yellow version is the same process on yellow corn, with a slightly fuller flavor.
How to Use White Hominy
The canned kind is fully cooked and just needs draining and rinsing, which is why most home cooks reach for it. Tip it straight into soups and stews in the last 15 or 20 minutes, long enough to heat through and soak up the broth.
Hominy is the soul of pozole, the Mexican hominy-and-pork stew, where the puffy kernels are the whole point. It shows up the same way in New Mexican Pozole with Pork and Hominy and in Menudo, the tripe stew traditionally served to cure a hangover.
Beyond stews it brings chew and body to chilis and chowders, as in Ham & Hominy Chowder and the smoky Poblano & Smoked Chicken Chowder with Hominy. You can also pan-fry drained kernels in a little fat until they blister and crisp at the edges.
Pairing and Common Mistakes
Hominy leans Southwestern and Mexican on the plate. It loves pork, smoked chicken, dried chiles, cumin, oregano, lime and cilantro, and the green-chile flavors of dishes like Anasazi & Pinto Beans with Hominy & Green Chiles.
The most common mistake is treating canned hominy like a vegetable that needs cooking down. It is already soft, so long boiling just makes it pasty. Add it late.
The second is skipping the rinse. Canned hominy sits in a salty, slightly metallic liquid, and a quick rinse under cold water cleans up the flavor before it goes in the pot.
What to Use Instead
Canned and dried hominy are interchangeable once the dried is cooked. Dried takes an overnight soak and a long simmer, but the texture is firmer and the corn flavor deeper, so it is worth it when hominy is the star.
Nothing else matches that nixtamalized aroma. Canned chickpeas come closest on size and chew for a soup, while hominy grits or coarse polenta echo the corn flavor in a different form. Yellow hominy substitutes one to one if white is all the recipe specified.
Buying and Storing White Hominy
Look for it in the Latin or canned-vegetable aisle, usually beside the beans, in cans labeled white or golden (yellow). Dried hominy, sometimes called posole or nixtamal, turns up in Mexican groceries and bulk bins.
An unopened can keeps for a couple of years in the pantry. Once opened, move leftovers to a sealed container in the fridge and use them within three or four days.
Dried hominy stores like any dried grain, airtight and cool, for up to a year.
If a can is bulging or leaking, or the kernels smell sour, throw it out rather than taste-test it.
Quick facts
- In Chinese
- 白霍米尼
- British (UK) term
- White hominy
- en français
- semoule de maïs blanc
- en español
- sémola de maíz blanco
Recipes using white hominy
There are 12 recipes that contain this ingredient.
Amy's Chili with Hominy (Vegan)
Amy's vegan chili with hominy, pinto beans, chickpeas, zucchini, and a hint of molasses for depth. The dump-and-simmer one-pot weeknight chili that's hearty enough to skip the meat entirely.
Anasazi & Pinto Beans with Hominy & Green
Anasazi and pinto beans with hominy and roasted green chile, a slow-simmered Southwestern bean pot built on heritage legumes and fire-roasted Anaheims. Vegan, frugal, and deeply Pueblo-rooted.
Fiery Chili Soup
Fiery chili soup with seared lamb, white hominy, green and red chili peppers, and crushed juniper berries. A hearty, spicy Southwestern-style stew simmered until the lamb is fork-tender.
Anasazi & Pinto Beans with Hominy & Green Chiles
Southwestern bean stew with Anasazi and pinto beans, hominy, and roasted green chiles. Slow-cooked until creamy, hearty, and deeply satisfying.
Rotel & Hominy Tortillas
Spicy Rotel tomatoes with hominy and black beans served in warm flour tortillas. A 4-ingredient vegetarian Tex-Mex meal that gets spicier the longer it cooks.
Salt Pork, Beans & Hominy
Old-time country stew of pinto beans and white hominy simmered low and slow with salt pork and a whisper of marjoram. Frontier comfort food that fills the kitchen with smoky depth.
Poblano & Smoked Chicken Chowder with Hominy
Poblano and smoked chicken chowder with hominy, tomatillos, cumin, and white wine, topped with avocado, cilantro, and fresh lime. A smoky, spiced Mexican-inspired soup.
New Mexican Pozole with Pork & Hominy
Pozole is a New Mexican holiday stew of pork shoulder simmered until tender with hominy and mild chili powder. The long cooking produces a rich broth and meat that falls into silky shreds. Serve it with warm corn tortillas for Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve.
Menudo (Tripe)
Menudo is a beloved Mexican tripe and hominy soup with garlic, chili powder, and a touch of brown sugar. A simplified weekday version of the iconic Sunday cure-all.
Ham & Hominy Chowder
Ham and hominy chowder with cubed red potatoes, sweet peppers, green chilies, and creamy milk. Southwestern-style chowder that doubles as leftover ham repurposing.
