Filled with pork shoulder, hominy, and a fair amount of heat, pozole is the cozy comfort food that isn’t shy about its flavor. This is the stew you make when you’re looking to feed (and impress!) a crowd, or need a soup that will warm you up in the dead of winter. Don’t let the time commitment scare you: This is a set-and-forget-it recipe that truly rewards you for all of your patience. Here’s everything you need to know to make it the best it can be:

How to make pozole:
There’s no getting around it: Pozole takes time to cook. But it’s truly as easy as bringing water to a boil and letting it simmer away while you go about your day. The longer you let the soup simmer, the better it will be. With time, the meat will turn tender, soft, and buttery, the aromas will deepen, and the color will become as rich as the soup tastes. If you want an even easier, more hands-off version, try our slow-cooker chicken pozole.

The spices:
This pozole is meant to be a little spicy, but adjust the heat to your liking by adding more or less of the chiles. We call for 3 different types of dried chiles here to round out the soup’s complexity with each variety’s distinctive characteristics: Some are smokier, some have more fire in them, and every type adds a layer of savory fragrance. To make sure you are extracting more flavor and less spice, take the extra time to pull out the membrane and seeds inside each chile before soaking.

How to top pozole:
The toppings are essential to pozole: They counteract with the heat, and provide a crunch of freshness in each bite. Sweet cabbage and juicy radish will help cool things off a bit, and if you’d like a pop of green, a fresh herb like cilantro is always a good idea.