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Mole Sauce with Chicken
This Mole Poblano is a rich, ridiculously flavorful, velvety sauce, layered with earthy, tangy-sweet, spicy, smoky, fruity, bitter notes. This Mexican staple is complex yet seamlessly balanced, made by toasting dried chili peppers, spices, nuts and sesame seeds, then pureeing with tomatoes, tomatillos, and chocolate. Mole sauce is a little time consuming to make, but the spectacular end result is definitely worth the effort. This Mole Poblano can be drizzled on everything from tacos to enchiladas, burritos, nachos, proteins, rice, veggies, beans and more, or combined with chicken and used in all your favorite dishes. Thankfully, this Mole recipe makes a generous amount – so you can do both!
👥 8 Servings⏱️ Prep & Cook: 2h⏳ Prep: 45 min🔥 Cook: 1h 15m👤 Jen📖 carlsbadcravings
🥘 Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you prepare them:
🍳 Cookware
- dutch oven
- bowl
- oven
- pot
- skillet
- blender
- strainer
- spatula
📝 Preparation Steps
1
CHICKEN
2
Pat the chicken dry and season both sides with the salt and pepper.
pepper1 teaspoonblack peppercorns (may sub 1 teaspoon ground black pepper)1 tablespoon
3
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches, sear the chicken on each side until lightly browned, approximately ⏱️ 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to a large bowl. Repeat with remaining chicken, adding additional olive oil as needed.
4
Return all of the seared chicken with juices back to the pot. Add the water and orange juice. Cover and bring to a boil, then add the chicken bouillon and bay leaves and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, covered, until the chicken easily shreds with two forks, approximately ⏱️ 20 minutes. (Meanwhile, deseed chilies/start sauce below).
water8 cupsorange juice1 cupbay leaves2
5
Using tongs, transfer tender chicken to a large bowl; pour broth into a separate bowl to use part of later. Shed the chicken when cool enough to handle; set aside.
6
MOLE SAUCE
7
Working in two batches, add the peppers to a large cast iron skillet over medium heat and dry roast for a minutes or so per side (DON'T BURN); remove from the skillet.
pepper1 teaspoon
8
Add the WHOLE spices (skip if using powders), almonds and sesame seeds to the now empty skillet. Dry roast over medium heat until toasted, shaking the skillet occasionally. They’re done once they smell super fragrant. Transfer to a bowl or plate; set aside.
9
Once the chicken is done, heat 1 tablespoon oil in the now empty Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté until softened, about ⏱️ 7-10 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for ⏱️ 1 minute.
garlic, (minced)8 cloves
10
Add the toasted chilies and spices/nuts followed by all the remaining Sauce ingredients EXCEPT chocolate (tomatoes through salt). Add 6 cups of the reserved broth including the bay leaves (or canned reduced sodium chicken broth if skipping chicken). Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-low and simmer for ⏱️ 30 minutes, or until the peppers are very soft, stirring occasionally and replacing the lid.
bay leaves2pepper1 teaspoon
11
Remove from heat; stir in the chocolate and let stand ⏱️ 5 minutes or until melted.
12
Working in batches, transfer the mixture to a high-powered blender and purée until smooth, leaving a corner of the lid open and covered with a paper towel so steam can escape and it doesn’t explode. (NOTE: If you don’t have a high-powered blender, then strain the chili sauce through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, using rubber spatula to push the mixture through.) Season with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and/or sugar to taste. For a thinner sauce, add additional chicken broth.
pepper1 teaspoonblack peppercorns (may sub 1 teaspoon ground black pepper)1 tablespoon
13
COMBINE
14
Combine the shredded chicken with about half of the sauce (4 cups), or more or less as desired. Freeze the remaining sauce for a future use. Use in enchiladas, tacos, burritos, quesadillas, etc. or make bowls with rice, flour tortillas, pico de gallo, pickled red onions, sour cream, avocados/guacamole etc.
Warm flour tortillasPico de galloPickled red onionsSour creamGuacamole
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