Easiest Chicken Mole Recipe (2024)

Published: · Modified: by Eileen xo

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Chicken Mole is a fantastic Mexican recipe that can take hours for the flavors to blend. I have created the Easiest Chicken Mole Recipe that is so much quicker and the flavors are amazing! My mole recipe is prepared in one pot and the sauce is spicy and so tasty!

My family loves a traditional chicken mole recipe but it can be a time-consuming recipe. So most of you know me, "I ain't got no time for that"! I have made it a mission to create a quicker chicken mole recipe without sacrificingthat hearty mole sauce! This recipe my friends is my easiest chicken mole that will rock your socks!

I have taken some of the traditional flavors of chicken mole and combinedthem with some of my easier shortcuts to create the Easiest Chicken Mole, without sacrificingflavor. Rather than rehydrating dried peppers for this mole sauce, use Chipotle Peppers in adobo sauce, easy peasy.Besides being a time-saver, the chipotle peppers add fabulous flavor as does the sauce.

What is Chicken Mole?

A mole sauce usually contains sugar, nuts, sugar, chocolate, cinnamon, and spices. The chocolate should be spicy chocolate or Mexican Chocolate. I love using Forte Aztez Soul Bar to make this Chicken Mole. The dark chocolate bar is made with a blend of roasted chili peppers including jalapenos and chipotle!

Can Chicken Mole be a freezer-friendly meal?

Chicken Mole is freezer friendly. The chicken and sauce can be frozen together. Also, the sauce can be frozen on its own to use as a topper to enchiladas and tacos, etc. The sauce can keep in the freezer for about 4 months.

How is Chicken Mole served?

Serve Easy Chicken Mole with Spanish Rice, Cauliflower Rice, with Tacos, honestly, whatever tickles your taste buds! Shredding the chicken in the mole sauce is also fabulous. The shredded chicken can be served in tortillas, quesadillas, over salad greens! Let your imagination run with ideas!

Is this Chicken Mole Recipe Low-Carb?

Traditional Mole Sauce has tortillas added to the sauce. In this Easy Chicken Mole, bynotadding tortillas to the mole, it cuts out extra carbs. The mole sauce tastes amazing and no one misses the extra carbs. To keep the meal completely low-carb, serve with Cauliflower Spanish Rice.

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Tools you may need to make Chicken Mole:

Dutch Oven:Lodge makes great Dutch Ovens.I love them, durable, various colors and sizes!

Ninja Blender/Food Processor: This is the Mother of all Blenders! Breaks up nuts, ice, you name it! My favorite blender ever!

Quick Tutorial To Make Chicken Mole:

  1. Season chicken breasts with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
  2. Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, add chicken and brown the chicken breasts. Set aside.
  3. To the Dutch oven, add sliced onions, saute about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and saute another minute.
  4. Add in cinnamon stick, cloves, pepitas, and almonds. Saute for about 5 minutes.
  5. Mix in Chicken Stock, orange juice, chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, diced tomatoes, peanut butter, Forte Chili Pepper Dark Chocolate, spices, and raisins. Simmer for a few minutes.
  6. Turn heat off, Carefully add the mole sauce to a blender.
  7. ** Before pureeing the mole. Hold the top down with a towel and keep your hand on it. This is very important, the liquid is hot and if you do not hold the top of the blender down, it can pop off while pureeing.**
  8. Once the mole is smooth, add back into the pot and put the chicken breasts into the pot too.
  9. Let the chicken and mole sauce simmer about 25- 30 minutes. The internal temperature of the chicken should be 165 degrees.
  10. Serve with Spanish Rice, tortillas, or Cauliflower Rice for those on a low-carb or keto diet!

📖 Recipe

Easiest Chicken Mole Recipe (3)

Chicken Mole

A Mexican recipe that is traditionally simmered for a long period of time. This Chicken Mole is ready in less than an hour and is full of flavor! Serve with Spanish rice, cauliflower rice or shred the chicken an make enchiladas, quesadillas or tacos.

5 from 11 votes

Print Rate

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: Cinco De Mayo, Comfort Food

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 232kcal

Author: Eileen xo

Equipment Needed:

Ingredients

Prepping the Chicken Breasts

Mole Sauce

  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large onion, peeled and diced
  • 4 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 small cinnamon stick or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon Note 3
  • ¼ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
  • ¼ cup chopped almonds, unsalted
  • 4 whole cloves
  • ¼ cup raisins
  • 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes with juices Note 2
  • 1 cup fat-free chicken stock
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
  • ¼ cup peanut butter
  • 1.58 ounces Mexican Chocolate, preferably Forte Aztec Soul Chili Pepper in Dark Chocolate
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
  • ½ - 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, garnish optional
  • pepitas, garnish optional
  • fresh chopped cilantro, garnish optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Searing the Chicken Breasts

  • Combine the black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt in a small bowl. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with the seasoning. In a large Dutch Oven, over medium heat, add the Tablespoon of olive oil and let heat up, add in the chicken breasts and brown. This will take about 5 -7 minutes. Set aside

How to Make Mole Sauce

  • Keep Dutch Oven over a medium heat, add the other Tablespoon of olive oil and saute the onions until soft and add in minced garlic, cinnamon stick, pepitas, chopped almonds, cloves, and raisins. Saute a minute or two to let the flavors blend.

  • Add in the diced tomatoes, chicken stock, orange juice, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, peanut butter, Chili Pepper in Dark chocolate, sugar, chili powder, and cumin. Season with salt and pepper to your taste. Stir and let the flavors blend about 10 minutes. Shut off the sauce. Let cool a minute.

  • Place the sauce in the blender, Use a hand towel to hold the lid on the blender while you puree. This prevents the blender top from coming off due to the heat of the liquid. See Note 4 Please! Once mole sauce is smooth, return to the Dutch Oven.

  • Return the chicken to the Dutch Oven. Turn heat to low/medium to simmer chicken and mole sauce to completely cook the chicken breasts. The chicken should be 165 degrees when cooked through. This should take about 25-30 minutes. Depending on the size of your chicken breasts.

  • Serve with sesame seeds, pepitas, chopped cilantro, Spanish Rice, or Cauliflower Rice.

Notes

Note 1: Removing the skim reduces fat, so I prefer to take it off. If you prefer the skim on, by all means, leave the skin on the chicken breasts.

Note 2: For this recipe, I prefer fire roasted tomatoes, however, if only regular diced tomatoes are available, they will work in this recipe.

Note 3: The cinnamon stick gives a great flavor but again, you can use ground cinnamon.

Note 4: Very important, blending hot liquids!! When using a blender to puree hot liquid, use caution. Use a hand towel to cover the lid and keep your hand on top of the hand towel. This ensures that the liquid does not pop the blender top off.

  • any nutritional data I provide is an approximation and actual dietary information can vary based on ingredients and proportion sizes.

Nutrition

Serving: 5ounce chicken breast | Calories: 232kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 353mg | Potassium: 387mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 315IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 1.5mg

Tried this recipe?Mention @Everyday_Eileen or tag #everydayeileen!

Make Chicken Mole any time, pin here:

Easiest Chicken Mole Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret ingredient in mole? ›

But improvisation and secret ingredients, of course, give the mole life: Sweet bread or animal crackers instead of stale bread for thickening, a ripe banana instead of the plantain, the addition of corn tortillas (a secret to Diaz' mole).

What is the ratio of mole paste to chicken broth? ›

The ratio of paste to liquid varies; in my experience, it's usually 1 part paste to 3 or 4 parts liquid. Add a bit of broth or water if the sauce is too thick, or simmer it on low (expect gurgling), stirring occasionally, if the sauce is too thin.

What is mole sauce made of? ›

In general, moles mix ingredients from five different categories: chiles (at least two different types); sour (tomatoes or tomatillos); sweet (dried fruits or sugar); spices; and thickeners (bread, nuts or seeds). Once the paste is formed, it's mixed with water or broth, and then simmered for hours until it's thick.

How to make mole sauce from paste? ›

DIRECTIONS in making mole paste into mole sauce
  1. Pour mole paste into pot.
  2. Add the exact amount of either water or broth to the amount of mole placed in the pot.
  3. Mix together for about 3-5 minutes or until mole paste breaks down and starts to boil - then your sauce will be complete.
  4. Mix thoroughly.

What is the most popular ingredient to add to mole? ›

Some of the ingredients people add to the mole include peanut butter, toasted tortillas, saltine or animal crackers, toasted bread, chipotle peppers, sugar (my mom adds this), and peanuts. These are just some of the most common additions.

Does mole have to be sweet? ›

All mole sauces taste a bit different. Some are sweeter, others are spicier, and they have varying consistencies—but they all feature spicy, smoky, and earthy-sweet notes contributed by ingredients such as chiles, nuts, warm spices, raisins, and tomato. As for texture, mole should be velvety and smooth.

What is mole ratio simplified? ›

A mole ratio is the ratio between the amounts in moles of any two compounds involved in a balanced chemical reaction. The balance chemical equation provides a comparison of the ratios of the molecules necessary to complete the reaction.

How do you thicken mole sauce? ›

Specifically, canned tomatoes which are always in my pantry. Mole sauce should be thick. Nuts or bread are common choices to thicken the sauce, so I used almonds. Finally, chocolate!

How many spices does mole have? ›

Other ingredients can include black pepper, achiote, huaje, cumin, clove, anise, tomato, tomatillo, garlic, sesame seed, dried fruit, herb like hoja santa, and many other ingredients. Mole poblano has an average of 20 ingredients; mole almendrado has an average of 26, and Oaxacan moles can have over 30.

Does mole always have chocolate? ›

People mistakenly think that mole is also a chocolate sauce, but in reality, not all mole sauce contains chocolate. You see, there are several types of mole sauces – some may contain chocolate but others don't.

What does mole taste good with? ›

Mole (Mo-lay) Sauce

We served it with rice and peas. It's a beautiful meal!

What do you use to make a mole? ›

Here's what to add to your grocery list:
  1. Chiles (chipotle, guajillo, and ancho)
  2. Chicken broth.
  3. Dinner roll and corn tortilla.
  4. Tomatillos and tomatoes.
  5. Lard.
  6. Onion and garlic.
  7. Peanuts.
  8. Raisins.
Jan 19, 2024

Do you refrigerate mole paste? ›

You have just made mole paste! Keep a jar or bag in the refrigerator and freeze the rest. The mole will keep in the refrigerator tightly sealed for up to a month and in the freezer virtually indefinitely.

How long does homemade mole last? ›

How do I store the cooked mole sauce and how long does it last? After cooking, you can freeze it and can keep it for up to 6 months. If you decide to store it in the fridge, it can last up to 6 days.

What is the secret of moles? ›

Moles on the forehead suggest leadership potential and wealth attraction, while moles near the eyebrows indicate artistic talents. A mole on the nose hints at charm and a magnetic personality, while a mole near the lips signifies sensuality and communication skills.

What makes mole unique? ›

Perilla, cilantro, and the wild herbs de conejo, as well as the addition of peanuts and sesame also permeate the versatile mole—resulting in its exceedingly unique taste and texture. Given the many steps and myriad of ingredients, it's only natural that time and patience are of the essence during its preparation.

What smells moles don t like? ›

Moth balls in the mole tunnels, coffee grounds and castor oil mixed with cayenne pepper are all possible deterrents that some claim to work. However these are not all substances you would want to add to your soil. For more certain results use Vitax Stay Off Mole Repellent.

Does mole have 100 ingredients? ›

Mole is created from dried chiles, nuts, seeds and sometimes, chocolate and more ingredients. Did you know that many traditional moles require 30 ingredients and some may even have 100 or more? This is why mole sauce has a complex flavor – one that you cannot explain directly.

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