Muy Bueno: Fiestas 
Easy Chicken Mole Recipe
Holy Mole! This Chicken Mole recipe is out of this world, boasting tender chicken in a rich, thick, mildly spicy sauce that’s tinged with chocolate. It’s also super accessible—the homemade mole sauce takes just a fraction of the time of most recipes.
If I’m being honest, this authentic chicken mole recipe is one of my favorite Mexican dishes. It’s a perfect fusion of my Grandma’s and my Mom’s recipes—yummy enough that it made it into the very first Muy Bueno cookbook!
Many traditional mole recipes can be very time-consuming, labor-intensive, and require myriad ingredients. Some recipes contain ten different varieties of chiles alone! While mole is one of those dishes that is a labor of love, contrary to popular opinion, it doesn’t have to take hours to make.
My mole chicken recipe is simple enough to make that even the most inexperienced home cook can enjoy it. This flavorful mole recipe gives you the soul of traditional mole without all the hard work—if your chicken is already poached, it’ll be ready in about 30 minutes!
What is Chicken Mole?
To know chicken mole is to know mole sauce. Mole (pronounced “MOH-lay”) is a sauce and marinade that is native to Mexico. In archaic Spanish, mole means “mix,” similar to Indian “masala.” While there are almost as many recipes and versions of mole as there are Mexican families, all moles share some common elements.
Generally speaking, moles are made of at least two types of Mexican chiles, some kind of tangy ingredient (e.g. tomatillos), sweet (e.g. sugar, fruit, or chocolate), nuts and thickeners (e.g. peanut butter, bread, tortillas) and spices.
These ingredients are first toasted to enhance the flavor intensity, then blended into a thick sauce that is served with different meats. Chicken mole tamales and chicken mole enchiladas barely scratch the surface of what a good mole can do.
The states of Oaxaca (best known for mole negro) and Puebla (best known for mole poblano) both claim that they are the original source of mole, but there are so many different types of mole that we might never learn the origin.
Mole poblano is a dark reddish-brown, while the mole negro is nearly black, but some moles are green (mole verde), or even yellow (mole amarillo). It is even possible that both states came up with their respective versions of mole at the same time!
My mole with chicken is a happy medium between these two equally delicious and well-respected traditions. It’s mildly spicy, but with notes of sweet chocolate, and the richness of peanuts. BTW, if you’re a fan of spicy mole, you’ve gotta try the Mole Rojo recipe in my NEW cookbook!
Recipe Ingredients
This authentic mole recipe has an admittedly long grocery list, but it’s much shorter than many you’ll find. There are also a lot of pantry staples in here, so don’t get scared off! Here’s what to grab:
- Shredded Poached Chicken – Poaching chicken is one of my favorite fast dinner hacks. Simply simmer chicken breasts in water seasoned with salt and a few aromatics.
- Olive Oil – Just your normal cooking oil is great.
- Onion – I typically use white onions for this Mexican mole recipe, but you can swap in with yellow.
- Garlic – Fresh is best, but I won’t tell if you take a shortcut and use the jarred minced kind.
- Bolillo – These crusty rolls are great for sandwiches and molletes, but here we’ll use them to thicken the sauce. Feel free to swap in a small French roll instead.
- Dried Ancho Chiles & California Red Chile Pods – These two Mexican chiles add just the right amount of heat. Plus, since we’re using mole paste, we don’t have to go overboard with tons of different ones!
- Tomatillos – These tangy green orbs add a zesty, sour punch to balance out all the other flavors.
- Tomato – For sweetness and acidity.
- Sesame Seeds – Roasting the sesame seeds until they are lightly golden brown help intensify their flavor.
- Smooth Peanut Butter – For thickening the chicken mole sauce and adding a lovely nutty undertone.
- Mexican Chocolate – For sweetness, a hint of cinnamon, and a touch of chocolatey richness. Tablets of Mexican chocolate can usually be found next to hot chocolate in the grocery store. Look for a bright yellow hexagonal box—both Abuelita and Ibarra brands are great.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – Adding cocoa powder intensifies the bitter undertones of the chocolate, balancing out the sweetness from the Mexican chocolate.
- Doña Maria Mole Paste – The ULTIMATE time saver. This little glass bottle is packed with all kinds of goodies, helping to cut your prep time by a lot. Curious what to do with the leftover paste? Read some of my tips below.
How to Make Chicken Mole
This easy Mexican mole recipe comes together in just a few simple steps. Here’s how:
Step 1: Sauté. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the onion, garlic, bolillo, chiles, tomatillos, tomato, and sesame seeds and sauté for 10 minutes, until the veggies are soft.
Step 2: Blend. Pour half the broth and the reserved boiled onion into a blender and add half the sautéed ingredients. Add peanut butter, chocolate pieces, cocoa powder, mole paste, and salt and blend until very smooth. Transfer the sauce to a large skillet. Repeat with the remaining broth and sautéed ingredients.
Step 3: Thicken Sauce. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. The sauce should be quite thick by this time.
Step 4: Add the Chicken and stir to coat. Continue simmering while stirring continuously for 10 minutes.
Step 5: Serve & Enjoy. Scoop the mole on a serving plate and toss a handful of sesame seeds on top for garnish. For a festive Día de los Muertos meal or anytime you want to be fancy, garnish with some marigold petals.
Optional Variations & Dietary Adaptations
As much as I love this recipe for chicken with mole sauce, there are many ways to tweak it according to your needs. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Adjust the Heat. This mole sauce is mild, if you want to add some heat to the sauce, add 2 additional dried chile peppers.
- Chocolate Chicken Mole. If you like a sweeter mole, add more chocolate.
- Gluten-Free. Replace the bolillo with two charred corn tortillas and either omit the Doña Maria, or swap in a wheat-free mole base.
Frequently Asked Questions
This authentic chicken mole recipe does contain two types of chocolate—Mexican chocolate and cocoa powder—so you can definitely taste it. That said, it’s also chock-full of other flavorful ingredients like onions, garlic, tomatoes, tomatillos, two kinds of chiles, peanuts, and sesame seeds, so it’s not like you’ll only taste chocolate. I can’t really explain except to say that it’s a really well-balanced sauce, and chocolate is definitely not the overarching theme.
As much as I love this shredded chicken in mole sauce, you have lots of other options. You can also make lamb, beef, turkey, or pork mole.
Fun Fact: Did you know that turkeys are native to Mexico? Use that leftover Thanksgiving turkey to make some delicious authentic turkey mole!
Heck yeah, you can! Simply swap in a vegetable broth for the chicken broth, omit the shredded chicken, and drizzle the sauce over roasted vegetables or use the sauce to make these vegetarian enchiladas or breakfast sopes.
Yes! Just substitute two corn tortillas for the bolillo and ensure your mole paste is gluten-free (Doña Maria is not).
You can use tahini (sesame seed purée) or sun butter (sunflower seed butter) instead, though the taste will be slightly different.
I’m a sucker for a rotisserie chicken when I’m short on time for dinner. This recipe is no exception! You can also use any leftover cooked turkey or chicken. If possible, use mostly the breast meat; the darker meat doesn’t shred as well. Alternatively, feel free to serve whole chicken pieces with the homemade mole sauce.
While this particular recipe for mole is mild, you can absolutely spice it up. I recommend starting by adding two additional chiles to pump up the heat, and adjusting from there.
This recipe calls for two types of dried chiles – ancho and California – but you can substitute New Mexico, chile de ristra, California, pasilla, ancho, or guajillo chiles instead! Check out this post on the different types of Mexican chiles to see which heat level is right for you.
While my Grandma always used Doña Maria mole paste in her mole, you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to. I just find that it adds a lot of flavor. Feel free to use the mole paste, mole poblano of your choice, or omit.
Expert Tips
- Make ahead. Make the sauce ahead of time; it tastes even better the next day!
- Save time. Use 2 cups of shredded store-bought rotisserie chicken and low-sodium chicken broth.
- Constantly stir the mole once you add in the chicken.
Storage & Heating Instructions
- Leftover mole paste. Keep that jar of leftover Dona Maria paste near. If you’re REALLY short on time, you can dissolve the paste in some chicken broth or water for a darn-near instant mole dinner. Add 4 parts broth (or water) to 1 part paste. Season to taste and stir constantly over low Heat. Delicious on chicken. It will keep for about six months in the refrigerator once opened, or up to a year in the freezer.
- Chicken mole. Leftovers of this flavorful chicken in mole sauce can be refrigerated for five days. They can also be frozen for 3 months.
- To reheat, you can either microwave a single portion, or heat up a larger portion on the stovetop in a skillet over medium-low heat. You may need to add a splash of chicken broth or water if the sauce feels too thick.
Serving Suggestions
I love serving this shredded chicken mole with simple white rice, cilantro lime rice, or arroz rojo. This basic mole sauce with shredded chicken is versatile and can be used to create chicken mole enchiladas, chicken mole tamales, chicken mole nachos, and chicken mole sopes. Mole sauce is perfect as a dipping sauce with tortilla chips, for making chilaquiles rojos, or simply drizzled over huevos rancheros for a fantastic breakfast.
More Mexican Chicken Recipes
- Ensalada de Pollo (Mexican Chicken Salad)
- Caldo de Pollo (Mexican Chicken Soup Recipe)
- Crispy Chicken Tacos With Mexican Shredded Chicken
- Easy Chicken Enchiladas
Did you try this easy chicken mole recipe? If so, please rate and review it below, or post it to Instagram and tag me @muybuenocookbook so I know how it turned out for you.
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Chicken Mole Recipe
Ingredients
Chicken
- 4 1/2 cups water
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 onion, quartered
- 1-2 pounds chicken breasts
- 1 bay leaf
Mole Sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bolillo, substitute small French roll, cut into1-inch pieces
- 2 dried ancho chiles, rinsed, stemmed, seeded, and diced
- 2 California red chile pods, rinsed, stemmed, seeded, diced
- 2 small tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed, and chopped
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, plus more for garnish
- 2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
- 1.5 ounces Mexican chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons Dona Maria mole paste
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
Chicken
- In a large pot, heat water, salt, onion, chicken, and bay leaf. Once it starts to boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate to cool off, and then shred. Discard bay leaf. Reserve broth and onion.
Mole Sauce
- Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, bolillo, chiles, tomatillos, tomato, and sesame seeds and sauté for 10 minutes, until soft.
- Pour half the broth and boiled onion into a blender and add half the sautéed ingredients. Add peanut butter, chocolate pieces, cocoa powder, mole paste, and salt and blend until very smooth. Transfer the sauce to a large skillet.
- Pour the other half of the broth and sautéed ingredients into blender. Puree and add to the mixture in the large skillet. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add 2 cups of the shredded chicken and stir until chicken is covered with the sauce.
- Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring continuously to keep it from sticking to skillet. Plate some mole on a serving plate and toss a handful of sesame seeds on top for garnish.
Notes
- Make ahead. Make the sauce ahead of time. It tastes even better the next day.
- Save time. Use 2 cups of shredded store-bought rotisserie chicken and low-sodium chicken broth.
- Like spicy mole? This mole sauce is mild, if you want to add some heat to the sauce, add 2 additional dried chile peppers.
- Like sweet mole? If you like sweet mole, add more chocolate.
- Gluten free? Replace bolillo with two corn tortillas.
- Leftover mole paste. Leftover Dona Maria paste should keep for about six months in the refrigerator once opened, or up to a year in the freezer.
- Chicken mole leftovers. Leftovers can be refrigerated for five days.
Photography by Jenna Sparks
2 Comments on “Easy Chicken Mole Recipe”
Great skip a step with Dona Maria mole paste, I love the jars and have a small ‘set’ now for juice. I substituted two canned chipotle peppers, removing most of the seeds, and chopped them fine, adding after tomato and garlic had sauteed some. I put some thyme into the poaching water, with two bay leaves. Didn’t have any tomatillos but it was still deliscious. Perhaps I would add some bottled tomatillo salsa nextg time.
Hi! Amazing, this seems accessible for a first homemade mole. I wonder about the first mole step : wouldn’t put all the dry and wet ingredients to sautee together prevent them from doing it right? I would be worried that the tomato and tomatillo drown the whole thing, but maybe that’s the point and it’s different from a salsa or an adobo marinade? Thanks