Mole
intro
Deeply layered, rich Pueblan sauce balancing smoky dried chiles, warm spices, nuts, and dark chocolate, served over tender poached chicken for a comforting, memorable meal.
Ingredients
Steps
Poach the chicken
Heat 960ml (4 cups) low-sodium chicken broth in a large 5L Dutch oven over medium heat until it reaches a gentle simmer (82°C/180°F). Add 900g bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, adjust heat to maintain a low, bubbling simmer, cover, and cook for 25 minutes until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 74°C/165°F. Transfer chicken to a clean plate, strain and reserve 840ml (3.5 cups) of the poaching broth, and set both aside.
Toast dried chiles
While the chicken poaches, heat a dry 25cm cast iron skillet over medium-low heat (burner setting 3/10). Working in single-layer batches, lay seeded ancho, pasilla, and chipotle chiles flat in the pan, pressing lightly with a spatula, and toast for 15-20 seconds per side until fragrant and slightly blistered—do not burn, as this creates irreversible bitter flavor. Transfer toasted chiles to a medium bowl, cover with hot (60°C/140°F) tap water, and let soak for 20 minutes to fully rehydrate.
Toast nuts and aromatics
In the same dry skillet over medium-low heat, add 35g raw almonds, 18g sesame seeds, torn corn tortilla pieces, quartered onion, peeled garlic cloves, and halved roma tomatoes. Toast for 8-10 minutes, turning pieces occasionally with tongs, until almonds are pale golden, sesame seeds are nutty-smelling, tortilla pieces are crisp, and tomato and onion cut surfaces have light char marks. Transfer all toasted ingredients to the jar of a high-speed blender.
Blend smooth mole base
Drain rehydrated chiles, reserving 120ml (1/2 cup) of the dark chile soaking liquid. Add drained chiles, reserved soaking liquid, 20g raisins, 2g ground cinnamon, 1g Mexican oregano, 1g ground cumin, 2 whole cloves, and 480ml (2 cups) of the reserved poaching broth to the blender with the toasted aromatics. Blend on high speed for 2 full minutes, scraping down the blender jar sides halfway through, until the mixture is completely smooth with no visible lumps.
Simmer mole sauce
Heat 45ml (3 tablespoons) vegetable oil in the original Dutch oven over medium heat. Pour the blended mole through a fine-mesh sieve into the pot, pressing firmly with a spatula to extract all smooth liquid, discarding any remaining fibrous solids. Stir in the remaining 360ml (1.5 cups) reserved poaching broth, bring to a low bubble, then reduce heat to low (burner setting 2/10). Partially cover the pot and cook for 45 minutes, stirring thoroughly every 10 minutes to prevent sticking to the pot bottom, until the sauce thickens enough to evenly coat the back of a wooden spoon.
Finish and serve mole
Stir 85g chopped 70% unsweetened dark chocolate and 9g kosher salt into the simmering sauce, stirring constantly for 2 minutes until chocolate is fully melted and evenly incorporated, creating a silky, uniform sauce. Return poached chicken thighs to the pot, spoon sauce over the top of each piece, and simmer for an additional 5 minutes to warm chicken through. Serve hot, garnished with a light sprinkle of extra toasted sesame seeds if desired.
Tips
2.Do not skip straining the blended mole: this step removes tough chile skins and coarse spice particles to create the luxuriously silky texture traditional mole is known for.
3.Mole’s flavor improves with time: make it 1-2 days ahead, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and reheat gently to let the spices, chiles, and chocolate meld more deeply.
OMG, I was so intimidated to try mole poblano for my husband’s birthday dinner because I thought it’d be way too complicated, but this recipe broke every step down so clearly! The balance of dark chocolate and dried chiles is *chef’s kiss*—not too sweet, just the right rich, deep flavor. My whole extended family was raving, even my tío who swears his abuela’s mole is the only good version asked for the recipe! It’s a little time consuming, but 100% worth the effort for a special occasion. 10/10 would make again.
SO good! I prepped the sauce on Sunday night and tossed it with shredded chicken for weeknight rice bowls, and it held up perfectly in the fridge all week. My kids usually turn up their noses at anything described as ‘chocolate in dinner’ but they both went back for seconds! Only small tweak I made was adding a splash more chicken broth to thin the sauce out because I prefer it a little less thick for bowls. Will absolutely be making this for our next neighborhood potluck.
Tried this last night for our weekly taco night and it was a total game changer. I’ve had restaurant mole poblano a dozen times and this tastes exactly like the authentic stuff I had on a work trip to Puebla a few years back. Cook time was pretty spot on, though I’d highly recommend doing all your prep ahead of time because there are a lot of components to juggle. Knocked one star only because I wish the ingredient list specified what cacao percentage dark chocolate to use—I grabbed 70% and it was perfect, but I almost picked up semi-sweet which I think would’ve made it way too sweet. Definitely saving this to my regular recipe rotation.
This looks so incredible! I’m vegan and would love to adapt this for our family dinner next weekend—has anyone tried swapping the chicken for roasted cauliflower and using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth? I don’t want to mess up that perfect chocolate-chile balance I keep reading about in all the reviews!
Made this for my guys’ watch party last weekend and it was a hit! I was worried the almost 2 hour cook time would be too much for game day, but I made the sauce the day before and reheated it slow on the grill side burner while the chicken smoked a little. Added a pinch of extra cinnamon because I love that warm note, and it paired so well with corn tortillas and rice. Only heads up: make sure you have a big enough pot, my 5-quart Dutch oven was almost too full once I added all the sauce ingredients!