Doña María® Mole is a staple found in many Mexican kitchens, and for generations has been the easy way to fix a delicious mole in a matter of minutes.
Doña María® Mole
This post has been compensated by Doña María® Mole. The recipe and all opinions are mines alone.
This was not an exception in my house when I was growing up, and up until today, my mother still prefers to use DOÑA MARÍA® Mole when making mole celebrate my siblings’ birthdays. Of course, she enhances the mole paste by adding some extra ingredients, which is something many home cooks do to add their own touch to this dish.
Over the years, I have received many emails from you regarding how to make a mole using ready-made mole pastes. Some people ask specifically about making mole using the DOÑA MARÍA® paste, so I was very excited when I was asked to write about it in a blog post.
As many of you know, I love Mole Poblano, and cooking it from scratch is one of my passions. Unfortunately, many people (including myself) do not always have the time to prepare such an elaborate dish, and using a pre-made mole paste is your best option for making a mole without all the hassle. I guess this is why my mother has used DOÑA MARÍA® Mole all these years, as raising a family with 8 children leaves little time for cooking complicated dishes.
Doña María Mole is a favorite in many homes for special occasions.
With DOÑA MARÍA® Mole, making mole is easy and accessible. The instructions only call for diluting the paste in a good chicken broth, but as I mentioned above, most people like to add their own ingredients and spices to further enhance the flavors.
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. Some cooks will roast or fry the ingredients, but I prefer to boil them, as you will see in the recipe below.
Cooking Mole really awakens your senses, and it’s a unique experience to see all the flavors, aromas, and textures come together to create a delicious dish. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we like it in our home and don’t forget to play some music while you’re cooking it! If you follow me on Instagram, you know how much I like to play music in the kitchen to add rhythm to my meals.
How to make Doña María® Mole
JUMP TO FULL RECIPE WITH INGREDIENTS
NOTES:
- If you like your Mole on the sweeter side, you can add one more quarter of the Chocolate tablet to your sauce.
- If you don’t have tortillas, use 1 slice of toasted bread, or 4 saltine crackers.
- DOÑA MARÍA® Mole is not a spicy sauce, but if you like to spice things up, add one chipotle pepper in adobo. Rinse it beforehand to remove the vinegar flavor, then add it to the blender with the cooked tomatoes.
- The lid on the jar of DOÑA MARÍA® Mole is quite easy to take off, but if you’re having trouble you can remove it using a bottle opener.
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Place the chicken pieces in a stockpot with the garlic, onion, celery stick (cut into 2-3 pieces), and parsley (or cilantro). Cover with water.
- Place the pot over medium-high heat, and once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 35-45 minutes until the chicken meat is cooked and tender. Season with salt and set aside. This chicken broth is what we will use to dilute the Mole paste.
- While the chicken is cooking, place the tomato, onion, and garlic in a saucepan. Cover with water and turn the heat to medium-high. Once it comes to a rolling boil, reduce the heat and cook for 8 minutes or until the tomatoes are cooked.
- Once the tomatoes are cooked, drain the water and place the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and the toasted tortilla in your blender. Process until you have a fine sauce, then set aside.
- Place a large frying pan over low heat and add the jar of DOÑA MARÍA® Mole and a cup of the chicken broth to start diluting the paste.
- Add one more cup of the broth along with the tomato sauce, chocolate, ground cinnamon, and ground anise seed. Stir well until the Mole paste has completely dissolved. Add more broth as needed, since the paste will get thicker as it continues cooking.
Some people like their sauce thicker than others, regulate the amount of chicken broth used in order to achieve the thickness you like. Traditional Mole sauce has the consistency of a thick gravy.
- Add the chicken pieces to the sauce, season with salt, and slowly simmer for about 5 more minutes.
Serve with rice and warm corn tortillas. Enjoy!
Check the recipe for the Traditional Mexican Red Rice!
Buen Provecho!
Mely,
📖 Recipe
Doña María® Mole
Ingredients
TO COOK THE CHICKEN
- 1 whole chicken 5 lb., cut into 8 pieces
- 3 garlic cloves
- ¼ white onion
- 1 Celery stick
- 2 Parsley or Cilantro sprigs
- 8 cups of water
- Salt to taste
FOR THE MOLE SAUCE
- 5 oz. tomatoes
- 1 white onion cut into thick slices
- 1 small garlic clove
- 4-5 Cups chicken broth
- 1 toasted corn tortilla*
- 1 jar 8.25 oz. DOÑA MARÍA® Mole
- ½ tablet Mexican Chocolate**
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground anise seed
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds to garnish
Instructions
INSTRUCTIONS TO COOK THE CHICKEN:
- Place the chicken pieces in a stockpot with the garlic, onion, celery stick (cut into 2-3 pieces), and parsley (or cilantro). Cover with water.
- Place the pot over medium-high heat, and once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 35-45 minutes until the chicken meat is cooked and tender. Season with salt and set aside. This chicken broth is what we will use to dilute the Mole paste.
TO PREPARE THE MOLE DOÑA MARÍA® MOLE SAUCE
- While the chicken is cooking, place the tomato, onion, and garlic in a saucepan. Cover with water and turn the heat to medium-high. Once it comes to a rolling boil, reduce the heat and cook for 8 minutes or until the tomatoes are cooked.
- Once the tomatoes are cooked, drain the water and place the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and the toasted tortilla in your blender. Process until you have a fine sauce, then set aside.
- Place a large frying pan over low heat and add the jar of DOÑA MARÍA® Mole and a cup of the chicken broth to start diluting the paste.
- Add one more cup of the broth along with the tomato sauce, chocolate, ground cinnamon, and ground anise seed. Stir well until the Mole paste has completely dissolved. Add more broth as needed, since the paste will get thicker as it continues cooking.
- Some people like their sauce thicker than others, regulate the amount of chicken broth used in order to achieve the thickness you like. Traditional Mole sauce has the consistency of a thick gravy.
- Add the chicken pieces to the sauce, season with salt, and slowly simmer for about 5 more minutes.
Serve with rice and warm corn tortillas. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you like your Mole on the sweeter side, you can add one more quarter of the Chocolate tablet to your sauce.
- If you don’t have tortillas, use 1 slice of toasted bread, or 4 saltine crackers.
- DOÑA MARÍA® Mole is not a spicy sauce, but if you like to spice things up, add one chipotle pepper in adobo. Rinse it beforehand to remove the vinegar flavor, then add it to the blender with the cooked tomatoes.
- The lid on the jar of DOÑA MARÍA® Mole is quite easy to take off, but if you’re having trouble you can remove it using a bottle opener.
Steve
Could you use this on pork also, I have used your mole Verde for pork and chicken many times and it is great but I was wondering if there are other mole types would also work well with pork shoulder.
Thanks
Mely Martínez
Hello Steve,
Yes, it can work using pork shoulder.
Dominika
Looks amazing! I have bought Dona Maria Mola con cacao alreaady.. should i still follow the same instructions? or skip the chocolate? Thank you
Mely Martínez
Hello Dominika,
Follow the directions as instructed here.
George Ferran
Excellente!
George Ferran
Amazing! Far better than dried chicken tenders in ? at the local best restaurant.
I roasted tomato, celery, and garlic w/1 Chipotle. I did the rest per instruccione, made the sauce, roasted chicken and added pan juice. I rested chicken, then reduced the sauce, adding tad more Dona sauce...salt and pepper to taste.
WOW! Like WOW!!
Gracias Dona!!
Edith
I cheated on the recipe as I realized I didn’t have everything that was needed. But the end result was perfect 👍
To begin with, I was missing tomato and celery, as well as fresh parsley. It suddenly occurred to me that my container of mild salsa had tomatoes, celery, onion, garlic & cilantro in it. I put the chicken on to cook in a bit of olive oil, stirring until done.
In the meantime, I grabbed a bag of corn tostitos I had ( obviously I didn’t have what was suggested) and some organic chicken broth. These went into the blender along with the salsa.
I thinned out the Dona Maria Mole with the sauce as suggested and added a little more broth. Then mixed these together. It definitely needed more chocolate and a bit of sugar, but I like my mole sweet. Turned out perfect! Thanks again for your recipe 😘
Carrie Reed
I loved this recipe! It tasted just like the mole I have had at restaurants! I made a vegan version by using vegetable broth and serving it over baked tofu. Thank you for sharing!
Mely Martínez
Hello Carrie,
Great way to add protein to the Mole.
Ilda
Can we use whole tomatoes from the can. If we don’t have tomatoes at home to use?
Mely Martínez
Hello, Just make sure you drain the liquid from the can and rinse the tomatoes to avoid the canned flavor.
Noah
Just made this and jarred it up to take to work for lunch this week 🙂 It came out great, and I have another jar of leftover sauce going in the freezer to make it even easier next time 🙂
The only difference is I cubed and seared the chicken so I can eat it without a knife. Then used the schmalts from that to make the rice in that pan
Helga
This was delicious and easy to make! I used bone-in thighs because that’s what I had available. My son said it was better than mole from a restaurant.
Mely Martínez
Hello Helga,
Thank you for trying the recipe. Happy cooking!
Maria
Just made this today, it came out fantastic, similar to my mother in laws home made mole. Can you freeze the extra mole sauce?
Mely Martínez
Hello Maria,
Yes, you can. I will keep well for a couple of week in the freezer.
Gale
The crackers or the bread is added as a thickener.
Mely Martínez
Hello, Gale,
Yes, as a thickener agent.
Megan
I just want to ask what Mexican chocolate tablets you recommend. I am not Mexican but my husband is and we love Mike. We weren’t satisfied with the Dona Maria Mole without doctoring it up so I’m looking forward to adding the extra ingredients to see if it tastes better. My mother-in-law calls it “fake mole” since she makes her’s homemade.
Mely Martínez
Hello Megan,
I usually buy or Abuelita or Ibarra brand, if you want to make traditional mole, there is a recipe for it here in the blog.
Michelle Heller
My go to with the only addition of peanut butter and sugar.
Rose
I prepared this recipe exactly as written. It received great reviews! I was surprised by its smooth consistency and taste. My family tends to be sensitive to spicy food. No one had a problem with this mole recipe! Dona María is back on my grocery list! Thank you for sharing your recipes. I have tried other recipes from your website before and they have all turned out delicious. This one is my favorite.
Mely Martínez
Hello Rose,
Thank you for giving this recipe a try! Happy cooking!
Creve E.
This is a easy mole recipe for busy moms who don’t have a lot of time to get dinner on the table. It’s easy, delicious and inexpensive. Thanks for sharing.
Teresa
I love your recipes. When I make mole I add a few tablespoons of chicken flavor”Better than Bouillon “ and a teaspoon ( or more) of sugar to the mole paste and water ( or chicken broth if I boiled chicken). That’s all and it comes out delicious. But I will try your recipe because so far you haven’t posted any bad ones!
BDelgado
¡Muy delicioso! This is the next best thing to making mole from scratch! It was easy a very, very tasty!
Mely Martínez
Hello BDelgado!
Thank you for trying the recipe. I'm so glad you like it!