Mole Poblano

Eating mole poblano at home means a big celebration, a birthday party, or a very special day. I learned how to make mole poblano more than 33 years ago, from one of my aunts who lives in the historic Puerto de Veracruz, in the state of Veracruz. It requires some preparation and time to cook, but once you make it- believe me, you will not want to buy the “jar version”. Besides, this dish is ideal to make with friends and family for a weekend celebration!

The History Behind Mole Poblano

There is an interesting history about the origin of this dish. I found a website that talks about its history, which you can read here, and the recipe that the government of the State of Puebla has on its website and claims to be very close to the original.

The word mole comes from the Náhuatl word “milli” or “molli” which means sauce or “concoction”.

Types Of Mole

Did you know there are different variations of mole?

There are several types of moles one can make:

• Green mole
• Yellow mole
• Oaxacan-style mole
• Mole Xiqueño
• Mole de Teloloapan

And, that is just naming a few!

I can go on for a while telling you about these different and delicious moles, and how some people will use peanuts instead of almonds, or crackers instead of bread. Or, how some won’t use plantain bananas in their mole while others will use chipotle peppers to get a hot mole sauce.

How I Put Together My Version Of Mole

This recipe is slightly adapted from Sra. Diana Kennedy book, “From My Mexican Kitchen”, with the addition of plantain and onion. Since I do not use an exact recipe to cook it, I usually grab the ingredients and start cooking adding elements as needed to obtain a concoction of my liking.

This is the beauty of cooking mole sauce! 

I challenge you to cook your homemade mole poblano. Put on your apron and let's get cooking! Don't you have an apron? I think you should really wear one today.

Frequently Asked Questions About Mexican Mole Poblano

Before I share my mole recipe, here are a few questions I've been asked about homemade mole poblano.

What does mole poblano taste like?

I have to say it's delicious! In my opinion, it has the perfect balance between sweet and spicy. It really depends on how much chocolate and peppers you add.

Does mole have chocolate?

Yes, it doesn but not the sweet kind. For this mole, I decided to use Mexican chocolate (also known as Taza de Chocolate) which is usually shaped like a disc and mad from pure cacao. It's a very dark chocolate that really helps mellow out the spiciness of the peppers.

Is mole poblano sweet?

Honestly, the amount of chocolate I added to this recipe is not enough to make it really sweet.

What is mole sauce used for?

The mole sauce can be used over turkey, chicken, and even over fry eggs for brunch and for mole enchiladas the next day since it tastes better when reheated.

Think of it like a Mexican gravy!

Authentic Mole Poblano Recipe

Here is the list of ingredients you will need...

For The Chicken:

• Chicken
• Water
• Onion
• Garlic cloves
• Salt

For the Sauce:

• Mulato peppers
• Ancho peppers
• Pasilla peppers
• Reserved pepper seeds
• Whole cloves
• Black peppercorns
• Coriander seeds
• Anises seeds
• Sesame seeds
• Mexican cinnamon sticks
• Raisins
• Unskinned almonds
• Peanuts
• Corn tortillas
• Small French bread slices
• Raw pumpkin seeds
• White onion
• Medium roasted tomatoes
• Garlic gloves
• Ripe dark-skinned plantain
• Mexican drinking chocolate
• Broth from the cooked chicken
• Oil or lard 
• Salt

Please note: For exact measurements of the ingredients listed above, scroll down to the recipe card located at the bottom of this post!

JUMP TO FULL INSTRUCTIONS

How To Make Mole Poblano: Step By Step Tutorial

To make things easier for you, I am going to breakdown the directions to this recipe into sections.

Cook The Chicken

• Combine all of the ingredients to make the chicken in a large pot.
• Bring everything to a boil.
• Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until chicken is just cooked through, skimming the foam, about 35 minutes.
• Transfer chicken to bowl; cover and chill.
• Strain and reserve broth in the pot.

Prepare the Peppers

• Make sure to clean the dry peppers with a wet cloth and cut the peppers using your kitchen scissors. If possible, try to flatten them out for an even toasting.
• Have a large pot ready with simmering chicken broth or water to soak all the ingredients after toasting or frying. They will get softer and easier to grind this way.
• In a skillet, toast the dry peppers a few at a time, on both sides, pressing them down as you turn them until the inside flesh turns tobacco brown. This takes a few seconds, take care not to let them burn.
• Place the peppers and the chocolate in the bowl with the broth to soak. Keep toasting the rest of the peppers and placing them in the broth.
• Meanwhile, toast separately the seeds of the reserved peppers, the coriander seeds, the anise seeds, and sesame seeds. Set them aside to cool.

Grind All Of The Spices And Its Seeds

• Grind the cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, and all the toasted ingredients except the sesame seeds in an electric coffee/spice grinder as finely as possible. In case you do not have a grinder, but you have a professional blender, skip this step and place the spices and seeds with the rest of the ingredients to be ground in the blender.
• Reserve 2 tablespoons of the sesame seeds for serving the mole; grind the rest as finely as possible.
• After this step, add this mixture of spices and seeds to the bowl with the peppers.

Toast The Seeds and Raisins

• Now, add a small portion of the lard or vegetable oil to a skillet and begin frying the following ingredients separately draining any excess fat after frying: the raisins until plump up, the almonds until well browned, the pumpkin seeds until they swell.

Roast The Rest Of The Ingredients

• Every ingredient will be added to the pot with the chicken broth. You can roast the tomatoes and garlic cloves while frying the rest of the ingredients.
• Fry the onions until golden brown and place in the bowl.
• Fry the tortilla and French bread until crisp. Only add a little more lard at a time or it will be absorbed, especially by the tortilla and bread.
• Add the ripe plantain and sauté until golden, about 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, drain excess fat and transfer to bowl.

Add All Of The Ingredients To The Bowl

• This is the bowl where all the fried and toasted ingredients were placed and now are ready to go into the blender. It is going to look a little bit messy.
• Crush the bread and tortilla roughly. Chop the roasted tomatoes. This will make the grinding process a little bit easier.

Blend Everything Together

• Put ½ cup of the chicken broth into the blender jar and don't forget to add peeled garlic.
• Gradually add the spice mixture and blend well; then add another ½ cup of broth and gradually blend the fried ingredients to a slightly fine paste.
• Try not to add more liquid but constantly release the blades with a rubber spatula. You will have to do this step in 2 or 3 batches until everything has been pureed. I used my Vitamix to grind the whole sauce twice.
• If the end results are still coarse, pass the whole mixture through a strainer.

Add The Mole Poblano Sauce To The Cooked Chicken

• In a large skillet over medium heat, reheat the sauce, scraping the bottom of the pan very often to avoid sticking. Season with salt.
• Continue frying until the mixture is very thick, about 8 minutes, and stir.
• Add more broth as needed to desire thickness and continue cooking, the mixture should be bubbling and splattering—for about 25 minutes. By now, pools of oil should be forming on the surface.
• Add cooked chicken to hot mole; simmer until chicken is heated through, about 10 minutes.

How To Serve This Mole Poblano Recipe

To serve this classic Mexican dish, place a piece of chicken on a warm plate. Spoon on plenty of the mole sauce; sprinkle with sesame seeds. In Mexico, it is usually served with white rice with peas and a lot of warm tortillas!

How To Make This Mole Recipe Ahead Of Time

This mole can be made well ahead and the leftover sauce can be kept very successfully in the freezer for about six months. When reheated it will probably have to be diluted with more broth and freshly cooked chicken or better yet used for chicken-filled enchiladas.

More Sauce Recipes To Enjoy

If you enjoyed this recipe for mole poblano, take a look at some of these other authentic Mexican recipes:

• Green Mole
• Three Peppers Stew
• Easy Chicken in Mole Sauce
• Smoked Pork Chops In Chipotle Sauce
• Steak And Potatoes In Pasilla Sauce

I hope you make this recipe for Mexican mole poblano! If this recipe was of any help to you, come back to let me know your experience. Please leave us a comment done below and tell us all about it!

¡Buen provecho!
Mely

📖 Recipe

Mole Poblano

Mely Martínez

Eating “Mole Poblano” at home means a big celebration, a birthday party or a very special day. I learned how to make Mole Poblano more than 33 years ago, from one of my aunts who lives in the historic Puerto de Veracruz, in the state of Veracruz.

4.67 from 39 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Total Time 1 hr

Course Chicken

Cuisine Mexican

Servings 12 Servings

Calories 621 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

For the chicken:

• ▢ 1 Large chicken cut up in pieces
• ▢ About 8 cups of water
• ▢ 1 Small onion cut up in pieces
• ▢ 3 Garlic cloves
• ▢ Salt to taste

For the Sauce:

• ▢ 6 Mulato peppers
• ▢ 4 Ancho peppers
• ▢ 6 Pasilla peppers
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon of reserved pepper seeds
• ▢ 6 Whole cloves
• ▢ ½ Teaspoon black peppercorn
• ▢ ¼ Teaspoon coriander seeds
• ▢ ¼ Teaspoonanises seeds
• ▢ ¾ Cup sesame seeds
• ▢ ¾ Inch of mexican cinnamon stick
• ▢ ½ Cup of raisins
• ▢ ⅓ Cup unskinned almonds
• ▢ ⅓ Cup peanuts
• ▢ 1 Corn tortilla
• ▢ 3 Small slices of french bread
• ▢ ⅓ Cup of raw pumpkin seeds
• ▢ ½ Small white onion sliced
• ▢ 2 Medium roasted tomatoes
• ▢ 3 Garlic gloves roasted
• ▢ ½ Large ripe dark-skinned plantain peeled, thickly sliced
• ▢ 1 Tablet of Mexican drinking Chocolate* About 3.1 ounces.
• ▢ The reserved broth from the cooked chicken.
• ▢ ½ Cup of oil or lard to fry the ingredients
• ▢ Salt to taste

Instructions

 

Instructions to cook the chicken:

• Combine all ingredients in large pot. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until chicken is just cooked through, skimming foam, about 35 minutes. Transfer chicken to bowl; cover and chill. Strain and reserve broth in pot.

For the Mole Sauce

• Get all the ingredients ready according to the list. This step is very important.
• Prepare the peppers . Make sure to clean the dry peppers with a wet cloth and cut the peppers using your kitchen scissors if possible to flatten them for an even toasting.
• Have a large pot ready with simmering chicken broth or water to soak all the ingredients after toasting or frying. They will get softer and easier to grind this way.
• In a skillet toast the dry peppers a few at a time, on both sides, pressing them down as you turn them, until the inside flesh turns tobacco brown. This takes a few seconds, take care not to let them burn. Place the peppers and the chocolate in the bowl with the broth to soak. Keep toasting the rest of the peppers and placing them in the broth.
• Meanwhile, toast separately the reserved peppers seeds, the coriander seeds, the anise seeds and sesame seeds. Set them aside to cool.
• Grind in an electric coffee/spice grinder as finely as possible. Cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, and all the toasted ingredients except the sesame seeds. In case you do not have a grinder, but you have a professional blender skip this step and place the spices and seeds on the pot with the rest of the ingredients to be grinded in the blender.

Reserve 2 tablespoons of the sesame seeds for serving the mole; grind the rest as finely as possible. After this step add this mixture of spices and seeds to the bowl with the peppers.

• Now, add a small portion of the lard or vegetable oil to a skillet and begin frying the following ingredients separately draining any excess fat after frying: the raisins until plump up, the almonds until well browned, the pumpkin seeds until they swell (take care, since they tend to explode and jump).
• Every ingredient will be added to the pot with the chicken broth. You can roast the tomatoes and garlic cloves while frying the rest of the ingredients. Fry the onions until golden brown and place in the bowl.
• Fry the tortilla and bread until crisp. Only add a little more lard at a time or it will be absorbed, specially by the tortilla and bread.
• Add plantain and sauté until golden, about 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, drain excess fat and transfer to bowl. Make sure to use a ripe plantain.
• 10. This is the bowl where all the fried and toasted ingredients were placed and now are ready to go into the blender. It is going to look a little bit messy. Crush the bread and tortilla roughly, chop the tomatoes roasted tomatoes. This will make the grinding process a little bit easier.
• 11. Put ½ cup of the chicken broth into the blender jar, don’t forget to add peeled garlic. Gradually add the spice mixture and blend well; then add another ½ cup of broth and gradually blend the fried ingredients to a slightly fine paste. Try not to add more liquid (unless your blender motor is heating or smoking) but constantly release the blades with a rubber spatula. You will have to do this step in 2 or 3 batches until everything has been pureed. I use my Vitamix and grind the whole sauce twice. If the end results are still coarse, pass the whole mixture through a strainer.
• 12. In a large skillet over medium heat, reheat the sauce, scraping the bottom of the pan very often to avoid sticking. Season with salt.
• 13. Continue frying until the mixture is very thick, about 8 minutes, and stir. Add more broth as needed to desire thickness and continue cooking, the mixture should be bubbling and splattering—for about 25 minutes. By now pools of oil should be forming on the surface.
• 14. Add cooked chicken to hot mole; simmer until chicken is heated through, about 10 minutes. To serve, place a piece of chicken on a warm plate. Spoon on plenty of the mole sauce; sprinkle with sesame seeds. In Mexico it is usually serve with white rice with peas and a lot of warm tortillas.

This mole can be made well ahead and the leftover sauce can be kept very successfully in the freezer for about six months. When reheated it will probably have to be diluted with more broth and freshly cooked chicken, or better yet used for chicken-filled enchiladas.

Notes

• This Mole Sauce is not spicy if you want to add some heat to the sauce, add 2 dried chipotle peppers or morita peppers.
• If you want it a little sweeter, add more chocolate.

some recipes suggest frying the dry peppers, you could choose to do so.

Nutrition

Serving: 6ozCalories: 621kcalCarbohydrates: 92gProtein: 19gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 9gSodium: 549mgPotassium: 994mgFiber: 14gSugar: 16gVitamin A: 9145IUVitamin C: 13.6mgCalcium: 172mgIron: 7.8mg

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