Mexican Mole Sauce is made with layers of complex and bold flavors, simmered together over a long period of time before being blended until smooth. Learn how to make this delicious chicken mole and serve with warm rice, beans, wrapped in tortillas, or drizzled over your favorite tacos, nachos, and veggies.
Mole Sauce Recipe
Comforting, complex, and extremely versatile, Mole (pronounced moh-lay) is one of my very favorite Mexican cuisine classics. A labor of love to prepare, making your own homemade mole sauce is a million times worth the effort.
This recipe, while not 100 percent traditional, isn’t exactly fast and easy either. While one may expect to spend at least a day, if not days, to make the most traditional and authentic mole, you can expect to spend approximately 2 to 3 hours to get this awesome chicken mole recipe ready and on the table for you and your family to enjoy.
Aside from chicken, leftover mole sauce tastes fantastic with tostadas, chicken or veggie enchiladas, tacos, and burritos.
What is Mole Sauce?
Mole is a Mexican chile sauce. While the exact origin of mole sauce unknown, some argue that its origins date back to pre-hispanic Mexico to the time of the Aztecs. Others argue that mole sauce originated in Puebla or Oaxaca, Mexico.
Regardless of its origin, over the years mole has been highly influenced by family tradition and local preference. Found in countless versions and varieties, mole sauce ranges in color, ingredient type and amount of ingredients (some have well over 30 ingredients!), and consistency.
Mole poblano, native to the state of Puebla, is the most well-known of all mole varieties. Considered the national dish of Mexico, it comes packed with approximately 20 ingredients, including chocolate, and is often served over turkey.
Travel to the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, and you’ll find seven different types of mole: negro, colorado, amarillo, verde, chichilo, coloradito, and mancha manteles.
Regardless of origin, however, most mole sauces contain fruit, chili peppers, nuts, several different spices, and (sometimes) chocolate. And though it is thought that mole was originally made without chocolate, the addition of a rich, dark, Mexican chocolate is the new normal.
What Does Mole Sauce Taste Like?
What does mole sauce taste like? Is it spicy? sweet? sour?
The taste depends on what mole sauce your eating. Mole Verde (made with ingredients such as pepitas, parsley, green chilis like tomatillos, and jalapenos) will be much different from mole negro (which contains well over 30 ingredients including chicken, beef, pork head, and chocolate).
This particular mole sauce is made with chicken as the base and is loaded with different kinds of chilies, nuts, seeds, spices, dried fruit, and chocolate. The taste is best described as somewhat spicy, and bittersweet with earthy undertones. I would not consider this recipe to taste sweet.
Ingredients in Mole Sauce
So, the ingredients- there’s a lot of them. I know, you guys. And I know that the list may look totally intimidating. But DON’T RUN! If you love Chicken Molé, you’ll be so super happy you made your own sauce. And this recipe makes extra, so you can easily make several different dishes out of it.
It has been explained that the ingredients required to make mole can be grouped into 5 distinct classes – chilies, sour, sweet (fruits and sugar), spices, and thickeners (nuts, seeds, tortillas).
- Olive oil (or lard)
- Chicken
- Chicken broth or chicken stock
- Orange juice
- Garlic cloves
- Onions
- Pumpkin seeds and Almonds
- Cumin seeds
- Coriander seeds
- Whole anise seeds
- Cloves
- Dried pasilla chiles
- Dried negro chiles
- Dried ancho chiles
- Dried chipotle chiles
- Cinnamon stick
- Bay leaves
- Raisins
- Dried marjoram
- Dried thyme
- Dried oregano
- Tomato paste
- Dark Mexican chocolate (or just dark chocolate)
Where can I purchase all the ingredients to make homemade mole sauce?
Most major grocery stores will have most of the ingredients on this list, but probably not all of them. For me, I had to order several of the dried chilies online. However, if you have access to a Mexican market, you should be able to find everything you need there.
Is this recipe spicy?
This particular mole sauce can be quite spicy. Simple ways to mellow out the heat is by using fewer pasilla and chipotle chiles, or by cutting the pepper open and removing the seeds and the white ribs (wear gloves is strongly recommended).
Dried chili substitutions
- Ancho chile pepper: substitute with Mulato chile or Padilla chile
- For added heat: add 1-2 dried guajillo chiles
- Pasilla chile: the Padilla chile is long, black, wrinkled, and a standard ingredient in nearly all mole sauces. Substitutes include ancho chile or Mulato chile. Note- it is common for ancho chiles to be mislabeled as pasillas.
Can you freeze mole sauce?
This recipe makes a generous amount of mole sauce. Thankfully, it freezes really well. Simply transfer leftovers to freezer-safe jars or containers and freeze for up to 4 months.
How to Make Mole Sauce
Once you’ve gathered all the ingredients, making this mole sauce recipe is actually quite easy. Decide if you want to add chicken breasts, chicken thighs, or even a whole chicken for your meat because the recipe starts by browning and cooking the chicken first.
You can easily do this the day before you make the sauce. Remember, however, that once the chicken is cooked, removed from the pot, and shredded, you want to reserve the leftover broth because it will be added into the mole sauce.
Once the chicken has been cooked, you’re good to start the sauce. The sauce takes about an hour or so to prepare and cook. There are quite a few ingredients involved so I recommend getting everything together before getting started to prevent any confusion.
You’ll notice that I don’t add any salt to the sauce until the end. You are free to add as you go or add to taste at the end. Entirely up to you. Just keep in mind that this sauce will need some salt to help balance the flavor. How much is up to you and your taste buds.
Also, note that I didn’t include any added sweetener other than orange juice. If you find your mole to taste too spicy or “unbalanced” try adding a couple of tablespoons of honey, maple syrup, or brown sugar – just be careful not to add too much.
Once your sauce has been simmered and pureed, you can use it however you’d like. Drizzle, dip, or completely smother. Add you chicken mole to tacos, enchiladas, tostadas, nachos, and bowls.
How to Serve with Chicken Mole
Whether you choose to shred your chicken and mix it with mole sauce or bake chicken and serve your sauce on the side, there is no wrong way to enjoy this amazingly complex Mexican classic.
Serve with a side of cilantro lime rice, Mexican rice, warm tortillas, and avocado for a simple and delicious anytime dinner (which easily doubles as a week of meal prep).
Add a side of homemade refried beans or drunken beans with poblanos, homemade salsa or pico de gallo, and my irresistible homemade guacamole.
Finally, let’s not forget the cocktails! Classic margaritas are my favorite, but Palomas are just as delicious and hugely refreshing.
Of course, mole sauce is delicious served with something as simple as a side of fried eggs, roasted vegetables, and corn tortillas.
More Mexican Favorites,
Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe
Enchilada Sauce Recipe (How to Make Enchilada Sauce)
Refried Beans (How to Make Refried Black Beans)
Mexican Birria Recipe (How to Make Birria)
Caldo de Pollo Recipe (Mexican Chicken Soup)
If you try making this Chicken Mole with Homemade Mole Sauce, please leave me a comment and let me know! I always love to hear your thoughts.
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Chicken Mole with Homemade Mole Sauce
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 5 pounds chicken (boneless skinless chicken breast, chicken thighs, legs, whole chicken, combo, etc))
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 3 cups orange juice
For the Sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium onions (chopped)
- 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds (or pepitas, or sesame seeds)
- 1/3 cup sliced almonds
- 8 cloves garlic (sliced)
- 4 tsp cumin seeds
- 4 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp whole anise seeds
- 4 whole cloves
- 4 ounces dried pasilla chiles (stem removed, seeded (optional), torn into 1-inch pieces, rinsed)
- 1 ounce dried negro chiles (stem removed, seeded (optional), torn into 1-inch pieces, rinsed)
- 1 ounce dried ancho chiles (stem removed, seeded (optional), torn into 1-inch pieces, rinsed)
- 1 ounce dried chipotle chiles (stem removed, seeded (optional), torn into 1-inch pieces, rinsed)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 1 tsp dried marjoram
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 3.1 ounces dark Mexican chocolate (or just dark chocolate) (chopped)
- Fresh chopped cilantro (for serving)
Instructions
First cook the chicken
- Heat a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil to the pot, swirling to cover the entire surface. Working in batches, sauté the chicken on each side until lightly browned, approximately 3-4 minutes. Transfer chicken to a large bowl. Sauté the remaining chicken breasts, adding additional olive oil to the pot, as needed.
- Return the chicken with its juices back to the pot or Dutch oven. Add the chicken broth and orange juice to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to low heat, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and simmer until the chicken is fully cooked. Approximately 25 minutes.
- Carefully remove chicken to a clean bowl and set aside. Reserve broth for later use.
Then cook the sauce
- Heat the olive oil in a separate large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté until golden brown and just starting to caramelize, approximately 12 minutes, stirring frequently. Reduce medium heat. Add the pumpkin seeds, sliced almonds, garlic, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, whole star anise, and whole cloves to the saucepan. Sauté for 1-2 minutes, until garlic becomes fragrant, stirring continuously.
- Add the dried chiles to the pot and stir to combine. Sauté for approximately 2-3 minutes or until chiles start to soften.
- Grab the reserved chicken and orange juice broth and carefully pour the liquid into the saucepan with the onion and chiles. Reserve pot for later. Add the cinnamon stick, bay leaves, raisins, marjoram, thyme, and oregano to the saucepan and mix well. Bring to a low boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer. Cook until chiles are very soft, approximately 30-35 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato paste and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the chocolate. Allow sauce to cool for 10 minutes and the chocolate to melt.
- Working in batches, transfer sauce mixture to the bowl of a blender and puree until smooth. Avoid overfilling. Transfer mixture to the reserved pot. Repeat until all sauce is processed. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Finally, put it all together
- Shred the cooked chicken and combine it with approximately half of the sauce mixture. Add more sauce, if desired. Reserve the remaining sauce for later use.
- Best served warm with rice or warm tortillas and sprinkled with fresh cilantro and pumpkin seeds.
Jessica's Notes
- This recipe makes a lot of extra sauce. I recommend freezing the remaining sauce in small jars for later use. It tastes fantastic in enchiladas, burritos, rice casseroles, etc.
- Leftovers will keep for up to 5 days when stored in the refrigerator.
- This mole sauce recipe is gluten-free and dairy-free.
Nutritional Information
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and specific brands of ingredients used.)
I have four leftover chicken thighs I made the other night and was thinking I could shred the meat for tacos. Do you have any recommendations for how much chicken broth and OJ to add onion and chile mixture and whether to simmer the two together before adding it to the mixture to help blend the flavors? I’m guessing things won’t be as simple as adding the 3 cups of broth and OJ called for in the original recipe.
A quick google told me that 4 chicken thighs weigh about 1.5lbs, and this recipe calls for 5lbs of chicken. You could try to scale down the recipe by using the “servings” button in the recipe card and sliding it to 3 servings which shows 1.5lbs of chicken – 3 servings show .9 cups of OJ and .9 cups of broth 🙂
Terrific recipe, thank you. We had ancho, chipotle and puya chiles on hand so adjusted accordingly. I’m wondering what the difference is between negro chiles and pasilla chiles in your recipe? Everything I could find about these two chile peppers online seems to indicate they are the same. Thanks for letting me know!
Ok – I never write reviews on recipes…but HOT DAMN. I followed the recipe, but being from Texas we like some heat in our food so I added in some extra guajillo and ancho peppers. I partially seeded the peppers, but I think next time I’ll leave a few more in. The first night I served it with rice and it was pretty good I was excited. BUT more exciting was the amount of leftover chicken/mole. Here’s the kicker. I used the leftover mole sauce and chicken to make chicken mole enchiladas. I cooked some onions with red jalopeno and red pepper till it started to char, then I threw in the chicken with the heat off. I reheated the mole to just above warm then par cooked corn tortillas in oil – throw in heated mole sauce – put in casserole dish to start assembling the enchiladas. I added a bit of Queso aserdo then the chicken/pepper/onion mixture into the mole covered tortilla – roll – and repeat. I covered the enchiladas with more mole sauce and queso aserdo before throwing in the oven at 350 for 20 mins. Once done I topped with avocado, toasted sesame seeds, cilantro, and a dash of sour cream. My boyfriend and I DEVOURED THEM like ravenous wolves. Literally – it’s the best meal I’ve ever made. The best part is I have more than enough leftover chicken and mole sauce to do it 3 times over. Thank you so much for this recipe!!! I’ve shared it with all of my friends.
Thanks for taking the time to write your very detailed review, Alexis, I really do appreciate the awesome feedback 😀
Such amazing flavors in this sauce
I have a similar recipe, but this looks much better. I would also like to use this recipe for a group meal; however, we will be camping. Can the mole be made ahead of time? Do you think it would taste as good?
Julie
Great question Julie! Yes, Mole can be made ahead of time, and yes it taste great 🙂
Is there any benefit for cooking the mole longer?
Not that I can think of Chris. I know more traditional recipes will take longer as you have to hand grind the ingredients. However, this is not like a broth where it extracts more flavor if cooked longer 🙂
We make a very delicious original mole from Puebla Mexico in different flavors and we sell it in USA
Jessica, my family can’t do a lot of heat. We need things on the super mild level. What would you reduce the chiles by so it’s not spicy without losing the flavor?
Hi Danielle! Your safest bet is scaling back the total amount of dried chipotle chilis first and Padilla chilis, second, which can really range in heat. Substitute with additional ancho or negro chilis as they are quite mild. Whatever you do, do not substitute with Arbol chilis 🙂 Hope this helps!
My dad requested I make chicken mole for father’s day and I couldn’t find the recipe I used last time I made it, so I went with this one. It turned out absolutely delicious. It was a bit too spicy for some people in my family, but I think just using fewer chipotles would solve that problem. I also used a mixture of chicken thighs and breasts, and the thighs turned out more flavorful. I saved this recipe and will definitely be making it again.
Thanks for the feedback Carrie, I am glad you found it to be delicious 🙂
Just wow! I have wanted to make Molé for the longest time but was overwhelmed at the thought of it! I had almost everything needed with the exception of pumpkin seeds (I did 1/2 pumpkin and 1/2 pepitas); I did a combo of pasilla, negro, guajillo and a small amount of arbol & substituted ground coriander and fennel seeds for the coriander seeds because that is what I had. My immersion blender did an awesome job blending everything, including the bay leaves, cinnamon stick and star anise! There was a bit too much heat so I added a little local honey and brown sugar…..PERFECT! Your directions were clear and easy to follow…..will enjoy with your drunken pinto beans and yellow rice! Thank you so much!
Wow! Making again tonight for guests. I used whole chicken thighs and a slow cooker. Browned the chicken and put it in cooker, saving the broth. Made the sauce, blended it then added to the cooker. Cooked on low for 3 hours. Served with cilantro lime rice, refried beans and avocado as suggested. Being in Australia, my chilli replacement was buying 1 of each chilli available and using some of each (probably had Thai chilli in the mix as well 😃). It worked wonderfully and cooking again tonight (hopefully this time with left overs as 2 of us ate a meal for 4 it was so good!)
Hi Lisa
Since I made this I have found a place in South Australia called Chilli Mojo who have a fantastic range of ingredients (and everything else !) They’re easy to find online and very obliging too!
Cheers Phil
Hey Jessica
I made this with a couple of variations, I actually poached a whole chicken and also I only had Anchos Mulatos and Chipotles as dry chillis are a little more specialized here in Australia, I also didn’t have the horsepower in my blender to blitzt the cinnamon and bay leaves but having said all that the dish was great and I’ll definitely be re making and checking out your other stuff, keep up the good work! !
Cheers Phil
Thanks for the kind feedback Phil! Good call on the cinnamon, as you definitely need the horsepower!
I want to make this, but should you take out star anise and cinnamon stick before putting in blender? Thanks
Hi Mel,
Great question! I have a high-speed Vitamix blender that made both the star anise and cinnamon stick dissolve into the sauce. If you are worried that your blender won’t be able to handle it, I would remove them both before blending 🙂
Hi – I would like to make this, but I need to make version that is not too spicy. How can I adjust heat level?
Thank you
Hi Jessica,
To lower the heat level, you can omit all the chilies used in this recipe. You will still get the flavor from the spices, but without the heat from the chilis 🙂