Recipes
Chicken Mole Poblano
Serves 4-6
| Prep Time: 5 mins
| Cook Time: 60 mins
| Total Time: 65 mins
You may need: Mexican Mole
Discover The Recipe
Mole (pronounced "MOLE-lay") refers to a group of Mexican sauces that are made from braising chili peppers, aromatics (like onion and garlic), spices, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and often chocolate, to form an incredibly complex and rich sauce. Traditionally, Chicken Mole Poblano is stewed all day to release the flavors from each of the ingredients.
Chicken Mole Poblano is one of the most well-known Mexican dishes, yet we can trace its roots back to pre-Columbian Nahuatl Indian recipes. Over the centuries, Mole Poblano incorporated more spices and flavors from the Americas, Europe, and Africa and is known to be one of the first international fusion dishes. Our Mole spice blend starts with a base of roasted ancho, pasilla, and chipotle chili peppers and builds layers of flavors from canela (Mexican cinnamon), cloves, sesame, coriander, and cumin. We add a little Mexican cocoa powder to provide an authentic finish. Make the sauce to top other roasted meats like pork or beef, or create a vegan version with roasted root veggies or tofu.
Ingredients
2-3 lbs of chicken (breasts or mix of pieces)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tbsp (1 packet) Piquant Post Mole Spice blend
1 large onion, diced
2 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 (15oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
4 tbsp almond (or peanut) butter
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste (optional)
1 tbsp honey, agave nectar, or sugar (optional)
Notes
Use the entire spice packet (~3 tbsp) to make the full recipe. You can scale the recipe ingredients and the spice quantity accordingly (1/2 packet for ~1.5 lbs of chicken...)
When cooking the sauce, you want it to thicken enough to coat a spoon but not so thick that you cannot pour it over the chicken.
If you cannot find pepitas (Mexican style pumpkin seeds), you can use plain pumpkin seeds or sliced almonds.
You can also substitute peanut butter for the almond butter, but we recommend reducing the amount of peanut butter to about half of the almond butter (~2 tbsp). Peanut butter has a stronger taste that can overwhelm the other flavors.
You can serve this dish with rice, beans, roasted squash or a salad. Chicken Mole Poblano also tastes wonderful sliced up in quesadillas.
Optional ingredients add a little character and flavor but don’t sweat it if you don’t have them.
Instructions
Drizzle oil in a large, oven-safe skillet or pan and set to Med-High heat. When hot, add onions and sauté until they start to turn golden brown ~5 mins. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Add Mole spice blend and garlic and stir ~30 secs. Stir in raisins, pepitas, almond butter, diced tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a simmer then reduce heat to Med. Gently simmer the mixture uncovered for ~10 mins until it slightly thickens.
Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend until the sauce is smooth and no lumps remain. Season with salt, pepper and honey to taste.
Place chicken in an oven safe baking dish and pour mole sauce over chicken, turning the pieces to completely coat. Bake in oven for 35 to 40 mins or until chicken reaches 165 deg. Remove dish and let chicken rest for a few mins. Serve over rice or quinoa.
Alternatives & Substitutions
If you don't want to use the oven to make chicken mole poblano, you can grill the meat. We also imagine using a smoker would produce a stunningly delicious mole dish. Try our Braised Beef Mole Tacos!
Our Mole Spice blend can be used directly as a rub for grilled chicken, pork, or lamb, but we think you will lose a lot of the depth of the intended mole sauce. How about our Chicken Mole Poblano recipe?
If you prefer to use a slow cooker, make Mole sauce per our recipe but add an extra 1/3 cup of water when blending. Then place the chicken in the slow cooker and add the mole sauce on top to coat the chicken. Cook on LOW for 5-6 hours.
Vegetarians can use our Mole Poblano sauce (just prepare the sauce per the recipe, swapping chicken broth for vegan broth) to top roasted vegetables. Try eggplant, squash, sweet potatoes, or tofu in a baking dish and smother with mole sauce. Bake at 400 for 20-30 minutes or until veggies are fork soft.
Also try making other vegetarian Mexican recipes like Portobello Mole Enchiladas, our Vegan Tlayuda, or these Stuffed Poblano with Mole.
We also think you will love our Memelas con Mole,
Post pictures of your masterpiece meal on social media and tag us. We repost!
Don't forget to leave comments and feedback on your meals and experiments in the comments for others to read.
Chicken Mole Poblano
Serves
4-6
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
60 mins
Total Time
65 mins
Piquant Post spice you'll need: Mexican Mole
Ingredients
2-3 lbs of chicken (breasts or mix of pieces)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 tbsp (1 packet) Piquant Post Mole Spice blend
1 large onion, diced
2 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 (15oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
4 tbsp almond (or peanut) butter
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste (optional)
1 tbsp honey, agave nectar, or sugar (optional)
Instructions
Drizzle oil in a large, oven-safe skillet or pan and set to Med-High heat. When hot, add onions and sauté until they start to turn golden brown ~5 mins. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Add Mole spice blend and garlic and stir ~30 secs. Stir in raisins, pepitas, almond butter, diced tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a simmer then reduce heat to Med. Gently simmer the mixture uncovered for ~10 mins until it slightly thickens.
Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend until the sauce is smooth and no lumps remain. Season with salt, pepper and honey to taste.
Place chicken in an oven safe baking dish and pour mole sauce over chicken, turning the pieces to completely coat. Bake in oven for 35 to 40 mins or until chicken reaches 165 deg. Remove dish and let chicken rest for a few mins. Serve over rice or quinoa.
Notes
Use the entire spice packet (~3 tbsp) to make the full recipe. You can scale the recipe ingredients and the spice quantity accordingly (1/2 packet for ~1.5 lbs of chicken...)
When cooking the sauce, you want it to thicken enough to coat a spoon but not so thick that you cannot pour it over the chicken.
If you cannot find pepitas (Mexican style pumpkin seeds), you can use plain pumpkin seeds or sliced almonds.
You can also substitute peanut butter for the almond butter, but we recommend reducing the amount of peanut butter to about half of the almond butter (~2 tbsp). Peanut butter has a stronger taste that can overwhelm the other flavors.
You can serve this dish with rice, beans, roasted squash or a salad. Chicken Mole Poblano also tastes wonderful sliced up in quesadillas.
Optional ingredients add a little character and flavor but don’t sweat it if you don’t have them.
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