This authentic Mole Sauce (Mole Poblano) is made by toasting and blending sweet and earthy ingredients and spices to make a rich sauce. Serve it as a main course over chicken, or with enchiladas, tacos, and burritos.
If you want to go the extra milke, serve Mexican Mole with a glass of Horchata and Tres Leches Cake or Fresas con Crema for dessert.
Homemade Mole Sauce, straight from Puebla, Mexico!
Homemade Mole Sauce, straight from Puebla, Mexico!There's a reason that delicious Mole sauce (pronounced MO-lay) is the national dish of Mexico, and I was lucky enough to learn to make it where it originated, in Puebla! I lived there for a few months after college and learned different methods from several cooks. I'm excited to share my Mole Poblano version that uses ingredients and equipment accessible in my US kitchen. It's a delicious combination of earthy, sweet and fragrant ingredients and we love to serve it over chicken, or as mole enchilada sauce, with a side of Mexican rice. It's not complicated–just a bit time intensive–but the final product is WELL WORTH IT! All we're doing is toasting each ingredient, blending and straining out the solids, and simmering the sauce that's produced.
More about Mole (what it is and where it came from):
The term Mole means “sauce” in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. And for the many different varieties (like Mole Negro that’s less sweet and made with darker chiles, or Mole Verde), there are just as many variations for making it! Traditionally it took an entire day as each ingredient is carefully roasted and ground with a mortar and pestle. For this Mole Poblano recipe were using an electric blender, to save time.
Legend says Mole poblano originated in a Convent of Santa Clara in Puebla, Mexico. Supposedly the archbishop was coming to visit, so the poor and panicked nuns sought divine guidance to make a fitting dish out of the scraps of food and old turkey available to them. The nuns created this iconic dish–a fusion of Mesoamerican and European cuisine–and the archbishop loved it.
How to Make Chicken Mole:
Boil the chicken in the spices: add chicken pieces, garlic, onion, bay leaf, chicken bouillon, salt, oregano and water to a pot. Bring to a low boil and cook over medium heat until chicken is just cooked through (165 degrees F ) about 30 minutes.
Remove chicken to a plate, (reserving the broth) cover and set aside.
Mole Sauce: Slice onions and mince garlic. Use scissors to cut the chilies open, lengthwise, and remove veins and seeds. Toast sesame seeds in a large dry skillet over medium heat. Stir constantly and stop when they’re toasted. Don’t burn! Set aside.
Prepare a large saucepan with 2 cups of water and keep it on medium heat. You’ll be adding most everything to it as you go.
Saute chilies: Add a few tablespoons of oil to the skillet over medium heat and fry chiles for a few seconds on each side, careful not to burn them. Add chiles to saucepan.
Toast peanuts, almonds, raisins, animal crackers, corn tortillas, and bread slices: Add oil, as needed andtoast each for about 45 seconds, stirring constantly so they don’t burn. Add to saucepan.
Saute onions, garlic and plantain: Turn the skillet heat to medium-high, adding more oil if needed to coat the bottom of the pan. Sauté the onion for 1-2 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for just a few seconds before spooning the onion and garlic into the saucepan. Fry plantain on both sides and add to pot.
Saute seeds: (peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, anise, and crushed red pepper). Reduce heat to medium then add seeds to hot oil. Fry for a few seconds, stirring constantly, then add to saucepan.
Add oregano, cinnamon, and chicken bouillon to the saucepan.
In a second large pot add 2 tablespoons of lard or oil. Once melted, turn off the heat.
Puree and strain the toasted ingredients: Working in batches blend everything in the first big pot until completely smooth. Add reserved chicken broth as necessary to facilitate blending. Pour each batch into the second pot through a fine mesh strainer discarding what’s left in the strainer. During one of the blending batches, add ¼ cup of the reserved toasted sesame seeds.
Melt chocolate by pouring warm chicken broth over it then add it to the pot along with brown sugar, to taste (start with one tablespoon).
Simmer the mole sauce over medium-low heat for 30 minutes to 1 hour, stirring often. If the mixture is too thick, add more chicken broth (I usually end up using all of the remaining chicken broth). Taste then add salt or sugar, as needed.
Plate and serve. Place chicken on a plate and ladle a big spoonful of sauce on top, then garnish with sesame seeds. Serve with Mexican rice and warm corn tortillas on the side.
Use leftover Mole Sauce for mole enchiladas, burritos, chilaquiles, tacos, nachos, fried eggs, pork or beef.
Make-Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: Mole sauce can be made up to 1 week ahead of time, stored in the fridge. Rewarm on the stove then add additional chicken stock, as needed, to reach desired consistency.
To Freeze: Store Mole sauce in a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 4 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then reheat on the stove, adding additional chicken stock, as needed, to reach desired consistency.
More Authentic Mexican Recipes:
- Pozole Verde
- Enchilada Sauce
- Chicken Street Tacos
- Horchata
- Pork Carnitas
- Tacos Al Pastor
- Elotes Recipe
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Recipe
Mole Sauce
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 1 whole raw chicken , cut into pieces (or 4-5 chicken leg quarters, bone in, skin on)
- 8 cups water (1.9 liters or half gallon)
- ¼ onion , roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 Tablespoon chicken bouillon , (powder or paste)
Mole Sauce:
- 6 dried pasilla chiles
- 6 dried mulato chiles or guajillo chilies
- 5 dried ancho chiles
- 1/2 cup sesame seeds (71g), divided
- 1/4 cup raw almonds (36g)
- 1/4 cup raw shelled peanuts (36g)
- 1/4 cup raisins (37g)
- ½ cup animal crackers (60g)
- 1 corn tortilla
- 2 slices white bread , French bread or a small bolillo roll cut in half
- 1/2 of a white onion , sliced
- 4 cloves garlic
- 5 whole cloves
- 5 whole black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon whole aniseed
- ¼ -1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 ripe plantain (or banana) , peeled, sliced into ½ inch slices
- 1 teaspoon Dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoons chicken bouillon paste
- Salt to taste
- 2 ounces chopped Mexican chocolate , (or semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate)
- 1-4 Tablespoons brown sugar , taste
- Reserved broth from cooking the chicken
- 2 Tablespoons oil or lard
- Oil , for frying
Instructions
- Cook Chicken: Add chicken, garlic, onion, bay leaf, chicken bouillon, salt, oregano and water to pot. Bring to a low boil and cook over medium heat until chicken is just cooked through, about 30 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate, (reserving the broth) cover to keep it warm and set aside.
For the Mole Sauce:
- Toast sesame seeds in a large dry skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly, until toasted. Be careful not to burn them. Set aside.
- Add 2 cups of water to a large saucepan over medium-low heat. (You will transfer toasted ingredients to this post, as you toast them.)
- Toast Chiles: Use scissors to cut a line down all the chilies to open them up flat. Remove veins and seeds. Add a few tablespoons of oil to the skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add chiles in a single layer, frying on both sides for just a few seconds, careful not to burn them. Transfer them to saucepan of water.
- Pan fry ingredients: We will pan fry most of the remaining ingredients, one at a time, so add a little oil between each batch, as needed, to coat the bottom of the pan.
- Fry the peanuts stirring often so they toast but don’t burn, about 45 seconds. Add to the pot. Repeat with almonds, then raisins, then animal crackers, then corn tortilla, and bread slices, adding each to the saucepan and pressing down as much as possible into the water.
- Turn skillet heat to medium-high and add more oil if needed to coat the bottom of the pan. Add onion and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add garlic and fry for just a few seconds before spooning the onion and garlic into the pot. Add sliced plantain to the hot oil and fry on both sides, then add to the pot.
- Reduce heat to medium and add peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, anise, and crushed red pepper to hot oil and fry for a few seconds, stirring constantly, then add to the pot.
- To the saucepan with all of the ingredients, stir in 1 teaspoon oregano, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, and 1 ½ teaspoons chicken bouillon.
- Blend: Working in batches, add everything from the pot with the chilies to a blender and add enough of the reserved chicken broth to allow the mixture to blend. During one of the blending batches, add ¼ cup of reserved toasted sesame seeds. Blend each batch for several minutes, until completely smooth, adding more chicken broth if needed.
- Heat 2 tablespoons lard or oil to a large saucepan. Once melted, remove from heat and set aside.
- Strain: Pour sauce through a fine mesh strainer (discarding what’s leftover in the strainer) into the pot with the melted lard.
- Melt chocolate: Add the chopped chocolate to a bowl and pour some of the chicken broth into it, to help it melt. Add to pot, along with 1 Tablespoon brown sugar, to start, then more to taste, as needed.
- Cook mole sauce over medium-low heat for 30 minutes to 1 hour, stirring often. If the mixture is too thick, add more chicken broth (I usually end up using all of the remaining chicken broth). Taste and add salt or sugar, as needed.
- Serve: Place chicken on a plate and ladle a big spoonful of sauce on top. Garnish with sesame seeds. Serve with Mexican rice and warm corn tortillas or flour tortillas on the side.
Notes
Nutrition
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I originally shared this recipe August 2020. Updated May 2022 and March 2025.
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Hello, I am very excited to try this recipe! However I am very curious about the addition of animal crackers!
Haha, I totally get it—it might sound wild at first, but the animal crackers add a subtle sweetness and help thicken the sauce. It’s actually a traditional trick in some mole recipes.
-Stacy
When do we add the cloves? I don’t see that anywhere in the instruction and so far it has been asked before and never answered. Please help me 🙁
Also, it says to divide the sesame seeds and toast half of them but never mentions when to add the other half that was divided or am I missing something?
Great catch—sorry for the confusion! For the cloves, you’ll want to add them in when you’re frying the peppercorns, coriander, cumin seeds, anise, and crushed red pepper flakes. Just toss them in with those spices so they can get a quick toast before going into the pot.
As for the sesame seeds, set aside half after toasting, and then blend ¼ cup of the toasted seeds in with one of your blender batches (as the recipe suggests). The rest of the toasted sesame seeds are used as a garnish on top of the finished mole. Hope that clears things up, and thanks for pointing it out!
-Stacy
My husband loves mole and gave this recipe 5 stars. I made it as directed with the expectation of a plantain (i used a green banana). It was definitely worth the effort and I am glad to have enough to freeze for another time.
Really excited to make this but would like to clarify something before i do. If we have to be careful not to burn the peppers why is the skin blackened/ charred? Is that ok to char the skin and perhaps when you say don’t burn you mean the flesh inside the skin?
Yes, you are correct,see updated instructions on the website.
If I am trying to avoid using gluten, is it acceptable to use extra corn tortillas instead of the bread and crackers or would that ruin it?
Terrific recipe, but I wanted to be aware of the chocolate (not to taste sweet but to just know there was chocolate present), so I doubled the chocolate. Also, the timing is very optimistic, or you are super speedy or I am dismally slow! It took me 4 1/2 hrs to prep and then the hour to simmer. Cutting and de-seeding all those peppers took almost 45 minutes and blending batches and putting it through the sieve took at least 1 1/2 hrs alone! I am taking it to a chocolate dinner, and I know it is going to be a hit!!
Hi there, when do we use the cloves for this wonderful recipe? I’ve seen a few people mention that it’s in ingredients and not in instructions so please let me know at what step to add them and what to do with them:))