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Warm brown chocolate mole sauce over chicken.
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Mexican Chicken Mole Recipe with Dark Chocolate

A scintillating blend of dark chocolate, red chilli and aromatic spices weave their magic in this Mexican Chicken Mole recipe that's deliciously tender AND easy enough to prepare for a mid-week dinner. (Featuring bittersweet Alter Eco dark chocolate.)
Course Dinner
Cuisine Mexican
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 6 servings
Calories 752kcal
Cost $10

Ingredients

For the Chicken:

For the Sauce:

Instructions

Prepare the chillies / Make chilli oil

  • Heat half a cup of vegetable oil in a medium frying pan and add your dried chillies. Heat them through gently until they just start to blacken, but don’t allow to burn (1-2 minutes).
  • Carefully remove the chillies from the oil and pop into a small bowl, then cover with boiling water and allow to soak for around 30 mins.

Cook the chicken

  • Pour the chilli oil into a large saucepan or casserole dish over medium-high heat. Add the chicken (pieces or whole) and sprinkle with salt and pepper, cook for three minutes or so per side (Watch out for spitting oil!).
  • Once cooked, return all the chicken to the frying pan (which you used to cook the chilli) and add the orange juice and half the chicken stock.
  • Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and allow to bubble away for around 20 mins, rotating the chicken every 5 minutes or so to coat.

Make the mole sauce

  • Meanwhile, back in the large saucepan/casserole dish, heat up the chilli oil on a medium heat and add your chopped onion and garlic.
  • Next add the oregano, cumin, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, fennel seeds, coriander seeds and cinnamon stick. Cook for a couple of minute or two until the spices are nice and fragrant.
  • Add in the peanuts, pepitas, torn chunks of bread, tomato puree and raisins, along with the softened chillis.
  • Pour in the remaining chicken stock and simmer for 10-15 minutes to allow all those gorgeous flavours to blend.
  • Now, remove from the heat and take out your cinnamon stick to blend the sauce. You can do this with a stick blender or by transferring the sauce in batches into a food processor.
  • Add in your dark chocolate and allow to melt gently into the sauce. Give it a good stir and a taste test.

Add the chicken into the sauce

  • Place your cooked chicken (whole or shredded) along with its juices and stock back into the pot with your blended mole sauce and cover. Return to the heat and warm through before serving.

To assemble:

  • Layer your fresh tortillas with chicken mole, red onion and fresh coriander. Optionally, serve with fluffy white rice. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

  • Can Mexican Mole be made in advance and frozen? It sure can! Simply cook a batch of sauce, portion it out and freeze. Then you can have super tasty and even quicker Mexican Chicken Mole whenever you please.
  • What to do with Mexican Mole leftover sauce? One taste of this sauce is sure to get those creative juices flowing. Here are some ideas for using up leftover spicy chocolate mole sauce.
    • Enchiladas
    • Tacos
    • Tostadas
    • Tamales
    • Pour-over meat sauce
    • Schnitzel topping (for some Mexican German fusion?!)
  • If you can't source traditional Mexican chillis, feel free to simplify with regular red chillis.
  • You can substitute orange juice for orange peel (or water if you prefer not to include the citrus notes in this dish).

Nutrition

Calories: 752kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 53g | Saturated Fat: 26g | Cholesterol: 131mg | Sodium: 342mg | Potassium: 1115mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 1086IU | Vitamin C: 87mg | Calcium: 105mg | Iron: 6mg