Easy Chicken Mole

Tender, juicy, flavorful Chicken Mole recipe. Rich and smooth Mexican mole sauce is full of warming, savory flavors. This chicken with mole sauce is great over rice, in chicken mole tacos, and more!  

This easy mole recipe is made common ingredients without any obscure spices. It's gluten-free and light in calories. Read on to see my secret ingredient to make the tastiest mole sauce!

Mole sauce

Have you ever tried mole sauce? It is one of my favorite Mexican sauces, and whenever I see chicken with mole sauce in Mexican restaurants I always order it! Here's my white girl summary of what mole sauce is all about. Bear with me. 🙂

"Mole" is pronounced "MO-leh," kind of like the ending in "guacamole" ("guaca-MO-leh").

It is traditional Mexican sauce that has a base of peppers - typically poblano peppers - and spices. In addition, it is often thickened with ground nuts (such as almonds, pine nuts, peanuts, etc) or seeds (such as sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds). Some mole sauces contain chocolate (cocoa) and coffee. Some contain cinnamon and fruit for a touch of sweetness.

Variations of mole sauce

There are many different kinds of mole - green mole, red mole, and everything in between. But even with all these variations, the one thing that mole sauces have in common are their rich, complex savory flavors and a thick, coat-the-back-of-a-spoon texture. 

In short, mole sauce is GOOD and mole chicken is AMAZING!

Every region of Mexican has their own version of mole sauce, and every family has their own traditional mole recipes as well. Many of these traditional recipes require the sauce to be simmered and thickened for hours to marry the rich flavors together and make the most irresistible sauce.

This is my version of the mole sauce. It's a much quicker recipe. Am I claiming that this is a traditional mole sauce? No, of course, not.

But is this absolutely delicious and somewhat quick and easy to make?? Yes!

Even though this recipe takes a whole hour from scratch, it is still considerably faster than many mole recipes, and you will be able to brag about making mole sauce from scratch!

On top of that, my version of mole has really easy-to-find ingredients, so you won't need to buy specialty peppers or spices for this and then have them sitting in the cabinet for years.

How to serve mole chicken

Mole chicken is so versatile and can be served and used in many different ways:

• Over rice, with your favorite sides and toppings (sliced avocado, beans, side salad)
• In tacos (YUM!)
• In quesadillas - just scoop out the mole-coated chicken so it is not too soggy or saucy
• In enchilada casseroles
• On pizza

Sound good?? Let's get started!

Here's what you need:

• 2 chicken breasts
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeño, seeds removed and finely diced (or feel free to use more traditional poblano peppers!)
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons brewed espresso or strong brewed coffee (or use ½ - 1 teaspoon instant coffee)
• Cilantro leaves, lime wedges, sliced avocado for garnish, and rice for serving

See? I promised no difficult-to-find ingredients! I love adding coffee and cocoa powder for a rich flavor and dark color. 

If you want to make this extra kid-friendly, cut down on the jalapeño to reduce spice, and skip the coffee or use decaf coffee.

If you want to go a little extra, you can add any of the following:

• A pinch of cinnamon
• A tablespoon of lime juice
• A few tablespoons of sesame seeds
• A quarter cup of cashews or peanuts (for a thicker sauce and a nuttier flavor)

How to make mole chicken

Step 1: Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with ground cumin. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet, and add the chicken. Cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes on each side, or until nicely browned. Remove the chicken onto a plate. The chicken won’t be fully cooked yet, and that’s OK.

Step 2: In the same skillet or in a small saucepan, sauté the diced onion, minced garlic clove, and diced jalapeño in 1 tablespoon of oil for about 5 minutes, or until the onion starts to soften. Add the chopped tomato, and the dried oregano, and sauté for another 2 minutes.

Step 3: Add the chicken broth, cocoa powder, coffee, and salt, to taste. If you want to add cinnamon, sesame seeds, nuts, or lime juice, add them at this time too. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and allow to simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. It should start to reduce in volume. 

Step 4: Use an immersion blender to puree the sauce until mostly smooth, or transfer to a small food processor or blender and process until smooth. Be careful, this is hot! 

Step 5: Add the browned chicken and the sauce back to the skillet, and simmer for another 20-30 minutes, or until the sauce is further reduced and the chicken is fully cooked and starts to shred easily. Add more water a few tablespoons at a time, if necessary, to prevent the sauce from burning or getting too thick.

Step 6: Lightly shred the chicken, or roughly dice the chicken. Garnish with cilantro leaves and lime wedges, and serve over rice.

Looking for more Mexican-inspired recipes?

• Mexican lasagna casserole
• Mexican pasta salad - soo not authentic, but so good!
• Skillet beef nachos - also not authentic, but so SO good!
• Taco burgers with salsa
• Creamy chicken fajita pasta
• Ground pork tacos
• Roasted peach tomatillo salsa
• Charred corn salad
• Southwestern white bean chili

Looking for more flavorful ethnic chicken dishes?

• Ethiopian chicken stew
• Moroccan pumpkin and chicken stew
• Chicken kofta kebabs
• Mozzarella stuffed chicken breast
• Blackened chicken

If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!

Here are some of my old photos of this recipe, if you're curious to see where I started out with my food photography: