Fast, Flavorful, and Super Easy Chicken and Mole Sauce

Chicken mole is one of the more traditional dishes in true Mexican cuisine. Like many traditional sauces, mole sauce is a labor of love. There are many family and chef recipes, and most include about 20 ingredients and require 3 or more hours of supervised cooking. Who has that kind of time? I want you to enjoy this dish, so I have adapted the mole sauce to celebrate all of the flavors of traditional Mexican mole, but you won’t spend 3 hours making it! I’ve created a few shortcuts, so you can make this tantalizing dish in about 30 minutes!

Cooking Time

25 minutes

Preparation Time

5 minutes

Servings

Yield: about 6 cups (enough to serve with 12 chicken thighs)

Equipment

3 Qt saucepan if you’re only making sauce
5+ Qt saucepan with lid if you’ll be adding chicken)

Ingredients

5 cups chicken stock
¼ cup (4 T) peanut butter
¼ c raisins or prunes
6 oz can tomato paste
6 oz salsa verde (I like Herdez) (No! Red salsa will not substitute)
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder* (you can substitute 1 1-inch cube of unsweetened baking chocolate or 1T chocolate chips)
2 T Beggs Bold Blends Taco OR Southwest Seasoning
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1T instant coffee crystals

For additional spiciness: use 1 4-oz can minced mild green chilis

Directions

Combine everything in a large saucepan.
Stir until mixture comes to a low boil. Turn heat down to simmer until dried fruit is plumped and soft.
Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture until smooth. (Or transfer 1-cup portions to a traditional blender and purée until smooth. Do not try to blend more because hot liquid expands, and you’ll get burned.)
Return pureed sauce to the saucepan, add chicken, and simmer on medium heat until the chicken is done (reaches 165F).