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Chicken breasts with a mole sauce topped with toasted sesame seeds, pepitas, and chopped cilantro.
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5 from 11 votes

Chicken Mole

A Mexican recipe that is traditionally simmered for a long period of time. This Chicken Mole is ready in less than an hour and is full of flavor! Serve with Spanish rice, cauliflower rice or shred the chicken an make enchiladas, quesadillas or tacos.
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Mexican
Keyword Cinco De Mayo, Comfort Food
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 6 servings
Calories 232kcal
Author Eileen xo

Ingredients

Prepping the Chicken Breasts

Mole Sauce

  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large onion, peeled and diced
  • 4 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 small cinnamon stick or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon Note 3
  • ¼ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
  • ¼ cup chopped almonds, unsalted
  • 4 whole cloves
  • ¼ cup raisins
  • 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes with juices Note 2
  • 1 cup fat-free chicken stock
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
  • ¼ cup peanut butter
  • 1.58 ounces Mexican Chocolate, preferably Forte Aztec Soul Chili Pepper in Dark Chocolate
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
  • ½ - 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, garnish optional
  • pepitas, garnish optional
  • fresh chopped cilantro, garnish optional

Instructions

Searing the Chicken Breasts

  • Combine the black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt in a small bowl. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with the seasoning.  In a large Dutch Oven, over medium heat, add the Tablespoon of olive oil and let heat up, add in the chicken breasts and brown. This will take about 5 -7 minutes. Set aside

How to Make Mole Sauce

  • Keep Dutch Oven over a medium heat, add the other Tablespoon of olive oil and saute the onions until soft and add in minced garlic, cinnamon stick, pepitas, chopped almonds, cloves, and raisins. Saute a minute or two to let the flavors blend. 
  • Add in the diced tomatoes, chicken stock, orange juice, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, peanut butter, Chili Pepper in Dark chocolate, sugar, chili powder, and cumin. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.  Stir and let the flavors blend about 10 minutes. Shut off the sauce. Let cool a minute. 
  • Place the sauce in the blender, Use a hand towel to hold the lid on the blender while you puree. This prevents the blender top from coming off due to the heat of the liquid. See Note 4 Please! Once mole sauce is smooth, return to the Dutch Oven.
  • Return the chicken to the Dutch Oven. Turn heat to low/medium to simmer chicken and mole sauce to completely cook the chicken breasts. The chicken should be 165 degrees when cooked through. This should take about 25-30 minutes. Depending on the size of your chicken breasts.
  • Serve with sesame seeds, pepitas, chopped cilantro, Spanish Rice, or Cauliflower Rice.

Notes

Note 1: Removing the skim reduces fat, so I prefer to take it off. If you prefer the skim on, by all means, leave the skin on the chicken breasts.
Note 2: For this recipe, I prefer fire roasted tomatoes, however, if only regular diced tomatoes are available, they will work in this recipe.
Note 3: The cinnamon stick gives a great flavor but again, you can use ground cinnamon.
Note 4: Very important, blending hot liquids!! When using a blender to puree hot liquid, use caution. Use a hand towel to cover the lid and keep your hand on top of the hand towel. This ensures that the liquid does not pop the blender top off. 
  • any nutritional data I provide is an approximation and actual dietary information can vary based on ingredients and proportion sizes.
 
 
 

Nutrition

Serving: 5ounce chicken breast | Calories: 232kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 353mg | Potassium: 387mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 315IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 1.5mg