Simple Chicken Mole

When I was pregnant with my first child a dear friend cooked chicken mole for us and it was delicious! He introduced me to the wonderful mole, this famous thick, rich, chocolate-tinged sauce. Traditional mole recipes call for more than 20 ingredients, including different types of pepper, nuts and a small amount of chocolate. This concoction is boiled for hours until it reduces to a thick, fragrant and unique sauce.

To make mole form scratch is time consuming, so I developed an easy chicken mole recipe inspired by our friend’s dish. It is a simple, economical and tasty recipe that you can serve even to guests. My husband and I love this dish and I hope you will enjoy it as well.

Simple Chicken Mole:

Ingredients:
1 ½ lb of chicken breast tenderloins, boneless and skinless
¼ cup of store-bought mole sauce
1/8 cup of fresh lime juice
2 ¼ cups of chicken stock or chicken stock
¼ teaspoon of garlic powder
¼ teaspoon of paprika
¼ teaspoon of onion powder
½ teaspoon of ground cumin
¼ cup of fresh cilantro, chopped
1 ½ tablespoon of vegetable oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Cooked white rice, for serving

Preheat the oven to 375F. Spray a casserole dish with cooking oil. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Meanwhile, season chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and lime juice. When oil is heated, add the seasoned chicken and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, turning it only once after 5 minutes.Add 2 tablespoon of chicken stock after 5 to 7 minutes to keep the meat from getting dry.

Transfer the chicken to prepared casserole dish. Set aside. Add mole to skillet and slowly add the remaining chicken stock (1 cup at the time). Cook it over medium-low heat. Stir constantly until the mole sauce is fully dissolved. Add cumin and let it simmer for about five minutes. Pour sauce over chicken in prepared casserole dish.

Bake it uncovered for 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and top it with chopped cilantro. Serve it hot with cooked rice. Garnish with jalapenos peppers, if desired.

Serves 4.


If you like your chicken mole with beans, here is another simple recipe:

Latin Style Pinto Beans:

Ingredients:
15oz (1 can) of pinto beans
1 dry bay leave
½ slice of uncooked bacon
½ cup of water
1 small garlic clove, minced
Salt, to taste

In a sauce pan, cook the bacon over medium heat. Remove bacon from the pan. Add bay leave, garlic and pinto beans with the juice. Stir in water. Season with salt. Simmer over medium low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Crumble bacon and return to the pan, if desired. Serve hot.


Note: You can find mole sauce in the Latin or Hispanic aisle of your grocery store.