Easy chicken mole
A weeknight shortcut to mole: chiles, warm spices, peanut butter and a little chocolate blended into a deep, velvety sauce for tender chicken.
- 80 min total
- 40 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 6
- About $2.77 a serving
- 670 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 chipotle peppers in adobo, pepper
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- ¼ cup raisins
- 1 corn tortilla, torn
- 3 tbsp chocolate chips
- 3 lb boneless chicken thighs
- 2 cups long-grain white rice
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1½ tsp salt, divided
- 3 cups water
Each serving has about 670 calories, 53 g protein, 69 g carbs and 20 g fat, and costs about $2.77 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No diced tomatoes? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No raisins? Dried cranberries work.
- No boneless chicken thighs? Chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins work.
- No long-grain white rice? Jasmine rice or basmati rice works.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Heat the oil in a over medium. Cook the onion 6 minutes, until soft and , then add the garlic for 1 minute.
Dutch oven. A Dutch oven is a heavy pot, usually enameled cast iron, with a tight-fitting lid. It holds heat evenly, so it’s great for soups, stews and anything that simmers a long time.
How you’ll know: Any large, heavy pot with a lid does the same job if you don’t have one.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 7 min
in the chili powder, cumin, cinnamon and oregano for 30 seconds, .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Toasting the spices in oil blooms them. Keep stirring so they don’t scorch.Add the tomatoes, chipotle, broth, peanut butter, raisins and torn tortilla and 10 minutes, until the raisins are plump and the tortilla is soft.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 10 min
Take it off the heat, add the chocolate, and blend until very smooth, in batches if needed.
Dolly’s tip: Fill the blender only halfway with hot sauce, take out the lid’s center cap, and cover the hole with a folded towel so steam can escape.Pour the sauce back into the pot, in 1 teaspoon of salt, add the chicken, and bring it .
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heat
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
Cover, turn the heat to low and 25 to 30 minutes, now and then, until the chicken is tender and reads 165°F.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Low heatTimer: 27 min 30 sec
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Meanwhile, the rice and bring it with the water and the last ½ teaspoon of salt in a medium over high heat.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
High heat
once, cover, turn the heat to low and cook 18 minutes. Take it off the heat and keep the lid on.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Low heatTimer: 18 min
Serve the chicken and plenty of sauce over the rice with sesame seeds and cilantro on top.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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