DISH RESEARCH · Main dish
Mole Poblano
Puebla-style chicken in a complex chilli, seed, nut, spice and chocolate mole.
About Mole Poblano
Mole poblano is a complex celebratory sauce from Puebla, Mexico. Ricardo Muñoz Zurita's representative Puebla-style recipe serves it with chicken and builds the sauce from mulato, pasilla and ancho chillies, nuts, seeds, fruit, spices, bread, tortillas and chocolate.
The sauce balances gentle chilli heat with sweetness from plantain, raisins, chocolate and brown sugar. Almond, peanut, pecan, pumpkin seed and sesame add richness, while roasted aromatics and warm spices create depth.
Long cooking produces a dark, thick, glossy sauce that coats the back of a spoon. It is served hot over or with tender chicken and finished with toasted sesame seeds.
Allergens in this recipe
Contains: Almond, Peanuts, Pecan, Sesame, Wheat (gluten).
Other allergen details are unconfirmed.
Ingredients vary by restaurant. Confirm your allergens with staff before ordering.
Ingredients in Mole Poblano
Ricardo Muñoz Zurita's Puebla-style mole poblano with chicken.
- LardCooking medium
- Mulato chilliesSauce baseIngredient page not linked
- Pasilla chilliesSauce base
- Ancho chilliesSauce base
- Chicken stockSauce liquid
- AlmondsNut base
- PeanutsNut base
- PecansNut base
- Pumpkin seedsSeed base
- Sesame seedsSeed base and garnish
- TomatillosSauce base
- TomatoesSauce base
- Ripe plantainFruit base
- RaisinsFruit base
- ClovesSeasoning
- Black peppercornsSeasoning
- Allspice berriesSeasoning
- Cumin seedSeasoning
- Anise seedSeasoning
- Cinnamon stickSeasoning
- Dried thymeSeasoning
- Dried oreganoSeasoning
- GarlicAromatic
- White onionAromatic
- SaltSeasoning
- Bolillo bread rollThickener
- Corn tortillasThickener
- Sweetened Mexican chocolate tabletsSauce seasoningIngredient page not linked
- Brown sugarSweetener
- Chicken leg quartersProtein
- WaterPoaching liquid
Ingredient details & uncertainties
Allergen information is incomplete. Unconfirmed details do not establish that an allergen is absent.
- Lard: . All sauce-frying allocations consolidated; lard selected for bread and tortilla frying rather than the corn-oil alternative.
- Mulato chillies: . No exact active approved catalogue mapping found; identity retained unresolved.
- Pasilla chillies:
- Ancho chillies:
- Chicken stock: . All staged stock additions consolidated; complete stock formula unspecified.
- Almonds:
- Peanuts:
- Pecans:
- Pumpkin seeds:
- Sesame seeds: . Sauce and toasted garnish allocations consolidated.
- Tomatillos: . Mexican tomate verde mapped to tomatillo.
- Tomatoes: . Mexican jitomate mapped to tomato.
- Ripe plantain:
- Raisins:
- Cloves:
- Black peppercorns:
- Allspice berries: . Mexican pimienta gorda mapped to allspice.
- Cumin seed:
- Anise seed:
- Cinnamon stick:
- Dried thyme: . Dried leaf form maps to approved thyme identity.
- Dried oregano:
- Garlic: . Sauce-roasted cloves and chicken-poaching heads consolidated.
- White onion: . Sauce-roasted and chicken-poaching allocations consolidated.
- Salt: . Sauce and chicken-poaching allocations consolidated.
- Bolillo bread roll: . Bolillo maps to approved bread-roll identity; exact bakery formula unspecified, while ordinary bolillo supports Wheat.
- Corn tortillas:
- Sweetened Mexican chocolate tablets: . No exact product formula or active approved mapping selected; milk/soy content remains unresolved.
- Brown sugar:
- Chicken leg quarters:
- Water:
Origins & food traditions
Larousse Cocina lists the origin as Puebla, Mexico; Muñoz Zurita explicitly notes that towns and families maintain many different mole poblano versions and presents this as representative of flavours found in Puebla city.
Countries
- Mexico
- MexicoCatalogue link pending review
Cuisines & regions
- Mexican
- Pueblan
- Pueblan CuisineCatalogue link pending review
AI-generated illustration of one possible presentation. Recipes and ingredients vary; the image does not establish allergen content.