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Mole sauce

Mole sauce is a family of complex Mexican sauces made from chiles, aromatics, spices, and other recipe-dependent ingredients.

Mole sauce — illustrative ingredient image

About Mole sauce

Mole sauce is a broad family of Mexican sauces rather than one fixed recipe. Depending on the style, it may combine chillies, aromatics, spices, herbs, nuts or seeds, fruit, chocolate, stock, and a thickener. It is served with poultry, meat, seafood, vegetables, beans, or tortillas.

Flavour can range from earthy, smoky, spicy, and bitter to gently sweet, tangy, or herbal. Mole is often thick and smooth, but some versions are coarse or paste-like. Grinding, straining, dilution, and simmering determine its texture, sheen, intensity, and flow.

Mole sauce may be made fresh or sold refrigerated, shelf-stable, as paste, or as powder for reconstitution. It can be spooned over food, used as a braising medium, or incorporated into fillings. Green, yellow, red-brown, and nearly black sauces reflect differences in ingredients and preparation.

Ingredient type
sauce

Forms & related ingredients

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Where mole sauce appears

2 linked foods

Find foods to recognise by country and type. Recipes and products vary; these are recorded ingredient connections.

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Main dishes

Street food

Ingredient connections awaiting review · Coverage is still growing, including packaged snacks.

Name examples awaiting language review. Confirm the specific food or product.

Local names for mole sauce

Names and romanised forms to recognise on menus and labels.

English

Mole sauce

Available names only. Languages may be spoken in other countries; a name alone does not identify every ingredient in a dish.

Mole sauce nutrition & diet

Mole sauce nutritional value

Mole sauce

Per 100 g of the edible portion in the recorded USDA food form.

Calories
75kcal
Protein
1.0g
Carbs
10.8g
Fat
3.8g

Reference values per 100 g for the displayed USDA form. Varieties, recipes, brands and preparation can differ.

Portions & preparation

Treat mole sauce as a recipe category rather than a standardized food. Record the served portion and preparation state, then identify chiles, aromatics, seeds, nuts, chocolate, sweeteners, oils, stock, and thickeners. Ready-to-serve sauce, paste, and homemade versions should not be compared interchangeably.

Compare the right form: A nutrition reference must match the specific prepared mole sauce recipe, brand, dilution, edible solids, and any stock, oil, chocolate, or thickener used.

Diet considerations

Mole sauce may be plant-based or may contain poultry stock, lard, dairy, or other animal additions; no universal classification applies to the category. Nuts, seeds, chocolate, and cereal ingredients vary. The served food—such as tortillas, rice, vegetables, poultry, or meat—determines additional animal and carbohydrate considerations.

AI-authored reading notes · Awaiting editorial review. Measured values, where available, have a separate source above.

Dietary compatibility

  • Vegan
    Depends on the version
  • Vegetarian
    Depends on the version
  • Pescatarian
    Depends on the version
  • Keto
    Not established
  • Paleo
    Depends on the version
  • Low-carb
    Not established
  • Halal
    Not established
  • Kosher
    Not established
What these diet assessments mean
Vegan · Depends on the version
Check the version or source of: Chocolate. Optional or variable recorded ingredients: Cow Milk. The ingredient profile identifies an animal-derived food or derivative. Recipes and products can differ.
Vegetarian · Depends on the version
Check the version or source of: Chocolate. Check the version or source of: Sugar. Check the refining process and processing aids for the particular producer.
Pescatarian · Depends on the version
Check the version or source of: Chocolate. Check the version or source of: Sugar. Check the refining process and processing aids for the particular producer.
Keto · Not established
A defined serving and sourced carbohydrate data are needed before assessing this dietary pattern.
Paleo · Depends on the version
Check the version or source of: Chocolate. Optional or variable recorded ingredients: Cow Milk; Sugar. This profile falls outside the conventional paleo pattern used here (grains and pseudograins, legumes, dairy or refined sugar). Recipes and products can differ.
Low-carb · Not established
A defined serving and sourced carbohydrate data are needed before assessing this dietary pattern.
Halal · Not established
Sourcing, processing and any applicable certification have not been verified. A food name alone does not establish halal status.
Kosher · Not established
Sourcing, processing and any applicable certification have not been verified. A food name alone does not establish kosher status.

For the plain ingredient · Awaiting review. Diet compatibility is not allergy suitability or halal/kosher certification. Keto and low-carb depend on the portion.

Reviewed ingredient entryIngredient reference · Preparations vary

AI-generated illustration for visual context. It does not identify a particular product or establish allergen content.

Sources & review

Nutrition reference: USDA FoodData Central — Mole sauce ↗. Values are scaled from 100 g of the recorded edible form. Individual portions have no assumed fixed weight.

Expanded overview, name examples and nutrition notes are database drafts awaiting editorial review. Numeric nutrition values, where shown, have their own source and food-form reference.

The ingredient description and dish connections come from the draft catalogue and may change after review.

Last recorded verification: .