Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Mole Poblano
The legendary dark mole, dozens of chiles, spices, seeds, and a whisper of chocolate, over turkey or chicken.
Mexican (Poblano) · advanced · serves 6
prep 60 min · cook 90 min
~796 cal · 70g protein · 43g carbs · 39g fat · 7g fiber · 20g sugars · 9g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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poblano is among the most celebrated and complex dishes in all of Mexican cuisine, often called a national dish and wrapped in legend, including the story of colonial-era nuns in Puebla improvising a sauce for an archbishop. It is festival and celebration food.
Its glory is the sheer number of ingredients, often two dozen or more: several kinds of dried chile, seeds and nuts, spices, dried fruit, tomato and , fried tortilla and bread, and a small amount of dark chocolate, all toasted, fried, blended, and simmered into a deep, glossy sauce.
The chocolate is a whisper, not a sweetness; the result is savoury, layered, and profound. Ladled over turkey or chicken and finished with sesame, poblano is the labour-intensive masterpiece brought out for weddings, holidays, and days that matter.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy- and egg-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
3 lbs chicken or turkey pieces
4 dried mulato chiles
Hard to find? extra ancho chiles - ancho is the same poblano dried at a redder stage; the mole loses a little of mulato's smoky chocolate darkness
4 dried ancho chiles
3 dried pasilla chiles
2 dried chipotle chiles
1/3 cup almonds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup peanuts
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup raisins
1 a slice
1 tomato
2
1 stick cinnamon
4 cloves
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp anise
2 oz Mexican chocolate (or dark chocolate and pinch cinnamon)
1 corn tortilla, toasted (to thicken)
1 slice a bit of bread, toasted (to thicken)
1 onion
5 cloves garlic
1/3 cup lard
Instructions
1
Simmer the chicken (or roast the vegetables) in salted water, then set aside and reserve 4 cups of the broth.
2
Toast the chiles briefly in a dry pan, then soak them in hot broth to soften.
3
Separately fry the seeds, nuts, raisins, plantain, tomato, tomatillo, spices, tortilla, and bread in stages, each just until fragrant.
✎ Chef’s note
Frying each element on its own, in order, keeps the delicate ones (seeds, nuts) from burning while the sturdier ones brown. This layering is the heart of a good mole.
4
Blend everything in batches with the soaking broth into a very smooth paste.
5
Fry the paste in hot oil for 10 minutes, stirring constantly as it darkens and thickens.
6
Add broth until it loosens to a sauce that coats a spoon, then melt in the chocolate.
7
Simmer 30 minutes, seasoning with salt and a little sugar to balance the bitterness.
8
Spoon the mole over the chicken (or vegetables), finish with toasted sesame, and serve with rice and tortillas.
Puebla convent tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Puebla. Puebla is a cradle of Mexican cuisine and the ancestral home of mole poblano and chiles en nogada. The famous convent tales, of nuns improvising mole for a visiting archbishop, are legends: food historians read mole as a slow evolution from the pre-Hispanic chile-and-seed sauces the Nahuatl called molli, enriched over centuries with ingredients the Spanish brought. Colonial convents and Indigenous cooks together made a baroque, deeply layered regional table.
🗺️
Mexico. Mexican cuisine is UNESCO-recognized and older than any border, built on the ancient trinity of corn, beans, and chiles plus tomatoes, cacao, and a vast world of moles and salsas. From tacos to slow-cooked barbacoa, it layers Indigenous Mesoamerican roots with Spanish influence.
🌍
North America. The most consequential technique on this continent is nixtamalisation, cooking maize with lime or wood ash. It loosens the skins, makes the dough that becomes tortillas and tamales, and frees up niacin the body cannot otherwise absorb, which is why maize spread around the world without the technique and took pellagra with it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Mexico
Cochinita PibilPork marinated blaze-orange in achiote and sour orange, wrapped in banana leaves and roasted until it shreds itself.
EnfrijoladasCorn tortillas bathed in silky black-bean sauce, folded and finished with cheese, crema, and onion.
BirriaJalisco’s chile-marinated slow braise, served as a rich consomé with tortillas, or griddled into dripping quesabirria tacos.
Browse all Mexico recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven, Blender.
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Mole Poblano?
The legendary dark mole, dozens of chiles, spices, seeds, and a whisper of chocolate, over turkey or chicken.
Where does Mole Poblano come from?
Mole Poblano is a Mexican (Poblano) dish from Puebla, Mexico.
Can Mole Poblano be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Mole Poblano recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Mole Poblano safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Mole Poblano take to make?
About 150 minutes total (60 minutes prep, 90 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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