30-Minute Mole

By Jocelyn Ramirez

Published Oct. 13, 2021

30-Minute Mole
Sang An for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
4(278)
Comments
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Several styles of mole — negro, colorado, verde and so many more — span different regions throughout Mexico, and the formulas vary from family to family. Mole is often viewed as intimidating, a sauce that requires toasting each ingredient individually, pounding them down to a paste and then cooking over low heat for hours to achieve layers of flavor. Although this recipe will never stand up to the mole an abuelita has been making for more than half her life, it will satiate the craving for homemade mole on a weeknight. Shortcuts like using roasted peanut butter and tahini help create this satisfying sauce in just 30 minutes. It’s perfect for serving over just about anything: roasted mushrooms or seared cauliflower, jackfruit or tofu. It can even be tossed with cooked rice noodles.

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Ingredients

Yield:4½ cups
  • 3cups unsalted vegetable broth or water
  • 3tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola
  • 3dried pasilla chiles, stemmed and seeded
  • 4dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
  • 1medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
  • 4garlic cloves, minced
  • 6tablespoons unsalted roasted natural peanut butter or almond butter
  • 3tablespoons tahini
  • 2tablespoons turbinado or raw sugar
  • 2tablespoons cacao or unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ¼cup dark chocolate chips or chunks
  • 1tablespoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
  • ¼teaspoon plus ⅛ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¼teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 16-inch corn tortilla, toasted, or 1 tostada
  • Salt and pepper
  • Seared cauliflower or other vegetables or proteins, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

227 calories; 18 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 15 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 340 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat broth in a small saucepan over medium-high until steaming; remove from heat. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a medium pot over medium. Add all the dried chiles and sear until darkened, turning constantly so they don’t burn and become bitter, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer chiles to the hot broth to rehydrate for 10 minutes. Set a bowl over the chiles to keep them submerged.

  2. Step 2

    Add the remaining tablespoon oil and the onion to the same medium pot (no need to wash). Cook over medium, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly toasted, about 1 minute. Transfer to a blender, along with the chiles and their soaking liquid, the peanut butter, tahini, sugar, cacao, chocolate, oregano, cumin, cinnamon and toasted tortilla. Blend until completely smooth and creamy. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

  3. Step 3

    Pour the mole back into the same medium pot and set over high heat. Once the mole starts to bubble, lower heat to medium and simmer, stirring every couple of minutes to make sure the mole isn’t burning or sticking to the pot, until the flavors marry, at least 10 minutes and up to 30 minutes. Use immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

  4. Step 4

    Serve with cauliflower or vegetable or protein of your choice.

Ratings

4 out of 5
278 user ratings
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Comments

Prakash Nadkarni

Neat recipe. I'd probably use what's in the pantry: any dried mildly hot chile, e.g., ancho, would work, and a single chile variety might be OK. See "Mole sauce" in Wikipedia: the dish's history suggests leeway to improvise. As for Southern vs New England cornbread, sweetness can vary. A non-sweet, 20-min mole (gimmesomeoven.com/holy-mole-sauce) and one using chicken broth (tasteofhome.com/recipes/mole-poblano) both use tomato for sourness, which bitter cocoa (or even instant coffee) offsets.

Laura

Many people cannot digest onion and garlic due to the FODMAPs they contain. These are short-chain carbs that can be hard to break down.The good news is that FODMAPs are not soluble in oil....so garlic oil and onion oil are fine. I might replace a bit of the broth with some of these oils to add to the flavor. Garlic oil is easily found in stores. Onion oil can be easily made (store in fridge). Chives and scallion tops (the green parts) are also low in FODMAPs and could be substituted.

Emma A

I have an issue with the “just 30 minutes!” timeline. How in the world would one cook onions until browned and soft in only 5 minutes on medium heat?

Nicole

I cheated terribly on this recipe due to time constraints, and it came out well. I halved the water. I subbed about 3T gochurang paste for the chiles, 3T tomato paste, and an avocado for the tahini. I doubled the peanut butter, and cocoa, and omitted the chocolate chips. I also subbed agave syrup for the sugar. I liked it, but was told by family that it needed to be hotter and less sweet. So, it could be made with a dash of habanero sauce, and half the agave syrup.

Annie

It was a delicious 50 min Mole. : )

veronica

Delicious! This recipe made mole, which I grew up eating and was missing dearly, accessible.

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