Quick ‘n easy chicken mole (recipe)

By The Health News Team | September 15, 2023

Making classic mole can take hours. Recipes often use heavy or high-caloric ingredients, such as nuts, lard, dark chocolate and sugar — and cooking requires long sauteing in heavy pots.

This recipe makes smart swaps and leans on shortcuts, bringing the same chocolatey flavor without the heaviness or extra time in the kitchen.

Chicken Mole

Prep time:

10 minutes

Total time:

30 minutes

Servings:

Ingredients

1 1/4 pounds chicken breasts, trimmed
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon almond butter or natural peanut butter
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1

Prepare the Chicken

Season chicken with 1/8 teaspoon salt and pepper. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides, about 4 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.

2

Make the Sauce

Reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, garlic, chile powder, cumin, cinnamon and the remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt to the pan. Cook, stirring until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomato sauce, broth, chocolate chips and almond (or peanut) butter; stir to combine. Bring to a simmer.

3

Coat the Chicken and Serve

Reduce heat to medium-low, return the chicken and any accumulated juice to the pan and turn the chicken to coat it with the sauce. Simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes more. Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds with a side of rice and veggies — or chop the chicken and serve in corn tacos with salsa and guacamole.

Nutrition facts per serving: Calories = 382; Fat = 24 grams; Protein = 30 grams

This recipe was adapted from EatingWell.

The Health News Team

Author

The Sharp Health News Team are content authors who write and produce stories about Sharp HealthCare and its hospitals, clinics, medical groups and health plan.