Mole Sauce Recipe for Chicken Enchiladas {Enmoladas}

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Chicken Enchiladas with an Easy Mole Sauce Recipe are amazing! The Mole sauce is thick, rich, delicious, and easy to make ahead. Use leftover or rotisserie chicken and enjoy on any busy weeknight!

Friends, let me introduce you to my beloved Enmoladas, aka Chicken Mole Enchiladas.  These little babies have stolen my heart, tickled my taste buds, and filled my stomach lately.  The Mole is a rich Mexican sauce, sometimes called mole negro, and it’s the star here.  It’s thick and rich with the most incredible deep flavor.  The ingredients are simple, but taste so incredibly complex with rich flavors. It’s just so dang good!

Oh, and don’t let the unsweetened chocolate and cinnamon fool you, this is one SA-VOR-Y sauce!  They are 100% needed in this sauce to give it that deep flavor.  The tomatoes, green chilis, garlic, chipotle in adobo sauce, and cumin balance it so harmoniously. 

If the easy recipe and irresistible Mole sauce wasn’t enough, the rest of the recipe is crazy easy too!  It uses a Rotisserie chicken, so all you need to do is shred it up.  And speaking of EASY!  Did I mention that this sauce can be made nearly entirely out of your pantry!!  If that makes you happy, be sure to get my cheat sheet for Pantry Must-Haves for Quick & Easy Dinners!

How to Use Rotisserie Chicken for Easy Meal Prep

Rotisserie chickens can be found near the deli of your local grocery store.  Your store may have a couple different flavor profiles, but try to stick with a standard garlic and herb option.   You will want to use the chicken within 5 days of buying it.  You can also remove the meat and freeze it for up to 4-5 months in the freezer.

If you are eating the chicken as is, you can remove the legs, the thighs, and the wings.  Then cut off the breasts.  If you are cutting it up or shredding it for another recipe, you probably want to discard the skin.

DON’T discard the carcass, make a stock!!!  Add it to a large pot and cover with water.  Add salt, pepper, cut onions, carrots, and celery.  Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 1-2 hours.  Strain the stock and portion it out for various recipes.  It will keep for 5 days in the fridge or freeze it flat in freezer bags or containers for up to 5 months.

Use Rotisserie Chicken in these recipes for quick and easy dinners!

• BBQ Chicken Pizza
• Creamy Chicken Enchilada Soup
• Ramen Noodle Bowl with Chicken
• Chicken Quesadillas with Corn Tortillas

Quick note!  This post contains affiliate links, which means I earn a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you purchase from them.  This commission is what helps me keep this blog afloat :).  But, I also share these links because I have used the products, genuinely love them, and want you to know exactly what I used. 

Simple Ingredient List for Homemade Mole Sauce and Enchiladas

Mole Ingredients

• Small Onion – You can use yellow onion, white onion, or red onion, shallots, or scallions (green onions). You can also use frozen onions in this recipe.
• Fresh Garlic cloves – Fresh garlic or fresh-frozen garlic will give you the best flavor in this mole sauce recipe. You can substitute dried garlic flakes or garlic powder if needed.
• Adobo sauce (from Chipotle Peppers in Adobo) – If you like it hot, you can also add in a chipotle pepper. A substitute for this is using dried chiles, such as ancho chiles. You can also use Ancho chili powder or Ground Chipotle Pepper Powder. You can also sub in smoked paprika.
• Chicken broth – Chicken broth, Chicken stock, Vegetable broth or stock, and Beef broth or stock will all work.
• Tomato Sauce – You will want plain tomato sauce for this recipe. You can substitute crushed or diced if needed as it will all be blended together.
• Green chilis – I used the 4oz can of green chilis found in my regular grocery store. You can substitute in hatch green chilis. You can also leave these out if you don’t have them.
• Smooth peanut butter – You can substitute in almond butter, cashew butter, or sunflower seed butter. You can also use whole peanuts if you don’t have the nut butter. Make sure that when you blend any nuts, that they are really pureed smooth.
• Chili powder – You can substitute paprika.
• Cumin powder – You can substitute ground coriander.
• Cinnamon – There really is no great sub for cinnamon, so if you don’t have it, you can leave it out.
• Dried Oregano – You can sub in Margorim or fresh oregano.
• Unsweetened chocolate – You can look for unsweetened Mexican chocolate, but I buy the bakers chocolate bars found in all grocery stores and then cut it thin myself. Dark or milk chocolate are both fine, as long as they are unsweetened. If you cannot find the bars, you can use Unsweetened Cocoa Powder.
• Corn Tortillas cut into strips/small pieces – If you don’t have tortillas, you can substitute corn tortilla chips. Just make sure they are added and allowed to soak in the sauce and soften before blending.

Other Ingredients

• Rotisserie Chicken (or 2 cups shredded chicken breasts) – You can use a store bought rotisserie chicken, or grilled chicken breasts from the deli counter to save time. You can also roast chicken breasts or chicken thighs in the oven on your own.
• 6″ Corn Tortillas (total of 14 needed including the 2 for the sauce) – Corn tortillas are the traditional tortilla used for enchiladas. You can use 6″ or larger, but just make sure you have a casserole dish that will fit them or cut them to fit. White or yellow corn is fine. For the sauce, you can also use tortilla chips, just make sure they sit in the sauce long enough to soften before blending them.
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese – I like to shred my own cheese to avoid fillers and stabilizers. But of course, you can buy pre-shredded cheese to save time.

Simple Equipment and Options

You need a large frying pan or large saucepan for making the mole. I use my favorite 12″ Ceramic Pan, which is great because food really does slide right off with minimal oil and I don’t have to worry about food sticking and burning.  It comes with a glass lid, which is perfect for watching your dinner cook!

You will also need a blender for blending the ingredients into a smooth and creamy sauce. If you don’t have a standing blender, you can use an immersion blender or food processor.

Finally, a casserole dish for baking the enchiladas to warm them through.

Time Saving Prep for Mole Sauce and Chicken

We are all extremely busy and making dinner during the week can be overwhelming. Here are the steps you prepare in the day(s) in advance and store in the fridge as your meal Kit… (See the recipe below for more details)

For the Prep steps, you can chop and dice and measure and then stop.  Or move on to cooking the Mole.  You can do all of this ahead and store in the fridge and then on the night you want to serve, assemble the enchiladas and bake for 10 minutes.

If this is your first time making mole sauce, let me emphasize that the recipe is EASY. But, to give it that complex flavor, it does have a bunch of ingredients. So, I would get everything out and ready.

To a preheated large frying pan or saucepan to medium-high heat, add the olive oil, onions, and garlic. Saute onions and garlic over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently to ensure they do not burn. Cook for 5 minutes until translucent.

Add the remaining ingredients and cook, stirring just until the chocolate melts and everything is combined.

Transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth. Then return the sauce to the pan and simmer on low for 10 minutes.

Transfer the sauce to a bowl, leaving a very small amount still coating the bottom of the pan for the chicken. 

Shred the cooked chicken with fingers or forks.

Add the shredded chicken and mix with the mole. Add a tablespoon or 2 of the mole if needed to coat all of the chicken pieces.

Assemble and Bake Mole Chicken Enchiladas

Assemble your enchiladas by placing a small amount of the chicken and then topping with shredded cheddar. Roll and place in a casserole dish. Repeat for all of the tortillas and chicken. Then pour the mole over top. You will likely have some mole left over, so save that for another meal or freeze.

Sprinkle more shredded cheddar over top. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until melty.  Serve with your favorite garnishes, such as cilantro and sour cream.

ENJOY!  😍 Carrie

Chicken Enchilada Mole Sauce Recipe FAQs