Homemade Mole—But Make It Quick!
“Fast” and “shortcut” are NOT words that come to mind when most of us think about rich, heady, spicy brick-brown chocolate-spiked mole sauce. But that’s about to change, thanks to this easy, quick mole recipe. Yes, this qualifies as cheating, but also yes, that’s OK! Everything in the world does not hang on the authenticity of your supper—there is always room for change, for innovation. And this mole recipe, made out of pantry ingredients like peanut butter and chocolate chips (yes, chocolate chips) is proof that getting a little creative can be a great thing. Oh, and a major, major time-saver too.
What Is Mole Sauce?
You maybe sort of know—you can picture it, maybe you imagine that it’s dark and spicy—but also aren’t totally sure what Mexican mole sauce really is, what defines it. Well that is a wonderful question with a very interesting answer! The word “mole” (pronounced MOH-lay) comes from the Nahuatl word (Nahuatl is the language spoken by the Aztec people) "molli" which essentially means "mixture". We've also been informed (from a sweet reader) that in reality the word "mole" means “Grinding” and refers to the grinding together of all the ingredients. In other words, “mole” is a broad term and encompasses a variety of Mexican chili sauces made from a wide variety of ingredients. Despite some ingredient variances, you can usually assume that “mole” means a dark, rich, thick sauce that includes cacao or chocolate, nuts, chilies and other spices that is then cooked for a long time until the flavors meld and the spicy, savory sauce is thick and rich. While we would never argue that our 20-minute mole recipe is quite as good as one that’s been painstakingly stirred and fussed over for hours and hours, we DO think it’s pretty exciting that you can enjoy homemade mole-ish chicken enchiladas on a weeknight now.
A Four-Ingredient Mole Sauce
Yep, that’s right! The homemade mole sauce that makes these chicken enchiladas so very, very delicious has just four ingredients. YUP. Here’s what you’ll need to make our simple mole:
- Red enchilada sauce. Have we convinced you yet that enchilada sauce is a pantry staple?
- Creamy peanut butter.
- Chocolate chips. The darker the better. Also—you’ll only need a 1/4 cup of chocolate chips, so looks like you’ll be having chocolate chip cookies for dessert!
- Chili powder.
Everything Else You’ll Need To Make These Quick, Simple Chicken Mole Enchiladas
Not only is the mole sauce crazy fast, but we also take the cheaters way out when it comes to the chicken enchilada filling and use a store-bought rotisserie chicken. Easy win! Everyone’s happy! What’s not to love? You could also make these mole enchiladas vegetarian by filling them entirely with cheese and skipping the chicken. Molten cheese oozing out of a mole-drenched corn tortilla? Oh yeah, that’s a vegetarian dinner to write home about.
- Cooked chicken.
- Corn tortillas, 6 -inch
- Mozzarella cheese
- And for serving we suggest: queso fresco, fresh cilantro, avocado.
How to Make the Easiest Ever Mole Chicken Enchiladas
30 minutes, a rotisserie chicken and a can opener are just about all you’ll need to get this warmly-spiced, deeply-flavorful, filling Mexican dinner on the table tonight. Here’s how:
- Make the mole sauce! Gently simmer together the enchilada sauce, peanut butter, chocolate chips and chili powder.
- Make the mole chicken enchilada filling! Combine half of the mole sauce with the chicken and cheese.
- Fill the tortillas! Fill the tortillas with the chicken-cheese mixture.
- Roll the tortillas! Roll them up tight and lay them side-by-side in a baking dish and pour the rest of the mole sauce over the top.
- Bake the enchiladas! 20 minutes at 375°F is all it takes.
- EAT the enchiladas!
Tools You’ll Need:
4 Recipes You Can Make With Enchilada Sauce
Canned enchilada sauce, how we love you.
Cheating is OK—Just This Once.
We won’t tell. Promise. Just be sure to let us know if you loved this recipe! Snap a photo of your finished mole chicken and cheese enchiladas and then tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper so we can see! Happy eating!
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