Discover a 20 min Mexican mole recipe
Holy-Mexican-mole! in 20 mins is a great go-to if you’re in a bit of a rush for Mexican flavours.
YEILD: 3 cups
PREP TIME: 5 mins
COOKING TIME: 15 mins
DIFFICULTY: easy
IDEAL FOR: sauce for enchiladas, tacos, nachos etc
BUDGET: £
What is mole sauce
Let’s get the basics out of the way.
Mole is pronounced: MO-lay.
And this Mexican favourite comes from pre-Hispanic times.
When the Aztec king Moctezuma served mole to the conquistadors, thinking they were gods.
Traditionally, it’s made of these core ingredients – a blend of chilli peppers, tomatoes or tomatillos, fruit or other sweet element, nuts or seeds, often but not always cocoa, and a blend of spices.
The quality of the dried chillies is one of the keys to success for a traditional mole sauce.
Holy-mole, is that the time?!
In order to make an authentic mole sauce.
You need time.
Lots of it.
A true mole can take 3 – 4 hrs to even days to make.
I’ve made my own authentic mole.
And it has an incredible depth of flavour.
But, boy it took a long time.
And I felt a little exhausted by the end of it.
And I hadn’t even started on the enchiladas.
So, as much as I love mole, I’ll be honest.
Finding this ‘cheats 20 min mole’ from GimmieSomeOven… was a great find.
It still has a rich, nutty, chocolate-y, savoury, and slightly sweet flavour, that a mole should have.
But I just didn’t have to labour over it.
And that makes me want to make it more often now.
So, I recommend giving it a go.
And when you have time, then make an authentic sauce.
It really can’t be flavour-beaten.
But it can be beaten on time.
20 min Holy-Mexican-mole sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 cup diced white onion
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- (optional) 1 jalapeño, cored and diced
- 1/4 cup chilli powder
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp smooth almond butter (or peanut butter)
- 1 tsp sea salt
Method
- Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Add onion and sauté for 5 mins, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent.
- Then add garlic and jalapeño and sauté for 1-2 more mins, stirring occasionally, until fragrant.
- Add chilli powder, flour, cinnamon, cumin, and oregano, and stir until everything is evenly mixed. Continue sautéing for 1 more minute, stirring occasionally.
- Remove pan from heat and add vegetable stock, and stir until combined.
- Use a blender to puree the mixture until smooth.
- Return the saucepan to medium-high heat and add almond butter (or peanut butter), tomato paste, cocoa powder and sea salt, and whisk until combined.
- Continue cooking until the mixture reaches a simmer and the sauce has thickened.
- Reduce heat to medium-low. Taste, and season the sauce with more salt if needed.
- Serve.
Want to tweak your Holy-Mexican-mole?
Here are a few ideas:
- Sweet mole: Drizzle a little maple syrup or honey to sweeten.
- Spicy mole: Throw in an extra jalapeño pepper (with seeds to make hotter).
- Mild mole: Take out the jalapeño altogether.
- Smokey mole: Sub in chipotle powder for half of the chilli powder.
- Chocolate-y mole: Double the cocoa powder.
- TIP: If you want your mole to taste even more complex and authentic, add in a bay leaf, a pinch of ground cloves, a pinch of ground coriander, and/or a pinch of ground anise.
How to use Holey-Mexican-mole sauce
You can use it how you feel.
But traditionally it’s used liberally poured over or baked into, tacos, enchiladas, nachos, burritos etc
For something different, use it as a sauce over baked potatoes, drizzled over a steak or pork.
And of course, stir a few spoonsful into your rice and beans.
To add some extra flavours to your carbs.
Storing Holy-Mexican-mole
You can make double the amount when you make your own.
So, you can have it as a go-to sauce whenever you need to add some extra flavour to a dish.
Store it in a sealed container then:
- Refrigerate: For up to 3-4 days
- Freeze: For up to 3 months. (*NB: The texture will change a little of the sauce but it will still be delicious.)
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