Puebla Mexican · Dinner

Mole poblano chicken

Name: Mole poblano chicken
Prep time: 1 h 15 min
Cook time: 2 h 30 min
Total time: 4 h 5 min
Yield: 10 servings
Cuisine: Puebla Mexican
Ingredients: 5 pounds bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks; 3 teaspoons kosher salt, divided; 10 cups water; 1 white onion, halved; 8 garlic cloves, divided; 6 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded; 5 dried mulato chiles, stemmed and seeded; 5 dried pasilla chiles, stemmed and seeded; 2 dried chipotle chiles, stemmed; 1/2 cup lard or neutral oil, divided; 4 Roma tomatoes; 3 tomatillos, husked; 1 ripe plantain, sliced; 1/3 cup raisins; 1/3 cup almonds; 1/4 cup raw peanuts; 1/3 cup sesame seeds, plus 2 tablespoons for garnish; 1 corn tortilla, torn; 1 slice stale bolillo or sturdy white bread, torn; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper; 1/2 teaspoon anise seeds; 2 ounces Mexican chocolate, chopped; 1 tablespoon piloncillo or dark brown sugar, only if needed

Poached chicken with a deeply fried, strained Puebla-style mole of dried chiles, nuts, seeds, fruit, toasted bread and tortilla, tomato, warm spice, and restrained chocolate.

About 4 hr 5 minTotal

About 3 hr 45 minActive

$$$Cost

AdvancedDifficulty

Makes 10 servings

Equipment

Use a hot sheet pan under an inverted oven-safe metal bowl for the covered phase.
Best value covered pot
Lodge Essential Enamel 6-Quart Dutch Oven · EC6D43
View at Amazon
Another workable path: Use a hot sheet pan under an inverted oven-safe metal bowl for the covered phase.
Paid links. As an Amazon Associate, Kwilt earns from qualifying purchases.
How we chose
Research-backed · reviewed Aug 2026
We matched capacity, lid fit, oven rating, heat retention, maneuverability, care, stable model identity, and usefulness outside bread baking. Kwilt has not baked with this pot.
Lodge Essential Enamel 6-Quart Dutch Oven · EC6D43: The six-quart capacity, heavy cast-iron body, and fitted lid create the enclosed high-heat environment used by these bread methods while remaining useful beyond baking. Trade-off: At more than thirteen pounds it is demanding to move when hot, and the enamel needs gentler utensils and hand washing.
Another workable path: Bake on a preheated heavy sheet pan under an inverted oven-safe metal bowl, keeping face and hands clear when removing the hot cover.
Sources
Lodge six-quart Essential Enamel specifications
Amazon exact product listing

Ingredients

1× recipe · Makes 10 servings

5 pounds bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks
3 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
10 cups water
1 white onion, halved
8 garlic cloves, divided
6 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
5 dried mulato chiles, stemmed and seeded
5 dried pasilla chiles, stemmed and seeded
2 dried chipotle chiles, stemmed
1/2 cup lard or neutral oil, divided
4 Roma tomatoes
3 tomatillos, husked
1 ripe plantain, sliced
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup almonds
1/4 cup raw peanuts
1/3 cup sesame seeds, plus 2 tablespoons for garnish
1 corn tortilla, torn
1 slice stale bolillo or sturdy white bread, torn
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon anise seeds
2 ounces Mexican chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon piloncillo or dark brown sugar, only if needed

Instructions

Cover chicken with water, half the onion, 4 garlic cloves, and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring barely to a simmer and poach until the thickest pieces reach 165°F, 30 to 40 minutes. Rest chicken in broth 15 minutes, then strain and reserve 7 cups broth.
Working separately with small additions of lard, briefly fry chiles until fragrant but never black, then soak them in hot broth 25 minutes. Fry tomatoes, tomatillos, remaining onion and garlic, plantain, raisins, almonds, peanuts, sesame, tortilla, and bread in turn until each is deeply colored; remove each before it burns.
Blend soaked chiles with their liquid until smooth and strain. Blend every fried aromatic, fruit, nut, seed, bread, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, and anise with enough broth to move the blades; strain separately.
Heat remaining lard in a . Fry the chile purée, stirring constantly, until dark and glossy, 12 to 15 minutes. Add the second purée carefully and fry 15 minutes more. Gradually add 4 to 5 cups broth until the sauce coats a spoon.
Simmer very gently, stirring often, 45 to 60 minutes. Add chocolate for the final 15 minutes. Adjust salt; add piloncillo only if chile bitterness needs rounding—the mole should not taste like sweet chocolate sauce.
Warm chicken pieces in the finished mole until they reach 165°F. Serve coated generously and scatter with the reserved 2 tablespoons sesame seeds.

Puebla, MexicoPoblano cooking traditions

From the table

About this recipe

Mole poblano is an iconic Puebla sauce with many household formulas and contested convent-origin legends. Its depth comes from separately developing chiles, nuts, seeds, fruit, bread, tortilla, aromatics, and spice before frying and simmering the purées; chocolate remains one balancing note, not the main flavor.

Mole poblano is an iconic Puebla sauce with many household formulas and contested origin legends; no single ingredient list owns it. Its depth comes from separately developing chiles, seeds, nuts, fruit, bread, tortilla, aromatics, and spice, then frying and simmering the purées. Chocolate is one balancing note, never the main flavor. This is intentionally a project recipe, not a falsely effortless shortcut. This Kwilt version follows the reviewed household adaptation: Keep the full multi-stage Puebla sauce architecture in a ten-serving home batch, using chicken-poaching broth as the through-line and treating sweetness as a final correction rather than a premise.

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