Name: Whole 30 Mole Sauce
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 105 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup sesame seeds; 5 whole cloves; 1 cinnamon stick; 1/2 teaspoon anise seeds; 1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds; 6 dried guajillo chile peppers; 4 dried ancho chile peppers; 6 Tablespoons olive oil; 1/4 cup raisins; 1/4 cup whole, blanched almonds; 1/4 cup hulled pumpkin seeds; 4 cups chicken stock; 1/3 cup unsweetened cacao; sea salt and black pepper ((to taste))

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I have a funny story to tell you about this Whole 30 Mole Sauce, and why it is mixed in with chocolate desserts! The Feast & Devour group voted on upcoming ingredients to use in the new year…and then re-voted in December to get chocolate in before Valentine’s Day. Guess who missed the memo? So a reminder was posted a couple of weeks ago to get our “chocolate” recipes into the document. Um, why did I just make Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Soup? Oops, we are no longer doing cauliflower.

This Whole 30 Mole Sauce is the perfect way to jazz up your roast chicken | cookingwithcurls.com

But, but, I’m doing Whole 30…I can’t possibly make a creamy delicious dessert right in the middle!!! Julie to the rescue {I love my Julie}. She suggested Chicken Mole, and I took it one step further to create this yummy Whole 30 Mole Sauce that is good enough to fool your friends and family, they will never notice the difference.

Peanuts/peanut butter, sugar, and tortillas were omitted, but all of the flavor is still there. Yes, there are a lot of steps…but you’re not going to make it everyday, right? Don’t worry, I will walk you through the whole process. One more quick look at the finished product to get you drooling.

Looking down on a chicken breast topped with mole sauce sitting on a bed of cauliflower rice.

How do you make Whole 30 Mole Sauce?

Toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat, tossing in the pan until golden, about 5 minutes.

Set aside 2 tablespoons to use as garnish, and pour the remainder into a blender.

Toast the cloves, cinnamon stick, anise and coriander seeds in the same skillet until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add to the blender.

Corriander seeds, cinnamon stick. and cloves in a non-stick skillet.

Remove the stems and seeds from the chile peppers, set aside. Heat 4 tablespoons of oil in the same skillet over medium high heat. Add the chiles and cook until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes.

Transfer to a large bowl, cover with hot water and set aside until softened and pliable, about 30 minutes.

Dried chile pepper and water soaking in a large bowl.

Add the raisins, almonds, and pumpkin seeds to the oil in the skillet. Cook, stirring until the seeds are golden brown, about 2 minutes.

Add to the blender along with the oil from the skillet. Add the softened chiles and puree.

Raisin mixture added to a blender with cooking water and sesame seeds.

adding 2 to 3 cups of the chile soaking water to make a thick, smooth sauce. I started with 2 cups and ended up needing all 3 cups.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the chile sauce and cook until thickened, 5 to 6 minutes.

Add the chicken stock and simmer until the sauce starts to thicken, about 20 minutes.

Chicken stock added to the sauce mixture.

Stir in the cacao and continue stirring and cooking until the sauce reduces, about 20 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper. Serve over roasted chicken, beef, or pork, and garnish with the reserved sesame seeds.

Mole Sauce over roast chicken on a bed of cauliflower rice.

I served my roast chicken thighs covered in this delicious Whole 30 Mole Sauce and a side of Cauliflower “Rice” with 2 Tablespoons of salsa mixed in….delicious!! 🙂

Recipe Notes:

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You will need a medium sized non-stick skillet, a large pot/Dutch oven, a large bowl, and a good blender. An immersion blender will not work. A food processor probably will, but I did not try that….let me know if you do. I have this Ninja Kitchen System in case you are wondering.
I actually could not find the guajillo chile peppers, but I did not let that stop me. I substituted New Mexico peppers and it was still delicious. You might want to order them ahead of time.
I also could not find whole blanched almonds, so slivered was my only option.
Yes, that does say cacao, not cocoa. You can read my reason why in this post, or you can substitute unsweetened cocoa.

This will be the perfect meal on Cinco de Mayo this year!

If you are here for this Whole 30 compliant recipe only, the recipe is right below. If you are here for the yummy chocolate desserts, scroll past the recipe and please don’t tell the rest of us how incredibly yummy they are, lol

Enjoy!!