JOIN! 12 Weeks for $1

Yellow Mole with Chicken

4 Servings

1½ hours

Made This Recipe? Write a Review.
Thank you for submitting your review! A member of our team is confirming the review meets our site's Community Guidelines. It will be posted on the site shortly.

Of the seven types of Oaxacan mole, yellow mole, or mole amarillo, is one of the lightest and brightest in flavor. It’s also one of the easiest to make and is adaptable, pairing well with different meats, seafood and vegetables. The color of the sauce often is orangey-red rather than yellow; this is because the variety of dried yellow chili traditionally used to make the dish is hard to source outside of Oaxaca, so more widely available dried red chilies, such as guajillo, are used instead. We char tangy tomatillos, savory-sweet plum tomato and fragrant alliums, then blend them with the softened chilies to form the flavor base. Masa, the dough used to make corn tortillas, or masa harina, the corn flour often used to make masa, is the typical thickener for yellow mole; in addition to body, it brings sweet, minerally notes. For ease, we thicken ours with corn tortillas that have been briefly softened in the chicken broth, then pureed.

4

Servings

Tip

Don’t use tortillas made with a combination of corn and wheat; the wheat will turn the sauce heavy and gluey. Use only all-corn tortillas. Don’t simmer the mole vigorously once the tortilla puree is added, and make sure to scrape along the bottom of the pot when stirring. Once thickened, the sauce can easily scorch.

1½ hours

Ingredients

  • 3-4

    medium guajillo chilies (¼ ounce), stemmed and seeded

  • Boiling water

Directions

Pardon the interruption

You need to be a Milk Street Digital Member to see the full recipe

JOIN MILK STREET DIGITAL & PRINT
12 WEEKS FOR JUST $1

and get access to all of our recipes and articles online, as well as in print.

GET DIGITAL & PRINT
How we use your email.

Your email address is required to identify your subscription. We will use it for customer service as well as other communications from Milk Street. We will not share, or rent your email address.

Reviews
Mia L.
January 7, 2024
Easy and tasty
Made with boneless skinless thighs and worked great!
Diana L.
December 20, 2023
Very good
My family and I enjoyed this recipe. The flavors were great, but it did take a while to prepare. We live next to a restaurant that makes moles, so we know that the chicken has to be cooked until it practically falls apart. Next time, I will cook the chicken for 50-60 minutes to achieve that texture. The chilies were hot, but I removed the seeds to reduce the heat. The dish was still spicy, but not so much that it was overwhelming. Overall, it was a delicious meal that we would definitely make again. Thanks Milk Street for another great recipe!