Mexican mole sauce can be intimidating. There’s chocolate, chiles, and spices. It’s rich, full of flavor, and not too sweet, despite the chocolate. And it’s typically a labor-intensive process. But this recipe, based on Martha Stewart’s, takes little effort, thanks to the slow cooker. With an entire can of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, along with ancho chiles and almonds, this mole is nicely spicy without being overbearing. Prep is a breeze: Just blend everything up, put it in the slow cooker with some chicken, and forget about it for 4 to 8 hours. The recipe yields lots of extra sauce, so put some out with tortilla chips before serving it for dinner.
More easy slow cooker chicken dishes, see our chicken adobo recipe.
- Yield: About 12 servings
- Difficulty: Easy
- Total: 4 to 8 hrs
Ingredients (13)
- 4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 12)
- Coarse salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
- 4 dried ancho chiles, stemmed
- 4 large chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, plus 1 tablespoon adobo sauce (feel free to just use the whole can)
- 1 cup sliced almonds, toasted
- 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- 6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Season both sides of the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and place them in the slow cooker.
- Place all of the remaining ingredients in a blender and blend on high until you have a smooth consistency, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Pour the sauce into the slow cooker and mix with the chicken.
- Cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.
