For the past week, I have been in the mood for all things pepper. Call it a last ditch effort to hold steadfast to the foods of Fall or needing to spice up my every changing vegan diet at home, peppers have just seemingly been on my mind.
And with Cinco de Mayo right around the corner, I couldn’t think of a better time to share with you one my favorite recipes, homemade mole sauce.
A recipe that I have adopted from a family friend and former part-time childhood caretaker, Ms. Katie. This recipe was her grandmother’s recipe for Chicken Mole, brought with her to the United States from the Puebla state in Mexico after she naturalized as a citizen in the 1960’s.
I remember loving the smells coming from Ms. Katie’s kitchen as a child. Especially the roasting of chiles for her grandmother’s mole sauce. This recipe, a vegan version of this time-honored classic. It is a sauce of memories. For Celebrations. Of dreamers. This is my homage to her.
Friends, I want to keep things on the level with you. This recipe is amazing but its also very time intensive.
Between shopping for all the ingredients, prepping the ingredients, and cooking everything, this Homemade Mole Sauce sauce will no doubt take more than an afternoon to make. There are no shortcuts. There are no hacks or copycat techniques to amend the process. You cannot rush this dish, so be sure to time block your afternoon accordingly.
The time it takes to make this recipe, for me, are well worth the efforts. The flavor of this mole is deep, rich, fragrant, and decadent. This is the ultimate low-and-slow simmered dish.
Keep in mind, this recipe is ingredient heavy. With close to twenty ingredients in this dish, it requires its own dedicated shopping trip to pull together. All ingredients that are needed and cannot be substituted. For the following recipe, I will be grouping ingredients by steps to make it easier for you to pull together.
While it took me a day to make, the sauce ended up being beyond delicious. The perfect mix of savory and sweet. If you’ve ever had a desire to make a vegan version of it, here’s the ultimate recipe for you!
Step 1: Making Stock
The base of mole sauce is traditionally chicken stock. For my recipe, of course, I will be using frozen homemade vegetable stock. To prepare my stock, I added it to a stock pot, added fresh herbs from my garden, and brought it to temp for 2 hours on low heat. The finished stock should have a dark color and had rich great flavor.
Step 2: Drying Your Peppers
The savory factor in this dish comes from a variety of dried peppers. Specifically ancho and pasilla peppers.
You will need to roast your peppers on a baking sheet for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees until fragrant. Then add them to a bowl with about 2 cups of boiling water to reconstitute for 30 minutes.
Once the peppers are reconstituted, remove the stems and seed each pepper. Then add the seeded peppers and steeping liquid to a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside for later.
Step 3: Prepare Your Spices
Mole sauce contains several amazing spices. The key is to toast the spices in a dry pan over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until fragrant. This brings out their flavors and will greatly improve your final product. After toasting your spices, grind them in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle. Set aside.
Step 4: Prepare Your Vegetables
The body of the mole sauce comes from vegetables. To make your base, rough chop all the vegetables and add them to a baking sheet. Bake them at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Once the veggies are roasted, add them to your blender along with 2 cups of vegetable stock and blend until smooth. Strain the blend to remove any seeds. Then, add the blended vegetables to a large stockpot. This is the base of your mole sauce.
Step 5: Prepare Your Fruits, Nuts, and Starches
This recipe features different kinds of nuts. While almonds and peanuts are commonly used, they can be substituted for pecans or walnuts. Like with your spices, you will need to toast your nuts in a pan on low heat for 2-3 minutes in 2 tablespoons cup of vegetable-based spread until fragrant.
Once your nuts are lightly browned, add your raisins to the pan also and cook 1-2 minutes until soft. Then, add your toasted fruits and nuts, along with 1 cup of vegetable stock to your blender. Blend until smooth. Add this mixture to your stock pot along with your vegetable base. Add your toasted, ground spices at this time as well.
You will also need to cook a plantain in an additional 3 tablespoons of vegetable-based spread on medium heat for 3-5 minutes until browned.
Lastly, you will need to fry several tortillas until lightly browned in your leftover vegetable spread. Once browned, add them with an additional cup of vegetable stock to your blender. Blend until smooth. Add this mixture to your stockpot.
Step 6: Chocolate
Finally, finally, you will get to use the star ingredient in this dish, Mexican chocolate.
You will need to be specific when purchasing your chocolate. You will need Mexican chocolate and not common milk chocolate or dark chocolate. This chocolate is hard and very sweet. Its what is needed in this dish. You can find it at any Mexican market or online as well.
To prepare your chocolate, simply cut into cubes and add to your stockpot.
Step 7: Simmering
At this point, all of your prepared ingredients should be in your stockpot ready for simmering. Start your simmer by adding 2-3 cups of additional vegetable stock to your preferred thickness.
Simmer on low heat for 2 hours, stirring every 10 minutes to avoid sticking. If your mole gets too thick, add additional vegetable stock accordingly.
When the sauce is done simmering, season it well with salt to taste. From start to finish, this recipe will take no less than 9 hours to complete.
How to serve your sauce:
I like to add air fryer fried tofu or Gardein chicken-less strips to my mole and serve over rice. But this sauce would be delicious on anything. I have served it in the past with black beans, over enchiladas, or as a layer in a 7-layer dip. It’s pretty hard to beat this sauce. It’s that good!
With that said, this is my vegan version of Ms. Katie’s grandmother’s mole sauce recipe. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I have over the years. Now I want to ask, has anyone else tried to make mole before? If you have any tips to make it easier, leave a comment below!
Serve warm over rice with air fried tofu, Gardein chicken-less strips, and enjoy!
Ingredients
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 medium onions
- 3 small tomatoes
- 8 black peppercorns
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 6 dried ancho peppers
- 3 dried pasilla peppers
- 2 cups hot water
- 2 tablespoons almonds
- 1/4 cup peanuts
- 1/4 cup pecans
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 6 cups vegetable stock
- 1 plantain
- 4 corn tortillas
- 3 ounces Mexican Chocolate
- 1/4 cup vegetable spread
- 1 package no-chicken chicken stock cubes
- 10 cups filtered water
- 2 stalks celery
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 10 black peppercorns
- 2 dried ancho peppers
Instructions
- Step 1: Making Stock
- Use your stock vegetables to create a stock. Cook for 1 hour. Add chicken-less bullion cubes. Cook for an additional hour. The finished stock should have a dark color and had rich great flavor.
- Step 2: Drying Your Peppers
- Roast your ancho and pasilla peppers on a baking sheet for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees until fragrant. Then add them to a bowl with about 2 cups of boiling water to reconstitute for 30 minutes. Once the peppers are reconstituted, remove the stems and seed each pepper. Then add the seeded peppers and steeping liquid to a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside for later.
- Step 3: Prepare Your Spices
- Toast the spices in a dry pan over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until fragrant. After toasting your spices, grind them in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle. Set aside.
- Step 4: Prepare Your Vegetables
- Rough chop all the vegetables and add them to a baking sheet. Bake them at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Once the veggies are roasted, add them to your blender along with 1.5 cups of vegetable stock and blend until smooth. Strain the blend to remove any seeds. Then, add the blended vegetables to a large stockpot.
- Step 5: Prepare Your Fruits, Nuts, and Starches
- Toast your nuts in a pan on low heat for 2-3 minutes in 2 tablespoons cup of vegetable-based spread until fragrant. Once your nuts are lightly browned, add your raisins to the pan also and cook 1-2 minutes until soft. Then, add your toasted fruits and nuts, along with 1 cup of vegetable stock to your blender. Blend until smooth. Add this mixture to your stock pot along with your vegetable base. Add your toasted, ground spices at this time as well. You will also need to cook a plantain in an additional 3 tablespoons of vegetable-based spread on medium heat for 3-5 minutes until browned. Then fry several tortillas until lightly browned in your leftover vegetable spread. Once browned, add them with an additional cup of vegetable stock to your blender. Blend until smooth. Add this mixture to your stockpot.
- Step 6: Chocolate
- Cut your chocolate into cubes and add to your stockpot.
- Step 7: Simmering
- Add 3 cups of additional vegetable stock to your mole. Simmer on low heat for 2 hours, stirring every 10 minutes to avoid sticking. If your mole gets too thick, add additional vegetable stock accordingly. When the sauce is done simmering, season it well with salt to taste.
