What Is Mole Sauce? Everything You Need to Know About the Flavorful Mexican Staple (2024)

What is mole, you ask? At its essence, it is a sauce. There are dozens of types and nearly endless variations. Regionally, Mexico is full of different variations of mole indigenous to each state.

Oftentimes when people refer to mole, they’re thinking of mole poblano, from Puebla, also known as the birthplace of mole. Mole poblano is a rich, dark brown sauce made with chocolate and dozens of spices, simmered for hours or even days. Beyond mole poblano, a rainbow of moles simmer across Mexico, served in countless ways in homes and restaurants.

Oaxaca is known for its seven moles (including yellow mole, green mole, and a pineapple and plantain mole). Mole blanco (white mole) is yet another version of the sauce, made with white chocolate and chilis. Whatever your flavor preference, there’s a mole for you! Read on to learn more about what mole is, how to make it, and how to best enjoy the hyper-flavorful sauce.

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Mole is known for its complex flavors and lengthy ingredients lists. The difference between mole and salsa is the quantity of ingredients and spices, Rodriguez explains. “Mole has a lot of spices and different dried chiles,” he says. “You always need garlic, onion, and tomato. It can have 20 ingredients, including chocolate, chili de arbol, oregano, coriander seeds… All the spices you want!”

Mole recipes are often passed down in families, and of course, iterate with generations. Rodriguez tweaked the family recipe his mom inherited from his abuela because he prefers a spicer over a sweeter flavor.

For the chocolate component, Abuelita is a popular choice in Mexico. The hot cocoa tablets have a bit of cinnamon for an extra kick in the mole sauce.

Making mole is a labor of love that can take days, between the cleaning of the chiles, blending the spices, cooking the spices, and simmering and mixing everything. In Mexico, it’s traditional to make a batch before Dìa de los Muertos or a loved one’s birthday. Traditionally, dried spices, seeds, and nuts are crushed with a metate (a tabletop stone tool), but nowadays a blender works just fine.

“Making mole is an amazing experience and tiring,” Rodriguez says. “Your kitchen will be a mess, but it’s a pleasure at the end.”

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Mole is full of plants, meaning you’ll eat a variety of vitamins and minerals while consuming the sauce. Think: iron, magnesium, calcium, zinc, and more. Mole is also super versatile, meaning it can be a nice way to make proteins and veggies more decadent and delicious to consume.

Mole is also typically low in sugar and sodium, which isn’t always typical for such lucious sauces. Mole is also vegan, and can be a great way to enhance flavors in a plant-based diet, or make skipping meat a lot more palatable for some.

“The magic is in the sauce, and the sauce can go with everything,” shares Rodriguez.

Traditionally, a whole chicken can be served drenched in mole, but mole can also be used as a dip with tortillas or whatever you like.Shredded chicken or other meats can be tossed with mole and used to fill enchiladas, burritos, or tamales. Mole can also be a sandwich condiment, used as a sauce to drench enchiladas, a base for fried eggs, drizzled on rice—the options are endless.

Mole typically lasts in the refrigerator for five days in a sealed container, or can be frozen for up to three months.

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