Beyond Easy Chicken Mole Enchiladas

This super easy, no-cook, homemade mole sauce is made from scratch, and gives regular chicken enchiladas a delicious twist for a super fast Mexican dinner to meal prep or even throw together for a quick and easy weeknight meal.

Easiest Chicken Mole Enchiladas

I recently heard about a study that reported that no matter how many recipes they have on their Pinterest wish list or they’ve dog eared in their favorite cookbooks, the home cook generally makes the same 15-20 recipes over and over and over again.

Now, on one hand, this limited recipe strategy can be a bonus, because:

They’re recipes you know you and your family will eat.
They’re proven recipes that work.
Since you’re familiar with them, there’s no time wasted leaning into a recipe learning curve.

But on the other hand, those recipes can get you totally get stuck in a rut. And who wants to be the boring cook in the kitchen anyway??!!

Today’s chicken mole recipe is a hybrid of one of my go-to recipes to cook (enchiladas) with a twist (mole sauce!), because:

It’s totally familiar = enchiladas. Approachable = chicken. But with the addition of just two ingredients to regular enchilada sauce, this recipe gets serious brownie points for uniqueness.
When they’re as easy to make as these, chicken mole enchiladas are pretty much impossible to screw up.
All you need to know about these babies is how to use a blender, an oven, and how to roll with the best of them.

What is Mole Sauce?

Mole (meaning “sauce” in the Nahuatl language), dates back to Mexico’s Aztec empire, originating from what is now the country’s largest indigenous group—the Nahua people. There are so many different varieties of mole sauce, and you can read about them here, if you’re curious. There are several different styles and of mole, with varying degrees of heat, but most mole sauce recipes consist of a blend of dried chiles, dried fruit, seeds, nuts, spices, and dark chocolate.

But we’re taking the easier route, without sacrificing flavor. This mole sauce has the addition of chocolate, peanut butter, and cinnamon. Yes, peanut butter sounds like a super weird ingredient addition, but the sweetness mellows the earthy spices of the enchilada sauce, creating a complex, well-rounded flavor from simple ingredients and is ready in 12 minutes. And that includes 10 minutes time to soak the chiles.

What’s in These Chicken Mole Enchiladas?

These mole enchiladas have two main components: the chicken enchiladas and the homemade mole sauce. To make the Mexican chicken enchiladas, you’ll need:

Flour tortillas
Shredded chicken
Yellow onion
Shredded cheese
Toppings of choice

And the mole ingredients you’ll need include:

Hot water—hot water is necessary for moistening the dried chiles, making it easier to blend into a creamy sauce
Ancho chiles—these dried poblano peppers are slightly fruity and smoky, with a mild to medium heat level
Sweet onion
Fire roasted tomatoes
Garlic
Honey
Kosher salt
Chocolate chipsI use semisweet but you can use bittersweet if you prefer (either way, don’t skip this crucial ingredient!)
Creamy peanut butter—this may seem like an unusual addition to mole sauce, but I promise you it’s an important one! The peanut butter lends a mellow sweetness that balances out the sauce.
Ground cinnamon

How to Make Chicken Mole Enchiladas

First, you’ll make the homemade mole sauce. Let the chiles soak in hot water for 10 minutes, then add the remaining ingredients to a blender and whiz until smooth.

Then, assemble and roll the chicken enchiladas. I add a little bit of onion as well as shredded cheese and a bit of sauce to the middle of each enchilada. So technically, yes, these are chicken and cheese enchiladas, and my family loves ’em that way!

Add a generous amount of sauce to the bottom of the dish and to the top and layer it up with cheese. Then, bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

I topped my chicken mole enchiladas with cotija cheese, sliced green onion, cilantro, and avocados. Because at our house, just like these mole enchiladas, avocados will pull any dish out of a rut.

Can I Use Corn Tortillas Instead of Flour?

For all the purist enchilada lovers out there, I do indeed realize that enchiladas use corn tortillas instead of flour. And that they usually dunk those tortillas in oil before rolling. But because my family prefers flour tortillas over corn, I made the executive decision to share our favorite version here.

If you prefer corn tortillas, both yellow and white corn work equally well, but you will want to give them a quick fry first. This makes the tortillas more pliable and less likely to tear. Prepare a skillet with about 1 cup of canola oil over medium high heat and quickly fry the tortillas one at a time for about 10 seconds, then drain on a paper towel. Don’t let them get too crisped or they’ll be too stiff to roll.

Can I Meal Prep Enchiladas?

You can totally make this Mexican chicken enchiladas recipe ahead, or at least meal prep the ingredients so you’re ready to go. The mole enchiladas can be prepped ahead and refrigerated for 3 days before baking.

Or wrap them tightly with plastic wrap then foil and freeze for up to 2 months. To cook from frozen, bake at 375°F for 45 minutes, tented with aluminum foil, then another 10 minutes uncovered.

Tips for Making Chicken Mole Enchiladas

I made my chicken in the Instant Pot multi-cooker, but rotisserie chicken , baked chicken breast, or meal prepped chicken is the way to go here.

To cook the chicken in the Instant Pot, add 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts to the insert of a 6 quart Instant Pot with 1 cup water, ½ onion cut into quarters, and 2 cloves garlic with a healthy dose of kosher salt. Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes, then natural release for 10 minutes, and Bob’s your uncle.

Note that the mole sauce freezes incredibly well, so you may want to make a double batch just to have it on hand whenever an enchilada craving strikes.

What to Serve With Enchiladas to Make a Meal

If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.

4.80 from 24 votes