Homemade Walnut Mole Sauce (Easier Mole Negro)

Want homemade an authentic, homemade mole sauce recipe without 30 ingredients or days of simmering? Try this Walnut Mole Sauce! It's an easier mole negro that still uses whole ingredients and has an authentic taste without hours of work! (gluten-free, dairy-free)

Mole sauce has always been fascinating to me. First of all, chocolate in a Mexican food sauce? Sign me up! But then there are so many different kinds of mole. Mole negro, which most of us are familiar with (the dark brown one with the chocolate), but there are also yellow, red, green, and many other versions. And what is even in mole?

The more appropriate question is, what is NOT in mole? It turns out many authentic mole sauces have over 30 ingredients and take hours (even days) to simmer. I love cooking, but these days, I'm not about that for just a sauce. (Okay, not just a sauce, it tastes pretty amazing, but you know what I mean.) Unfortunately, many quick versions of mole sauce seem to be made with canned tomato sauce, peanut butter, and chile powder. I'm not about that either.

This is my version of mole sauce that lies somewhere in between. It's made with whole foods and spices like real dried chiles, walnuts, seeds, and veggies, but not slaving for hours. It's a great compromise that pays off big time when it comes to a rich, flavorful, (somewhat) authentic mole negro sauce.

What is Mole Sauce?

Mole (pronounced MOH-lay) is a traditional Mexican sauce (derived from the Aztec word molli, which means 'sauce') that is thick, dense, and filled with spicy, earthy, and slightly sweet flavors thanks to a base of chile peppers and tons of spices. There are over 40 different types of mole, but most people are familiar with mole negro or mole poblano, which is the brown sauce that contains chocolate.

As mentioned above, true mole can take hours or even days to simmer, and uses as many as 30 ingredients to get the rich, complex layers of flavor in a good sauce. There are 5 key components to mole: chile peppers, tomatoes (or tomatillos), sweetness (from dried fruit or sugar), spices, and a thickener (usually nuts or some kind of bread). Traditional mole is usually made with almonds, but here I use walnuts instead.

Why You'll Love This Walnut Mole Sauce

This walnut mole is the best of both worlds! It's got a rich, deep flavor from lots of spice and dried chiles, but without a laundry list of hard to find ingredients and hours of simmering. The steps are a little more streamlined - you don't need a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, and you don't have to cook the chiles in a skillet separately. It's healthier than store-bought sauces with no added sugar or preservatives, tastes delicious, and elevates any of your Mexican inspired dishes. It's a great Sunday project if you find cooking relaxing like I do.

How To Make (Sort Of) Authentic Mole Sauce

This mole has a few steps, but they're pretty easy, and SO worth it!

Roast The Veggies

1. Roast the tomato, onion, garlic and dried chiles. This brings out their flavor and gives them the right texture for blending. The chiles and garlic won't take as long as the onion and tomato.
2. Once the chiles are nice and toasty, remove them and the garlic from the oven and keep roasting the tomato and onion.
3. Place the chiles in a bowl and cover them with boiling water so they soften up. You can place a plate on them to weigh them down, or cover the entire bowl tightly with plastic wrap or foil. Let the chiles soak while the onion and tomato continue roasting.

Toast and Grind The Nuts & Seeds

1. Using the dutch oven you'll use to simmer the sauce later (fewer dishes!), toast the nuts, seeds, and whole spices. Toasted spices/seeds = more flavor. Don't skip it.
2. Heat the dutch oven over medium heat, then add the walnuts, seeds, and spices, and toast until golden and fragrant, stirring, about 5-10 minutes.
3. Pour the mixture into a high powered blender and blend until they are a powder texture.

Blend The Rest of the Sauce

1. Peel the skin from the roasted tomato and squeeze the garlic from the peel. Add them to the blender with the spices, along with the onion and chiles with the soaking liquid. Blend it all until smooth.
2. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the oil, to the blender (raisins, cocoa, sugar, salt, cumin cinnamon, thyme, oregano and broth). Blend again until smooth. The mixture should be thick, but not as thick as the final sauce will be.

Sear and Simmer The Sauce

1. Finally, heat the oil in the dutch oven over medium heat. Once it's hot, carefully add the sauce and stir. Turn the heat down to low and simmer the sauce, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes or until it's nice and thick.
2. Use it however you'd like!

Tips For Making The Most Delicious Mole Negro

• You'll need a few key tools here. A high powered blender is one of them, along with a heavy bottomed pot, like a dutch oven, for toasting and simmering. I recommend a Vitamix blender (you'll have it forever) and Staub dutch ovens.
• If you like a spicier sauce, double up on the chile peppers.
• I pared down the steps for this sauce as much as I could, but the roasting, toasting and cooking the sauce are all important for the best flavor and texture, so don't skip them.
• This sauce is messy to make. Embrace it.
• You can store this sauce in the refrigerator up to a week, or you can freeze it up to 3 months.
• Double the recipe if you'd like to make a bigger batch to save for later!
• Dried chiles and the whole spices used in this sauce can usually be found in the Mexican section of your grocery store, or on Amazon.

Ingredient Substitutions

• For the best flavor, it's important to use whole dried chiles and at least some whole spices for toasting, but I realize that you may not be able to find everything listed, so here are some substitutions:
• If you can't find ancho chiles, use pasilla chiles. If you can't find either, use the dried chiles you can find, such as guajillo, mulato, or New Mexico chiles. I like a combination of chiles for more depth of flavor, but use what you can find!
• If you can't find whole anise, coriander, or cloves, you can use ground, but still toast them with the walnuts. Use 1 teaspoon ground anise, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves.
• You can also use whole cinnamon if you'd rather. Use ½ stick and toast it with the walnuts.
• If you don't have walnuts, you can use almonds or pecans.
• Prunes or dates can be used in place of raisins.

How To Use Mole

• Now that you have homemade mole (I hope you made extra!) use it on anything and everything to give it a delicious Mexican spin.
• Pour over your favorite meat or fish, like chicken breast, skirt steak or salmon.
• Serve with grilled vegetables.
• Use as enchilada sauce for your favorite kind of enchiladas.
• Combine with shredded pork, beef or chicken to make stuffed peppers (like in these Mole Chicken Poblano Peppers) or tacos.

Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating in the comments!

Homemade Walnut Mole Sauce (Easier Mole Negro)

Print Recipe

Want homemade an authentic, homemade mole sauce recipe without 30 ingredients or days of simmering? Try this Walnut Mole Sauce! It's an easier mole negro that still uses whole ingredients and has an authentic taste without hours of work! (gluten-free, dairy-free)

• Author: Kaleigh
• Prep Time: 20 min
• Cook Time: 60 min
• Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
• Yield: about 4 cups 1x
• Category: sauce
• Method: stovetop
• Cuisine: Mexican

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 dried ancho chiles, stems and seeds removed (can also use pasilla, or a combination)
• 2 cloves garlic, skin on
• 1 medium tomato
• ½ small onion
• 1 cup boiling water
• ⅓ cup walnuts
• 1 ½ tsp anise seeds
• 1 ½ tsp coriander seeds
• 1 ½ tsp sesame seeds
• 1 ½ tsp peppercorns
• 3 whole cloves
• 1 dried bay leaf
• ¼ cup raisins
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp Mexican oregano
• ½ cup vegetable, chicken or beef broth
• 1 tbsp neutral flavored oil, such as canola or avocado

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking sheet. Place tomato, onion, garlic and chiles on the baking sheet and roast until chiles are toasted, turning them once halfway through, 10-15 minutes.
2. Remove chiles and garlic from the baking sheet. Set garlic aside, rotate onion and tomato, and place the baking sheet back in the oven. Continue roasting until onion and tomato are blistered, about 20 more minutes. When the tomato is done, the skin should slide right off with your hands. Discard the peel.
3. Place the chiles in a large bowl and cover with 1 cup boiling water. Place a heavy plate over the chiles to keep them submerged, or just cover the entire bowl tightly with plastic wrap or foil. Let the chiles soak while the tomato and onion keep roasting.
4. Meanwhile, toast the walnuts, anise seeds, coriander seeds, sesame seeds, peppercorns, cloves and bay leaf. I use the dutch oven that I will use to simmer the sauce later. Heat the dutch oven on medium heat, add the walnuts, seeds, and spices, and toast until golden and fragrant, stirring, about 5-10 minutes.
5. Add toasted nuts and spices to a high powered blender (I love my Vitamix), and blend until finely ground.
6. Add roasted tomato and onion, squeeze garlic from the skin into the blender, and add the chiles with the soaking liquid. Blend until smooth.
7. Add the remaining ingredients (raisins, cocoa, sugar, salt, cumin cinnamon, thyme, oregano and broth). Blend until smooth.
8. Heat oil in the dutch oven over medium heat Once hot, add the sauce and stir. Lower the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. The sauce should be thick.
9. Remove from heat and serve as desired.

Notes

• Dried chiles and the whole spices used in this sauce can usually be found in the Mexican section of your grocery store, or on Amazon.
• You'll need a few key tools here. A high powered blender is one of them, along with a heavy bottomed pot, like a dutch oven, for toasting and simmering. I recommend a Vitamix blender (you'll have it forever) and Staub dutch ovens (get $20 off one from Food52 using this link!).
• If you like a spicier sauce, double up on the chile peppers.
• I pared down the steps for this sauce as much as I could, but the roasting, toasting and cooking the sauce are all important for the best flavor and texture, so don't skip them.
• This sauce is messy to make. Embrace it.
• You can store this sauce in the refrigerator up to a week, or you can freeze it up to 3 months.
• Double the recipe if you'd like to make a bigger batch to save for later!

Ingredient Substitutions

• If you can't find ancho chiles, use pasilla chiles. If you can't find either, use the dried chiles you can find, such as guajillo, mulato, or New Mexico chiles. I like a combination of chiles for more depth of flavor, but use what you can find!
• If you can't find whole anise, coriander, or cloves, you can use ground, but still toast them with the walnuts. Use 1 teaspoon ground anise, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves.
• You can also use whole cinnamon if you'd rather. Use ½ stick and toast it with the walnuts.
• If you don't have walnuts, you can use almonds or pecans.
• Prunes or dates can be used in place of raisins.

Keywords: mole negro, homemade mole sauce, authentic mole sauce, easy mole negro, Mexican mole sauce