Mole Chicken Stuffed Poblanos filled with mole simmered chicken using a healthy and easier version of mole negro made with heart healthy walnuts and topped with a walnut, avocado, and corn salad.
I received free samples of California walnuts mentioned in this post. By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by the California Walnut Commission and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.
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 and red (and I’m sure many other) versions. And what is even in mole?
After a quick search, the more appropriate question was, what is NOT in mole? It turns out many mole sauces have over 30 ingredients and take hours (even days) to simmer. I love cooking, but I was not about that for just a sauce. (Okay, not just a sauce, it tastes pretty amazing, but you know what I mean.) But quick versions seem to be made with canned tomato sauce, peanut butter and chile powder. Not about that either, so I decided to shoot for somewhere in between. Whole foods like real dried chiles, walnuts, seeds, and veggies, but not slaving for hours. It was a great compromise.
Oh yeah, and I used walnuts. Traditional mole uses almonds, but since this is a walnut competition, I obviously wanted to use walnuts. Plus, there are so many health benefits of eating walnuts! Just one ounce of these crunchy nutritional powerhouses provides 2.5 grams of alpha-linolenic acid, a plant-based omega-3, 4 grams of protein, and 2 grams of fiber. All of that nutrition adds up to a satisfying snack that’s heart healthy and keeps you full longer!
But walnuts aren’t just great for snacking! They can be used in a huge variety of dishes from breakfast all the way through to dessert. They add the perfect crunch and nutrition to dishes like these Walnut Mole Chicken Stuffed Poblanos!
Don’t be intimidated by the list of ingredients in my Walnut Mole Chicken Stuffed Poblanos. Everything really either gets toasted or roasted and then blended up together. And once the sauce is done simmering, the rest of the dish is really quite easy to put together. You just simmer your chicken in the sauce, stuff it into the peppers and bake.
While they bake, you can make the delicious walnut avocado corn salsa, which adds a really nice crunch to the velvety sauce and creamy avocado. Then just top the stuffed poblanos with more mole and the salad and serve!
I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I did! It’s the perfect festive dinner for weekends when you have some time to hang out in the kitchen. Plus it makes your house smell amazing!
Walnut Mole Chicken Stuffed Poblanos
Poblano peppers stuffed with mole simmered chicken using a healthy and easier version of mole negro made with heart healthy walnuts and topped with a walnut, avocado, and corn salad.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 4 stuffed poblanos 1x
- Category: Main dish
Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 4 poblano peppers, tops and seeds removed
- 1 1/2 cups mole sauce (recipe follows)
For Mole Sauce:
- 2 Pasillo Chiles
- 2 Ancho chiles
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 small onion, quartered
- 3/4 cup walnuts
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- 3 whole cloves
- 1 tbsp anise seeds
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 4 tbsp dark cocoa powder
- 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tbsp thyme
- 1/2 tbsp oregano
- 1/2 tbsp canela cinnamon
For Walnut Avocado Salad:
- 1 large corn cob, kernels cut off
- 1 avocado, diced
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
- 2 tbsp cotija cheese, crumbled
- Juice of 1 lime
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Lay chiles, garlic, tomatoes, and onion on sheet in a single layer. Roast for 15 minutes, flipping chiles half way through. Remove chiles to a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Let soak for 30 minutes. Continue roasting tomatoes, onion, and garlic for 10-15 more minutes, stirring once. Once roasted, gently peel off tomato skins.
- Meanwhile, in a large stockpot or dutch oven, add walnuts, cloves, cinnamon stick, coriander seeds, sesame seeds, anise seeds, black peppercorns, and bay leaves. Toast on medium heat until fragrant but not burned.
- Pour toasted seeds and walnuts into a blender or Vitamix and blend on high until finely ground. Add chiles and soaking liquid, tomatoes, garlic, and onion and blend until smooth. Add cocoa powder and remaining spices and blend.
- In the same large stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat. Sear chicken breast on both sides and set aside. Deglaze the pan with chicken broth. Pour mole mixture into the pan with the chicken broth and stir to combine. Add chicken breast and simmer, covered until chicken is cooked through ans shreds easily, about 30 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate and shred. Keep mole on low heat.
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Cut one vertical strip in each poblano and fill with chicken. Spoon 1/2 cup mole sauce into a baking dish. Place stuffed poblanos on sauce. Cover dish with foil and bake about 30 minutes, uncovering halfway through.
- Meanwhile make the topping: Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
- Once poblanos are done, spoon mole sauce over the top of each pepper. Top with corn topping and serve immediately.
I am attempting just the mole sauce portion of this and want to put it over baked chicken breasts.
A) is that okay?
B) for 8 servings can I just double the recipe?
Thank you!
Hi Carmen, thanks for stopping by! Yes, I think the sauce would be great over baked chicken. The recipe should be plenty for 8 servings as written. It makes quite a bit! Let me know how it goes!
You may need to add some chicken broth to make it the right consistency, which should add to the volume, too.
Thank you so much for responding so quickly Kaliegh! Im super excited to make this for my husbands birthday dinner tomorrow night! I could only find dried pasillo and ancho chiles at the supermarket today. Do you recommend baking these as your recipe calls for?
How fun! I used dried peppers in this recipe also, so you should be able to follow the recipe!
THIS summer I will make mole! i’ve always wanted to…now I know which recipe to make! Yours! And so true: Walnuts aren’t just for snacking!
I hope you love it, Serena! 🙂
I am obsessed with mole! I live in San Diego and, like Texas, there is no shortage of amazing Mexican food. My favorite mole shop is right dow the street – it’s danger! 🙂
I’m too scared to make my own at home, but I may just have to try this.
This recipe is pretty easy, and so worth it! You should definitely give it a try!
Wowza – what an amazing recipe! Can’t wait to try it (and I have the same Le Creuset pan in purple – love it!)
Great idea! The recipe looks delicious. Pretty sure we’d be good eating buddies, Kayleigh!
Thank you Judy! I’m sure we would! 🙂