This citrusy mole recipe is a light, quick mole sauce that works well on fish, chicken or vegetables. You can make it in about an hour.
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This mole recipe is quick. It's a bit of a cheat. It's ready in about an hour, not the typical three-day process you would expect when you're making mole sauce. But it is packed with flavor!
We'll add all that flavor by blistering tomatoes, griling oranges, roasting garlic, and frying almonds. All of these layers will combine to make something that tastes like it took much more effort. There a lot of steps, but they are all easy little ones. Once you're done, you just zip it all in the blender and it's finished!
I learned to make this mole recipe at Rancho Pescadero in Baja California Sur, Mexico. It's near a beautiful town called Todos Santos. Make it during citrus season when you need something to remind you of the beach!
Ingredients
Traditional Mexican mole sauces can be made with a wide variety of ingredients. This one focuses on citrus flavors and earthy chilis with a bit of sweetness.
- Tomatoes: You'll need big round red ones, we'll blister them in a hot pan.
- Oranges: We'll zest them and then grill them and use the smoke-tinged juice. Don't forget that you can use citrus zest in savory recipes to balance flavors and add freshness and zing!
- Almonds: Moles use nuts and/or seeds as a creamy base. Almonds will do the trick here. After blanching, they'll be deep fried, making them extra creamy and rich.
- Dried guajillo peppers: Guajillo chili peppers have a medium spice, a bit of sweetness and a smoky, earthy flavor.
- Garlic: Roasting the garlic in their skins will give us a mild, sweet garlic flavor.
- Cinnamon and honey: The cinnamon will enhance the flavor of the peppers, and the honey will help smooth out the spice and complement the oranges and tomatoes.
- Olive oil, kosher salt, boiling water: The boiling water is used to rehydrate the chilis, but don't discard it. You may need it to thin out the mole if it is too thick.
Instructions
Roast tomatoes on a sheet pan in the oven at 450 degrees.
Place garlic cloves with the skin on in an aluminum foil pouch with a drizzle of olive oil and roast. Check them after about 15 minutes to see if they have softened. This is pretty high heat, so it won't take long. You want them soft, not blackened.
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Allow to cool and then squeeze the garlic out of the skins.
Remove seeds, stems and ribs from guajillo peppers. Heat a dry skillet on the stove top, place chiles in the pan to toast lightly – just until they become fragrant and pliable. Do not let them get brown/black. This will ruin the delicate flavor.
Remove chilis from skillet and place in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over the peppers until they are covered. Place a small plate over the peppers to ensure that they stay submerged. Let them soak for about 30 minutes. Do not discard soaking liquid.
Meanwhile, blanch almonds in boiling water, let soak for a bit. Once water has cooled, remove skins. You can just grip one end and they will shoot right out of the skins easily. Be careful you don’t shoot them all across the kitchen!
Heat some olive oil in large skillet and fry almonds until golden brown. You want enough oil in the pan so that they are swimming in there, and deep frying. Not just a sauté. Drain and cool.
Remove Peppers from soaking liquid, but do not discard liquid.
Zest oranges. Slice in half and grill. Once cool, juice the oranges.
Place almonds, peppers, tomatoes, orange juice, orange zest, roasted garlic, cinnamon, salt and honey in a blender and puree. Add the water from the peppers as needed to thin the sauce. Season again with salt to taste.
Place a dollop of the warm mole sauce onto a plate, top with the grilled fish, chicken or vegetables.
Related Recipes
- Inspired by the same trip to Mexico as this mole sauce, these Baked Eggs in Avocados with Chorizo and Queso Fresco were one of my favorite breakfast dishes at the resort.
- Mexican Black Beans are easier to make than you think. All you need is time.
Recipe
Quick Mole with Oranges and Almonds
Ingredients
Almond Orange Mole Recipe
- 3 dried guajillo peppers seeded and stemmed
- 3 cups boiling water
- 2 tomatoes, roasted
- 1 cup blanched almonds see instructions
- 2 teaspoon roasted garlic from about 5-6 roasted cloves
- 3 oranges zested, grilled and juiced
- ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon honey
- olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
Almond Orange Mole Recipe
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Roast tomatoes on a sheet pan until blistered.
- Place garlic cloves with the skin on in an aluminum foil pouch with a drizzle of olive oil and roast in the oven. Check them after about 15 minutes to see if they have softened. This is pretty high heat, so it won't take long. You want them soft, not blackened. Allow to cool and then squeeze the garlic out of the skins.
- Remove seeds, stems and ribs from guajillo peppers. Heat a dry skillet on the stove top, place chiles in the pan to toast lightly – just until they become fragrant and pliable. Do not let them get brown/black. This will ruin the delicate flavor. Remove from skillet and place in a large bowl. Pour the boiling water over the peppers until they are covered. Place a small plate over the pepers to ensure that they stay submerged. Let them soak for about 30 minutes. Do not discard soaking liquid.
- Meanwhile, blanch almonds in boiling water, let soak for a bit. Once water has cooled, remove skins. You can just grip one end and they will shoot right out of the skins easily. Be careful you don’t shoot them all across the kitchen! Heat some olive oil in large skillet and fry almonds until golden brown. You want enough oil in the pan so that they are swimming around in there, and deep frying. Not just a sauté. Drain and cool.
- Zest oranges, reserving zest. Slice in half and grill. Once cool, juice the oranges.
- Place almonds, peppers, tomatoes, orange juice, orange zest, roasted garlic, cinnamon, salt and honey in a blender and puree. Add the water from the peppers as needed to thin the sauce. Season again with salt to taste.
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Notes
- This recipe seems like a lot of steps, but they are all little things that are really easy. Once everything is prepped, you're just zipping it all in the blender and it's done!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated as an estimate. Calorie accuracy is not guaranteed.
Barbara Grundleger says
Question: I made this because I had it in Mexico City. The texture is not as smooth as other mole sauce. I believe it is due to the almonds. Anything I can do?
Debra says
Hi Barbara,
This is a "quick" mole and a bit of a cheat. When making a traditional mole like the kind you had in Mexico city, ingredients are ground using a stone molcajete (kind of like a mortar and pestle) to make them super smooth. If you have a mortar and pestle you can try that, or you can try putting it in the blender again, you may have to add more liquid to keep it from getting too pasty.
Hope this helps and I hope that you like the flavors of the recipe!
Thanks for reading,
Debra