Zacatecas-Style Green Mole Chicken (Pollo en Mole Verde)

This Zacatecas-style green mole chicken is intensely flavorful and wholesome! Tender, juicy chicken is smothered in a flavor-packed green sauce. Fresh tomatillos, cilantro, and jalapeños come together to make this irresistibly vibrant dish.

What Makes This Recipe So Good

• It’s jam-packed with delicious, fresh flavor! Plenty of fresh cilantro and whole tomatillos give this dish it’s incredible taste. Herbs and veggies are perfectly complimented with a curated blend of spices to make this a restaurant-quality meal.
• The chicken is cooked to tender perfection! We start by boiling the chicken in a variety of herbs and spices. Then, the chicken sits in a bath of delicious green mole sauce and soaks up all of its irresistible flavor.
• It’s a total crowd favorite! With just the right amount of spice, everyone will love this delicious chicken recipe. If you’d like, you can even adjust the amount of spice to better suit your friends and family’s preferences.

Key Ingredients

Cilantro – We incorporate fresh cilantro all throughout this Zacatecas-inspired dish. To prepare the cilantro for this recipe, start by washing it very well under cold water. This bright green herb has a tendency to be very sandy, and therefore needs a thorough rinse before eating. Once washed, cut off just the stems to use in the chicken portion of the recipe. Then, pluck off the leaves to use in the sauce as well as to garnish the finished dish with!

Whole Tomatillos – Whole tomatillos make up the base of the green mole sauce in this chicken recipe. Common in Mexican cooking, the country in which they originated, tomatillos are a bright green vegetable resembling a baby tomato. They’re enclosed in a husk that must be peeled off before cooking. To prepare tomatillos for this recipe, simply remove the husk and give them a good rinse. Once clean, chop each tomatillo into quarters and then cook them in a saucepan along with diced jalapeños to give them a pleasantly smoky flavor.

Flour Tortillas – Not only are flour tortillas used in serving this green mole chicken, they’re also blended into the sauce. For the sauce, start by toasted up two flour tortillas – I do this by sticking them under the broiler for 1-2 minutes until golden brown. Once toasted, add them straight into the blender with the other mole sauce ingredients. While optional, toasted flour tortillas make the sauce more rich, thick, and creamy.

Chef’s Tips

• Don’t forget to reserve four cups of the chicken cooking liquid! This liquid will become a very important ingredient in the sauce, later on in the recipe. It’s packed with tons of flavor and takes the overall meal to the next level.
• Store leftover green mole chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. To reheat, simply transfer to an oven-safe dish and bake at 350° Fahrenheit for 20-30 minutes or until warm throughout.
• Serve this Zacatecas-style meal however you’d like! I prefer enjoying mine with a side of rice and warm flour tortillas. The rice and tortillas are perfect for soaking up any extra sauce – yum!

Other Flavorful Chicken Recipes You’ll Love

• Chicken Fricassee
• Instant Pot Butter Chicken
• Chicken Saag
• Lemony Chicken Vegetable Soup
• Chicken Jalfrezi
• Marry Me Chicken
• Chicken Vesuvio
• Incredible Chicken Stroganoff with Mushrooms
• Chicken Florentine Soup