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Animated Gina ladling glossy mole negro sauce over turkey on a rustic wooden kitchen counter, dried chiles and chocolate squares arranged nearby

Gina's Oaxacan Mole Negro (The Real Deal, Made at Home)

Gina brings the legendary dark sauce of Oaxaca home — toasted chiles, charred tomatoes, real chocolate, and enough patience to make something genuinely extraordinary.
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Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 4 mulato chiles, stemmed and seeded about 2 oz total
  • 4 chile negro (pasilla) chiles, stemmed and seeded
  • 3 chihuacle negro chiles, stemmed and seeded substitute ancho if unavailable
  • 2 cups hot water for soaking chiles, reserve the liquid
  • 4 Roma tomatoes
  • 1 medium white onion, halved
  • 6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
  • 2 tablespoons sesame seeds plus more for serving
  • 1 tablespoon pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
  • 1 corn tortilla, torn into pieces day-old preferred
  • 2 oz Mexican chocolate (such as Ibarra) or 70% dark chocolate
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano Mexican oregano preferred
  • 2 tablespoons lard or neutral oil for frying the paste
  • 3 cups chicken or turkey broth low-sodium
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
  • 2 lbs bone-in turkey or chicken thighs

Method
 

  1. Heat a dry cast-iron skillet or comal over medium-high heat. In batches, lay the dried chiles flat in the pan and press gently with a spatula for 10–15 seconds per side until they darken slightly and smell toasty — not burnt. Transfer to a bowl, cover with the 2 cups of hot water, and soak for 20 minutes. Reserve the soaking liquid.
  2. In the same dry skillet over high heat, char the tomatoes, onion halves, and unpeeled garlic cloves. Let them sit undisturbed until deeply blackened in spots on each side — roughly 5 minutes per side for tomatoes and onion, 3 minutes for garlic. Set aside. Peel the garlic once cool enough to handle.
  3. In the same skillet over medium heat, toast the sesame seeds and pepitas, stirring constantly, for 2–3 minutes until golden. Remove immediately. In the same dry pan, toast the torn tortilla pieces until crisp and dark brown, about 3–4 minutes. These add body and slight bitterness to the sauce.
  4. Drain the soaked chiles, reserving 1 cup of the soaking liquid. In a blender, combine the chiles, reserved soaking liquid, charred tomatoes, charred onion, peeled garlic, toasted sesame seeds, pepitas, toasted tortilla, chocolate, cumin, cloves, black pepper, and oregano. Blend on high until very smooth, 2–3 minutes. Work in batches if needed.
  5. Heat the lard or oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Pour in the blended chile paste all at once — stand back, it will splatter and sizzle dramatically. Fry the paste, stirring constantly, for 5–6 minutes until it darkens, thickens, and pulls away from the sides of the pot. This step is essential for developing deep flavor.
  6. Add the chicken or turkey broth one cup at a time, stirring to incorporate fully after each addition. Add salt. Reduce heat to low, add the turkey or chicken thighs, and partially cover the pot. Simmer gently for 60–70 minutes, turning the meat once halfway through, until the meat is fully cooked through and tender and the sauce has thickened to coat a spoon.
  7. Remove the meat and let it rest briefly. Taste the mole negro and adjust salt as needed. Serve the meat over rice or with warm tortillas, ladle the mole negro generously over the top, and finish with a scatter of sesame seeds.

Notes

The char on the tomatoes, onion, and garlic is not optional — it's where the signature darkness and depth of mole negro comes from. Let them get genuinely blackened in spots. If your blender isn't high-powered, strain the blended sauce through a fine mesh sieve before frying for a silkier result.