How To Make Oaxacan Molé Estofado

this recipe!

We first encountered Molé Estofado on a recent trip to Oaxaca City. It was on a few restaurants’ lists of the 7 Molés Of Oaxaca. We could go into that designation but we won’t here. Suffice it to say that there are a lot more than 7 molés as we work on the Molé Estofado here. The name implies a sort of stew and you can cook the meat in the sauce if you want. We are going to make a batch of molé and then find uses for it such as Chicken Enchiladas With Oaxacan Molé Estofado. This molé has a sweet fruitiness due to the ripe plantain and raisins that is contrasted with the saltiness of capers, which are added at the end.

This recipe is naturally gluten free.

Watch A Video

Here is a video of 2 Cooks in the Kitchen making Oaxacan Molé Estofado and then making enchiladas with it as the sauce:

Ingredients For Oaxacan Molé Estofado

• 4 Tomatoes, chopped
• 6 Tomatillos, peeled and chopped
• 3 Guajillo Chiles, stems and seeds removed, torn into pieces
• 2 Pasilla Chiles, stems and seeds removed, torn into pieces
• 3 Chiles de Arbol, stems removed
• 6 Garlic Cloves, peeled
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 3 Cups Chicken Broth
• 1 Ripe Plantain, cut into rounds
• 1 Tortilla
• 1/3 Cup Sesame Seeds
• 1/3 Cup Almonds, blanched and peeled
• 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoon Cumin
• 1 Teaspoon Allspice
• 1/2 Teaspoon Cloves
• 1/4 Cup Mexican Oregano
• 1/3 Cup Raisins
• 1/2 Bunch Italian Parsley
• 2 Tablespoons Oil
• 1 3/4 Ounces Chocolate
• 2 Tablespoons Capers

Boil the Chiles and Tomatoes

We start this molé by putting the chiles, tomatoes, tomatillos, onions and garlic in a soup pot. We’ll add the chicken broth, bring it to a boil and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

Toast the Plantain and Tortilla

While the chile mixture is cooking we will put the plantain slices and tortilla in a frying pan with a little bit of oil and fry them until they get a little bit of color. You’ll want to turn them a few times while they are cooking.

Toast the Sesame Seeds and Almonds

After the plantain is browned we will put the sesame seeds and almonds in the same pan and toast them a bit. We just want a little color on all these ingredients.

Blend the Chile Mixture

Next we will put the chiles, tomatoes, tomatillos, garlic and onion in the blender with some of the chicken broth and blend until smooth. Depending on your blender, you may have to do this in 2 batches. We want to save some of the chicken broth for blending the other ingredients.

Reserve the chile sauce

When it’s blended, we’ll pour the chile sauce into a bowl and reserve. We’ll be using the blender again right away so you don’t need to clean it.

Blend the Other Plantain, Tortilla and Spices

Now we’ll put the plantain, tortilla, sesame seeds, almonds, cinnamon, cumin, allspice, cloves, mexican oregano, raisins and italian parsley into the blender with the chicken broth we saved earlier. We’ll blend this until it is fairly smooth. The house we stayed in in Mexico had slivered almonds so we used those. You can use whole almonds that have been blanched and peeled.

Cook the Molé

We’ll put a little oil in a stockpot, add the plantain mixture and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. We want all these ingredients to cook a little and get the flavors to marry. This mixture has a great flavor so be sure to get as much of it out of the blender as you can.

Add the Chile Tomato Mixture

Once the plantain mixture has cooked we will add the chile tomato mixture.

Add Chocolate

Next we will add our chocolate. You can use either unsweetened chocolate or semi sweet. We had a 50 gram semi sweet bar on hand in our Mexican house so we used that. This molé has plenty of sweetness from the plantain and raisins so unsweetened chocolate will work just fine. We don’t want to add too much as chocolate shouldn’t be the star of this molé. We just want it to add that underlying richness that augments all the other flavors.

Let the Flavors Marry

We’ll cook this for about 20 more minutes just to let everything come together. This is basically our Oaxacan Molé Estofado.

Capers

This molé is usually served with capers added. It’s up to you when you add them but they do enhance the flavor quite a bit. At this point you can add meat and capers to the pot and serve it as a stew or you can use it as a sauce in other dishes such as Chicken Enchiladas With Oaxacan Molé Estofado and add the capers to the new dish, which is what we are going to do.

This would be a great molé to use with any of our stuffed poblano recipes, enchiladas or any way you like to use molé.

• Chicken Enchiladas With Oaxacan Molé Estofado.
• Shrimp Stuffed Poblanos With Colorado Sauce
• Chorizo Stuffed Poblano Chiles
• Molé Enchiladas

Molé Recipes

We have done a deep dive into molé and have put together a lot of molé recipes.

• Molé Colorado
• Molé Verde
• Molé Almondrado
• Molé Amarillo
• Classic Molé Rojo
• Easy Molé Rojo
• Molé Coloradito
• Molé Chuchilo Negro
• Molé Manchamanteles
• Molé Poblano
• Oaxacan Molé Negro
• Oaxacan Molé Estofado
• Quick and Easy 30 Minute Molé

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Print Recipe

Oaxacan Molé Estofado

We first encountered Molé Estofado on a recent trip to Oaxaca City. It was on a few restaurants' lists of the 7 Molés Of Oaxaca. The name implies a sort of stew and you can cook the meat in the sauce if you want. We are going to make a batch of molé and then find uses for it such as Chicken Enchiladas With Oaxacan Molé Estofado. This molé has a sweet fruitiness due to the ripe plantain and raisins that is contrasted with the saltiness of capers, which are added at the end.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time2 hours hrs

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: Molé

Servings: 8 Cups

Calories: 280kcal

Author: 2 Cooks in the Kitchen

Ingredients

• 4 Tomatoes chopped
• 6 Tomatillos peeled and chopped
• 3 Guajillo Chiles stems and seeds removed, torn into pieces
• 2 Pasilla Chiles stems and seeds removed, torn into pieces
• 3 Chiles de Arbol stems removed
• 6 Garlic Cloves peeled
• 1 Onion chopped
• 3 Cups Chicken Broth
• 1 Ripe Plantain cut into rounds
• 1 Tortilla
• 1/3 Cup Sesame Seeds
• 1/3 Cup Almonds blanched and peeled
• 1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoon Cumin
• 1 Teaspoon Allspice
• 1/2 Teaspoon Cloves
• 1/4 Cup Mexican Oregano
• 1/3 Cup Raisins
• 1/2 Bunch Italian Parsley
• 2 Tablespoons Oil
• 1 3/4 Ounces Chocolate
• 2 Tablespoons Capers

Instructions

• Put the tomatoes, tomatillos, chiles, garlic, onion and chicken broth in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan. Add the plantain slices and tortilla and cook, turning frequently until they get some color. Remove from the pan and reserve.
• Put the sesame seeds in the same pan and cook, stirring frequently until they start to brown a little. remove from the pan.
• Put the almonds in the same pan and cook until they get some color.
• Put the cooked tomatoes, tomatillos, garlic and onion in a blender with about half the chicken broth. Blend until smooth. Pour into a bowl and reserve.
• Put the plantain, tortilla, sesame seeds, almonds, cinnamon, cumin, allspice, cloves, mexican oregano, raisins and italian parsley into the blender with the chicken broth we saved in step 5. Blend until fairly smooth.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a stockpot. Add the plantain mixture from the blender and cook for 20 minutes on medium low heat.
• Add the chile tomato puree to the pan and stir well.
• Add the chocolate to the pan, stir well and cook for another 20 minutes or so.
• Add the capers just before serving.

Video

https://youtu.be/-7K9bDjKPyk

Nutrition

Calories: 280kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 436mg | Potassium: 824mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 4652IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 100mg | Iron: 4mg