Just in time for Cinco de Mayo, these Slow Cooker Mole Chicken Tacos cook all day so you can enjoy a delish Mexican meal while kicking back with a margarita.
With these Slow Cooker Mole Chicken Tacos, I’ve simplified the traditional, mole-making process while preserving all the mole flavor. These tacos also come together quickly in the morning then cook all day long in your slow-cooker so when dinner time rolls around, all you have to do is shred the chicken and add your favorite toppings.
This Slow Cooker Mole Chicken Taco recipe is definitely a go-to when I want an easy, flavorful yet healthy meal on a busy weekday. This recipe also results in a large portion and the leftovers freeze well. I often plan to make the chicken for dinner then freeze any extras in smaller portions, so I can enjoy a delicious, home-cooked meal when life becomes a little too busy.
I especially love the Mole Chicken because the chicken itself is so versatile — <3M and I not only enjoy the chicken as a taco but also in quesadillas, added into Mexican-inspired quinoa or rice bowls, and atop salads a la Chipotle Salad-style. Any way you serve it, this Mole Chicken is spectacularly delicious.
If you aren’t familiar with mole sauce, it’s often referred to when speaking of a dark red or brown sauce typically served over meat. In the rest of the world, the word mole can simply be translated to mean sauce and can come in any color – brown, green, red, or even yellow.
The mole I know and love is the dark red sauce and is traditionally tomato-based with chili peppers and cocoa. I find mole sauce to be warming with a slight undertone of spice from the peppers. It has a great depth of flavor in part due to the cocoa and the heat of charred the peppers.
Traditionally, mole sauce takes time to make which allows flavor to develop. In most recipes, it begins by first roasting and grinding the peppers into a fine paste then simmering this paste with water or broth for hours which requires constant oversight and stirring to ensure it doesn’t brown. Although my Slow Cooker Mole Chicken Taco recipe does take time, it does not require constant attention as the flavor develops during the cooking process within your crockpot — it’s definitely a recipe made for those who would rather eat great food without slaving over the stove for hours on end.
To bring out the depth of flavor similar to a mole sauce that was stirred and cooked on the stovetop all day, I start with a few base Mexican ingredients and spices — tomatoes, onion, garlic, peppers, cumin, chili powder and coriander. To help add a bit of warmth there’s cocoa powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and peanut butter. (Now, I’m not sure if the traditional mole recipe has peanut butter but I wouldn’t make mine without it! I truly think peanut butter adds this roasted nutty flavor to the sauce that brings it to the next level!) To help balance some of the spice from the adobo sauce and chipotle peppers, there’s a handful of raisins and a bit of sugar added, which also helps balance the acidity from the tomatoes.
Although it might be a lengthy ingredient list, my recipe begins simply enough, with a food processor and pureeing all the ingredients. Once everything is combined, I place the chicken breasts in the crockpot, cover them with the mole sauce and let it all cook on low for 6-8 hours. After cooking for so long on low heat, the chicken will be ready to simply fall apart when it comes time to eat. Just before serving, I shred the chicken with a pair of metal tongs or two forks, add the meat and a bit of sauce to a toasted taco shell and top them off!
My favorite way to enjoy Slow Cooker Mole Chicken Tacos is very simply. I serve mine on a toasted corn taco shell topped with a few slices of ripe avocado, a sprinkle of cotija cheese, and a couple thin slices of red onion. Since the mole sauce itself has so much flavor, these tacos don’t need much more. They themselves are the star of the show and the perfect accompaniment to a Cinco de Mayo margarita, a side of roasted corn, refried black beans or my Honey Chipotle Glazed Sweet Potatoes.
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped
- ½ cup golden raisins
- 3 cloves garlic, peels removed & roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce
- 1 tablespoon adobo sauce (from the chipotle chile)
- 3 heaping tablespoons of creamy peanut butter
- 1 15-ounce can no-salt-added tomato puree
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1½ - 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast
- For serving: corn tortillas, cotija cheese,
avocaod , and red onions
- Place all the ingredients with the exception of the chicken breasts in a food processor.
Pureer the ingredients until a thick, rich sauce is formed.- Place the whole chicken breasts in the bottom of your slow cooker and pour the sauce from the food processor on top, covering the chicken completely.
- Cover your slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours.
- Once cooked, turn off the crockpot and with the chicken still in your slow cooker, use a pair of metal tongs or two forks to shred the chicken, stirring it into the extra sauce.
- As you shred and combine the chicken and sauce, you'll notice the chicken begins to soak up any additional sauce in the crockpot.
- To serve, place shredded chicken and sauce on top of a tortilla and top with avocado, cheese, and a bit of onion.
