October 16, 2018

Instant Pot Chicken Mole

Instant Pot Chicken Mole. Tender chicken in a rich, flavorful mole sauce. Cooked in an Instant Pot, it’s easy and fast to make!

There were five of us in my optometry residency class. Being a small group, we became pretty close. After residency, but before marriage and kids and moves and everything else that happens in life, my class tried to meet up for hang outs fairly regularly. During that period, two of the girls from my class lived near D.C., so we would sometimes meet there for dinner. One night we met up at a restaurant in the D.C. area that served chocolate in every dish. I remember thinking that there was no chance it was going to be good, but I was so wrong.

Dishes of Chocolate

I don’t remember exactly what I ate for dinner that night, except for a salad that had a white chocolate dressing, and some chicken that had a chocolate sauce. But, I remember that I loved everything I ate. If I had not eaten that dinner, I’m pretty sure I would have never consider eating chocolate in a form outside of dessert. That night opened my eyes to a whole new chocolate world!

Food Network

My husband and I watch a lot of Food Network. Our go to move is put the kids to bed, pour a drink, and watch some Beat Bobby Flay or Dinners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Multiple times I have seen someone on one of these shows serve chicken mole. I have never eaten authentic chicken mole, but since my chocolate dinner experience in D.C., I have been intrigued.

Instant Pot Chicken Mole

I recently began to do some chicken mole research. It appears that chicken mole takes about 382 days to make, with 7,214 ingredients. No, not really, but it does look difficult and time consuming. So, with difficult, time consuming dishes, the move is to make then in an Instant Pot. I took lists of authentic chicken mole ingredients and combined things here and there until I created something that I thought was tasty.

A little disclaimer … given that I have never eaten authentic chicken mole, I have no idea how this Instant Pot Chicken Mole compares to the authentic version. However, I can tell you that this dish is delicious. It’s quick and easy to make, and has a fabulous depth of flavor. So, maybe it doesn’t contain raisins or pepitas, and maybe it should actually be called ‘Delicious Chicken with a Mole-Like Sauce”, but regardless, you should give this Instant Pot Chicken Mole a try, because it is real good.

This chicken goes well with tacos, on it’s own, or over Cilantro Lime Rice. The later is how we eat it in my house!

Instant Pot Chicken Mole

Instant Pot Chicken Mole. Tender chicken in a rich, flavorful mole sauce. Cooked in an Instant Pot, it's easy and fast to make!

5 from 4 votes

Course: Dinner

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 10

Servings: servings

Calories: 222

Ingredients

1.5 pounds chicken breast
1 green pepper diced
1 onion chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
14.5 ounce can fire roasted tomatoes drained
4.5 ounce can green chiles
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 tbsp canned chipotle salsa
2 tbsp light brown sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon coriander
2 tbsp corn starch

Instructions

Turn Instant Pot on saute mode. Heat 1 tbsp olive, then add green pepper and onion. Saute until softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and saute for about 30 seconds. Turn off Instant Pot.
Remove mixture from Instant Pot and set aside. Clean bottom of pot and then spray clean pot with cooking spray.
Add fire roasted tomatoes, chiles, chicken broth, chipotle salsa, brown sugar, cocoa powder, chili powder, cumin, salt, cloves, cinnamon and coriander to pot. Stir until well combined. Stir in sauteed vegetables. Place chicken in mixture.
Cook on high pressure for 10 minutes and let natural release for 10 minutes.
Remove chicken from mixture and shred with two forks. Use immersion blender to carefully blend sauce (if you do this, let it cool for 5-10 minutes first), or transfer to blender. After sauce is blended, while continuously stirring, gradually sprinkle in corn starch. Let sauce simmer for 5 minutes.
Stir chicken in sauce. Serve over rice or in tacos.