Recipes

Roasted Chicken with Medjool Date Mole Sauce

By
Anna Olson

Published: 

This flavourful chicken dish is easy enough to make for a weeknight family meal but refined enough for a dinner party or date night in. Ancho chili peppers offer flavour without much heat, and chipotle peppers add a smoky, spicy kick, moderated by the natural sweetness of Medjool dates. If you want to increase or decrease the chili heat, change the amount of chipotle peppers you add—the quantity in this recipe offers a medium heat level.

Roasted Chicken with Medjool Date Mole Sauce
PortionsPrep Time Cook Time
Serves 4 to 6Under 15 minutes1 hour

Ingredients

Medjool Date Mole Sauce:

  • 2 dried ancho chili peppers
  • 2 cups (500 mL) tinned diced tomatoes
  • 2 small fresh corn tortillas or 1 cup (34 g) corn tortilla chips
  • 1 large cooking onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • ¾ cup (110 g) chopped pitted Medjool dates
  • 3 Tbsp (45 mL) chipotle peppers (chopped peppers and sauce combined)
  • 2 Tbsp (30 g) natural peanut butter
  • 2 oz (60 g) bittersweet or unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
  • Fresh juice of 1 lime
  • 2½ tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
  • Salt and black pepper

Chicken & Serving:

  • 3 to 4 lb (1.4 to 1.8 kg) whole chicken, cut into pieces
  • Cooked basmati rice, sour cream, chopped fresh coriander, lime wedges and extra corn tortillas (or tortilla chips), for serving

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
  2. For the Medjool date mole sauce, place the ancho chilies in a heatproof bowl and pour boiling water on top. Let this sit until cooled to room temperature. Remove and discard the stems of the chilies. Drain the chilies and discard the water. Transfer the chilies to a blender or food processor, add the remaining ingredients (except the salt and pepper) and purée until well combined (but the sauce does not need to be smooth). Season lightly with salt and pepper.
  3. For the chicken, pour half of the mole sauce in the bottom of a large roasting pan. Arrange the chicken pieces over the sauce in a single layer, skin side up. Season lightly and pour the remaining sauce overtop. Bake the chicken, uncovered, until fully cooked, 45 to 60 minutes.
  4. Serve the chicken and sauce over rice with sour cream, coriander and lime wedges on the side, and use the corn tortillas (or chips) to dip into the sauce.

Note: Leftover chicken will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days or can be frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat with an added splash of water, covered, over medium heat for about 15 minutes, until the sauce begins to bubble.

Adapt this recipe easily to a slow cooker so you can come home to a hot meal. Assemble the dish in your slow cooker but reduce the tomatoes to 1½ cups (375 mL), then cover and cook for 6 hours on a medium-low setting, or according to your model’s instructions, and hold warm until you are ready to serve.

The chicken can be purchased already cut into pieces if you don’t have time or inclination to do this yourself. If you do want to tackle it, just break the chicken down into breast, leg and thigh portions, leaving the bones and skin on, and cut each of the breast portions in half.

LEFTOVERS can be transformed into a taco night, heating the shredded chicken in the mole sauce and serving it with all the accoutrements (tortillas, heated salsa, guacamole, cheese, shredded lettuce, sour cream). Or make enchiladas by filling large, soft tortillas with the shredded chicken, the mole sauce and some cheese, rolled and topped with more mole sauce (or green salsa) and cheese and bake for 40 minutes in a 350F oven.