Black mole (Mole negro) from Oaxaca: Home Cooking from the Heart of Mexico (page 170) by Bricia Lopez and Javier Cabral

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • Eat Your Books

    Can substitute animal crackers for Maria cookies, and cascabel chiles for chilhuacle negro chiles.

  • laura_qs4g4l on March 30, 2026

    I looooove mole negro. The result from this recipe was very delicious and a good consistency. A few notes from my cook: 1 - I had to sub a lot of chiles and that is likely part of why it isn't dark enough. I used cascabel, pasilla, and mulato negro 2 - I found it difficult to know how toasted was toasted enough. Last time I made mole negro (different recipe) I burned things too much and it was very bitter. This time I erred on the side of caution and ended up with more of a coloradito--i should have gone further. Photo for reference of my maria biscuits, almonds, and pineapple 3 - this took me literally 6 straight hours of cooking. Waaaaay longer than I expected to get everything toasted and strained through a double fine mesh sieve 4 - as with many recipes in the book, there are some editing issues. It's not clear if you should be using the reserved oil from the chile toasting in the seed mix toasting and the final paste cooking. They say to reserve the oil twice so I can't imagine you just reserve it and don't use it? But the recipe calls for separate oil in the ingredients so it's not super clear.

  • lucian_f0fcre on January 29, 2026

    Looks intimidating but I promise you this will be the best thing you’ve tasted in a while.

  • jenburkholder on January 04, 2022

    Really good. We used a corn tortilla instead of cookies to keep it gluten-free, subbed cascabels for chilhuacle negros, and used veggie stock. Such a fascinating flavor, and the process, while labor-intensive, wasn’t hard. Ate it with soy curls / chicken (depending on family member) and warm tortillas, froze the rest for future deliciousness. Will be trying more moles from this book.

  • tges on April 08, 2021

    Sensational. Fun to make also. Really results in a silky, complex and gorgeous looking mole. I ended up getting cravings for it many times a day - over the next few days. A flavour which will just bewitch you. Beautiful had with just a tortilla but I do think I like it with pulled chicken in enmoladas. I am happy to keep this as my go-to mole negro recipe but I do plan on cooking Enrique Olvera's mole madre too so we'll see which one is the keeper.

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