Chicken Mole Fries

In the spring Sue and I were running a Chopped-style food competition on Facebook for our friends and family as something to do while self isolating. One week we had chocolate and peanut butter as our mystery ingredients. I knew a lot of entries would be sweet ones so I decided to go savory! 

There are not too many chocolate and peanut butter recipes that are savory. It took me a long time to come up with this recipe. I spent many hours scouring Pinterest and Instagram looking for inspiration. 

I think this has the right amount of spice with definite hints of both the peanut butter and chocolate. 

No... I didn't win the challenge that week. But I did get a delicious new recipe to make and that's never a loss. 

Chicken Mole Fries

Ingredients

Mole Sauce

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 chipotle pepper

2 tsp adobo sauce

398 ml (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies

4 Tbsp peanut butter

2 cups chicken broth

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tsp chili powder

pinch cinnamon

2 oz (~scant 1/3 cup)  sugar free dark chocolate

chicken thighs, cubed

salt & pepper

Frozen fries

Optional

Chives

lime wedges

Directions

Prepare mole sauce - In a large frying pan over medium heat, cook olive oil, onion, and garlic for about 5 minutes, stirring often. 

Add in chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, and tomatoes. Cook an additional 15 minutes.

Carefully transfer to a blender. Add in the peanut butter, chicken broth, salt & pepper, chili powder, and cinnamon. Blend until smooth. 

Pour back into the frying pan, place back over medium/low heat and simmer to reduce for about 15 minutes. Shut off heat and add in chocolate. Stir to melt. 

Mole sauce can be made up to a week ahead of time and kept, covered in fridge. 

Reheat when ready to use. If you are using it right away, simply keep warm while chicken and fries cook. 

Prepare chicken and fries - There are several ways to prepare the chicken thighs. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper first. Then you can BBQ it on the grill, you can fry it in a pan, or you can place it under the broiler. I skewered mine on skewers but you don't have to do this. (Be sure to soak the skewers if you use wooden ones). 

Cook the frozen fries as per package directions. (Of course you can always make your own if you prefer!) Make sure they get nice and crispy! 

Plate em up!

Place fries on a serving platter. Top with the cooked chicken. 

Top with a generous amount of hot mole sauce. 

Sprinkle on some chives to fancy it up and add a slice of lime on the side. 

Feel free to use lots of mole sauce. It's delicious. 

This recipe has just the right amount of spice. If you like things really spicy, add another chipotle pepper. I've never tried this so it might take away from the subtle hints of chocolate and peanut butter. Let me know if you try it! 

Looking for another way to jazz up your fries that isn't poutine? Give chicken mole fries a chance. Make up the sauce ahead of time and it's literally about 5 minutes worth of work when you are ready to eat. Impress your guests at your next BBQ with this spicy recipe. 

Note - I didn't put quantities for the chicken or fries because you can make as much or as little as you like. You get a lot of sauce, about 2 cups or so depending on how much you reduce it. 

You can also use chicken breast or shredded rotisserie chicken from the store.