3 Authentic Mexican Chicken Recipes to Master at Home
When you’re ready to move beyond the Tex-Mex routine and explore the deep, complex, and truly amazing flavors of authentic Mexican cooking, chicken is a fantastic place to start.
Here, we’re diving into three classic and genuinely authentic Mexican chicken recipes that are cornerstones of the cuisine.
This is a journey through the heart of Mexico’s culinary traditions. We’ll start in Puebla with a rich and complex Chicken in Mole Poblano, a celebrated dish for special occasions.
Then, we’ll create a vibrant and tangy Chicken Tinga, a smoky shredded chicken perfect for tostadas.
Finally, we’ll explore a comforting and soulful Chicken Pozole Verde, a hearty hominy stew that is pure comfort in a bowl.
These recipes are a labor of love that will reward you with an incredible depth of flavor you won’t find anywhere else. Let’s get cooking.
Essential Tools
- Large Dutch Oven or Heavy-Bottomed Pot
- Blender (a high-speed blender is best for mole)
- Comal or Cast-Iron Skillet
- Fine-Mesh Strainer
- Tongs and Spatulas
- Sharp Knife and Cutting Board
Recipe 1: Chicken in Mole Poblano (The National Dish)
Mole Poblano is one of the jewels of Mexican cuisine. This version is simplified for the home cook but still delivers the signature deep, rich, and complex sauce with layers of chili, nut, fruit, and spice flavor.
Quick Recipe Snapshot
| Prep time | Cook time | Total time | Yield | Skill level | Spice level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 minutes | 1.5 – 2 hours | ~2.5 hours | 6-8 servings | Advanced | Mild-Medium |
Ingredients
- Bone-in, Skin-on Chicken Pieces: 1 whole chicken (about 3-4 lbs), cut into serving pieces.
- For the Mole Sauce:
- Dried Chiles: 4 ancho, 4 pasilla, 2 mulato (all stemmed and seeded).
- Roma Tomatoes: 3, roasted.
- Onion & Garlic: ½ onion and 4 garlic cloves, roasted.
- Nuts & Seeds: ¼ cup each of almonds and peanuts, 2 tbsp sesame seeds.
- Fruit: ¼ cup raisins.
- Spices: ½ cinnamon stick, 3 whole cloves, ¼ tsp anise seed.
- Mexican Chocolate: 1 oz, chopped.
- Chicken Broth: 4-5 cups.
Cooking Instructions
Step 1: Cook the Chicken and Prepare the Mole Base
First, place the chicken pieces in a large pot, cover with water, add a chunk of onion and a couple of garlic cloves, and simmer for 30-40 minutes until cooked through.
Reserve the cooking liquid as your chicken broth. While the chicken cooks, prepare the sauce. Toast the dried chiles in a dry skillet for 30 seconds per side until fragrant, then rehydrate them in hot water.
In the same skillet, roast the tomatoes, onion, and garlic until lightly charred. Toast the nuts, seeds, and spices until fragrant.
Step 2: Blend, Strain, and Simmer the Mole
In a blender, combine the softened chiles, the roasted vegetables, the toasted nuts, seeds, and spices, the raisins, and the Mexican chocolate. Add about 2 cups of your homemade chicken broth.
Blend on high for several minutes until the sauce is completely and utterly smooth. For a truly authentic, velvety texture, you must strain this sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean Dutch oven, pressing on the solids. Let the strained sauce simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, for at least 45 minutes to an hour.
This long simmer is essential for the flavors to deepen and meld. Season with salt and a little sugar to taste. Serve the sauce generously over the cooked chicken pieces.
Recipe 2: Smoky Chicken Tinga (Tinga de Pollo)
From the state of Puebla, this is a wonderfully smoky, savory, and saucy shredded chicken dish that is perfect for piling onto crispy tostadas.
Quick Recipe Snapshot
| Prep time | Cook time | Total time | Yield | Skill level | Spice level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 minutes | 35-40 minutes | 55 minutes | 6 servings | Easy | Medium |
Ingredients
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts or Thighs: 2 lbs.
- Roma Tomatoes: 1 lb (about 4-5).
- White Onion: 1, half chopped and half thinly sliced.
- Garlic: 3 cloves.
- Chipotle Peppers in Adobo: 2-4 peppers, plus 1 tbsp of the adobo sauce.
- Dried Oregano: 1 tsp (preferably Mexican oregano).
- For Serving: Crispy tostada shells, refried beans, crumbled cotija cheese, sliced avocado, Mexican crema.
Cooking Instructions
Step 1: Cook the Chicken and Make the Sauce
First, poach the chicken. Place the chicken in a pot, cover with salted water, and simmer for 15-20 minutes until cooked through.
Let it cool and then shred the meat. While the chicken cooks, make the sauce.
In a blender, combine the Roma tomatoes, the chopped half of the onion, the garlic cloves, and the chipotle peppers with their adobo sauce. Blend until smooth.
Step 2: Sauté and Simmer
In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté the thinly sliced half of the onion in a little oil for 5-7 minutes until soft and translucent.
Pour the blended chipotle-tomato sauce into the skillet and let it simmer for about 5 minutes to cook down slightly. Add the shredded chicken to the skillet along with the dried oregano. Stir everything together and let it continue to simmer for another 10-15 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and is clinging to the chicken.
Season with salt to taste. To serve, spread a layer of refried beans on a tostada shell and top with a generous amount of the hot chicken tinga, cotija cheese, and avocado.
Recipe 3: Chicken Pozole Verde
Pozole is a traditional, hearty hominy stew. This “green” version gets its vibrant color and flavor from tomatillos, cilantro, and green chiles.
Quick Recipe Snapshot
| Prep time | Cook time | Total time | Yield | Skill level | Spice level |
|---|
Ingredients
- Bone-in Chicken: 3 lbs (a mix of thighs and breasts).
- Hominy: 2 (25 oz) cans, drained and rinsed.
- For the Green Sauce:
- Tomatillos: 1 lb, husks removed and rinsed.
- Poblano Peppers: 2, roasted and peeled.
- Jalapeños or Serranos: 2-3, stemmed.
- Onion & Garlic: ½ onion and 4 garlic cloves.
- Cilantro: 1 large bunch.
- For Topping: Shredded cabbage, sliced radishes, diced onion, dried oregano, lime wedges.
Cooking Instructions
Step 1: Cook the Chicken and Make the Sauce
In a large Dutch oven, cover the chicken with water, add a chunk of onion and a couple of garlic cloves, and simmer for 30-40 minutes until cooked.
Shred the chicken, discarding the bones and skin, and reserve the broth. While the chicken cooks, make the green sauce. In a saucepan, boil the tomatillos and jalapeños until they are soft and have changed color, about 10 minutes.
In a blender, combine the boiled tomatillos and chiles, the roasted poblano peppers, the ½ onion, garlic cloves, and the large bunch of cilantro. Blend until very smooth.
Step 2: Simmer the Pozole and Serve
In your Dutch oven, heat a little oil and “fry” the green sauce for about 5 minutes, stirring, until it darkens in color.
This step is important for developing the flavor. Pour in about 8 cups of your reserved chicken broth and bring it to a simmer. Add the rinsed hominy and the shredded chicken to the pot.
Let the pozole simmer for at least 30 minutes for all the flavors to meld together. Season with salt. Serve the pozole hot in large bowls, and let everyone add their own fresh toppings.
The Flavor Architects A Look at the Ingredients
- The Holy Trinity of Chiles (Mole): The combination of ancho, pasilla, and mulato chiles is the classic base for Mole Poblano. Anchos are fruity, pasillas are sharp, and mulatos are slightly sweet and chocolatey, creating an incredible complexity.
- Chipotle in Adobo (Tinga): The key to tinga. These are smoked and dried jalapeños packed in a tangy adobo sauce, providing an essential deep, smoky, and earthy heat that cannot be replicated.
- Tomatillos (Pozole): These are not unripe green tomatoes. Tomatillos are a different fruit with a papery husk. When cooked, they lose their raw tartness and develop a bright, zesty, and slightly citrusy flavor that is the foundation of all green salsas and sauces in Mexico.
- Hominy (Pozole): This is a key ingredient. Hominy is made from corn kernels that have been treated in an alkaline solution in a process called nixtamalization. This gives it a unique, puffy and chewy texture and a distinctive corn flavor that is essential to pozole.
Storage & Reheating Tips
- Storage: All of these dishes are fantastic make-ahead meals and taste even better the next day. Store them in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Reheating: Reheat the mole, tinga, and pozole gently in a saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until hot. You may need to add a splash of broth to the mole or pozole to loosen them up.
Common Mistakes & Fixes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| My mole sauce is bitter or gritty. | You likely burned the chiles or nuts when toasting them. They only need a few seconds until they are fragrant. It’s also very important to strain the blended mole sauce through a fine-mesh sieve for a smooth, velvety texture. |
| My tinga is too spicy. | The heat comes from the chipotle peppers. Next time, start with fewer peppers and scrape out the seeds. To cool down a current batch, you can stir in a tablespoon of brown sugar or serve it with plenty of cooling crema and avocado. |
| My pozole verde is too sour. | Raw tomatillos are very acidic. It’s important to boil them until they are soft and have changed from a bright green to a more olive-green color. Frying the blended sauce for a few minutes before adding the broth also helps to cook out some of the raw, acidic flavor. |
FAQs
Can I use a rotisserie chicken for these recipes?
Yes, a store-bought rotisserie chicken is a fantastic shortcut for both the Chicken Tinga and the Chicken Pozole Verde.
Simply shred the meat and add it to your prepared sauces, simmering for about 20-30 minutes to allow it to absorb the flavors.
Where can I find ingredients like dried chiles and tomatillos?
You can find these ingredients in the international aisle of most large supermarkets, at any Hispanic or Latin American grocery store, or easily online.
They are essential for achieving an authentic flavor.
Are these authentic Mexican chicken recipes very difficult to make?
While a dish like Mole Poblano has many ingredients and steps, the process itself is not technically difficult—it just takes time.
Dishes like Chicken Tinga and Pozole Verde are surprisingly straightforward and are a great way to start exploring the techniques of authentic Mexican cooking.
Enjoy Your Authentic Mexican Dinner!
You are now ready to dive into the rich, complex, and incredible world of authentic Mexican chicken recipes.
These dishes are a true labor of love that will reward you with a depth of flavor that is truly special. I hope you enjoy the process of making them and the delicious, soulful results!
