Chicken Mole Verde Ramen
Mole verde is the Oaxacan mole that doesn't get the recognition mole negro receives, which is unfortunate because it's the one you can make on a Sunday without committing your entire weekend to it. The base is tomatillos, toasted pumpkin seeds, jalapeños, and fresh herbs blended into a vivid green sauce that gets toasted briefly in a hot pan before braising liquid is added. The result smells like an Oaxacan market and tastes like something that required more restraint than skill to make correctly. Chicken thighs braise in it until the sauce thickens and coats everything, and the ramen noodles underneath absorb the green in a way that makes the finished bowl look like the color of a very good decision.
Tomatillo blisters—pumpkin seeds grind to a paste—green swallows the bowl
Let Me Tell You...
The intimidation factor around mole is real and almost entirely undeserved, at least for mole verde.
Mole negro takes days and a list of dried chilies that requires a specialty grocery and genuine commitment.
Mole verde takes about forty minutes of active cooking and a blender, and it produces something that tastes layered and complex because the ingredients do the work rather than the technique.
The key is toasting the tomatillos and pumpkin seeds before they go into the blender.
Raw tomatillos blended with raw pepitas tastes green and thin.
Toasted ones taste deep and roasted and like the sauce has been going for longer than it has.
Don't walk away.
They go from toasted to burnt in about 30 seconds.
The mole goes into a hot, dry pan and gets toasted again after blending, which is a step that most people skip because it seems redundant.
It is not redundant.
The paste needs direct heat to lose its raw edge and develop the slightly charred, concentrated quality that makes it a mole rather than a green sauce.
You'll see it darken slightly and hear it spatter and smell something that moves from fresh to toasted in about two minutes, and that's when you add the broth.
This step transforms the flavor from raw green sauce to something with real depth.
Epazote is the herb that appears in Oaxacan mole verde and is difficult to find outside of Mexican grocery stores.
It smells medicinal and faintly like gasoline in the best possible way, and it adds a dimension to the finished mole that cilantro alone cannot replicate.
If you can find it, use it.
If you can't, double the cilantro and accept that you're eating a slightly simplified version of the dish, which is still excellent.
Even dried epazote adds more character than omitting it entirely.
The bowl is the color of a very specific green that looks like it was chosen by someone who cared about color, and it was, because tomatillos and herbs and pumpkin seeds are doing what they always do when you let them work together.
Ingredients
- 8 ounces dried ramen noodles (2 bricks, seasoning packets discarded)
- 1.25 lbs bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (about 4 pieces)
- 8 medium tomatillos, husked and halved
- 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
- 2 jalapeños, halved
- 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
- 1/2 white onion, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves and stems
- 1/4 cup fresh epazote leaves (or an additional 1/4 cup cilantro)
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth, divided
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Queso fresco, crumbled (for serving)
- Toasted pepitas (for serving)
Preparation
- Heat a large dry cast iron skillet over high heat. Place tomatillos cut-side down, jalapeños, and unpeeled garlic cloves in the pan. Char for 4-5 minutes until tomatillos are deeply browned and blistered. Flip and char 2 more minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Cool garlic slightly and peel.
- In the same dry pan over medium heat, toast pumpkin seeds for 2-3 minutes, stirring, until they puff and begin to pop. Transfer to a blender.
- Add charred tomatillos, jalapeños, garlic, onion, cilantro, epazote, and 1 cup chicken broth to the blender. Blend until smooth.
- Season chicken thighs with salt. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear chicken skin-side down for 4-5 minutes until golden. Flip and sear 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
- In the same pot over high heat, pour in the blended mole. Stir constantly for 2-3 minutes until it darkens and thickens. Add remaining 2 cups chicken broth and stir to combine.
- Return chicken to the pot. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook over medium-low heat for 35-40 minutes until chicken is tender. Remove skin, pull meat from bones in large pieces, and return to the mole. Taste and adjust salt.
- Bring a separate pot of salted water to a boil. Cook ramen noodles for 2-3 minutes until just tender. Drain and divide between bowls. Ladle mole verde and chicken over noodles. Top with queso fresco, pepitas, and optional toppings.