Chicken and Mole Tortilla Bake
- Yield
- 8 servings
Corn tortillas, cooked chicken, prepared mole sauce and cheese are layered into a baked casserole.
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Ingredients
Batches and reset
8 servings · US measures · 1 batch
Batching
Make one casserole per 9-by-13-inch baking dish. For 16 servings, make a second casserole; baking time and the 165°F (74°C) center do not change with the amount.
Original recipe: 8 servings.
The optional sour cream, pickled red onion and cilantro are left out of the base nutrition scenario. Low-sodium chicken broth is the selected broth. Nutrition is incomplete because Standard Reference has no mole paste record.
Before you start
- Read through the recipe before you start. Gather the saucepan, whisk, mixing bowl, plate, tongs, baking dish, instant-read thermometer and the measured ingredients.
Directions
Read and gather
For the whole recipe
Read through the recipe and gather the equipment. Use the ingredient lines to prepare and measure everything. Everything is measured and the chicken is shredded.
Heat the oven
For each casserole
Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C) with a rack in the center. The oven is fully heated.
Put the paste in a saucepan, whisk in the broth and simmer
For each casserole
Put the mole paste in a medium saucepan and slowly whisk in about 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth until no lumps remain. Bring it to a boil over high heat, then turn to medium heat and simmer, whisking often, until the sauce is smooth and coats a spoon, about 10 minutes. Take the saucepan off the heat.
Coat the chicken with sauce
For each casserole
Coat the chicken: stir 2 cups of the mole sauce into the shredded chicken in the mixing bowl until every piece is coated.
Dip the tortillas in the sauce
For each casserole
Dip each tortilla into the sauce in the saucepan with tongs, let the excess drip back, and stack the tortillas on the plate. Every tortilla is coated and soft.
Lay the first layer
For each casserole
Lay 6 dipped tortillas over the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, overlapping them and tearing pieces to fill the gaps. Spread half of the chicken over them and sprinkle with about 1 cup Mexican blend cheese. The bottom is covered with tortillas, chicken and cheese.
Build the second layer and top the dish
For each casserole
Build the second layer with 6 more dipped tortillas, the other half of the chicken and about 1 cup Mexican blend cheese. Cover with the final 6 tortillas and pour the sauce from the saucepan evenly over the top. The dish is layered and the top is covered with sauce.
Bake the casserole
For each casserole
Bake at 375°F on the center rack until the sauce bubbles around the edges, about 20 minutes.
Sprinkle on the cheese and finish baking
For each casserole
Sprinkle about 2 cups Mexican blend cheese over the top and keep baking at 375°F on the center rack until the cheese melts, the casserole bubbles and the center reaches 165°F (74°C) on an instant-read thermometer, about 10 minutes.
Cut and serve
For the whole recipe
Cut the casserole into 8 servings. Top each serving with sour cream to taste, pickled red onion to taste and cilantro to taste, if using. Taste a spoonful of the cooked filling. Aim for savory, gently sweet mole and a rich filling. If it tastes too rich, add pickled red onion to taste, if using; if it tastes too sharp, add sour cream to taste, if using. Refrigerate leftovers within two hours and reheat them to 165°F (74°C). The casserole is cut and garnished.
About this recipe
Why it works
Thinning the mole paste with broth makes a pourable sauce that soaks the tortillas, and coating the chicken in some of it keeps every layer saucy. Layering instead of rolling is quicker, and a second round of cheese at the end gives a bubbling top.
Associated with
Mexican-inspired American home cooking
Mole, from the Nahuatl word for sauce, is a family of Mexican sauces of chiles, seeds, nuts and spices; mole poblano is the best known, and leftover mole is traditionally used for enmoladas. This casserole stacks mole-dipped tortillas, chicken and cheese instead of rolling them.
Taste
- Sweet
- Sour
- Salty
- Bitter
- Savory
- Heat
Mole brings chiles, a little sweetness and a bitter edge of cocoa., Cheese and broth add salt and richness. · soft layered tortillas, saucy chicken, melted cheese, cool sour cream and crisp pickled onion on top · hot
Skill level
Some practice
Several components to juggle, and sauced tortillas tear if handled roughly.
Allergens
Contains: milk, wheat, sesame (wheat and sesame from typical mole paste).
Check the mole paste label for soy, peanuts, tree nuts and sulfites, and the broth and tortilla labels.
Diets
Vegetarian: Doesn't fit as writtenPescatarian: Doesn't fit as writtenVegan: Doesn't fit as writtenDairy: See the allergen linesEgg: See the allergen linesGluten: See the allergen lines
Occasions
Día de Muertos
Dishes with mole are among the foods placed on Día de Muertos altars; this casserole is a weeknight take on mole.
Serving and keeping
Best served: Hot from the oven, once it is bubbling Cut into squares, with sour cream, pickled red onion and cilantro at the table
Make ahead: Add the garnishes after reheating or baking.
Storage: Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours (1 hour above 90 °F / 32 °C), without the garnishes. Frozen, they keep best for about 3 to 4 months.
Leftovers: Keep the sour cream, onion and cilantro off the leftovers and add them fresh.
Food safety
- Bake until the center of the casserole reaches 165 °F (74 °C); check with a thermometer rather than relying on bubbling alone.
- Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours (1 hour above 90 °F / 32 °C) and reheat to 165 °F (74 °C).
We make no statement about cross-contact in your kitchen or in packaged ingredients. Check the mole paste, cheese, broth and tortilla labels.
Nutrition notes
Most of the sodium comes from the cheese, the broth and the mole paste; low-sodium broth and less cheese keep it lower.
Most of the saturated fat comes from the cheese and sour cream.
Swap notes
shredded cooked chicken · vegetarian
Use: black or pinto beans
What changes: Use vegetable broth in place of the chicken broth.; Check the mole paste for lard and the cheese for animal rennet.; Earthier and softer.
Not a swap: Chicken broth with the beans, which is still meat-based.
shredded cooked chicken · catholic.abstinence
Use: black beans
What changes: Use vegetable broth too; chicken broth alone is technically allowed, but many avoid it.; Earthier and softer.
Not a swap: Any other meat, including turkey.
shredded cooked chicken · halal.general
Use: halal-certified cooked chicken
What changes: Use halal-certified chicken broth, and cheese made with microbial enzymes.
Not a swap: A cheese blend labelled only "enzymes", whose source is unknown.
Mexican blend cheese · kosher.mainstream
What changes: Leave out the cheese and sour cream, or use certified pareve plant-based versions: kosher practice does not combine chicken with dairy.; Use kosher chicken and broth.; Less creamy and less gooey.
Not a swap: Any dairy cheese or sour cream with the chicken.
Mexican blend cheese
Use: about half the cheese
What changes: This edition already uses low-sodium broth.; Less salty and less rich, and less gooey.
Not a swap: Full-salt broth in place of the low-sodium broth.
These notes don't change the amounts, allergens or nutrition shown for this recipe.
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- Recipe url
- https://isthebestrecipe.com/mexican/chicken-and-mole-tortilla-bake
- Name
- Chicken and Mole Tortilla Bake
- Servings
- 8
- Recipe yield
- 8 servings
- Recipe ingredient
- 1 jar mole paste (8 1/4 ounces, 234 g), about 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth, about 4 cups shredded cooked chicken, 18 whole 6-inch corn tortillas, about 4 cups Mexican blend cheese shredded (1 lb)
- Copy action wording
- Copy recipe and estimated nutrition
Sources
- Mole (sauce) (Wikipedia (English), 2026-09-13)
- Enchilada (Wikipedia (English), 2026-10-02)
- Chicken Mole Enchilada Casserole (recipe page) (Allrecipes (Dotdash Meredith), 2025-11-17)
- FoodData Central: MOLE PASTE, MOLE (FDC ID 2169366, Branded) (USDA Agricultural Research Service, FoodData Central, 2021-10-28)
- Food Allergies: What You Need to Know (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2026-03-11)
- Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004 (FALCPA) (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2022-11-29)
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II: Substances or products causing allergies or intolerances (The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk), reproducing the EU regulation, 2011-10-25)
- Leftovers and Food Safety (Internet Archive snapshot 2026-10-08) (USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service)
- Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart (Internet Archive snapshot 2026-10-06) (FoodSafety.gov (U.S. HHS with USDA, FDA, CDC), 2024-11-21)
- Four Steps to Food Safety (Internet Archive snapshot 2026-10-04) (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2025-11-24)
- Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2024-09-09)
- Sodium in Your Diet (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2025-02-27)
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Nutrition Values
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