Jonathan Zaragoza is a Chicago-based chef who got his start in professional kitchens working at the Michelin-starred Sepia and Sixteen, before becoming the chef of Masa Azul at 22. Jonathan’s path has taken him throughout Mexico, deep into its rich culinary heritage, to bring its traditions with him to London, Dubai, Paris, and the U.S.

Jonathan Zaragoza

Mole is many things: It’s a sauce, a cooking medium, and a marinade, and it’s mind-bendingly delicious. It’s also notoriously time-consuming to make. With our <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/30-minute-mole">30-Minute Mole</a>, we tackled the efficiency issue, leveraging the power of a pressure cooker to whip up a deeply flavorful mole quickly. For this version, we took a different approach: We made a concentrated mole paste that can subsequently be diluted and used to whip up a final dish in minutes.Like our <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/hub/bouillon">Ultimate Bouillon Cubes</a>, we think of this mole poblano like a cheat code for maximum flavor. Front-loading all the preparation sets your future self up for success: Take your time over a lazy weekend making the concentrated paste, stash it in the fridge or freezer, and you have an express ticket to incredible dinners, any day of the week!This mole paste doesn’t cut any corners on ingredients or methods. Rich with nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and Mexican chocolate; heavily spiced; packed with a variety of chiles and aromatics; it’s a real-deal mole poblano, and the process is far more traditional in its approach than our 30-minute version.You can make the paste and proceed directly to making our killer <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/enmoladas">Enmoladas de Pollo</a> or portion it out and stash it in your freezer to let your future self have all the fun.

Mole Poblano Paste