VegetablePepper
Holy Mole Pepper
Holy Mole Pepper is a groundbreaking hybrid that brings authentic mole-making capability straight to your garden. This is the first hybrid pasilla-type pepper ever developed, engineered specifically for the nutty, tangy flavor profile essential to traditional mole sauce. Plants grow 18 to 24 inches tall (though they can reach up to 3 feet under ideal conditions) and produce impressive 7 to 9 inch peppers that mature from green to a rich dark chocolate color. Ready to harvest in 80 to 89 days, this Non-GMO hybrid delivers exceptional yields of 1.5-inch-wide fruit, with hybrid vigor ensuring abundant production across zones 4 through 13.
Photo © True Leaf Market
Growing Conditions
USDA Zone
4-13
Sunlight
Full Sun
Water
Moderate
Soil
Well-drained, Fertile Loam With Organic Matter
Growth Stats
24 in
Height
TypeUpright
Spacing
18
Plant Profile
Sunlight
Full Sun
Water
Moderate
Zones
4-13
Size
24in H x ?in W
Growth
—
Care
High
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Highlights
This is the first hybrid pasilla pepper designed specifically for mole sauce, combining exceptional yield with the authentic flavor professional cooks demand. The peppers are substantial, reaching 7 to 9 inches long, and offer flexibility in harvest timing: pick them green for a brighter bite or wait for the dark chocolate maturity that signals peak depth and complexity. Hybrid vigor translates to prolific plants that produce 7 to 9 pepper yields per plant, making it genuinely productive rather than just another ornamental pepper.
Common Uses
Holy Mole Pepper exists for one purpose: crafting authentic mole sauce. The peppers are dried and ground into the complex, layered sauce that defines this traditional Mexican dish. They can be harvested green for a fresher, brighter flavor, or allowed to mature to dark chocolate for deeper, more concentrated sweetness and smokiness. Home cooks serious about mole-making will find this variety eliminates the need to source specialty dried peppers, offering fresh, homegrown alternatives with guaranteed flavor quality.
Growing Timeline
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Care Instructions
Start Indoors
Start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last spring frost date. Use warm soil (70 to 80°F) to encourage germination, maintaining steady warmth until seedlings emerge. Pepper seeds germinate slowly compared to tomatoes, typically taking 10 to 14 days. Provide bright light once sprouted.
Transplant Outdoors
Harden off seedlings by gradually exposing them to outdoor conditions over 7 to 10 days. Transplant outdoors after your last frost date when soil temperature reaches at least 60°F and daytime temperatures consistently stay above 50°F. Space plants 18 inches apart in rows 36 inches apart.
Harvesting
Holy Mole Pepper offers harvest flexibility that aligns with your flavor preferences. Green peppers can be harvested at full size (7 to 9 inches) for a brighter, more herbaceous taste. For traditional mole-making, allow peppers to mature fully to a deep dark chocolate color, which concentrates their nutty complexity. Peppers destined for drying and grinding benefit from full maturity; wait until the skin deepens considerably before picking. Harvest by cutting the stem with a clean knife rather than pulling, which prevents damage to the plant.
Growing Calendar
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Companion Planting
Pests & Diseases
Ecology & Traits
Edible
Scientific Classification
Capsicum annuum
Family
Solanaceae
Genus
Capsicum
Growth Habit
Upright
Native Status
L48 (NI)HI (I)PR (I)VI (I)
History & Origin
“Holy Mole Pepper represents a significant moment in vegetable breeding: the development of the first hybrid pasilla-type pepper. Unlike many modern hybrids that sacrifice traditional flavor for yield or disease resistance, this variety was purposefully created to solve a real problem for home and professional cooks. Mole sauce, one of Mexico's most complex and culturally revered dishes, traditionally relied on dried pasilla peppers. By breeding a high-yielding hybrid that maintains the nutty, tangy character essential to authentic mole, breeders made it possible for gardeners to grow their own mole peppers rather than purchasing dried imports. This is breeding with intention: honoring culinary tradition while leveraging modern hybrid vigor.”