A sauce built on ground pumpkin seeds rather than chiles and chocolate, made green with tomatillo and herbs or red with dried chile, and served over chicken, pork or vegetables.

Pipian predates mole poblano and uses the older technique: seeds ground to a paste and let down with stock, rather than a long list of fried and blended ingredients. Green pipian leans on pumpkin seed, tomatillo, epazote and serrano; red pipian swaps in dried chiles and sometimes sesame. In Puebla it is served alongside mole rather than instead of it, and the enchiladas de tres moles at Comal put pipian verde, pipian rojo and mole poblano on one plate so you can taste the difference. La Casa del Mendrugo and Casareyna both hold it on the menu year round.

5 editor picks for Pipián in Puebla, ranked by editorial score. All Puebla signature dishes · Pipián across every city.