Okay, for any of you who have been reading for awhile, you’ll know that I have uber-picky eaters at my house, namely my husband and my son. So imagine my surprise when I made this Chipotle Chocolate Chili for the first time last year and both of them ate it up. Willingly. And then they had more. And then my husband told me that this was THE chili recipe he’d been longing for the whole time we’d been married. So imagine his surprise when I told him that this was no ordinary chili–there’s a rather unusual ingredient that you’d think would be gross, but it adds a depth and complexity to the flavor of the chili that makes it taste as though it’s been simmering all day. Luckily for you, it’s more like 30-40 minutes. Which is totally doable. The super-secret ingredient? Unsweetened chocolate. Wait! Come back! Have we led you astray yet? I didn’t think so. Hear me out…
Heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Saute onion, garlic, bell pepper, and ground turkey until meat is cooked through.
Add salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, brown sugar, and unsweetened cocoa powder.
Add the tomatoes, beans,
and beef broth.
Chipotle Chocolate Chili
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6-8
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 2–3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 2 15-oz. cans diced or crushed tomatoes
- 2 14-.5 oz. cans kidney beans, drained
- 1 15-oz. can beef broth
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Adobo sauce (from a can of chipotle chilies)
- 1/2 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, grated or chopped
- 3–4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- Sour cream, chopped green onions, and shredded cheddar cheese for topping
Instructions
Heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Saute onion, garlic, bell pepper, and ground turkey until meat is cooked through.
Add salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, brown sugar, and unsweetened cocoa powder. Add the tomatoes, beans, and beef broth.
Nutrition
- Calories: 244kcal
- Sugar: 14g
- Sodium: 1188mg
- Fat: 9g
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 25g
- Fiber: 6g
- Protein: 20g
- Cholesterol: 56mg
Questions & Reviews
So this is my husband’s absolute favorite now! The chipotle sauce I’ve found to use doesn’t really make it spicy at all but gives it a nice smoky flavor. I take this to potlucks and people go crazy over it. It makes me feel like a real chef haha. Thank you!!
P.S. I have yet to try one of your recipes that we haven’t liked. Anytime I say I’m trying a new recipe from our best bites my husband is just like oh it’ll be great.
I love this recipe. What a great richness the chocolate adds to the dish. I made this for an office chili cook-off and won first place. I forwarded the link to a number of people in the office. It was a hit!
I’ve been making this chili for years, and our family loves it. Just made it last night for the Chili Cook-Off competition at my kids’ school–and won first place! Thanks, Our Best Bites!! 🙂
Hi! Quick questions for the master chefs – I was actually able to find a 7 oz can of chipotle salsa like the one you pictured. This is my first time making this recipe (have never been led astray by any of your others and am EXCITED about this one!). Do I use the whole can? I don’t understand how to convert “sauce around the chilis” to use of the actual salsa … help! We love spicy stuff so just let me know what you think is best. Thanks!
The flavor profile in my batch is first tomatoes then, very spicy. I want it a little sweeter or something to level out the flavor profile. What do you guys think?
Sorry to say…this didn’t do it for us at all and my family eats EVERYTHING! Doubled the recipe (3 teenaged boys and a skinny, bottomless pit husband). When it came time to ‘finish’ the chili, I started with 4 (not 6) tablespoons of red wine vinegar and 1/2 ounce of chopped unsweetened chocolate. The vinegar completely overwhelmed the taste of the chili! Can’t figure out what went wrong unless I cooked mine down more than you do (?). A few pinches of baking soda tamed the acid somewhat but I was really bummed…have loved everything else that I have tried on OBB.
Thanks for the awesome recipe! I made it last night for our family’s big Mother’s Day Fire and Ice Party (we have a lot of people between my husband’s family and mine.) I doubled it and it turned out so yummy…smokey and rich. We also made your homemade lipgloss for gifts and it turned out great. Thanks ladies!
We loved this recipe! It was so yummy! I couldn’t find the chipotle peppers with chipotle sauce so I used the adobo sauce and it was awesome.
Loved this chili! Thanks for another great recipe:)
LOVE this! I wanted chili but I wanted something a little different than our usual recipe. As usual, OBB did not disappoint!
I made this for my son’s birthday party. Everyone went wild over it. And I mean EVERYONE(10 people). Now I know what to take to my In-Laws when we go for the weekend:) Thank you!
This is amazing! It is so yummy and easy. I usually have all of the ingredients in my cupboards.
I needed a quick last minute dinner one night and decided to make this because I had all of the ingredients. It was so good and had a different flavor than the chili’s I usually make. Thanks!
Made this tonight and it was fab!! Do not agree at all with the people who claim it’s too spicy, though I do prefer spicy foods. Could easily cut down the spice by stirring in some sour cream. Love love, as always!
Awesome Chili!!!! My husband & I LOVED IT!!! And my hubby is pretty picky all around, but even more so when it comes to Chili! A few changes we may try next time, are: black beans, actual chunks of beef (instead of ground meat), and grilling the red pepper (char it on all sides on the grill, then peel it, for a nice roasted flavor). But, THIS CHILI TRULY IS AMAZING AS IS!!!! Thank you, Kate!
tried it with 3 chipotle chillies and 1 jalepeno pepper and was way too hot! I love spicy things but it was just too much, if trying to make it hotter, I would just do 1 extra chipotle pepper. but aside from that best chilli I’ve ever made. thanks for recipe
I really want to try this recipe, but I have ONE question. I DO not like spicy stuff, so can i just omit the chipotle sauce altogether? Or will that make it too sweet? I don’t have chipotle sauce in my pantry NOR do I want to drive all over town trying to hunt some down…..kind of wanted to make it tonight with the things I have on hand.
I made this and wrote about it here. This chili was amazing! The whole family enjoys it. We’ll be eating some more of the leftovers in a few days over beer fries again. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
How many servings and what ounce size does this recipe yield?
I have leftover spare ribs (with no bbq sauce). Could I use those in place of the turkey?
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this since I discovered your blog 9 months ago. When we first started dating, my husband tried to woo me over with his chili recipe. He always claimed it was so awesome and that chili was HIS dish to make. And so it was for years. Until I made this. His chili just quietly fell by the wayside after the first time we tasted this recipe, never to be mentioned again. And now he’s even learned how to make it himself!
Just had to drop in and say I won our ward’s Chili Cook-Off last night with this recipe! Yay! Thanks for all the great recipes! 🙂
I just won a chili cook-off this weekend with this recipe! It was even my first time making it. I absolutely love it, but I have to admit it was a little too spicy for my younger kids.
I was looking for a chocolate chili recipe and would love to try yours. I have everything I need to make it except the can of Chipotle Chilies. What I do have is some Chipotle Chile pepper powder. Could I use this instead? I could go on the hunt for the can….but would rather not if I don’t have to. THANKS!
Yep, that totally works; just add it to taste!
This was fantastic! My husband said it was the best chili he has ever had. I agree =)
Sorry. This was NOT a winner for me at all. I am a huge fan of your blog. I own your cookbook. I love all of your other recipes. It wasn’t even the chocolate in it – I have a BBQ chicken casserole recipe that has chocolate in it and I LOVE it. This was over-the-top spicy, and I even reduced the amount of spicy. It was really sweet too.
Do you have to make any adjustments to the recipe in order to make it in a crock pot?
Nope, no adjustments! 🙂 Just brown the ground beef/onions/garlic first and then simmer it all day on low.
I actually looked on here for a chili recipe, as this is my first time making homemade chili. Then when I saw the title of it, I closed the page. Didn’t even read it. Then I thought about it and remembered that you girls have NEVER steered me wrong on a recipe. I decided to give it a shot. The only things I’m doing differently is 1, it’s in the crockpot, 2, I used chipotle flavored tabasco instead of chipotle sauce since I didn’t have any, 3, instead of ground turkey I am using some left over steak from steak fajitas Sunday night. Holy cow, it’s Deeeelicious!