Never had chocolate chipotle chili soup before? Chili soup is a comfort food perfect for cold nights. When you add smoky chipotle chiles and earthy unsweetened chocolate to it, you add unexpected depth and richness to this hearty chili.
Nothing screams winter more than a huge pot of chili soup on the stove.
You can even imagine one of those days when you come back from a few hours of shoveling snow, change in your pajamas, and binge on Netflix with a bowl of chili soup.
Chili soup is a very personal meal. You can make it the way you like it.
Traditionally it is made with ground beef, but I often made it with ground pork or turkey. Nothing wrong with going vegetarian if that is what your heart desires.
Also, what you put on top of it is up to you. I tend to use whatever I have available in the pantry and get creative with the ingredients.
When I make chili soup, I rarely make the same recipe. I have some idea of what I will include in the recipe for that occasion, basic chili stuff that I memorized over the years.
I always look first in my pantry, where I always have the basics: different cans of beans, onion, garlic, tomato paste, sauce or crushed ones, sour cream, or yogurt.
The truth is, you can make a pot of chili from anything you have. However, this recipe has something different in particular: Chocolate and Chipotle peppers.
You might find this odd, but it really isn't. The smokiness and the mild heat of chipotle warm you from the inside out in a pleasant way.
The chocolate brings depth and an interesting, delicious flavor to the soup.
If you think about the way we use chocolate, it is always the same old sweat treat. From Valentine's Day to Christmas, we make endless desserts that require this sweet ingredient.
The truth is, real chocolate is not sweet at all. Chocolate is quite an acidic food, but when you add it to savory dishes, it balances and beautifully enhances the flavors.
Mexican cuisine uses chocolate, cocoa powder, and cocoa beans extensively in soups, sauces, and stews.
The most famous Mexican sauce made with chocolate is mole poblano, a beautiful combination of more than 20 ingredients, including chili peppers. The chocolate works to counteract the heat of the chili peppers.
In this soup, I used unsweetened chocolate, but feel free to use dark chocolate. Add it at the end of the process when the soup is ready.
I am not a fan of recipes that tell you to cook something for a certain amount of time, but Google loves that, so I have to figure it out.
The truth is, recipes are tools to give you an idea about what goes in a pot and how to make it, but there are so many environmental conditions that could be different in your kitchen than mine that it is hard to tell.
You need to know what you are looking for. My stove behaves differently than yours. Perhaps I cook using gas, and you have an electric stove.
Meat can cook faster or slower, depending on the temperatures or the type of pot you use. Please relax and enjoy the moment. Get to know your food and learn what the recipe should look like by tasting and watching the ingredients transform.
Open a bottle of wine, pour some wine into a glass, and enjoy the process.
Now, back to the recipe.
How to make Chocolate Chipotle Soup:
Step 1.
Place a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable oil and the ground meat.
Step 2.
Brown the meat, then add onion and garlic and cook until vegetables become translucent. Add a little bit of salt.
It is hard to say how much time you need for this step in particular, but I will say about 15 minutes.
Step 3.
Add unsweetened cocoa powder, cumin, cinnamon, ground pepper, and chipotle chile. Stir. Add the drained beans and diced tomatoes.
Step 4.
Add water or beef stock to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The ingredients need to get friendly with each other.
Taste for salt again. Add chocolate and stir until it melts.
How to serve it:
Serve this soup with a dollop of sour cream on top, chopped green onions, shredded cheese, and a good stout beer, and you will have a wonderfully comforting meal to warm up your belly.
This soup might be good to feed a crowd, and it is excellent for any occasion when you have family and friends around. A potluck would be perfect as well.
If you do not want to share it with anybody, warm up a bowl of this delicious dish and enjoy it in front of the TV or with a good book.
Other Soup Recipes To Love:
Moroccan chicken soup with chickpeas recipe
Greek Lemon Chicken Soup aka Avgolemono
Chicken Soup With Sour Cream And Garlic
Traditional Romanian Sour Soup With Pork And Vegetables
More recipes to love:
Chocolate Chipotle Chili Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 1 ½ pounds ground beef you can use pork or turkey if you prefer
- 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- salt to taste
- 30 ounces pinto beans rinsed and drained (2 cans of 15 ounces or OR 1 can of pinto beans and 1 can of black beans)
- 28 ounces diced tomatoes undrained (2 cans of 15 ounces)
- 1 chipotle chile canned in adobo sauce and minced
- 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate chopped or dark chocolate
- 2-3 cups water as necessary
- Sour cream shredded cheddar and chopped green onion to serve
Instructions
- Heat the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
- Add the ground meat and brown it. Add the chopped onion and garlic and cook until the onions become translucent.
- Add cocoa powder, cumin, cinnamon, ground pepper, and chipotle chile. Mix well.
- Add the drained beans and the diced tomatoes.
- Add water to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Taste for salt. Add chocolate and stir until melt.
- Optional: Serve in bowls with sour cream and chopped green onions.
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