Slow Cooker Chipotle-Chocolate Sweet Potato Chili

You think that recipe title is a mouthful? Just wait til you taste this Chipotle-Chocolate Sweet Potato Chili, friends. Flavor. Explosion.

Don’t kill me or put me in purgatory, but (besides this one of course) chili is just kind of…boring to me? Usually. Maybe I just haven’t ever had a suuuuper awesome chili before. It’s not something I usually choose at restaurants, since there’s usually a ton of ingredients in there I can’t eat (beans, sometimes breadcrumbs for thickening – wtf? – lots of cheese, etc.), and I haven’t made it that much at home either. Don’t even get me started on raw onions.

One thing I do LOVE though and will go out of my way to seek out at restaurants, no matter where I am (I’m looking at you, Red Iguana in Salt Lake City!) is MOLE. Ohhh, man. If you’ve never had mole before, it’s a Mexican sauce that combines chiles, cocoa powder, spices and sometimes nuts to create a insane depth-of-flavor-packed sauce like you’ve never tasted before.

And this restaurant in Salt Lake has SEVEN of them. 8 if you go on a special day. They bring you a platter of all the sauces to try and you can decide which one you want to go on your dish. Hoooooooly moly (pun totally not intended there, but look how well that turned out!) I could put that ish on EVERYTHING.

So THAT is what I was going for with this chili. Yep, there’s cocoa powder in there. The heat first hits your tongue from the chili powder, and then rounds out the taste with the smoky depth of chipotle powder. I think I’m in love. And now it’s totally turned me on a chili kick! So send me (or comment below with) your favorite chili recipes, because I wanna try them out. And helloooo Super Bowl, great timing! Because what is a Super Bowl party (or any football tailgate, really) without chili?!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Slow Cooker Chipotle-Chocolate Sweet Potato Chili

 

Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

8 hours

Total time

8 hours 15 mins

 

There are two ways to make this chili: 1) dump everything in the slow cooker and let it go, or 2) brown the onions + garlic first, then dump everything in the slow cooker and go. You choose!

Dana: Real Food with Dana

Serves: 8+ servings

Ingredients

• 2 lbs ground beef or bison
• 1 large or 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled & chopped into chunks
• 1 cup bell pepper, chopped (whatever color you like!)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 can tomato paste
• 2 14-oz cans fire roasted diced tomatoes (28oz total)
• 1 ½ cups chicken/beef broth
• 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 Tbsp chili powder*
• 1 Tbsp cumin
• 1 Tbsp chipotle chili powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion granules
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp tsp sea salt

for garnish:

• Cilantro + avocado slices

Directions

1. Method 1: (Dump and go) Literally dump all the ingredients into the slow cooker, stir it all together so the spices are evenly distributed, and cook on LOW for about 8 hrs or HIGH for 3-4. Make sure you break up the beef into small pieces so it cooks all the way through.
2. Method 2: In a medium skillet, melt 1 Tbsp ghee or coconut oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions and garlic with a small pinch of salt. Cook for about 5-8 minutes, until the onions begin to brown. Meanwhile, add the rest of the ingredients to the slow cooker and give them a few good stirs to mix everything up. Add the caramelized onions and garlic on top, give the slow cooker another stir, then cook on LOW for about 8 hrs or HIGH for 3-4.
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then serve with chopped cilantro and sliced avocado.

Notes

*If you don’t like your chili too spicy, reduce the chili powder to 2 Tbsp.

3.5.3208

What’re your favorite chili recipes? Post them in the comments!