Chocolate Chip & Guinness Chili

Please don't click away.

I know the second you spotted the words "chocolate chip" alongside "chili" up in the title of this post, you were tempted to jump ship and find somewhere else to hang out today, but I promise you this is a recipe worth sticking around for. 

Bookmarked from Aimée's site since sometime last year, this robust one pot meal - I think it's the unintentional theme of the week - took over dinner duty early this week. I tripled the recipe and was left with three Dutch ovens full of a dark and spicy cassoulet-like meal that was devoured by my hungry, hungry people.

The original recipe calls for the addition of water, but I used Guinness instead. I had it on hand and thought it would pack a punch to the already intensely flavoured dish. I'm happy to say I was right.  

Chocolate Chip and Guinness Chili

Slightly adapted from simplebites.net and Nigella Lawson

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 large sweet Italian sausages, sliced into 1/2" thick pieces
• 1kg lean ground beef
• 2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 medium can tomato paste
• 3 x 400g cans red kidney beans, drained
• 3 x 400g cans crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
• 2 cups Guinness beer
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F or prepare a crock-pot.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof pot (with lid) and add the ground beef and sausage slices to the dish. Brown both meats on medium heat, using a sturdy wooden spoon to break up the beef as it cooks.
3. Add the onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes until soft and translucent. Then add the cumin, coriander, cinnamon and chili powder. Stir well to combine.
4. Stir in the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes and kidney beans. Add the Guinness and bring the chili to a boil.
5. Once it’s started bubbling, add the corn and sprinkle the chocolate chips over the chili. Give it a good stir.
6. Put on the lid (or transfer the chili to a slow cooker) and cook for 3 hours in the oven or up to 7 hours in the crock-pot, stirring occasionally. 
7. Season with salt & pepper before serving. 

Comments

[Aimee @ Simple Bites]

Yum! Love your addition and I'm sure Nigella would approve. ;)

[Mardi (eat. live. travel. write)]

Yes - I LOVE the sound of this and agree that Nigella would totally approve :)

[mom of two]

How many people does this one feed?

[Christine]

WOW! I'm totally going to try this! My Mexican students made Mexican "Mole" [pron: MO-LAY] and I couldn't get my mind wrapped around eating a chocolate/chili sauce with meat. Oh, it was DELICIOUS!!!

[Jan Scott]

Hi! One batch will easily feed 6-8 depending on the portion sizes. I triple the recipe and freeze it and get about 4 meals out of it, feeding two tween boys with hearty appetites.