This decadent vegan chocolate chilli is nothing short of amazing. Packed with pumpkin, beans, and mushrooms, with a little chocolate to give an extra layer of richness and depth of flavour, this spicy, rich, smoky chilli hits all the spots.
All the spots.
No spots are left un-hit.
Do you ever have times when you make something so delicious that you just want to eat it every day? Last week was like that; as well as a big pot of chocolate chilli, I made tons of tom yam and phad Thai - thanks, I suspect to binge-watching the new Netflix show, Street Food, which is all kinds of wonderful. I have such a bad yearning to return to SE Asia!
Back to this chocolate chilli though...
When I first made this chilli, I thought I'd invented it. No, really. I honestly had no idea it was a thing until recently!
Stop laughing, you at the back.
Years ago, I discovered Rococo's chilli chocolate, and I fell in love with it (they also used to make a cardamom one which was to die for). I loved how the warm bite of chilli so perfectly complemented the velvety richness of the dark chocolate. It was a veritable mouthgasm. Truly. After that, I felt I needed to experiment with adding chocolate to chilli. And guess what? It totally worked.
But of course, you knew that already. Apparently, I was the only person on the planet who didn't know.
You can't really taste the chocolate in this chilli but it gives it a certain je ne sais quois. Rather like with chocolate beer and stout, you can't taste the chocolate but they have an added depth of richness because of it. And of course, Mexican mole is made with chocolate too.I also didn't know that all those years ago.
So anyway, while I may not have been the first person to have the bright idea of adding chocolate, I can honestly say, with hand on heart, that there is definitely room in the world for one more chocolate chilli recipe.
Especially when it's mine. 😉
Decadent Vegan Chocolate Chilli
Is...
- rich
- spicy
- smoky
- comforting
- filling
- gluten-free
- soy-free
- nut-free
- high in protein and fibre
- low in calories
- packed with Vitamin A and Iron
- insanely delicious and more-ish
This vegan chocolate chilli is nothing short of amazing. Why not make it yourself, and see?
Decadent Vegan Chocolate Chilli
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion finely sliced
- 8 large cloves garlic smashed
- 2-4 large red chillies split and bruised
- 500 g pumpkin cubed
- 150 g mushrooms sliced
- 250 ml vegetable broth
- 250 g passata
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 300 g cooked beans
- 1 tablespoon cumin seed bruised
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon liquid smoke
- 1 tablespoon Chipotle en Adobo Paste
- 50 g 60% dark chocolate
- Sea salt to taste
Instructions
- In a large skillet, sauté the onion in the oil for around five minutes, until it becomes translucent.
- Add the garlic and the chillis, and continue to cook for another couple of minutes, until the raw garlic smell has gone.
- Add the pumpkin and mushrooms, and cook, stirring occasionally, for a further five minutes.
- Mix the broth with the passata and tomato paste, and add to the skillet.
- Add the beans, cumin seed, paprika, liquid smoke, and chipotle paste, and stir well.
- Turn down the heat, cover, and leave to simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes, or until the pumpkin has cooked.
- Break the chocolate into small pieces, and stir into the chilli.
- Simmer for another five minutes, and then serve.
- Any leftovers can be kept in a lidded container in the 'fridge for up to a week and a half.
Notes
- If you like more chilli, use more peppers, or add some chilli powder. Or do both. No judging here!
- In Britain, tomato paste is called purée (just in case there was any confusion).
- If you use smoked paprika, you can omit the liquid smoke altogether. Unless you like it really smoky, of course.
- Instead of using the paste and fresh chilli peppers, you could just use chipotles in adobo.
- If you're not making your own vegetable broth, I recommend you use a low-sodium variety.
- Use whichever beans you like - I do!
- The reason I use whole, bruised chillis is because it's easier to whip them out if the dish starts to get too hot (I learned this when I was living in Thailand). By all means, do feel free to chop them up though if that's your thing.
- 1 cup = US cup = 240 ml
- 1 tablespoon = US/UK = 15 ml
- 1 fl oz = US = 30 ml
Liv
Omg you created a dinner meal that incorporated chocolate! This is amazing ! I must make this asap!
Nico
Ha ha ha - cool, eh? Dinner and pudding in one! LOL! xx
Kayla
This looks so delicious :O I would have never thought of these ingredients together which is why I absolutely love it! Definitely will be adding this to the recipe book 😉
Nico
Thanks Kayla! When I first made it, I honestly thought I had invented it... I had no idea it was a thing! Ha ha ha! xx
Pretty
I am super lazy when it comes to cooking for myself too! It sounds like you have had a very productive week. This chocolate chilli recipe looks great and it's amazing how many things you can eat it with.
Nico
I did, Pretty - I had a super-productive week, and still didn't do half the things I wanted to. Story of my life. I really could do with more hours in the day! xx
Nadia
This is my kind of comfort food! Warming, comforting and packed with goodness 😀
Nico
Thanks Nadia, it is, isn't it? xx