Dark chocolate isn’t an ingredient I expected to find in chicken chili verde, but one home cook says a couple of squares go into a version that has won three chili cook-off contests.
Reddit user u/MezzanineSoprano builds her chili with rotisserie chicken, tomatillos, salsa verde, roasted corn, beer, butternut squash, pinto beans, and cotija cheese. Dark chocolate joins the pot alongside those savory ingredients rather than turning the chili sweet.
There is another detail worth noting before the pot starts simmering: she toasts the cumin in a dry skillet until it becomes fragrant.
Rotisserie Chicken Becomes the Base
Recipe starts with a rotisserie chicken, but the meat isn’t the only part that gets used.
After removing and chopping the chicken, she boils the bones and skin to make extra broth. That broth goes back into the chili later, getting another use from a chicken that has already been cooked.
Onions are caramelized and garlic is roasted before crushed tomatillos and mild salsa verde enter the pot.
Dark Chocolate Goes Into the Chili
Roasted corn and a can of beer join the tomatillo mixture, followed by a couple squares of dark chocolate.
Chocolate may sound out of place beside salsa verde, but only a small amount goes into a full pot. The recipe doesn’t use enough to turn the chili into a sweet dish.
Dark chocolate instead becomes one part of a much larger mix of roasted, acidic, spicy, and savory ingredients.
Toast the Cumin Before Adding It
About a teaspoon of cumin gets its own preparation step.
Rather than putting ground cumin straight into the chili, she heats it for a short time in a dry skillet, stopping once the spice becomes fragrant.
The toasted cumin then goes into the pot with the other ingredients. Watch it during this step since ground spices can scorch fast in a hot, dry pan.
Butternut Squash and Pinto Beans Make It a Hearty Chili
Frozen butternut squash cubes and one or two cans of rinsed and drained pinto beans go in next.
Simmer the chili until the squash becomes tender. Chopped zucchini can also go into the pot, though she lists it as optional.
Add the chopped chicken and enough reserved broth to bring everything together, then stir in at least half a cup of grated cotija cheese.
Make the Chili a Day Ahead
One detail makes this recipe useful for a gathering: she says the chili tastes better after spending a day in the refrigerator.
Make the pot ahead, chill it, then reheat it before serving. Set out Mexican crema or sour cream, shredded cheese, jalapeños, tortilla chips, lime wedges, and avocado so everyone can finish their own bowl.
Three chili cook-off wins make the recipe interesting, but the ingredient list is what caught my attention. A couple squares of dark chocolate sit among tomatillos, roasted corn, beer, toasted cumin, squash, beans, chicken, and cotija—far from the ingredients I expected to find together in chili verde.
Would you add dark chocolate to chicken chili verde, or does that ingredient still sound out of place?
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