8 Fun Ways to Use Chocolate in Your Cooking

A close up of a bowl of vegetarian chili.

Don’t underestimate the power of chocolate. Chocolate has more power than being a simple ingredient for cookies and candy bars! This year I started using more chocolate in my cooking and this is what I found.

Beef Stew

My family was certain that my famous beef stew couldn’t get any better until I surprised them with chocolate. I added several chunks of dark chocolate into my beef stew right before finishing, which gave it a magic touch.

Dry Rub on Ribs

Luckily we live in Los Angeles, CA and the sun is out all year round. I added a cup of cocoa powder to my dry rub at our last BBQ and it enhanced the sweet and tangy flavor of my ribs.

Carrot Cake

Weird? I know, but I’m chocolate happy. I used chocolate ganache for filling and used a chocolate icing on top. This carrot cake turned out absolutely amazing, everyone at work loved it.

Enchilada Sauce

I added a cup and a half of cocoa powder to my enchilada sauce and it provided a smokey taste to die for! I was very proud of this creation, it’s my new favorite.

Barbeque Sauce

My mom constantly criticizes the spice level of my BBQ sauce. It’s too hot for her. Since I love my momma, I let several Hershey’s Kisses melt into my barbecue sauce. It balanced the spice and gave it a full-bodied flavor that mom approved of.

Chocolate Covered Bacon

Chocolate and pork make a great duo. This is something I originally doubted, but after tasting it I couldn’t believe how delicious it was! Of course, bacon goes well with everything.

Balsamic Vinegar

I needed to impress some bougie dinner guests I was having. So, I put a few pumps of chocolate syrup into my homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing and it killed. My guests loved the sweet-velvety twist in their salad.

Chili

Grandma has passed down her chili recipe and I’ll admit I was a bit scared to notify her that I had made a change to it. One evening she caught me adding pieces of chocolate to the pot but surprisingly she was impressed by how it turned out!

You can’t go wrong with the invigorating taste of chocolate. Watch this video to see how we easily created the best chocolate dinner and dessert!

Samantha Wachs