Reviewed: May 5, 2012

How to make it without so much heat Fantastic chili recipe, rich and deeply flavorful. Works well with other types of beans: I've used black and it was just as delicious. I calculate 4 cups as two cans and don't have the "too many beans" problems others have mentioned. You can rinse the canned beans to reduce gassiness and salt, and just put in a little extra plain water. I am sure that if you can take the heat of that much chili powder, this recipe is great as-is. I cannot, so I used the following to substitute for the chili powder and flakes: 3/4 tsp chili powder, 1.5 tsp paprika (to give red pepper taste without heat), increase cinnamon to 1/2 tsp, increase cocoa to to 1.5 tsp.

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Reviewer:

Polyhex

Reviewed: Mar. 19, 2012

I followed the recipe exactly and I thought it was good, but not great. It really needed some tomato sauce or tomato paste to give it some body. I am a big fan of Cincinnati chili, so I felt it could have used more cinnamon and cocoa powder as well. The heat from the red pepper flakes was fine for me but the kids thought it was a little to spicy.

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Reviewer:

MANATEE

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Fairfax, Virginia, USA

Living In: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Reviewed: Apr. 27, 2011

This was a great and different chili. I had a pound of ground lamb to use and wanted to do something different. I added more onion, a chopped red pepper and two large stalks of chopped celery. I only used about 2 1/2 tbsp. of chili powder, but I added a can of Rotel. I also used a mix of one can of kidney beans, and a can of black beans, both drained and rinsed. Delicious!

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Reviewer:

LaurenVan

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Winnetka, Illinois, USA

Living In: Halifax, Pennsylvania, USA

Reviewed: Dec. 8, 2010

This was a good chili with nice heat and the chocolate adds a richness to the dish.

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Reviewer:

Mazomom

Reviewed: Dec. 2, 2010

We made this as written and really liked it. Worked well in the slow cooker!

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Reviewer:

Carolyn

Reviewed: Feb. 5, 2010

I found this recipe a few years ago, and it's been in my regular rotation ever since! Boyfriend asks me to make this chili all the time. This recipe is great as written. Add a little shredded mozzarella and hot sauce to garnish, and this is a great meal.

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Reviewer:

lauren115

Cooking Level: Beginning

Reviewed: Jan. 28, 2010

This recipe is awesome! I had lamb sausage instead of ground lamb. Basically, the chili was gone in one day.

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Reviewer:

Trisha D

Reviewed: Dec. 18, 2009

I made this for the FFA Chili Dinner. It was a huge hit! The only change I made was using different types of beans such as black beans, red beans, etc.

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Reviewer:

Dana

Reviewed: Dec. 13, 2009

Very good chili! The lamb really works in chili and I would have never tried it. I halved the chili powder, because I don't like spicy, and I thought it had the perfect heat--just enough to make your throat tingle. I also thought it was a little bean heavy so will probably cut down on the beans next time, or at least use smaller beans instead of kidney. Even my 1 year old ate a whole bowl (and was up crying at bedtime probably from indigestion, but that's not the recipe's fault!). I love incorporating cinnamon into main courses, and the cocoa and cinnamon blends into this so subtly that you don't taste it directly, it just adds to the flavor.

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Reviewer:

LEMURONE

Reviewed: Feb. 13, 2008

The flavor of this dish isn't for everyone but I loved it. The addition of the cocoa powder added an extra layer of flavors to the dish that you don't find often in most chilis. I would definitely make this again. My only critique, and it is slight as this dish is pretty perfect as is, is that I found the proportion between meat and beans to be too heavy on the beans side. Next time, I would either increase the lamb by half a pound, or decrease the amount of beans by a cup. If you're using canned kidney beans, 4 cups is roughly 3 cans. Otherwise, delicious!

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