Beef · Slow cooker adaptation

Slow Cooker Chocolate Chilli Con Carne (Butler's Empire)

Butler's Empire chilli con carne, with the surprise lift of three squares of dark chocolate stirred in at the end. Original is a 10-minute Cosori pressure cook; the slow cooker takes the same one-pot logic and stretches it across an afternoon, the chocolate's richness building gently as the chilli deepens.

R By Richard · Adapted from butlersempire · Published 8 June 2026
👁 40.1k source views ❤️ 2.1k source likes
⏱Prep 10 min
🍲Slow cook 5 hr (Low) / 3 hr (High)
🍽Serves 4
Amazing 10 Minute Chilli Con Carne In The Cosori Pressure Cooker

Source video by butlersempire on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules.

A British chilli con carne adapted from a Cosori pressure cooker recipe into the slow cooker. 500 g of pre-browned beef mince goes in with one chopped onion, a red bell pepper, garlic and a tin each of kidney beans (drained), baked beans and chopped tomatoes. Tomato purée and the spice trio of chilli powder, paprika and cumin do the heavy lifting; a splash of beef stock is added to prevent the slow cooker from drying out (the original cook hit a 'food burn' alarm in the pressure cooker from too-little liquid). Five hours on Low builds depth; three squares of 85% dark chocolate stir in at the end for a quiet, rounded richness. Served with rice, jacket potato or Doritos.

Slow cooker notes: Original is a 10-minute pressure cook in a Cosori; the chocolate stirs in once vented. Adapted for the slow cooker by tipping the same one-pot ingredients in and cooking on Low for 5 hours. Crucial change: add 200 ml of beef stock at the start. The cook actually hit a Cosori 'food burn' alarm because the recipe as listed had no added liquid; the slow cooker needs a small base of liquid for the same reason. Chocolate stirs in at the very end so it doesn't separate.

Ingredients

Main
  • 500 gbeef mince, pre-cooked by frying or boiling, then drained
Veg
  • 1large onion, peeled and chopped
  • 1red bell pepper, deseeded and chopped
  • 2garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
Beans + tomato
  • 400 gtinned kidney beans, drained
  • 400 gtinned baked beans, tin, juice and all
  • 400 gtinned chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tbsptomato purée
  • 200 mlbeef stock
Spices
  • 1 tspchilli powder
  • 1 tsppaprika
  • 1 tspground cumin
Finish
  • 3 squaresdark chocolate (85%), broken into pieces (add late)
To serve
  • rice, jacket potato, or tortilla chips

Method

  1. Brown the mince in a frying pan over high heat, breaking it up, then drain off the fat. Tip into the slow cooker.

    ~6 min

  2. Add the chopped onion, red pepper and garlic to the slow cooker. Stir.

    ~2 min

  3. Tip in the drained kidney beans, the full tin of baked beans (with their sauce), the chopped tomatoes, the tomato purée and 200 ml of beef stock.

    ~1 min

  4. Sprinkle over the chilli powder, paprika and ground cumin. Stir well to distribute.

    ~1 min

  5. Lid on. Cook on Low for 5 hours (or High 3 hours).

    ~300 min

  6. Break the three squares of dark chocolate over the chilli. Stir through until melted and the sauce takes on a deeper, glossier colour.

    ~2 min

  7. Taste and adjust salt and chilli. Serve over rice, with a jacket potato, or scooped onto Dorito-style chips.

    ~2 min

Frequently asked

Does it really taste of chocolate?
No. Three squares of 85% chocolate in a 1.6 kg pot of chilli reads as a rounded, almost mole-like richness. You won't taste 'chocolate'; you'll taste a deeper chilli.
Why baked beans in a chilli?
Cook's signature: extra body, slight sweetness from the tomato sauce, and they stretch the dish. Skip them if you want a stricter Tex-Mex chilli; the recipe still works.
Can I add the mince raw?
You can, but the chilli will taste better if you brown the mince first. Browning is one of the only flavour-building steps in this recipe; don't skip it.
Why add stock when the original doesn't?
The original tripped the Cosori's 'food burn' alarm on the first attempt because there wasn't enough liquid. The slow cooker needs at least a small pool to start; 200 ml of beef stock prevents the same problem and adds depth.
Does it really taste better the next day?
Yes. The cook's family eats it on day two for exactly this reason. The chocolate, spices and tomato all settle into each other overnight.
Extraction notes (transparency): All ingredient quantities explicit in the source. Beef stated as pre-browned mince ('we have rinsed it and drained it, so that is already cooked'). Beef stock 200 ml added in the adaptation to prevent dry-out; flagged in adaptation notes.