18 Chipotle-Spiced Eats That Totally Bring the Heat
Take a ripe, bright red jalapeño, add a little smoke and what do you get? That’s right, a chipotle! Each of the three common forms belong in your pantry, from the sweet-spicy, adobo-sauced kind in the can, to dried whole peppers, to the ground variety in a spice jar — they offer a concentrated burst of heat and flavor in distinctly different ways, with practically no effort required at all. Click through these 18 craveable recipes for inspiration, and then get to cooking!
1. Chipotle-Honey Glazed Chicken: Pop these spicy-sweet skewers on the grill and a few minutes later you’ll be chowing down. We’re loving the cooling, creamy avocado sauce served alongside. (via The Iron You)
2. Aztec Chocolate Chipotle Cake With Cocoa Buttercream Frosting: Ground chipotle pepper adds an awesome depth with a side of spice to chocolate cake. (via Gringalicious)
3. Slow Cooker Honey Chipotle Chicken, Two Ways: You can’t go wrong whether you serve this succulent chicken up as tacos or enchiladas. (via Confessions of a Foodie Bride)
4. Chipotle Bacon Queso: The smokey flavors of bacon and chipotle peppers kick up a bowlful of queso, no sweat. (via Brit + Co)
5. Chipotle Chili Con Tempeh (Vegan): The texture of crumbled tempeh is a dead ringer for ground beef in this hearty vegan chili. Packed with tons of flavor and spice, you won’t miss the meat at all. (via Keepin’ it Kind)
6. Blue Crab and Corn Fritters With Chipotle Aioli: Sweet corn and crab work together to create these summery fritters. A great way to bring the taste of the seafood fest home. (via Urban Cookery)
7. Chorizo Meatloaf With Chipotle Queso Sauce: Now this is one meatloaf you’ll be eager to sit down to at night. A 50-50 mix of ground beef and chorizo provides the perfect balance of spice, and queso offers a very welcome upgrade to the usual ketchup-based glaze. (via Life’s Ambrosia)
8. Chocolate Cookies With Raspberries, Chipotle and Pepitas: Each element — freeze-dried raspberries, pepitas and chipotle — adds its own little bit of pizzazz to these very adult, very fun cookies. (via 10th Kitchen)
9. Barbacoa: Meltingly tender barbacoa comes together with ease in your slow cooker — no need to hit up Chipotle to get your chipotle-spiced beef fix! (via Gimme Some Oven)
10. Roasted Chipotle Chicken Tacos: Use an overturned muffin tin to create petite taco shells for stuffing with a fiesta-worthy mix of tomatillo, lime and chipotle-seasoned rotisserie chicken. (via Brit + Co)
11. Chipotle Cheddar Scones: We’re totally cheating on biscuits with these savory scones — let’s keep this our little secret, yes? (via Taste and Tell)
12. Walnut Macarons With Chipotle Ganache: Roasting walnuts before grinding them into flour may seem like a small step, but its flavor payoff is huge, allowing the shells of these macarons to stand up to an assertive chipotle-dark-chocolate filling. (via Food With a View)
13. Oven Baked Potato Chips With Herbed Sea Salt: A drizzle of chipotle aoili makes these well-seasoned baked fries seem far richer than they are. (via Dancing Through Sunday)
14. Chipotle Adobo Breakfast Tacos With Quick Guacamole: What a wonderfully filling way to wake up your tastebuds in the morning. (via The Kitchen Paper)
15. Fried Pickle Poppers: Hollowed out pickles are stuffed with your fave cheese — cheddar, pub cheese, pimento dip, you name it — then covered in an eggroll wrapper and fried to create these outrageous poppers. But wait, there’s more! A garlicky chipotle-lemon mayo is served alongside for dipping. (via Host the Toast)
16. Flavored Salts: Who else is tempted to sprinkle a wee bit of BOTH the lime and chipotle salts on an ear of grilled corn? (via Made in Our Kitchen)
17. Coconut-Chipotle Kettle Corn: Somehow, coconut, chipotle and cinnamon manage to improve upon an already awesome snack. (via Breakfast to Bed)
18. Roasted Pumpkin Chipotle Cheddar Tots: No doubt, nary a frozen tater tot has ever come close to replicating all the good stuff found in these cheesy pumpkin bites. (via Half Baked Harvest)
Have you ever cooked with chipotles? Which form is your favorite to work with? Let’s talk in the comments!
