Chocolate’s good for more than just dessert. This Spicy Cocoa Rub recipe will add a delicious chocolate flavoring to almost any meat dish.

The cacao bean, the source of chocolate’s powers, has been used in savory dishes since its discovery. Mexican moles, for example, will often include unsweetened chocolate in their ingredients list. The earthy acidic flavor of unsweetened chocolate can add interest to many meat types.

Here’s a recipe for a spicy rub made with unsweetened cocoa powder that goes great on pork, lamb, or chicken. Just give them a good coating of the rub before grilling. This rub works especially well with steak, which gives you more surface area and thus more chance to enjoy the cocoa rub flavors.

Spicy Cocoa Rub Recipe

Chocolate’s good for more than just dessert. This Spicy Cocoa Rub recipe will add a delicious chocolate flavoring to almost any meat dish.

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Prep Time 5

Equipment

food processor or spice grinder

Ingredients

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (natural)
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 tsp red pepper flakes, dried, chopped fine
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 tbsp granulated sugar

Instructions

Simply combine the ingredients together in food processor or spice grinder until the red peppers have been ground fine.

Notes

This will keep several months in an airtight container.

Keywords cocoa chili rub, cocoa rub, cocoa steak rub

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Chris Johns

Chris Johns is the founder of Rock's Barbecue® and has been an avid barbecue fan for over 20 years. His mission is to make grilling and smoking the best food possible easy for everyone. And each year, he continues to help more people with grilling, smoking, and barbecue recipe recommendations.

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