Beet Hot Chocolate
My daughter and I don’t eat out often, but when we do – we tend to gravitate towards Chick-fil-A. Most times, when we go, I end up getting a coffee and picking off of what my daughter gets – which drives her nuts – but, hey, a little nutty can be a lotta good – right?! 🙂
Now, I have always heard that Chick-fil-A’s customer service was par none; and, up until recently, their employees’ smiley faces and polite replies of “my pleasure” without any eye-rolling (no matter if I asked them for extra sauce or if I could make one extra trip through their kiddie slide) were all the testament I needed.
However, one day, a couple weekends ago, things got dicey… as I was waiting on my daughter at a neighborhood mall, I stopped by a Chick-fil-A to get a cup of coffee. It was around 8.00 pm and I was asked to give them 10 minutes as they brewed a new batch as they had run out – so, I walked off and came back in 10 minutes, only to find that they needed 7 more minutes… aaaand when I came back in 7 minutes – weeeell, there was no coffee yet!
Sensing I was a gal who didn’t need another 10 or 7 minutes of separation from her coffee; another cashier jumped into the conversation I was having with the cashier who promised me my coffee 17 minutes ago. This other cashier (I am thinking this chap was no more than 17 or 18 years old) took over the situation and demonstrated such finesse and charm – I couldn’t help but be bowled over! Not only did he give me my coffee for free, but he even threw in a salad. I was feeling bad to get all these freebies, so I offered to buy some cookies and when I tried to pay, he insisted that they were on the house too! When I got home that night, I sent a quick email to that Chick-fil-A’s store manager with accolades on how professionally this young man had handled an uncomfortable situation. Not only did the store manager write back to thank me for the email, but this past Saturday, I received a letter in the mail with a coupon – for another meal!
I have always been pretty lucky with customer service, but this was just above and beyond anything I have ever experienced before!
Now – in case you happen to be wondering if Chick-fil-A is adding Beet Hot Chocolate to their menu and that’s why I have been going on about them – alas – no, that’s (sadly) not happening- at least, not that I know off. The only link between my ranting and this Beet Hot Chocolate is that this concoction goes above and beyond too! It’s not only a chocolate lover’s dream in taste – but – with those beets sneaked in – it’s a nutrition powerhouse combined with that dark C.H.O.C.O.L.A.T.E! I know that was a pretty lame segue – so I will just say, whether you love beets or not – y’all have gotta try this – it’s taste just might surprise ya!
[Tweet “Beet Hot Chocolate @RunninSrilankan “]
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post – I was not asked to write this – this is merely my experience and my desire to have y’all all add beets to y’alls hot chocolate!

Ingredients
- 3 cups milk of your choice I used Lactaid
- 6 tablespoons cocoa
- 4 tablespoons beet puree from beets roasted for 45 minutes at 400 degrees
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons honey or sugar to sweeten
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons dark chocolate chips or bar roughly chopped
- Whipped cream or coconut cream or marshmallows or toppings of your choice
Instructions
- Pour milk into a pan over medium heat and bring to a gentle boil
- Slightly lower flame and add in beet puree and cocoa and stir till well blended
- Add in the salt, sugar/honey and 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips/chopped bar and stir till melted
- Pour into 2 mugs and top with whipped coconut cream or whipped cream and remaining chocolate chips/chopped bar
Genius! So, this is healthy, right?? 🙂
You bet! Of course – if you used full fat milk and milk chocolate and boatloads of sugar – well…it might not be the healthiest – but it has beets! 😉
First beet crepes and now beet hot chocolate! You might just turn me into a beet lover yet. I’m definitely inspired to go out and buy me some beets. This hot chocolate looks quite scrumptious! Great story about Chick fil-a, but then I can’t say when the last time was that I ate fast food. My niece used to work at one and loved it. She said it was a great place to work.
Thanks so much MJ!
I sure hope you come over to the “beet” side! 🙂
My daughter is applying at Chick Fil A this evening – quite a few of her friends work there and love it too – like your niece!
I can’t EVEN with you and the creative ways you sneak healthy foods into your recipes! This sounds wonderful, Shashi. I’ve had beet -soup- before, but never hot chocolate… aaaand since everything tastes better with cocoa, I’m going to go ahead and day that I’d probably prefer this way 😉 I wonder if I can ask Mom to make that for our next holiday meal instead of her usual borscht…
Oh my – I just Googled borscht and woa – I’ve never had a soup like that before!!! Good gawsh – beets and tomatoes with onions and garlic – and potatoes and cabbage/spinach – my stomach is rumbling as if I didn’t just have dinner!
Btw – Thanks Amanda! 🙂
I drink beet juice all the time but it’s been so cold I gravitate to hot drinks now, along comes Shashi with a recipe for two of my favorite things beets and chocolate and together. I think this sounds delicious and it’s packed with lots of nutritional benefits. Great job. I’v never been to chick fil-a sounds like good customer service.
Thanks so much Suzanne – seeing you had my favs – kofta and curry and korma all rolled into one recipe – I just figured I would return the favor 😉
I’ve played with beetroot and chocolate for a while now, Shashi. I’ve never thought of putting them together in a drink. I find beetroot juice so overpowering, maybe it needs the chocolate to mellow it. Not sure if I’ll get it past my wife, but I’ll give it a go.
David – how do you get the juice? Do you juice them? I don’t use the juice – I roast beets – which kinda makes them sweeter to begin with and then puree them and use the puree in everything from hot chocolate to cupcakes to cookies to crepes to pancakes – my daughetr never used to like beets – but she is a fan now – specially when beets are combined with chocolate.
I actually cheated as I don’t have a juicer. You can get beetroot juice with a touch of orange in it off the shelves these days. I’m going to get some this morning and make a hot chocolate later. I’ll report back.
“beetroot juice with a touch of orange” – wow – I haven’t seen anything like it here! Ok – I am looking forward to hearing back -no matter if you like it or not- thanks for keeping me posted, David!
Wow – I bet this tastes just wonderfully rich, Shashi!
I loved your story about the restaurant! Isn’t that just sweet? I’ve had similar experiences lately, actually. I think a lot of places are emphasising customer service a lot more than in the past – thankfully! That was definitely needed over here in the UK!
Thanks Helen! I remember when I was in the UK – we stayed in a small town not too far from Wimbledon and just about everyone I knew there was so nice! Of course, things were different outside of there!
What a lovely story. You sure did wait an incredibly long time for a coffee but I’m so glad that astute and attentive young man sorted your issues and at the end, gave you a feel-good experience. And now you have a voucher for another meal! You’ll be able to order your own dish and not just eat your daughter’s! And your hot chocolate looks incredibly good xx
Thanks Charlie!
Haha – I gave my daughter the voucher – so, guess I will still be picking off her meal 🙂
You are a genius – I’d never think to put beets in hot chocolate. Pinned!
Thanks so much Jeanette!
Honestly, not a fan of Chick-fil-A, their politics really throw me off the deep end. I do respect great customer service though so I’m glad they were able to fix it up for you! What a veggie friendly hot chocolate!
Thanks Pamela – I love me some veggie filled treats! 🙂
Glad you received good customer service after all, you deserved it!!! Great ad creative idea- beets hot chocolate-never thought of it! Pinning for later 🙂
So sweet of you to say – Thanks so much Mira!
Beets and hot chocolate is definitely not a combo I would have ever thought to put together, but I’m so glad you did! Now I want to go make some beet puree to have on hand! Thanks for sharing such a creative recipe!
Thank YOU Alanna! I cannot tell you how much I love my stash of Beet puree – it sure comes in handy!
Hmm…not sure about beet hot chocolate although I know you would never share something that isn’t super tasty!!
I do think that Chick-Fil-A has some of the best customer service around – we don’t go often since it is in the mall and we rarely go to our mall.
You are spot on, Kim – I wouldn’t share it if it wasn’t tasty! When my daughter was younger, I would strain the beet hot chocolate before I poured it into an opaque mug with a lid -see, back then, she didn’t know there were beets in her hot chocolate – now she is cool with it though – what I was trying to say is that when it’s strained, you really don’t taste the beets at all.
I would never have thought to add BEETS to hot chocolate! Such a great idea, and I’m excited to try this recipe. I loved your Chik-Fil-A story too. It makes me want to go there now!
Thanks so much Melanie! And thank you for stopping by
This is SO creative, Shashi! I love that you hid so many beets in this hot chocolate, it looks incredible and the color is so so pretty! Wow, such great customer service too, that was so nice that the manager wrote you back 🙂
Thanks so much Kelly!
Amazing customer service indeed!
I love the combo of beets and chocolate, but never considered it for hot chocolate!? Definitely going to try this Shashi.
As a beet and chocolate connoisseur yourself, I know you will truly understand when I say – I LOVE beets and chocolate! 🙂
Btw, thanks so much Marissa
Hahahahaha! I love you story and I am dieing over how awesome this hot chocolate is! You just made my day 😉
Aww – thanks Rebecca!