White Chicken Chili
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 
This is one of those go-to dinners that you can pretty much always throw together: frozen chicken breasts, canned beans, broth, jar of salsa--although fresh is better than jarred. Fresh from the store, I mean, like from the produce section. If you’re making homemade salsa, that’s fantastic, but you’re in a different gear, certainly, than white chicken chili gear. By all means, make homemade salsa. But then definitely don’t dump it in the chili. It would be both show-offy and sort of useless, like putting on makeup before bed.
This is what you make on cold, weary nights, nights when you are so worn through and chilled to the bone that the only thing that will cure you is something thick, spicy, and eaten with a spoon.
A couple great things about this soup: first, it’s gluten-free and dairy-free, things that are very important in our house. This is a good one to bring to friends who just had a baby—warm, easy, comforting. Bring a big container of the chili, and then in another bag, the chips, salsa, cheese, avocado, etc.
And this is a perfect Sunday afternoon football meal—great with beer, big piles of chips. For crowds, I like serving traditional beef chili and this one, too—two big bubbling pots on the stove, counter full of bowls of toppings for both.
This is an endlessly versatile recipe, like all my favorite recipes are. You can add a can of corn or even corn with peppers. You can use tomatillo salsa, if you’d like, and a can of diced green chilis, and then it’s Chicken Chili Verde, which is lovely for a change. You could add a can of black beans, if you’d like, for a little color, and for their mineral-y, almost chocolate-y flavor. To make it even one step easier, you can use a rotisserie chicken, skin removed and meat shredded.
I wouldn’t add kidney beans, because that would make it too much like a plain old chili, and because, to be honest with you, I don’t like kidney beans. There really aren’t too many things I just don’t like, but kidney beans are one. For the record: I also don’t love ham, cinnamon or white chocolate. But I digress...back to the chili at hand.
White Chicken Chili for 6
1-1.5 pounds chicken: breasts, tenders, or boneless skinless thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces. Cook in a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.
Add one container of salsa, preferably fresh. Or green salsa, as we discussed above.
Cook until chicken is almost cooked through, about five minutes.
Drain all 4 cans of beans. Add 2 cans as they are, and mash 2 cans with a fork or the back of a wooden spoon, then add them.
Add four cups of broth.
Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
Simmer for at least 30 minutes, but, really, the longer the better.
Serve with cilantro, wedges of lime, sliced avocado, shredded cheese, chips, sour cream, and salsa. I will warn you, however, that sometimes what began as a thoroughly virtuous soup becomes a very large meal consisting mainly of cheese & chips with a very occasional bite of soup. Or at least that's what I've heard.
Reader Comments (6)
Thanks for sharing it.
~Carrie