Warning: this week’s Best Ever Chicken White Chili recipe is really good!
Snow days are great because you get to stay home and have some warm meals, which is no different from any other day for me, except there’s snow, and I like that.
I love cooking with spices, and you will often see there are many in my recipes. I always have a lot on hand, and I recommend you do the same. Some get pricey, but they last a while and can significantly change the flavor of a dish. For chilies, I love using different chili powders, cumin and coriander. I also love hot sauce. I like everything hot and spicy.
While researching chicken white chilies, I noticed that many add milk or cream to thicken since you are missing the thickener tomatoes usually provide. Rather than do that, I decided I would use my immersion blender to accomplish this, and it worked perfectly.
If you don’t recall my warning from the beginning, let me reiterate: this Chicken White Chili was really good. I don’t want to say better than my mom’s, but it’s so different it’s hard to compare.
Chicken White Chili was incredibly flavorful, too, but not overly spicy to the point that I needed to drink milk the whole time. It wasn’t too heavy either, even with an essential dollop of sour cream.
Once you go white, you’ll think red chili is merely “just alright”. Where has white chili been all our lives? It’s time we make a change. Just make this Chicken White Chili and find out for yourself what you’ve been missing out on.
Best Ever Chicken White Chili
Ingredients
2 slices chicken breast - poached and minced
1 sprig thyme
1 sprig rosemary
1 medium lemon - halved
1 medium yellow onion - chopped
2 cloves garlic - chopped
2 medium poblano pepper - roasted and chopped
1 stalk celery - chopped
1 medium jalapeño - finely chopped, seeds removed
40 ounces chicken stock (chicken broth or chicken bouillon)
1 can white beans - drained and rinsed, small can- 1 can hominy - 15.5-ounce can, drained and rinsed
1 can green chilis (green chilli in British English) - with liquid, 4.5-ounce can
1 tablespoon chili flakes (chilli flakes in British English)
1 tablespoon chili powder (chilli powder in British English)
1 pinch ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon cilantro (coriander)- 1 teaspoon Goya adobo
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons hot sauce
2 tablespoons all purpose flour (plain flour Australia and UK)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil- 1 handful cilantro (coriander) - chopped for topping, optional
1 dollop sour cream - for topping, optional
1 handful cheddar cheese - shredded for topping, optional
1 medium lime juice - juiced of for topping, optional
1 pinch salt - add more to taste
1 pinch ground black pepper - add more to taste
Instructions
Prep Work:
- Poach chicken – add chicken thyme, rosemary and lemon to a large pot. Cover with water and cook for about 10-15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Let cool and shred.
- Roast poblano peppers. Put peppers on the stove over medium-low fire, charring each side until it is blackened, about 10-15 minutes. Let cool, and then remove skin and chop.
- Chop veggies – celery, onion, and garlic
Steps:
- In a Dutch oven, heat vegetable oil over medium heat and add onion, celery, and jalapeño. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the vegetables soften, about 10 minutes. Lower the heat slightly.
- Add spices (ancho chili powder, chili powder, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, Goya adobo, and garlic powder), green chiles, chopped poblano, garlic, and flour. Cook for 2 minutes. The mixture will resemble a chunky paste at this point.
- Add chicken broth, beans, hominy, and shredded chicken. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Taste for seasonings and lower to a simmer.
- *At this point, I used an immersion blender to thicken the soup. I gave the blender 3-4 good pulses. If you do not have one, you can transfer some of the soup to the blender. You do not want it smooth, just slightly blended. Let cook for another half hour or longer on low.
- Serve with optional toppings – avocado, sour cream, cheddar cheese, cilantro, and lime (feel free to adjust these based on your preference).
Notes
This dish would be a great leftover. It is the perfect warming meal for a cold winter night. Enjoy!
