Creamy Beany White Chicken Chili
I’ve been making chili a lot recently.
My partner loves chili in all forms and it’s easy enough to throw together for a weeknight dinner. I also find it a great way to get in vegetables, as the savouriness of the meat and beans masks their presence. This makes it harder for my partner to detect just how many celery stalks I’ve added.
All in all, chili is a heavy hitter and a fan favourite around here.
Unfortunately, this has led to a marked increase in the…gassiness of our household. Things took a turn for the worse when I was developing this recipe, and banged out pot after pot of slightly varied chilis to test on my family.
I may have found a solution to our problem while scrolling on the internet’s most trusted advisor, the “Comments” section of a Reddit post.
More on this in “Epilogue,” below.
But before I get into the solution, let me explain what makes white chicken chili special.
Table of Contents
1. What is White Chicken Chili?
White chicken chili, also known as chicken chili or white chili, is a creamy, chicken-based variation of chili con carne (classic chili).
White chicken chili differs from regular chili in a few key ways:
- It’s made with light-coloured beans, like navy or pinto beans, instead of red kidney beans. This gives the chili its signature creamy, white hue;
- It uses fresh, green peppers, instead of smoked and dried peppers; and
- It uses chicken instead of beef.
The origins of white chili are murky, but it likely emerged in the American Southwest. We may never know for sure who to thank for the creation of this creamy, chicken-based cousin of classic chili. Regardless, wherever white chili originated, this recipe (and the resulting toots) is dedicated to you.
2. Equipment & Ingredients
Ingredients (full list below)
Equipment
- Pressure cooker (optional)
- Heavy-bottomed pot
- Immersion blender or regular blender
3. Keys to this Recipe
- Use bacon as your umami bomb. The chicken in white chili is leaner and less savoury than beef. This recipe uses bacon to boost the umami factor of the chili!
- Start with dried beans and blend well. Dried beans you cook yourself will taste much better than beans straight from a can. Blending your beans gives your chili a satisfying creaminess, without using any dairy. Two of my oldest friends got my partner and I an Instant Pot as a housewarming present when we first moved into our house. Among its many talents is the ability to bring down a bean’s 10-hour soak + cook time to a flat half-hour. I only use the Instant Pot to cook beans now, and think about them every time I do.
- Embrace chipotle’s smoky depth. This recipe still uses chipotle, a staple in chili con carne, for its smoky depth and subtle heat. This does make the chili darker than you’d expect from a white chili. If desired, you can skip the chipotle to preserve the chili’s lighter colour.
4. Step-By-Step Guide
STEP 1: Prepare your beans.
I prefer to cook beans when I can because I find the flavour of freshly cooked beans more, well, bean-y. But sometimes, life gets busy, and we gotta do what we gotta do. Here are 10-hour, 30-minute, and 20-second methods of getting your bean on.
10-Hour Method with Pot and Stove: Cover beans with water by 3 inches in large bowl. Soak for at least 8 hours (and up to 24 hours). Pour beans and water in a large pot, and replenish water until it’s 3 inches above beans. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours (adding water as needed to keep beans submerged), or until beans are completely tender.
30-Minute Method with Pressure Cooker: Add beans to pressure cooker and cover with water by 3 inches. Cook on “high” for 30 minutes, or until beans are completely tender.
20-Second Method with Canned Beans: Bust out that can opener, crank open a can of beans, and drain the liquid.
Take a spoon and sample some beans. Mmm…
STEP 2: Roast your peppers.
Line a baking pan with aluminum foil. Rub 2 tablespoons of oil all over your fresh peppers (jalapeno, cubanelle, poblano, and/or anaheim) and spread out across foil.
Set your oven to broil. Broil peppers for 2-3 minutes, or until their outsides are charred. Flip peppers, and let other side char for 2-3 minutes.
Note: If you’re lucky enough to have a fancy gas range (at the time of writing, I am not), you can also use a flame from one of your burners in a similar fashion to roast your peppers.
Once peppers are roasted, put them in a sealed container and let them steam for 10 minutes. This will help make them easier to peel. After 10 minutes, peel peppers, halve them, and discard their seeds. Roughly chop the peppers into ¼ inch pieces.
STEP 3: Render bacon fat.
Heat heavy-bottom pot, like a dutch oven, on medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of oil and the chopped bacon. Saute bacon until fat is rendered, and the bacon is crispy – around 5 minutes. Scoop the bacon into a bowl. Set aside. Keep the rendered fat in the pot.
STEP 4: Saute the aromatics.
Add ground cumin and coriander and finely chopped chipotle to pot, and fry, or “bloom,” in the bacon fat for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Careful to not overcook and turn them bitter.
Add chopped onion and garlic and saute until the onion is soft and golden – around 5 minutes.
STEP 5: Build stew and simmer.
Add the roasted and chopped peppers, bacon bits, stock, and chicken thighs. Bring everything to a boil, then turn heat down to simmer for 30 minutes.
STEP 6: Shred chicken and blend beans.
Once chicken thighs are fully cooked (i.e. have an internal temperature of 165), remove thighs from pot and use two forks to shred into bite-sized pieces.
Blend ½ of your cooked pinto beans, either using an immersion blender or a regular blender. If you don’t have a blender, use a potato masher/the backside of a flat spoon.
Sneak in a few more spoonfuls of beans before putting them into the chili.
STEP 7: The Return of the (Chic)-King.*
Return shredded chicken to pot. Add corn and both mushed and intact pinto beans.
Simmer for 5 more minutes.
*Estate of JRR Tolkien please don’t sue me.
STEP 8: Garnish and Serve
Ladle into bowls and squeeze lime juice on top. The sourness of the lime juice helps the other flavours in this chili really “pop”!
Garnish with your choice of lime wedges, cilantro, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and scallions. Serve immediately. Sip and say “ahhh!”
5. Recipe Card
White Chicken Chili
Equipment
- Pressure cooker optional
- Heavy-bottomed pot
- Blender
Ingredients
- 1 lb pinto beans or white beans, e.g. navy, Great Northern, or cannellini
- 2-3 each jalapenos, poblano, anaheim, and cubanelle peppers from most to least spicy
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil divided
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 8 strips thick-cut bacon diced into 1/4 pieces
- 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds ground
- 1/2 tbsp cumin ground
- 1 chipotle finely chopped
- 3 cups chicken stock preferably homemade
- 1 cup corn
- garnishes: cilantro, cheddar cheese, sour cream, scallions optional
Instructions
Prepare your beans
- 10-Hour Pot Method: In large bowl, add pinto beans and cover with water by 3 inches. Soak for 8 to 24 hours. Transfer to large pot. Replenish water until it’s 3 inches above beans. Bring pot to a boil, then simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours or until completely tender. 30-Minute Pressure Cooker Method: Put beans in pressure cooker and cover with water by 3 inches. Cook on high for 30 minutes, or until completely tender. 20-Second Can Method: Open canned beans. Drain liquid.
Make the chili
- Roast the peppers. Line baking pan with aluminum foil. Rub 2 tbsp oil on all your jalapeno, poblano, anaheim, and/or cubanelle peppers. Spread peppers across foil. In oven set to BROIL, roast peppers for 4-6 minutes, flipping once, until the skins on all sides are charred. Put peppers in a sealed container for 10 minutes to steam. Peel peppers, halve, deseed, and chop into ¼ inch pieces.
- Saute bacon and render fat. Heat a heavy-bottomed pot on medium heat. Add 2 tbsp oil and chopped bacon. Saute to render bacon fat - around 5 minutes. When bacon is crispy, remove and set aside. Keep rendered oil in pot.
- Saute aromatics. Add cumin, coriander, and finely chopped chipotle to the pot. Fry (bloom) them for 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add onion and garlic and saute until the onion is soft and gold - around 5 minutes.
- Build stew and simmer. Add chopped peppers, bacon bits, stock, and chicken thighs to pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Shred chicken and blend beans. Chicken: Once chicken thighs are fully cooked, remove from pot and use two forks to shred into bite-sized pieces. Beans: Blend ½ of the cooked beans.
- The Return of the (chic)-King.1 Return to pot the shredded chicken, blended beans, and intact beans. Add corn. Simmer for 5 minutes.
- Garnish and Serve. Ladle chili into bowls and squeeze lime juice on top of chili. Optional: garnish with lime wedges, cilantro, cheddar cheese, sour cream, and/or scallions. Serve immediately. Sip and say “ahhh!”
Notes
For those of you whose bodies, like ours, find it hard to keep up with their love of chili, has Reddit user chairfairy got the solution for you!
Apparently the antidote to getting gassy from beans is to eat more beans! This solution is backed by science: Reddit user chairfairy cited a 2011 study published in Nutrition Journal that found that while increased bean consumption initially correlated with increased flatulence, but that the tooting lessened as participants continued their bean-heavy diets. This supports the belief that “the body will adjust to the added fibre if regular legume consumption continues.”
We’ve yet to test the effectiveness of this study, but I’m guessing it’s one of those things where you must weather the storm before you can see a rainbow.