White Chicken Chili
A wonderfully creamy, hearty, chicken-based relative of the classic chili con carne.
Servings: 4 people
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
1 Estate of JRR Tolkien please don’t sue me