Creamy white chicken chili, on the healthier side! This recipe just isn’t the same without any cheese (I tried), but the trick is to blend some of the beans and broth, which gives this chili it’s oh-so-creamy texture. A little cream cheese and grated old cheddar make it come alive. It’s irresistible. My dirty secret – a crumple some “Hint of Lime” tortilla chips on top before every bowl I eat, for a little flavourful crunch in each bite.
Have you ever had white chicken chili?! The first time I saw a recipe for it, I was pretty confused. I couldn’t really imagine how classic chili would taste as a creamy white version of itself. I followed a recipe for it, and was surprised to find it actually tastes Mexican-inspired, like the yummiest taco in a bowl. I was also hooked. I love Mexican! Since I was hooked, I tried many different recipes week after week to find my favourite. Buuuut a lot of them were loaded with way too much cheese to reasonably call this a healthy lunch. Recipe creators also have several different ideas of what spices to add. So was born my very own recipe!I learned long ago that there are two tricks to turning a recipe that involves a ton of cream or cheese into something healthier. Option 1 – a white roux. That’s a different story, you can google it (but essentially, it’s butter and flour melted and toasted together, and then milk whisked in, which creates a thick white sauce). Option 2, which works really well for soups – blend some of the sauce with potato, or in this case white beans, then add it back to the other ingredients.
I went with option 2 here! I included my favourite combination of spices to flavour this White Chicken Chili. You make the base soup by chopping and cooking all the veggies and spices together, adding healthy broth, corn and beans. Then you blend half of it, and add it back to the pot. Voila, creamy! Add in your shredded chicken, and just a bit of cream cheese and grated old cheddar to make it irresistibly drool worthy. Then serve it up! I mentioned above – my dirty secret is to buy a bag of those “Hint of Lime” Tostitos, and crumple some of them on top of each bowl of hot chili I serve myself. It adds such yummy flavourful crunch to each bite.
Other healthy things about this recipe -
This is awesome recovery food for lunch after a morning workout! I looove to come in after a day of training in chilly Canadian winter, and cozy up with a bowl of nourishing and filling chili. The chicken breast and beans in this recipe are great sources of lean protein. White beans are one of the healthiest beans. They provide lots of fibre, can help stabilize blood glucose levels, are packed with disease-fighting antioxidants, and have anti-inflammatory properties. Plus, there’s a healthy serving of various greens in here, so you get some of your veggie content.
Note: If you watch my Instagram stories about making this White Chicken Chili, I doubled the recipe because we had my niece and nephew staying, so I wanted to make lots of food for the whole family. Also, my nephew is not a fan of spice, so I omitted the jalapeno and cayenne. I like it much better with all the ingredients added, but the whole family was still a big fan. My sister-in-law has been waiting for me to post this recipe, so here you go, Allie!
Creamy White Chicken Chili, on the healthier side
Servings: 4 generous portions
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS
You’ll notice the ingredients aren’t exact. I didn’t weigh them or measure them in cups, because it’s really not rocket science… as long as you add lots of bones, any additional veggies and herbs you add will just add additional flavour and nutrients. I’ve also made this with mushrooms I needed to use up, cinnamon sticks, and all sorts of variations on spices. It’s always come out great… just don’t forget the tip above to avoid adding too much additional “stuff.”
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion
3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
1 large green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded if desired to make less spicy, and finely chopped (I omitted because my nephew doesn’t like spicy)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp cayenne pepper, optional. If you like spice
½ tsp chili powder
3 cups chicken broth
1lb boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs
2 ounces cream cheese
1 cup fresh, canned or frozen corn
2 19oz/540ml cans white beans (I use Navy beans, you can use cannellini), drained
1 cup Salsa Verde
1 cup/80g grated cheddar cheese
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped, plus more for topping
Optional toppings: avocado, cheddar cheese, sour cream, lime, tortilla chips (I use hint of lime)
DIRECTIONS
Start by chopping your onion and green pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over high heat, and once it’s hot, add the onion and pepper to the pot. Turn the heat down to medium. Let this cook, stirring occasionally. While you wait, chop your garlic, finely chop your jalapeno, and measure out your spices.
Once the onion has cooked for about 5 minutes and turns translucent, add your garlic, jalapeno and spices to the pot. Stir them every 30 seconds or so, for a few minutes, until the spices start to smell fragrant and toasted. Pour in your chicken broth, and turn the heat up to bring things to a boil. Add your chicken breasts to the pot, whole, and make sure they’re covered in liquid. Turn the heat to low and let this simmer for 20 minutes, until the chicken breasts are cooked.
While you wait, prep your next ingredients. Measure out your corn, cream cheese, salsa Verde and strain your beans. Grate your cheese, chop your cilantro, and prep any other toppings you want.
Once the chicken breasts are cooked, remove them with a fork or set of tongs on to a plate. Use two forks to shred the meat; it should come apart easily. Leave the shredded chicken set aside for now.
To the pot, add your corn and one can of the beans. Add the other can of beans to a blender or food processor, along with the cream cheese. Ladle in enough of the soup mix to cover the beans, and blend until smooth. Pour this back in to the soup mix. This step makes the chili nice and creamy!
Add your chicken back to the pot, along with the grated cheese and salsa Verde. Stir until the cheese is melted, then add your juiced lime and cilantro to the chili to finish things off. Add more chicken broth if you find it needs more liquid. Season with salt and pepper to taste – you may find this needs salt.
Serve it up! My favourite way to top off my bowl is by crunching up some “Hint of Lime” tortilla chips on top, with a dollop of sour cream and cilantro – mmmm! Enjoy!
