Using chicken instead of beef, white chili is a healthier, southwestern version of the beefy, red chili so popular in the Midwest. With cannellini beans, roasted green chiles, and lots of fresh bay leaves and oregano, this chili tastes even better topped with plenty of fresh jalapenos, green onions, fresh cilantro, and sour cream. Try more unusual garnishes like black olives, cheddar cheese, or cracked corn chips to make your second bowl taste new all over again.
What You Will Need:
Tools:
- cutting board
- large pot
- sharp knife
- vegetable peeler
Ingredients:
- 1.5 lbs. cannellini beans
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 3 celery ribs, diced
- 2 sprigs of fresh oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 4Â 14 oz. cans low sodium chicken stock
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups roasted green chiles*
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 jalapenos, thinly sliced
- 3 cups roasted chicken, shredded
- 2 tsp. cumin
- 1 tbsp. salt or more to taste
- 1 tsp. black pepper
Garnishes:
- fresh cilantro
- green onion
- jalapeno, thinly sliced
- black olives, diced
- shredded cheddar cheese
- sour cream
- lime wedges
- broken tortilla chips
- avocado, diced
* Roasted green chiles can be hard to find if you live outside the Southwest. Frozen, roasted green chiles, like the ones we use below, can be found in specialty food stores and some larger grocery stores. If you can’t find any frozen, roasted green chiles, you could always roast your own. If you want to go this route, we suggest using a mixture of poblano and anaheim chile peppers. For two cups of chopped, roasted chiles, you will probably need about 8 large chile peppers.
Steps:
One of the hardest things about this recipe is remembering to start it the night before you want to serve the chili. The cannellini beans need to soak for at least twelve hours so that they will be soft enough to cook up along with the onions, carrots, and celery. So, the night before you want to make your chili, rinse the cannellini beans and place them in a large bowl. Then, cover beans in water and let sit over night.
Once the beans have soaked, drain them in a collander and set them aside. Then, gather the rest of your ingredients.
Add 1 tbsp. of olive oil to a large pot and place over medium-high heat. Peel and dice one onion and two carrots and chop three celery ribs. Add onion, carrots, and celery to the pot and cook for five minutes or until softened.
Once the onion, carrot, and celery has softened, add the beans, two sprigs of oregano, two bay leaves, four cans of chicken stock, and two cups of water to the pot. Cover and let cook for one hour over medium-high heat or until beans are al dente.
Once beans are soft, remove bay leaves and oregano stems. Add roasted green chiles, fresh jalapenos, garlic, and chicken to the pot. Add cumin, salt, and pepper. Turn heat down to low and simmer for thirty minutes.
In the meantime, prepare your garnishes. We like jalapeno, fresh cilantro, green onion, black olives, sour cream, and sharp cheedar, but you could also use cracked tortilla chips or diced avocado. Whatever garnishes you use, don’t forget to serve the soup with a lime wedge on the side!
Once soup has finished simmering, taste for seasoning. Add more cumin, salt, and pepper to taste. Garnish and serve. There’s simply no better, healthier way to stay warm on a cold winter’s night.
