White Chicken Chili

The weather turned cold early around here, and has me thinking about comfort food. Chili is pretty high on my list of cold weather go-to meals, so I was thinking I should make some white chicken chili. Imagine my surprise when I discovered I'd taken the pictures and finally written the recipe last December, but never wrote the blog post or even so much as posted the picture and recipe on Facebook. No time like the present, I guess!

This time around, I used bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. You can use boneless skinless if you prefer, or breast meat, or whole chicken. I prefer the way thighs shred and the flavour that comes out of the skin and bones.

Other ingredients are pretty basic: chicken broth, seasonings, beans, onion, garlic, green chilies, heavy whipping cream, and my personal favourite touch, cream cheese. Also, I'm sure you'll be shocked to read, I left something out of my ingredients picture. For serving, I top each bowl with some Mexican blend shredded cheese. I also apparently left out the packet of Voodoo Bell Pepper seasoning... probably because this was the first time I'd used it so it wasn't on the list in my head when I started.

Step One: Start the chicken boiling in broth in a large soup pot. Boil for about 30-40 minutes, until the chicken is starting to fall off the bone.

Meanwhile, saute the onion and garlic in oil until the onion is almost translucent (add the garlic near the end to avoid burning it).

Add the onion mixture to your pan of chicken and continue boiling until the chicken is starting to fall off the bone. Remove chicken to a work surface to cool. Leave pan on stove over low heat to simmer.

Once the chicken has cooled enough to handle, remove any skin and bones, then shred. You can do this with two forks or your hands, whatever works best for you. I usually start with forks, then progress to my hands as the pieces get smaller.

You know what I just noticed? I did this on the wrong cutting board. I bought the colour-coded type so they don't get cross-contaminated, and that right there is photographic evidence of my putting chicken on the one for vegetables. At least it was cooked!

Add the water, beans, and seasonings to the pan, stirring well to completely incorporate.

Return the chicken to the pan along with the Ro-Tel. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for two hours.

Stir in the heavy cream, then continue simmering, stirring occasionally, an additional 1-2 hours.

Final step! Stir in the cream cheese (which is easier if you cube it first). Continue stirring until it completely melts.

I sort of made a mound of shredded chicken in the bowl so it would show, because it looked like a bowl of thin soup with beans when I first dished it out.

And finally... topped with cheese, ready to go! You can also top with onions (diced white or yellow, or sliced green onion), and/or sour cream if you wish. Serve with crackers or not, depending on what you feel like doing.

This freezes really well, just defrost in the refrigerator and then either microwave or reheat on the stove. If you put it in the microwave frozen, it gets too watery.

White Chicken Chili

Serves 10

4 chicken thighs

32 ounces low sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 cups onion, diced

8 cloves garlic, chopped

32 ounces water

2 (15 ounce) cans Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained

1 lime, juice only (about 3 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon sage

2 teaspoons red pepper flakes (I used Voodoo Bell Pepper blend from Spice Merchants)

1 (10 ounce) Ro-Tel, don't drain

2 (4 ounce) green chilies, don't drain

1 pint heavy cream

8 ounces cream cheese

4 ounces Mexican blend shredded cheese

Boil thighs in broth 30-40 minutes in a large pot, until starting to fall off the bone.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet. Saute onion about 5 minutes until starting to get translucent, then add garlic and saute an additional 1-2 minutes. Add onion mixture to pot with chicken.

When chicken is done, remove to a work surface to cool, leaving the pot over medium-low heat to simmer. Add water, beans, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, sage, white pepper, and red pepper flakes to pan, stirring well.

Remove any skin and bones from the chicken and shred using two forks or your fingers. Return chicken to pan along with Ro-Tel and green chilies. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for two hours.

Stir the heavy cream into the pot and continue simmering over medium-low heat, covered, for 1-2 hours.

Cube the cream cheese and add it to the pan. Cook, stirring almost constantly, until the cream cheese is completely melted.

Spoon into bowls and top with about a tablespoon shredded cheese to serve. If desired, you can also top with diced white or yellow onion, sliced green onion, and/or sour cream.

Serving Size: 395g

Calories: 645

Calories from Fat: 274

Total Fat: 30.5g

Saturated Fat: 16.6g

Trans Fat: 0.0g

Cholesterol: 119mg

Sodium: 556mg

Total Carbohydrates: 63.9g

Dietary Fiber: 20.8g

Sugars: 11.5g

Protein: 33.6g