White Bean Chicken Chili

Many of you know my love for cold weather/chili days…oh, I haven’t mentioned it in the last month?  Well, yah, I REALLY love chili on a cold day!  And throw in the Superbowl and I’m all over it!  Who are you rooting for??

It’s weird, but I’ve never really been drawn to white chili for some reason.  I don’t know why?  I mean, I like chicken…I like beans…I like veggies…but for some reason when I think “chili”, I think beef.

So, in branching out with my taste buds, I thought I’d try to make a chicken version of my beloved.  I have to be honest, when I was putting this together, I was a little skeptical about Hubby liking it.  Although there aren’t a ton of veggies (he’s NOT a fan), when it was coming together, I thought, “Oh, boy…I’m gonna have to sell this one for sure…”  But guess what?  He not only liked it; he REALLY liked it!  And I have to say, hands down the best white chili I have ever had.  I’M definitely a fan.

I made this on a cold, rainy Saturday (did I mention??...) and I love puttering around in my kitchen so I cooked it in my Dutch oven.  However, this is absolutely a slow cooker meal and can be thrown together in the morning and slow simmered all day.  AND, since it’s so easy and plentiful and DELICIOUS, it’s definitely a crowd pleaser, so serve it up for the big game!!

Ingredients

·         10 oz cooked chicken breast, chopped

·         2 cans white navy beans

·         1 ½ T extra virgin olive oil (you can omit this if using slow cooker)

·         ½ jalapeno pepper, roasted, chopped (I char mine on my gas stovetop, but you can broil in your oven just as easily)

·         1 poblano pepper, roasted, chopped

·         ½ medium red pepper, chopped

·         ½ medium onion, chopped

·         3 garlic cloves, minced

·         1 teaspoons chili powder

·         ½ teaspoon ground cumin

·         ½ teaspoon dried oregano

·         Cayenne pepper, to taste

·         2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

·         3oz of beer

·         Juice of 2 limes

·         1 can (14.5 ounces) low-sodium diced tomatoes

·         ½ cup frozen corn

·         ¼ cup parsley, chopped

·         Salt & Pepper, to taste

·         Optional items:  shredded cheese, sour cream, jalapenos, etc….

Preparation:

**Note:  if you’re making this in the slow cooker, after rinsing the beans and mashing one can (step 1), skip the remaining steps and just pop everything in the slow cooker and simmer on low for 6 hours.

Drain and rinse beans, mashing one can in a separate bowl**.  Set all beans aside.

Heat oil in Dutch oven, add peppers, onions and garlic and season with salt & pepper.

Sauté until soft and fragrant about 5 minutes.

Add spices and sauté for 1 minute.

Add chicken broth, beer, and lime juice.

Add beans, tomatoes and corn, and simmer for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, stir in the chicken and parsley and mix.  Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

I served ours with this great low fat cornbread muffin; find the recipe here:  Cornbread Muffin - Allrecipes (I reduced the sugar to 3T)

SO GOOD!!

Nutrition:

Serves 6

Calories 242 / Carbs 30g / Fat 6g / Protein 21g / Fiber 10g / Sodium 1162mg