White Chicken Chili
This White Chicken Chili is hearty, warming, creamy and perfectly comforting. It's a great alternative to traditional beef chili and makes a simple, yet completely delicious dinner! Makes about 8 cups.
Servings: 6 servings
Equipment
- Food processor (I use and recommend Cuisinart's food processors).
Ingredients
- 1 small yellow onion , diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic , finely minced
- 2 (14.5 oz) cans low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 (7 oz) can diced green chilies
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- salt and freshly ground black pepper , to taste
- 1 (8 oz) pkg Neufchatel cheese* (aka light cream cheese), cut into small cubes
- 1 1/4 cup frozen or fresh corn
- 2 (15 oz) cans cannellini beans
- 2 1/2 cups shredded cooked rotisserie or left-over chicken*
- 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for serving
- Tortilla chips or strips, monterrey jack cheese, sliced avocado for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute 4 minutes minutes. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds longer.
- Add chicken broth, green chilies, cumin, paprika, oregano, coriander, cayenne pepper and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring mixture just to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 15 minutes.
- Drain and rinse beans in a fine mesh strainer or colander then measure out 1 cup. Set whole beans aside, transfer 1 cup beans to a food processor along with 1/4 cup broth from soup, puree until nearly smooth.**
- Add Neufchatel cheese to soup along with corn, whole beans and pureed beans and stir well. Simmer 5 - 10 minutes longer.
- Stir in chicken, fresh lime juice and cilantro. Serve with Monterrey Jack cheese, more cilantro, avocado slices and tortilla chips if desired.
Notes
*I've made this several times with regular cream cheese using just 7 oz. Just soften the cream cheese slightly and pulse it with the beans in the food processor until smooth.
**If you don't own a food processor you can skip the pureeing step, soup just won't be quite as creamy.
The chili can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months.