Creamy White Chicken Chili
This delicious Weeknight White Chicken Chili will give you the warm fuzzies from the tip of your head down to your toesies
If there ever was a perfect time of year to make a big pot of Creamy White Chicken Chili, it is now! Bring on the country goodness with a steaming bowl of chili from scratch (a comfort food classic). This isn’t a “dump and go slow cooker” recipe, this is a “build incredible flavor into your chile by sauteing a few ingredients, and letting it all simmer on the stove for 30 minutes” kind of recipe. The kind for impatient hungry folks who want their comfort food pronto!
We’ll start building savory flavor by searing well-seasoned boneless, skinless chicken breast in a dutch oven with a little oil. We don’t want to cook it through, we just want the outsides to be golden brown, giving the amazing flavor of browned bits (‘fond’ in french) to the Creamy White Chicken Chili. 99% of the time, when I’m cooking chicken, I use Weber Kickin’ Chicken seasoning. I’m not getting paid to tell you this, I just absolutely love the flavor and the versatility of being able to use this seasoning in almost all my recipes. You should get a bottle. You won’t be sorry :0)
After searing the chicken, remove it to a clean plate and set aside. Throw in a little butter into your pot and add some diced onion. I always sprinkle my diced onion with a pinch of salt to help bring out the natural liquids and flavors of cooking onion. When it just starts to brown, add in garlic, herbs and spices and cook just long enough (only 30 seconds or so) to “bloom” the flavors and make your house smell stinkin’ good!
Dump and go is popular, but you give up flavor for blandness every time.
Next, pour in the chicken broth and scrape up all the little browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. They should come right off with the addition of the liquid and will add such a fabulous depth of flavors to your chili. This is the main reason why I shy away from bland “dump and go” recipes, because they just don’t have the savory richness of something you took time to build flavor into, but I digress. Add in the beans, green chile, corn and the chicken with any accumulated juices. Then cover and simmer for about 30 minutes to blend the flavors together and finish cooking the chicken.
Remove the chicken once it’s done and shred it. Here’s a great hack: Don’t bother shredding meat by hand with two forks. My hands always hurt after doing that! Just use a mixer instead. Throw your chicken, beef, pork, whatever into the mixer and turn it on. It will have your meat shredded in about 20 seconds. Sure beats sore hands!
Stir in all the creamy goodness into your chili, then stir in the shredded chicken. Taste, and add salt/pepper as desired. Commence dinner with a fabulous hot bowl of Creamy White Chicken Chili in your hands. It’s delicious on its own, but is fun to garnish with tortilla strips if you have them (even broken tortilla chips would work too).
Creamy White Chicken Chili
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
This Creamy White Chicken Chili is a recipe winner. Amazing and delicious, it’s savory flavors will warm you to your toes and fill your belly with country goodness, and it only takes about 45 minutes from start to finish.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 teaspoons Weber kickin’ chicken seasoning
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 (7 ounce) can chopped green chile
2 (15 ounce) cans great northern beans, drained
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup half and half
6 ounces of cream cheese, softened
1 cup canned or frozen corn
Instructions
Heat vegetable oil in a large pot or dutch oven set to medium high heat. Pat chicken dry and season with Kickin’ Chicken seasoning on both sides. Place chicken in oil and sear both sides until deep golden brown. Remove from the pot and set aside.
Add 1 tablespoon butter and diced onion to the pot. Cook onion for about 3 minutes or until it starts to brown around the edges. Add garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and cayenne and stir and cook for 30 seconds. Pour in the chicken broth, green chiles, corn and beans. Scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Place the chicken and any juices in the pot also. Bring to a boil and cover, reducing the heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove the chicken and shred it. (I use my handy stand mixer and paddle attachment, it takes 10 seconds!) Stir in the sour cream, half and half, and cream cheese to the pot. Stir in the shredded chicken. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: American
