White Chicken Chili
1 medium onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped, optional
2 minced garlic cloves
1 Tbs vegetable oil
4 c. chicken broth
2 cans (15 oz. each) great northern beans, drained and rinsed
OR about a cup dried beans, soaked and cooked (for 3 c. beans)
2 Tbs minced fresh parsley (or dried)
1 Tbs lime juice
1 ¼ tsp ground cumin
2 Tbs corn starch
¼ c. cold water
2 c. cubed cooked chicken
In a large saucepan, cook onion, pepper and garlic in oil until tender. Stir in broth, beans, parsley, lime juice and cumin – bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into chili. Add chicken. Bring to a boil, cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. 6 servings.
Timesaver: This a super quick meal to begin with! Freeze your cooked chicken from making stock in 2-cup portions.
Money-saver: Buy limes on sale (or better yet, reduced produce) and juice them all, freezing in 1 Tbs. portions in ice cube trays. Store in a bag in the freezer, and you can just throw one in the soup and you have fresh lime juice instead of bottled. (But that works too!)
Juicing limes/lemons and freezing the juice is BRILLIANT! …Do you ever zest them and freeze that too? (It just occurred to me now, why waste that either?)
[Reply to this comment]
Katie Reply:
May 26th, 2009 at 12:25 am
I never had a tool for zesting that worked the way it was supposed to until just recently. I’m guessing the zest would freeze just fine though! Great idea!
[Reply to this comment]
Lauren Reply:
February 23rd, 2011 at 6:48 pm
Yes, zest freezes really nicely. Depending how fine it is, you might want to flash freeze on a sheet first so it doesn’t clump. How mean is it that zucchini grows in summer, citrus in winter, walnuts in fall, and zucchini bread is good all year round? THIS is why we have freezers!
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My husband is not a big bean fan, but I can get him to eat norhern beans on occasion. Hoping to try it this week as I am planning on cooking a whole chicken and making more homemade stock. Yummy! This sounds delicious. I will definitely be opting out on the jalapeno though otherwise DD will say, “Mommy it’s spicy!”. Thank you for all the wonderful resources on your blog Katie!
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I just have to tell you that I made my stock over the past couple of days. Last night I made the chicken chili and it was fabulous! My husband even liked it and he doesn’t like beans in his food either, but really didn’t mind the Northern beans. Thank you for the recipe. My daughter loved it also! I will definitely be making this again!
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My husband hates beans, so I blend mine up when I make white chicken chili! It makes it so thick and creamy and he never “sees” the beans!
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