White Bean Chicken Chili

 

The crock pot is awaiting its fall unveiling.  We’re planning to go apple picking over the long holiday weekend so the inaugural slow cooked dish will be Mom’s celebrated Apple Butter.

But, I still found a way to make some warm, hearty comfort food to combat the cooler weather and my kids’ adjustment to the long draining school days.

White Bean Chicken Chili is a welcomed alternative to its better-known sibling, Beef Chili.  The biggest difference, it tastes much lighter and seems healthier.  My family tends to err on the side of eating too much red meat so, I was thrilled to use white meat rotisserie chicken as the base meat alongside cannellini bean mixture.

My kids were quite skeptical when I informed them, ten minutes before dinner, they’d be eating White Bean Chili.  The chicken omission was almost a game-changer.  The minute I reassured them that it’s a chicken dish and they’d get to sprinkle lots of shredded Monterey Jack cheese on top along with blue corn chips, they were sold – and so was I!

In fact, they were so excited to crush blue corn chips they completely forgot to complain about cannellini beans.  My kids have never eaten cannellini beans, nor do they eat regular beans.  And, anything kidney-shaped usually makes their stomach turn.

But, the mixture of the beans and the chicken shreds and the broth and the garlic and the onions and the cheese and THE CHIPS create a mild yet hearty dinnertime dish.

I kept this first batch relatively mild- no jalapeno peppers, no chillies,  lime juice, no hot sauce.  Yet, I did add in some half and half to cream up the base.

This dish is so simple to prepare, it’s ideal for weeknight or weekend dinners.

Next time, I’ve been committed by my 10-year old to make the White Bean Chicken Chili in a hollowed out bread bowl.

See what happens when I experiment with new dishes?

The bar always gets raised…

Enjoy.

Comments

  1. Wow! That’s mouthwatering. Making me feel hungry. 😀

  2. Sounds delicious and something that my picky eater just may eat.

  3. I made this tonight and my family loved it. My oldest child doesn’t eat chicken, so we told him it was deli turkey and he ate it. I added carrots and shredded a whole zucchini in the vitamix first. I didn’t have the corn. The baby even ate it. Kudos!

Trackbacks

  1. […] Thankfully, our freezer is not only filled with lots of yummy leftovers from tonight but Chicken Gumbo, and White Bean Chili too! […]

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