Crisp autumn evenings are perfect for a big bowl of chili. It is nice to shake things up though, so instead of a traditional tomato based chili I recently started making white chili. Someone mentioned it once at a PTO meeting and I thought DUH, why haven’t I ever made that before?!
This is the perfect meal for me. The beans are high fiber and protein. Unlike regular chili there are no tomato products so less heartburn. Yeah!! Not only is it one of my new favorites, but the kiddos like it too. Most recently it was our packed dinner for the gym on a swim night.
I prefer to use dried beans for several reasons. First, they take up less space in my pantry. A pound of dried beans is much smaller than multiple cans of beans. Dried beans also look prettier in glass jars versus in a can. Plus I like the idea of knowing there is nothing added to the beans like salt or preservatives. If this isn’t your thing, go ahead and use 3-4 cans of beans.
As with every other soup I make, I rarely make it the same every time. This is the framework, by all means change things up to suit your mood and taste. I’ve used many methods to thickening soups, this time I chose cream cheese. You could also use a can of refried beans, heavy cream, sour cream or Greek yogurt. You can also remove a third of the beans once they are cooked and purée them with an immersion blender and add it back in.
There are also many spice levels. Feel free to throw in a jalapeño or other hot pepper. I didn’t this time as two of the boys were still traumatized from a run in with the garden peppers over the weekend! Cook up a pot and warm yourself up from the inside.
White Chicken Chili
1 lb. dried navy beans
2 c. shredded chicken
1 1/2 c. frozen corn
4 oz. can diced green chiles
4 c. chicken stock
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. chipotle powder
Salt to taste
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
Garnish ideas: Tortilla strips, shredded cheese, lime slice, avocado slice, cilantro, sour cream
Place the beans in a large bowl with eight cups water and soak overnight. Drain the beans and put in a large pot with six cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for one hour.
Add everything but the cream cheese. Cover and continue to simmer for thirty minutes. Add the cream cheese, simmer uncovered, stirring frequently until cheese is melted.
Pour into bowls and garnish as desired.
Yields 10 servings
Feeding My 3 Sons 
That looks delicious Gretchen, I love this soup. Chili’s use to have this on their menu and I would get it all the time. I printed your recipe and plan to give it a try! 🙂
Thanks Michael! It is definitely my new favorite. I love to make it different each time depending on what I have in the house.
I love your new header…what an innovative way of feeding the three handsome boys. I never thought of white chilli, but you’ve given me an idea too. I would like to use the big fat butter beans and some nice thick coconut cream, instead. Have a lovely week!
Coconut cream would be fantastic too as would butter beans. We had fun taking pictures for the new header, the hardest part was keeping them from biting the cookies until I was ready!
Omg I didn’t realize those were cookies. That is an even smarter idea. I love the header!
Yumm!! It’s definitely soup / chili season and this looks sooo delicious and comforting!
I am thoroughly enjoying soup weather! We have two soups and a stew leftover right now! Enjoy the weekend.
Nice! Absolutely the dried beans. I like your reasons–for me it’s all about wanting to do as much as I can myself. Lol your boys wanted to eat the cookies. So cute–and love those missing teeth.
Funny you mention the missing teeth😃. The oldest another tooth the next day and now has a big whole top to bottom! Also had family pictures same day I took the cookie pictures which turned out to be exceplent timing. Seems Jack is getting braces next Monday. He is only 7!
I love this recipe Gretchen, I would so make this…YUMMY!!!! 🙂
Thank you for posting!!
Thanks Amy. It was very tasty. Why didn’t I start making it years ago?!
It looks delicious! And your header’s cute – what a great idea 🙂
Thanks! We had fun taking pictures for the new header. It was tricky keeping the boys from eating the cookies before I was ready! The cookies actually had the words stamped in them which was neat but it just didn’t show that well when the picture is small. Another project, another post.
Your white chicken chili looks perfect for these cool November evenings. I can almost taste it! And yes I can definitely relate. Some our kiddos don’t like their meals too spicy, even though I wouldn’t mind 🙂
The middle son loves spicy, but the other two not so much. We just add extra hot sauce or seasoning once we serve. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your weekend!
I’ve pinned this one, looks yummy and very much a “comfort” dinner. Thanks.
Thank you! It is wonderful when the nights are chilly and you need to warm up from the inside.
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