White Chicken Chili

I've known of the existence of white chicken chili, peripherally, for years, but had no desire to try it myself, whether homemade or otherwise.  See, I'm a big fan of chili, or what I know of as chili, with ground beef, onion, kidney beans, lots of chili powder (I've even made my own), and tomato sauce (which is what would make it not chili to some folks).  "White" chili held no appeal for me; it sounded so... bland and uninteresting.

Boy, was I ever wrong.

White chicken chili, where have you been all my life?!



Maybe I was lucky to find a really great recipe right off, or maybe all white chicken chili is this delicious.  All I know is that now that it's in my life, I'm never letting it go again!  Like regular chili, this version is easy to make, even if it uses different ingredients.  Reading the recipe, I thought the results would be quite spicy, but in fact it's not.  It's fairly mild, actually.  Lovers of spicy food should use more chilies or include the seeds (I didn't), or use more cayenne than the recipe calls for.  I used leftover chicken from a grocery store rotisserie chicken, Trader Joe's chicken broth and Great Northern beans in the chili, and topped it with a Mexican blend of shredded cheese.

This recipe is also very flexible in that it can be made in both a slow cooker (which is what I did) or on the stovetop.  The former takes 6-12 hours; the latter 20 minutes.  Perfect for if you want to come home to a hot meal, or if you decide to make dinner at the last minute.  How great is that?

White Chicken Chili (adapted from Serious Eats)

Ingredients

• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups diced, cooked chicken
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 seeded jalapeño pepper, chopped
• 1 15.25oz can corn, undrained
• 1 15oz can white beans (such as cannelloni or Great Northern), undrained
• 1 4oz can chopped green chilies
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 3/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano or Italian seasoning
• pinch ground cloves
• pinch cayenne pepper
• grated white (or mixed) cheddar cheese

Method

1. Combine everything into a slow cooker and cook on low for 10-12 hours or on high for 5-6 hours.  If cooking on the stovetop, heat the olive oil.  Saute the onion until soft and translucent.  Add all the other ingredients and simmer for about 20 minutes.
2. Spoon chili into bowls and top with as much or as little cheese as desired.