My parents live near a Barons Market and they carry fantastic soups. Walk anywhere within a quarter mile of any Barons and people on the street will stop to tell you how good the Barons soups are, especially the clam chowder. (I am only exaggerating a little bit here.) One of our favorites is the white chicken chili and, since we don’t have immediate access to a Barons or unlimited funds, I decided I needed to figure out how to make it. I did some research on their soup as well as several recipes and settled on a winner from Taste of Home, with a few modifications.

I love this recipe. It is easy to throw together (hardly any chopping or dishes!) and it tastes awesome with toppings like sour cream, cilantro, lime and avocado. You could probably even throw some tortilla strips on there and be soup-er happy! (sorrynotsorry) Bonus, the soup is creamy and still gluten free. The mashed beans give it a cozy, chowder-like texture and the chicken cooks nice and tender.

This is one of our family’s favorite dinners now. Apologies for the sub-par photography…my “real” camera’s battery was dead and I had to get a picture of the last available bowl in daylight before anyone ate it. The only reason, in fact, that I haven’t posted the recipe before now is because I could never get a photo in daylight because it always gets eaten up!

White Chicken Chili

 

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White Chicken Chili Author: Jane Maynard This soup offers a little kick of heat, which can be easily adjusted as per the ingredients below

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed (last time I used up to 2 pounds and soup came out great)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (or pushed through a garlic press)
• 32 ounces chicken broth
• 1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles (mild, medium or hot depending on your preference)
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (add up to 1-1/2 teaspoons if you want it spicier)
• 3 14-ounce cans great northern white beans, drained
• ¾ cup fresh chopped cilantro (measurement does not need to be precise, just a nice big handful) + extra for garnish
• 1 lime
• Optional toppings: Shredded cheese, sour cream, fresh lime, fresh cilantro, avocado, thinly sliced radish

Instructions

1. In a large pot, cook chicken and onion over medium heat until lightly browned.
2. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.
3. Stir in the chicken broth, chiles, cumin, oregano and cayenne; bring to a boil then reduce heat to low.
4. Mash 1 can of the white beans with a potato masher or pastry blender until quite smooth. Add mashed and whole beans to the pot. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.
5. Serve as is or with optional toppings listed above!

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Last week I decided to make white chicken chili for the first time, which involved using two ingredients I’ve never worked with before: hominy and poblano chili peppers.

Honestly, I was skeptical of the hominy. Like I said, I had never used it before and when I opened the can, the smell was reminiscent of corn nuts. I can’t stand the smell of corn nuts, by the way, so I was really hoping the soup would turn out! I am happy to report that the soup not only turned out but was very delicious and a big hit with every member of the family. In case you are wondering, it tasted nothing like corn nuts. PHEW! Nate came home from work, looked in the pot and declared that he was certain he was going to love this soup, even before he knew what it was. And he did!

I used the white chicken chili recipe from The America’s Test Kitchen Quick Family Cookbook. So far every recipe I’ve used from that book has been a winner. The recipes have all been delicious and quick! This chicken chili was no exception. This recipe was simple to prepare and was no problem to throw together on a busy weeknight. I will include my various notes on the recipe below!

White Chicken Chili

 

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From The America’s Test Kitchen Quick Family Cookbook, with my notes

Author: Jane Maynard

Recipe type: Main Dish, Poultry

Ingredients

• 1 15-ounce can white or yellow hominy (ATK recommends white because it has a deeper flavor)
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed (Jane note: I used two chicken breasts)
• Salt and Pepper
• 3 poblano chili peppers (Jane note: I only used 1) – de-seed and core the pepper, then chop
• 1 onion, chopped fine (Jane note: I only used ⅓ of a large yellow onion)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 garlic cloves, minced (Jane note: I used my garlic press)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander (Jane note: I didn’t use coriander b/c I didn’t have it in the cupboard and didn’t feel like buying it)
• ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper (Jane note: I used ¼ teaspoon of black pepper because I am out of cayenne, which makes me very sad – I need to rectify that!)
• ½ cup tomatillo salsa or salsa verde
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro (Jane note: I bought flat leaf parsley instead of cilantro, which I didn’t discover until I took it out to start chopping. I was SO bummed because cilantro would taste wonderfully in this soup, but I just went with the parsley because that’s what I had. I am happy to report that the parsley was also very delicious! So, feel free to choose the herb you like better and go with it!)

Instructions

1. Process the hominy with 1 cup broth in blender of food processor until smooth.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Pat chicken dry with paper towels, season with salt & pepper then brown chicken lightly on both sides, about 5 minutes. (If you don’t have a dutch oven, a large pot should work.) Transfer chicken to a plate. Add remaining oil, poblanos and onion to the pot and cook until onions and peppers are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour, garlic, cumin, corinader (if using) and cayenne (or pepper) and cook about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in remaining 3 cups broth, deglazing the bottom of the pan. I used a flat whisk here and it worked very well, but a standard whisk will suffice.
3. Stir in pureed hominy. Add chicken, along with any accumulated juices, and simmer gently over medium-low to medium heat until chicken registers 160 degrees, about 10 minutes. I highly recommend using an instant-read thermometer so that you don’t overcook the chicken – it will be super tender if you cook until 160 degrees. Remove chicken, shred then return to soup. Add salsa, cilantro and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook about 1 minute then serve!

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