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!
- 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
- In a large pot, cook chicken and onion over medium heat until lightly browned.
- Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.
- Stir in the chicken broth, chiles, cumin, oregano and cayenne; bring to a boil then reduce heat to low.
- 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.
- Serve as is or with optional toppings listed above!