Spicy White Bean Chicken Chili Is the Best Winter Dinner
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If you’ve ever had a late-winter head cold so bad that your teeth hurt, you know chicken soup doesn’t cut it. Go for soup when you want something brothy and light, but when you have sinus pressure and a ravenous appetite, consider chili instead. This white bean chicken chili is hearty enough to stick to your ribs and spicy enough to clear out your sinuses, and if you start with a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, the whole thing will be in your bowl within 30 minutes.
Start by cooking chopped onions and minced garlic in a skillet with olive oil, two whole jalapeño peppers, and one whole serrano or poblano pepper. Chop the peppers, but leave the seeds if you want it spicy. Cook all those ingredients together until the onions become slightly translucent, then add cooked chicken, two cans of white beans, two cups of spicy salsa verde, some poultry seasoning, fresh chopped cilantro, chicken broth, and chili powder, because this should be really spicy when you’re finished. Then bring the whole pot to a boil and let it simmer for at least five to 10 minutes to let all the flavors come together.
Starting with pre-cooked chicken means the recipe only takes about half an hour from start to finish, including prep time. You can buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, or cook the chicken yourself. But if you have time, you could also let this cook for a long time in a slow cooker and come home to a spicy chicken chili, which is the next best thing to having someone make it for you.
If you don’t like spice, the author says you can leave out the peppers and have a plain white bean chicken chili. That’s not a bad option when cooking for a group of people with varied tastes, but keep a bottle of good hot sauce around for those who do like spice (if someone serves me chicken chili like this, I want it so spicy my hair catches fire). Spicy chili is excellent topped with cheese and/or sour cream, and it’s also a great thing to keep in the freezer for the next time you want some intense comfort food at a moment’s notice.
Get the recipe: Spicy White Bean Chicken Chili from The Cookie Rookie
