White Chicken Chili

With winter upon us, I thought I'd share one of my favorite go-to recipes.  It is SO easy, and it is the only recipe that my picky eaters (4 years old and 2.5) beg me to make.  It's currently bubbling away in the crockpot and Chloe has already asked me several times when we can eat it.  Bless her heart...dinner is still a few hours away!

I originally ran across this recipe on my friend Christine's blog at www.idigpinterest.com.  I have since made it probably two dozen times. The only con to this soup is that you have to make sure you have the ingredients on hand before you make it, because unlike most soups that can be made with mostly pantry ingredients (and possibly an onion), this soup requires sour cream and whipping cream at the end, as well as Great Northern Beans...so plan ahead.  I've gotten to where I make it so frequently, I keep whipping cream on hand in my fridge at all times!

I shared this recipe on my mom's blog several months ago, so instead of reinventing the wheel, I'm just going to copy and paste that here:

Good morning! I know you were expecting your typical weekly installment of Savings for Sisters, but this week my mom is letting me hijack the blog to share one of my favorite recipes with you. My name is Dani, and I am Jan's favorite ahem, second daughter. I've been here in town visiting with my mom for a bit, and after all the delicious meals my mom has cooked for me and my two toddlers, I wanted to help out by making dinner one night. I decided to pull out my recipe for White Chicken Chili--or as my three year old calls it, “Hot Chili Soup.” 

This soup is easy to put together, and always a crowd pleaser. It may sound spicy, but it's actually quite a mild dish--even my extremely picky two year old inhales it with enthusiasm. This is a great soup to throw together before church on Sundays; you'll enjoy coming home to the delicious aroma, and your family will love that it will be ready to devour almost instantly.  See my easy-to-follow instructions and photos below.

White Chicken Chili

(Serves approximately 6. I usually double this recipe.)

 (Please note that I forgot to add the chicken to the photo, plus it shows 2 cans of chicken broth when you really only need 1 for a single batch--my mistake!)

1 to 1.5 lb boneless, skinless Chicken Breasts
1 large Onion, finely chopped
4 cloves fresh Garlic, minced
2 cans (15.5 oz each) Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (13 oz) Chicken Broth
2 cans (4 oz each) chopped Green Chiles
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp ground Cumin
1 tsp dried Oregano leaves
¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 cup Sour Cream
2/3 cup Whipping Cream
Fresh Cilantro for garnish, optional

This soup requires a little bit of prep work, which you can even do the night before if you want to get it going in the crockpot early in the morning.

-First, clean any unwanted fat off of your chicken breasts. (Note: You can even put the chicken in the crockpot slightly frozen and they will be cooked through by the time you are ready to serve.)

-Lay the chicken breasts in the crockpot at the bottom. Do not cut them up--leave them whole. If they are extra large, you can cut them in half.

-Add your finely chopped onion and the minced garlic. (The garlic you can buy pre-minced in jars at the store will also work for this soup. Just add a ½ tsp for each “clove” of garlic).

-Add the beans, rinsed and drained well.

-Pour in the chicken broth, and add all the spices. You can stir the ingredients a bit to incorporate the spices, but make sure you leave the chicken at the bottom.

DO NOT ADD THE WHIPPING CREAM OR SOUR CREAM YET.

-Turn the crockpot to high for the first hour if you can. If you are headed out the door immediately, just leave it on high as long as you can then turn it to low as you are walking out the door. Cook for 5-7 hours. (If using partially-frozen chicken, you need to plan for closer to the 7 hour mark.)

-About 15 minutes before you are ready to eat, pull the chicken breasts from the crockpot. They will have broken up a bit, so fish around with a spoon or pair of tongs to make sure you get all the chunks out. Put them on a plate and shred them. I have tried this a few ways, and have found that just using two forks to pull the chicken apart seems to be the most effective.

Add the shredded chicken back into the crockpot.

Add the sour cream and whipping cream at this point, and put the lid back on the crockpot to let it heat through. It will only take a few minutes.

-Now garnish each bowl with fresh cilantro and you are ready to serve it to your hungry troops. This soup is great with a slice of bread or some fresh biscuits. I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine does.