This white bean chili with chicken or turkey is a flavorful and healthy soup that is easy to make and perfect for those cool fall and winter days. The best part is that you can use leftover turkey or chicken. If you don’t have leftovers use a turkey or chicken breast that can be cooked with spices. The chili is made with simple ingredients like canned white beans, canned green chilies, and chicken broth and is ready in minutes with minimal effort. Trust me, it's a crowd-pleaser!
Types of Beans
The white beans that we like to use in this recipe are navy beans, white kidney beans (also known as cannelloni), lima beans, or great northern beans. All are great, so use what you have in the pantry.
How to Make White Bean Chili with Chicken (or Turkey)
Prepare all the ingredients first. This is a quick and easy recipe that goes by quickly if everything is ready. Begin by measuring the spices. Next, chop the onion and garlic. If you are using raw chicken or turkey, cut it into small bite-size pieces. If using cooked chicken/turkey, shred it into strips.
Start by heating some olive oil in a saucepan along with some onions and garlic. Cook until the onions become soft and then add in some chicken and spices. Cook until the chicken is done. If you're using cooked chicken, just heat it up and then add the spices. The spices may stick to the pan, but don't worry! They'll come up easily once you add some chicken broth to infuse some extra flavor into your soup.
Add the broth and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15-30 mins. For dry beans, add pre-soaked beans with broth. For canned beans, add when broth is flavorful
White Bean Chili - Dried Beans or Canned Beans
For a speedy version of white bean chili, you can opt for canned beans instead of dry ones. However, if you decide to use dry beans, remember to soak them in water overnight before cooking. Once the broth is added, toss in the beans and cook them until they become soft.
Puree one can of beans or two cups of pre-soaked dry beans. Add to soup and simmer for 10 more minutes.
Chop the Anaheim or Hatch chilies, or use pre-chopped green chilies. Stir the peppers into the white bean chili off the heat.
NOTE: We roast Anaheim and Hatch chilies in the summer and freeze them for winter use. Roasting peppers is easy and delicious! We highly recommend trying it.
To enhance the flavor of the white bean chili, we recommend serving it with cilantro, sour cream, green onions, and cheese. For a more enjoyable dining experience, offer a range of toppings for guests to sample and enjoy.
We've also found it's fun to have Fritos, Corn Chips, or Doritos with the chili. And of course, we had to add a Jalapeno for a little heat. So darn good!!!!
White Bean Chili with Chicken (or Turkey)
A Few Things We Use
Ingredients
- ½ Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Onion Chopped
- 2 Cloves Garlic Chopped
- 1 Pound Chicken Breast Or Turkey Breast
- ½ Tablespoon Chicken Bouillon Powder
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
- ½ teaspoon Pepper
- 32 Ounces Chicken Broth
- 3 Cans White Chili Beans, Cannellini Beans, or Navy Beans We like a combination of the beans (15 ½ ounce cans
- 4 Ounces Green Chilies Canned or use Fresh Anaheim/Hatch Peppers
- ½ Cup Cilantro or Parsley Optional-For topping
- 2 Green Onions Optional-For topping
- ½ Cup Sour Cream Optional-For topping
Instructions
Prep Ingredients
- Measure Spices (Cumin, Bouillon, Pepper, )
- Chop Onion
- Chop Garlic
- Cut chicken breast into bite-size pieces
- Chop green chili peppers
Thickener for Soup
- To make a puree, blend 2 cups of beans in a blender or food processor until it's smooth
Make the Chili
- Add olive oil to a large pot. Add the chopped onions and garlic. Cook until onions start to soften about 3 minutes
- Add chicken bouillon, cumin, and pepper to the onions. The spices will stick some to the pan but don't worry they will blend in once the chicken broth is incorporated. No need to worry.
- Cook the chicken until it turns white and is cooked all the way through. About 5-10 minutes
- Add the chicken broth to the chicken/onion mixture. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes to ½ hour.
- Add two cans of beans and 2 cups of pureed beans to the chili. Simmer for 10 minutes
- Stir in the green chilies
- Serve with sour cream, chopped spring onions, and cilantro or parsley. Enjoy!!!!
Please let us know what you think