When I began to brainstorm ideas for what my first blog post should be about, so many ideas came to mind. I found it extremely easy to narrow down those ideas once I realized how important it was to me that my first post involved not only a recipe that was entirely original to me, but one that I had spent many years experimenting with in the kitchen, and that had grown better and better with each tweak I had made. Enter: Creamy White Chicken Chili.
What makes this soup so flavorful is the mirepoix vegetables we are using: carrots, celery, and onions.
These three vegetables serve as the base for a wide variety of soups, stews, and broths. As we are slicing and dicing our vegetables, I instructed in the recipe to save your vegetable scraps. They will come in handy when you are ready to try your hand at making your own vegetable broth to use in soups and stews such as this one. See my tutorial for it here on the blog.
I have made this recipe both in the slow cooker and in the Instant Pot
This post also contains one of my most favorite kitchen hacks: shredding chicken in the Kitchen Aid stand mixer.
It saves time and the paddle attachment does all the work for you. White chicken chili is so versatile, so customizable, yet so simple. You can substitute chicken for another protein such as tofu. If you’re not a fan of great white northern beans, you can choose lentils instead. If you desire a dairy free version, just simply skip the heavy cream. Make it YOURS. Be creative, and have fun making a recipe you will surely come back to time and time again.
Creamy White Chicken Chili
Ingredients
- 1 yellow onion
- 3-4 carrots
- 2 yellow potatoes
- 3 stalks celery
- 4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
- 3/4 lb chicken breast
- 1/4 cup salsa verde
- 1/2 cup heavy cream OR 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 can great white northern beans
- 1 small can green chiles
Instructions
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Peel and dice the onion. Peel the carrots and cut into 1/4 inch thick half moons. Cut celery into 1/4 inch thick slices as well. Peel the potatoes and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
HELPFUL TIP: save all your veggie scraps in a freezer bag, they will come in handy in one of my upcoming posts on making your own veggie stock!
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(This step can be done either in a slow cooker or an Instant Pot. If you choose to use the instant pot, simply choose the slow cooker mode on normal heat. If using a slow cooker, use high heat for this step). Toss carrots and potatoes in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add carrots and potatoes to pot with about 1/2 inch (approximately 1 cup) of broth. Cook for 1 hour or until almost fork soft.
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Toss onions and celery in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add to carrots and potatoes with 1 more cup of broth and cook for 1 more hour until vegetables are soft and fork tender.
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While the vegetables are cooking, season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Sauté chicken 3 minutes on each side or until cooked through.
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Add cooked chicken in two parts to KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat at speed 2 until chicken is shredded.
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Add chicken to soup, along with green chiles, salsa verde, 1-2 more cups of broth (depending on your consistency preference), and a bay leaf . Cook on high another 1-2 hours, until chicken is soft and all the flavors have melded together.
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Add the beans and the cream and stir until blended and creamy. Serve warm with cornbread, (I like it best with my Cheesy Jalapeño Bacon Cornbread, recipe HERE).
