White Chicken Chili

My favourite part about cold weather and snow is that it's the perfect excuse to make a big batch of some kind of soup or stew. This light and creamy white chicken chili will be a classic go to for you this season. The best part is dressing it up at the table, like regular chili, to really amp up the flavour. My suggestion- use skinless, boneless thighs instead of breasts. Cheaper and tastier.

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White Chicken Chili

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 60 minutes Yield: 6-8 bowls

INGREDIENTS

For the Chili

• 1/4 cup olive oil, divided (use about 1 tbs to roast poblano and jalapeño)

• 2 poblano peppers

• 1 jalapeño pepper (optional)

• 6 cloves of garlic, minced

• 1 white onion, minced

• 5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (can use 3 chicken breasts instead, but thighs have softer meat)

• 1 tsp cumin powder

• 1 tbs garlic powder

• Salt to taste

• 6 cups chicken broth OR 6 cups water and 1 chicken bouillon cube

• 1 ear of corn, kernels cut off (about 1 cup kernels)

• 1 can white beans, thoroughly rinsed

• 1 cup salsa verde

• 1 cup full fat sour cream

• Juice of 1/2 lime

To garnish at the table

• Cheddar cheese, grated

• Tortilla chips, crushed

• Minced white onion

• Lime wedges

• Avocado

• Diced fresh tomato

• Cilantro

DIRECTIONS

1. Start by roasting the poblano and jalapeño pepper. You can leave the peppers whole to roast it, as you will remove the seeds after they've been roasted. Rub a little bit of olive oil on each pepper, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. I roast my peppers in the air fryer at 400 F for 10-12 minutes, until the skin is charred and the flesh was soft. To roast in the oven, set the oven to broil. Broil on the first side for 5-6 minutes, until the skin starts to blacken, then flip and repeat on the other side. Remove from oven and let it sit for a 10 minutes before handling. Remove the skin and seeds of the poblano pepper, and just the seeds of the jalapeño. You can remove the seeds of the poblano quite easily by pulling gently on the stem - all of the seeds should pop out with the stem. If there is any resistance, the pepper is probably not cooked all the way through and you can broil it a little bit longer until soft.

2. Finely chop the flesh of the poblano, jalapeño, and garlic together to make a chunky paste. Set aside.

3. In a large pot, heat up the remaining olive oil over medium heat. Add the diced onion and sauté until translucent, 3-5 minutes. Add the chicken thighs, cumin, garlic powder and some salt to the pan and sear the chicken on each side for another 5-6 minutes until browned. Add the poblano/garlic paste and stir to fully coat the chicken.

4. Add the broth/water and bouillon and some more salt to the pot, and bring up to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. Using tongs, remove the chicken from the pot and use 2 forks to shred the chicken. Return the shredded chicken to the pot

5. Add the white beans, corn, salsa verde and sour cream, and use a whisk to fully blend the sour cream into the chili. Let the chili come back up to a simmer, and cook for an additional 20-30 minutes until it has thickened. Stir in the lime juice and remove from heat.

6. Serve immediately with your garnishes in small bowls. The best way to eat this is to have everyone add their own toppings (it tastes best with everything on top).