If you need to make extra meals to deliver to quarantined loved ones during the Coronavirus pandemic or stock the freezer for an upcoming motorhome trip, white bean chicken chili is easy to make, healthy and delicious. It freezes well for quick meals on the road.  Feeding 8 or more people with 35 or 40 minutes in the kitchen is my kind of cooking. 

After I made a double batch of this soup, Jim and I delivered care packages to four households, with plenty of leftovers to stock the freezer. The next day we had our first-ever virtual dinner party. What fun!

Another nice thing about this chili is the measurements aren’t critical. From a big Costco rotisserie chicken, I can usually get 5 or 6 cups of chicken.  With some other chickens, I’m lucky to get 4 cups. It’s no big deal either way. If you have lots of chicken, you may want to add a fourth can of chicken broth. 

This recipe is easy to cut back if you are cooking for two and don’t want leftovers. Start with one cup of chicken, one can each of chicken broth and cannellini beans. Proportionally reduce the other ingredients or cut them out all together.  Once I used the whole can of diced green chilies and skipped the jalapeño.

Active time: 25 minutes   Total time: 40 minutes

Specialized Kitchen Utensils

• Nothing special for this one

Serves: 6 to 8

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced 
• 6 to 8 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 (15 oz) cans cannellini beans, drained
• 6 to 8 cups chicken broth (if you use 14.5 oz cans, that’s 3 or 4 cans)
• 1 cup fresh corn (or more, whatever you cut from 2 ears of fresh corn on the cob. Use frozen corn if you prefer.)
• 1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies
• 4 to 5 cups rotisserie chicken, diced
• 2 cups spinach or baby kale, loosely packed, stems removed

Optional Toppings:

• shredded cheese, corn chips or crackers

Directions:

Heat olive oil in large soup pan over medium heat. Add onion and jalapeño. Stir and cook until onions are soft, but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper, and cook for 1 minute. Add beans, broth, corn, green chilies, and chicken.  Simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the spinach or kale and cook until it has wilted, just a minute or two. 

Serve with cheese, corn chips or crackers if desired.