We still have plenty of winter left for more SOUPS! Chili is perfect for these cold nights, but the standard beef and beans versions weigh me down a bit too much. White Chicken Chili is the perfect middle ground.
Every good soup should start with three things: your favorite oil, onion, and garlic! My favorite “oil” happens to be (drumroll..) bacon fat!
I like a good fatty bacon to cook with. It crisps well and is perfect for crumbling to garnish, in addition to giving you lots of oil to cook with! I had too much, so ran over half of it through a coffee filter and put it in the fridge. Those good bits of charred scraps are perfect for flavoring soup, though .. try to leave those in!
Add onions and garlic to your heated oil.
With such a great base, you really can’t go wrong!
Serves 5
Prep Time: 15 minutes. Cook Time: 30 minutes
Recipe:
2 TBSP of your favorite oil
1 medium yellow or white onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
4 cups stock (chicken or vegetarian)
1 tsp Paprika
1.5 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Oregano (dried)
1 4oz can green chilies
2 15oz cans white beans (drained and rinsed)
1lb cooked*, shreeded chicken
8oz. cream cheese
fresh cilantro (optional)
grated cheese (optional)
lime juice (optional)
tortilla chips (optional)
Directions:
Heat oil over medium heat in your favorite deep pot. Cook onion and garlic through.
(*)
Add stock, seasoning, green chilies. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium-low simmer.
Add one can of white beans.
Use a stick blender to puree the second can of white beans; add.
Add cooked chicken (*If you have uncooked chicken, cube and cook until juices are clear after onions are ready, above.)
Add your package of cream cheese and start stirring! This part takes a while, and for a while will seem like everything has gone horribly wrong. It will break down into small chunks before it’s actually melted through. Keep stirring! It will get better!
Serve with any combination of optionals above!
Try it out, get creative, and let us know how it goes!
That ladle though… <3
Nessy!! 😀