White Chicken Chili
I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for a very long time now. I saw Giada make it on the Food Network forever ago and thought it looked soooo delicious and healthy- and it was!
So why has it taken me so long to get around to making it? Well… since I have been living here in Germany, I have a very hard time finding chicken. At the commissary on base there is usually some chicken breast available, but ground chicken? Yeah right. Ground turkey maybe? Ha nope. So, I waited until I was visiting in the states to make a batch.
If you think this chili is anything like a tomato-based chili, you’re completely wrong. Sorry, not completely… there are beans and ground meat. And I suppose that some chili’s often have corn. Alright, fine it’s similar. But! The spices are totally different! You don’t get a heavy dose of chili powder flavor from this dish. It has a strong flavor of cumin and fennel mostly. It’s almost like a slightly chili flavored sausage taste. It’s really good. Not what you would expect when you think chili. Definitely outside of the box kind of taste.
Did I mention that this is a 5-star recipe on foodnetwork.com? That is always a selling point for me.
Oh, and I would consider this a healthy dish for sure. Not only is it lean because it uses ground chicken (I used ground turkey because that’s all I could find), but it also uses an entire bunch of swiss chard. Dark green veggies are SO good for you! Whenever I get the chance to include them in my diet, I go for it. And this recipe does a great job cooking the swiss chard. Sometimes those leafy green’s can be rather bitter… the swiss chard in this dish just melts into the chili like butter. Absolutely ZERO bitterness. It was fantastic! And beans are of course really great for you too. A wonderful source of protein, fiber, and folate.
Head’s up- this dish needs to simmer on the stove for about 60 minutes… so plan on that ahead of time. I thought it would take a normal 20 minute or so simmer, so dinner ended up being pretty late the night I made this… Whoops. That’s what I get for not reading the recipe all the way through.
White Chicken Chili
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 pounds ground chicken
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 2 (15-ounce cans) cannellini or other white beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 bunch (about 1 pound) Swiss chard, stems removed, leaves chopped into 1-inch pieces
- 11/2 cups frozen corn, thawed
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken stock or broth
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- Freshly ground black pepper for seasoning
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Directions:
In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the ground chicken, 1 teaspoon salt, cumin, fennel seeds, oregano, and chili powder. Cook, stirring frequently until the chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes. Stir the flour into the chicken mixture. Add the beans, Swiss chard, corn, and chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a simmer, scraping up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Simmer for 55-60 minutes until the liquid has reduced by about half and the chili has thickened. Add the red pepper flakes and simmer for another 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Serve with the parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.
