Last Updated on 23rd April 2022 by
White chili is a smooth and creamy type of chili it’s usually served with chicken, compared to ground beef for a red, tomato-based chili.
Usually, white chili will be made from white beans and then get a lot of its flavor from the chilis. It’s usually a milder chili than the red one, but it should still have a little heat.
The recipe I’ll give you below keeps the heat to a minimum and yet retains the white look of this distinctive chili.
White Chili Chicken Recipe
Let me share with you how to make white chicken chili. If you’ve never had this dish before, you’re in for a real treat.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound of boneless chicken, sliced into small cubes (about ½ inch)
- 2 cloves of chopped garlic
- 1 chopped onion
- 14.5 ounces of chicken broth
- 2 cans of northern beans
- 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
- 4 ounces of chopped green chilies
- 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup of sour cream
Directions:
- In a large saucepan, warm up your olive oil over medium heat. Once it warms, add in your chicken, garlic, onion.
- Cook these until the chicken juices start to run out clear and the center of the chicken isn’t pink anymore. This should take about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Add in the chicken broth, salt, black pepper, northern beans, cayenne pepper, green chilies, oregano, and cumin. keep cooking until it comes to a boil and then lower the heat and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes.
- Take the chili off the stove top and add in the whipping cream and sour cream until fully blended.
How to Thicken White Chicken Chili
Whenever you have a white, creamy sauce like white chicken chili, you can thicken it using flour or cornstarch. Cornstarch is ideal, because it won’t affect the flavor much, but it can be tricky to get it to mix very well.
The best way to incorporate cornstarch is to mix a little bit of it separately in a small bowl with some water. Then, once it becomes a slurry, you can add it to your larger dish.
The flour will have an effect on the taste of your dish, making it blander. Be careful about how much flour you’re adding, and you may need to add more seasonings to spice up your dish after thickening with the flour.
As with the cornstarch, it’s ideal to mix your flour in some water separately and make a slurry before adding it to your larger dish.
How to Make White Chili Chicken Seasoning
A good chili is made from a number of ingredients that all work together to produce the desired effect. That effect is something that’s very flavorful and has a little bit of a spicy bite to it.
How much of a hot kick this seasoning has is up to you. You could always add more spiciness to it, if you like.
You want some oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, red chili powder, and cumin as a lot of your base seasonings. Green chili powder is the main base, which helps keep the color of this chili mix from turning some other color than white.
If you use the wrong seasonings or chilies, your chili is going to turn a different color.
Green chili powder can be a little tricky to find, but may be available in the Mexican food section of your grocery or in groceries that specialize in Mexican foods.
You’ll also want a little salt and pepper to help bring out the flavor, and then some cayenne pepper for the kick. You don’t need a lot of cayenne pepper, but you can add as much as you like to make your mix spicier.
You’ll also need sugar or some sort of sugar substitute. Most sugar substitutes will mix the same and cook the same as regular sugar, but pay attention to what you’re using and how it’s designed to cook. Some of them are a little tricky to work with.
The last item you’ll need for your white chili seasoning mix is a thickener. Cornstarch works well, and flour can work too, but flour has the ability to take away from the taste of your seasoning a little bit. You want to be careful about how much you’re using.
What to Serve with White Chicken Chili?
A hot bowl of white chicken chili can be the main part of your meal, but it complements quite a few other dishes very well. Try serving it up with a side of cheese sticks or garlic bread.
You could offer corn chips or tortilla chips for dipping, and the chili works very well as a counterpoint to a nice green, leafy salad.
Chili is very soupy, which means it pairs well with the breads and other absorbent foods. Because it’s also very filling, it makes a good complement to anything that’s light and low carb, like a salad. Both the beans and the chicken are quite filling.
Consider how much of the white chicken chili you’re making. If there’s going to be plenty to go around, your sides won’t have to be extravagant.
If you want the white chicken chili to be the main course, you may want to just offer a few crackers on the side and then a dessert to finish off. Consider going with a cool or chilled dessert as a counterbalance to the hot chili. That’s especially true if you’ve made the chili very spicy.
Hot foods and beverages can accentuate the heat of the cayenne pepper, whereas cold dishes and beverages will help to drown out the spiciness.
I’d love to hear what you paired with white chicken chili and how well it worked for you. Maybe you’ll come up with some ideas that other people may want to try for themselves.
I'm Pauline, a mother of four grown children, my passion for cooking stemmed from the joy i get cooking for my family. I love to try new dishes, especially when dining out but creating and sharing my own recipes is my favourite thing to do!
