White Bean Chicken Chili (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)
Sometimes you just want some chili, but what kind of chili is a good question. If you’re looking for something a little different from your usual delicious chili, we Love this White Bean Chicken Chili, particularly when it’s cold and rainy outside.
It’s even more delicious when you pair it with some jalapeno cornbread or nicely warmed tortillas.
Enjoy this filling and flavorful chili...the perfect comfort food on a cold night.
- 1-2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 2-4 Chicken Leg Quarters (with bones and skin)
- ½-1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
- ½-1 Tbsp Cumin Powder
- ½ Tbsp Dry Mustard Powder
- ½ Tbsp Onion Powder
- ½ tsp Turmeric
- 2-3 Bay Leaves (preferably dried)
- Salt (to preferred taste)
- Ground Pepper (to preferred taste)
- ½ Yellow Onion (diced)
- 2 Carrots (ends removed, halved then sliced)
- 2 Celery stalks (ends and strings removed, halved then sliced)
- ½ Box Baby Bella Mushrooms (sliced then halved)
- 1 Can White Beans (rinsed)
- 4-6 Cups Broth (chicken, or vegetable)
- ½ - 1 Cup Nut Milk
- ¼ - ½ Cup Fresh Cilantro (loosely packed, chopped)
- 1 Small tomato (diced)
- ¼ Avocado (diced)
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Add olive oil to saucier, set burner to medium, and preheat
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Season chicken on both sides with seasonings and place in saucier
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Turning periodically, nicely brown the chicken on both sides, then cover with lid
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While chicken is cooking, chop vegetables and herbs and add the onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, and mushrooms to the pan to start deglazing the pan and sauté for 2-3 minutes before adding broth
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Remove chicken, cool a bit and then pull apart meat, and return to pan
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Add beans and broth to cover ingredients and simmer on low for 5-10, stirring periodically
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Stir in nut (or other) milk and simmer on low for 1 - 2 minutes before removing from heat and serving.
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Taste and adjust seasoning if needed; then serve.
- If using home cooked beans, I usually add about 1 - 2 Cups
- I use my saucier to make this, but you could also use a Dutch oven
- If you have limited time, simply add your vegetables to the pan with the browning chicken leg quarters as soon as they're ready, add your broth and beans and boil on low for about 10 minutes, pulling the chicken meat off the bones, and then continuing to cook for another 5-10 minutes
- Variations below
White Bean Chicken Chili Recipe Variations
This is such an easy recipe to vary based upon what you’ve got in the refrigerator and/or what you feel like eating, so here are a few ideas:
- Replace the cumin seasoning and toppings with:
- 1 Tbsp oregano, 1/2 Tbsp thyme, and 1/4 Tbsp of rosemary,
- 1 Tbsp oregano, 1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika, 1/2 Tbsp thyme, 1/2 Tbsp paprika,
- Consider adding some freshly chopped kale, diced potatoes,
- Consider switching out the chicken leg quarters with chicken (any part) you’ve previously cooked and frozen. Check out my Grilled Chicken post for more ideas.
The garlic, onion, turmeric, salt, and pepper doesn’t change regardless of which of the other seasoning combinations I choose.
Shopping for this Recipe
Here’s what I like to use when making this recipe:
- Le Creuset Saucier Stainless Steel 3.5 pan – I LOVE this Saucier pan. It’s great when I don’t need a Dutch oven but I need something bigger than
- I prefer organic, non-irradiated seasonings like these examples:
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- oregano – here’s a 1 lb. bag example of a brand I like for those seasonings I use a lot
- cumin – here’s another example from one of my favorite brands
- bay leaves – here’s another one of my favorite brands.
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Serving and Leftovers
This usually makes about 4 servings for us, but I’ve made double batches and frozen to eat the next week.
This is made up of all real food ingredients, and, depending upon the ingredients you choose, has a wide array of nutrients including B vitamins, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, vitamins A, C, E, K1, potassium, antioxidants, manganese, plus fiber and more.
When we have enough to enjoy leftovers, I always add a little broth to keep it at the liquid consistency we like.
