White Chicken Chili

My friend, Courtney, reminded me about this soup the other day. It is originally from a Junior League Cookbook called, Mardi Gras to Mistletoe. The flavor is so delicious, it is perfect on a cold night and it comes together pretty quickly. I changed this recipe up a little bit by only using 3 cans of beans (the original calls for 6) and also by decreasing the amount of chicken broth to 32 ounces from 49 ounces. The soup was plenty filling with just the 3 cans of beans and we actually preferred it that way. This soup has to simmer for a long time when you use 49 ounces of broth so using less broth also reduced the simmering time a little bit and I don’t think it changed the flavor much. When I used to make this before, I never had to add salt, but I’m assuming the chicken broth I used had very little salt so I did have to add some at the end.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3-15 ounce cans white beans, undrained or 1 pound dried great northern beans that have been soaked and cooked
• 2- 4 ounce cans green chilis
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 32 ounces chicken broth
• 2 cups sour cream
• optional: 1 teaspoon course sea salt (only add if needed)
• optional toppings: cilantro, avocado, shredded Monterrey jack cheese, sour cream
• tortilla chips for serving

Directions

Heat the oil in a large stockpot and add chicken and onions. Cook until chicken is done and the onions are tender.

Add the beans, green chilis, cumin, oregano, chili powder and cayenne. Stir well.

Add the chicken broth and sour cream. Stir well.

Simmer for 1-2 hours or until soup is at desired consistency.

Add salt if needed.

Top with optional toppings: cilantro, avocado, cheese and/or sour cream.

Serve with tortilla chips.