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Quinoa White Chicken Chili

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Quinoa White Chicken Chili
A healthy and hearty 30 minute white chicken chili with beans and quinoa!

It is definitely the season for soups and stews and you really can’t go wrong with a tasty, warming bowl of chili! In it’s more typical form chili con carne is made with beef and plenty of red chili peppers but it is always fun to make a white chili where the meat is chicken and no red chili peppers are used. This is my go to quick, easy and tasty white chicken chili recipe and it has a base of chicken and white beans with jalapeno chili peppers for the heat along with a few seasoning like garlic, cumin and oregano. I like to kick the flavour up a bit by replacing some of the broth with a salsa verde and the addition of quinoa makes this soup a bit heartier. As a finishing touch I like to hit the soup with fresh lime juice along with some cilantro. One of the best things about this tasty white chicken chili is that it only takes about 30 minutes to make and if you know that you aren’t even going to have that much time for dinner then you can throw everything into the slow cooker in the morning and come home to a fully cooked meal!

Quinoa White Chicken Chili
So light fresh and tasty!

Quinoa White Chicken Chili
Cool and creamy avocado make an excellent addition to this white chicken chili!

Quinoa White Chicken Chili
Serve with tortilla chips for scooping or for crumbling over top!

Quinoa White Chicken Chili

Quinoa White Chicken Chili

Quinoa White Chicken Chili

Prep Time:5 minutes Cook Time:25 minutes Total Time:30 minutes Servings: 4

A healthy and hearty 30 minute white chicken chili with beans and quinoa!

ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 jalapeno peppers, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon cumin, toasted and ground
  • 3 cups chicken broth or chicken stock
  • 1 cup salsa verde
  • 1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts or thighs
  • 1 (15 ounce) can white beans (or 1 1/2 cups cooked beans, from 1/2 cup dry)
  • 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice (~1/2 lime)
  • 2 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste
directions
  1. Heat the oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat, add the onion and jalapeno peppers and cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
  2. Add the garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
  3. Add the broth, salsa verde, chicken, beans, quinoa and oregano, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked and the quinoa is tender, about 10-15 minutes.
  4. Remove the chicken, shred or dice, return to soup along with the lime juice and cilantro, season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.
Slow Cooker: Optionally implement steps 1 & 2, place everything except the lime juice and cilantro in the slow cooker and cook on low for 6-10 hours or on high for 3-4 hours before continuing on with step 4.
Option: Add 1 cup zucchini along with the chicken.
Option: Add 1 cup corn 5 minutes before taking off the heat.
Option: Replace the jalapeno peppers with poblano peppers or 1 4.5 ounce can of diced green chilies.
Nutrition Facts: Calories 397, Fat 8g (Saturated 1g, Trans 0), Cholesterol 66mg, Sodium 693mg, Carbs 44g (Fiber 8g, Sugars 3g), Protein 42g
Nutrition by: Nutritional facts powered by Edamam
Similar Recipes:
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Slow Braised Chili Con Carne
7 Chili Chili
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Buffalo Chicken Chili
Chili Verde
Jalapeno Popper Chicken Soup
Chicken and Avocado Enchiladas in Creamy Avocado Sauce
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  17. Gene Cox says

    January 15, 2014 at 4:34 pm

    I am not much of a meat person. Red meat chili does not interest me. But chicken chili sounds like the perfect thing for these ice age days that we have been having. Thanks for the great idea.

    Reply

  19. Aeryn Kelly-Reitmeyer says

    January 16, 2014 at 1:01 am

    Made this tonight. Might have used extra liquid. I added hominy, lima beans, corn, and cooked avacado and it's come out really great. I couldn't find salsa so I just used fresh tomatillios and green chilie. Thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

  20. Evan Engle says

    January 20, 2014 at 2:32 am

    Just made it tonight and it was delicious! It was definitely on the spicy side but after the initial "shock" was really a good kind of spicy. Thanks for an amazing dish, Kevin!

    Reply

  27. Subsisting says

    January 27, 2014 at 6:27 pm

    I made this yesterday and it is delicious! I cooked it in the crockpot, with extra onions and jalepeno, and threw in an extra cup of broth. The quinoa soaked up the broth and made this nice and thick. Yum!

    Reply

  28. Anonymous says

    February 5, 2014 at 8:15 pm

    Saw this on pinterest a couple of days ago. Just made it as I had all ingredients and it is very cold outside. Perfect for the weather. I too put diced avacado on top and cilantro. OMG SO GOOD.

    Reply

  31. Caroline Beard says

    March 23, 2014 at 9:38 pm

    This was a great and easy recipe for the average college student like me! I added a lot of frozen veggies to the chili to fill it out and also well…because I am poor 🙂

    Reply

  32. Sunny Blue says

    March 27, 2014 at 8:35 am

    I have no idea what quinoa is or where to find it. This recipe sounds so delicious; can someone enlighten me?

    Reply

  33. kevin says

    March 27, 2014 at 10:46 am

    Sunny Blue: Quinoa is a seed/grain with a lot of nutritional value. You can find it in most grocery stores these days and it is often in the health food or gluten free section. This white chicken chili would still be amazing if you omitted the quinoa! Here is the wikipedia article with more info on quinoa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa

    Reply

  40. Anonymous says

    August 3, 2015 at 1:25 am

    This was awesome! We are trying to eat healthy and we love good food. Husband ate it with a tortilla. Excellent dish

    Reply

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