White Chicken Chili

This recipe is so tasty and it can be prepared and put in the crock pot and forgotten for the afternoon. It is based on a recipe given to me by my friend Rosemary who is a mother of two. She makes this while “running around town” to boy scouts, track, a couple of part time jobs (how many does your daughter have right now?) and her and her husband’s own full time jobs.

I have seen many variations on this dish, but of course, this one is the best! Every time I serve this, I have to give out the recipe. You can use boneless chicken breast or even easier but just as tasty, grocery store rotisserie chicken (thank you Betsy for that suggestion – couldn’t imagine my life without my friends and all their support).

The chicken will get a shredded texture instead of being in chunks but it is just as good. You need to know your crock pot if you are going to leave this for the afternoon. The cooking time will depend on your crock pot. My 2-year-old crock pot gets much hotter than my 25-year-old crock pot, so the cooking times I give here are going to be an estimate. Is there someone at home who can check and be sure this isn’t burning? Anyone old enough to be left alone while you “run around town” can check this for you, so teach them how.

My family likes to make burritos out of this and then cover the burrito with cheese and put it under the broiler. Have plenty of sour cream, grocery store guacamole and cheese in the house to serve with this. Leftovers are wonderful and this freezes great!

Ingredients

3-4 lbs of boneless, breast of chicken

1 medium onion, chopped

6 cloves of garlic

Olive Oil

OR

1 grocery store rotisserie chicken -not the big one that is sometimes available, but the one that costs around $3.99

4 – 15.5 oz. cans of cannellini beans

2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. chili power

½ tsp. oregano

3 chicken bouillon cubes

1 bay leaf

2 - 4.5 oz. cans of chopped green chiles

1 – 10oz. can of cream of mushroom soup

Fresh, chopped cilantro

If you use boneless, breast of chicken, then cube the chicken into bite sizes. Sauté the chicken in a skillet over medium heat with the chopped onion and garlic and about 3 tsp. of olive oil. Sauté until the chicken is cooked through careful not burn the onion and garlic. Put the chicken, onion and garlic in the crock pot.

If you use the rotisserie chicken, then remove the meat from the bones and chop the meat. Be careful you do not have any bones in the meat – this can really ruin the dish for someone if they get a bone – yes this has happened to me and my daughter was not happy. Put the meat in the crock pot with the raw onion and garlic.

Add two cans of beans with the liquid to the crock pot and drain as completely as possible two of the cans of the beans and add just the beans to the crock pot. So you are using the liquid and beans of two cans and just the beans of two cans. Then add the rest of the ingredients.

I can cook this on low in my new crock pot for about 6 hours.  If you want it ready faster, then cook on high for about 2-3 hours. Be careful not to let it burn – you need to get to know your crock pot so the first time you do this, you really need to be able to check it occasionally.

Serve in bowls with sour cream, cheese and/or guacamole, topped with fresh, chopped cilantro, or do as my family does and make burritos out of it. The fresh cilantro really adds great flavor so have it available. Either way, this so, so good  - enjoy!