White Bean Chicken Chili
By: Lisa Shepard
Published: Thursday, April 1, 2010 - 10:28am

Ingredients




1 pound dry white Northern beans
1 pound of cooked chicken (cut up in bite-sized pieces or ground)
1 medium yellow or white onion –medium dice
2 mediums stalks celery –  dice
1 large carrot –medium dice
4 cloves (4 tbsp) minced/crushed garlic
4 cups to 6  of chicken stock (depending on how thick you want your chili)
1 cup to 1-½  chicken gravy (either leftover or canned/bottled)
1 yellow or orange bell pepper –medium dice
1 small can of diced chilis
(Optional if you like it spicier -1  can of diced jalepeno peppers)
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons Olive Oil

Preparation

1 Cover the dry beans with water (2 inches above beans) in a dutch oven and allow to soak overnight. 2 Drain off water and set aside. 3 In the Dutch Oven, sauté the onion, celery, carrot and garlic in the Olive Oil until just tender. 4 Add the beans, chicken stock and dry spices. 5 Allow to come to a boil then cover and turn it down to simmer for about 3 hours or until the beans have become tender. 6 Stir in the cooked chicken, chicken gravy, bell pepper and canned chilis. 7 Simmer for an additional 20 mins. Salt and pepper to taste. 8 Serve in bowls topped with shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese and a dollop of sour cream and a little green onion.

About


You can also make this in a crock pot – just remember to not add the chicken, gravy, bell pepper and canned chilis until the last ½ hour for best flavor.
I cooked a big roasting chicken in the crockpot the day before and used the leftover meat and gravy in the chili. I made mine in the crockpot on high for 1 hour and then down to low for the next 4 hours. I think cooked ground chicken would be nice to give it a more chili-like texture (similar to chili made with ground beef). I don't like my chili too spicy so I didn't use any jalepenos. If you like things hot and spicy throw those jalepenos in and possibly use a bit more chili powder.