Credits to Caroline Chambers, what to cook when you don’t feel like cooking
Ingredients
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 2 (15-ounce) cans white beans, such as cannellini, chickpeas, navy, or great northern, drained and rinsed
- 1 (16-ounce) har medium or spicy salsa verde
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp kosher salt, plus more as needed
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 bunch curly kale
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 zucchini (optional)
- 2 limes
- 1 (16-ounce) bag frozen white corn, or the kernels cut off from 4 ears fresh corn
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, plus more for serving
- Toppings (optional): your favorite chili accompaniments, such as sour cream, Piedmont Pennies panko, tortilla chips, Fritos, or cornbread
Instructions
- In a large pot, combine the stock, chicken, beans, salsa verde, cumin, salt, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, and chili powder. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the head to medium-low, cover, and cook for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Meanwhile, stem and roughly chop the kale leaves. Chop the cilantro, Cut 1 lime in half. Dice the zucchini or other extra veggies, if using.
- Transfer the chicken to a bowl or cutting board and use two forks to shred it, then return the shredded chicken to the pot. Add the kale, 1/2 cup of the chopped cilantro, the corn, cream, cheese, and the juice of the halved lime. Cook, uncovered, until the kale is wilted and the chili has thickened, about 5 minutes (I turned up the heat to medium-high at this point). Tase and add more salt as needed.
- Cut the remaining lime into wedges. Serve the chili in bowls with the remaining cilantro sprinkled over top, the lime wedges alongside for squeezing, and any other toppings or go-withs you like.
Natalie’s notes
Made 2/9/25 (Super Bowl Sunday). It’s hard to mess up a chili recipe, and I rarely find one I don’t like. This one still comes out on top. I used up vegan mozzarella shreds and subbed 2% milk for heavy cream, and it was still creamy and thickened up really nicely. I also subbed chicken stock for chicken bone broth, and cut the added salt in half. Next time, I’d cut the corn by 1/2 cup.
