Dump Meals

Chicken Freezer bag

White Chicken Chili

dumpmeals.com/recipes/white-chicken-chili/

Chicken and white beans simmered with green chiles and cumin, then finished with cream cheese for a creamy broth.

Serves
6
Prep
15 minutes
Cook
Low 3 to 5 hours, or high 1½ to 2½ hours
Slow cooker
5-quart

White chicken chili swaps red tomatoes for white beans and a mild green chile broth. Great northern beans soften into the broth and make it a little thick all on their own. Cumin and oregano do the seasoning, and the green chiles add flavor without much heat.

The cream cheese goes in at the end and melts into the hot broth, which gives the chili its creamy body. Serve it with cornbread or tortilla chips, and offer lime wedges, sour cream and shredded cheese at the table. Because the beans come from a can, there is nothing to soak or boil first.

If your family likes more heat, stir in a spoonful of diced jalapeño with the green chiles, or pass hot sauce at the table. If the chili seems thin at the end, simmer it with the lid off on high for 15 minutes.

Ingredients

Into the slow cooker

  • 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 (15-ounce) cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Near the end

  • 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, cut in cubes

To serve

  • cornbread or tortilla chips, for serving

Directions

  1. If your meat is frozen, thaw it completely in the refrigerator first. Never put frozen meat in the slow cooker.
  2. Put the beans, green chiles, onion, garlic, cumin, oregano and salt in a 5-quart slow cooker. Pour in the broth and stir.
  3. Lay the chicken on top and press it into the liquid.
  4. Cover. Cook on low 3 to 5 hours or on high 1½ to 2½ hours.
  5. Check the chicken. It should read at least 165°F in the thickest piece.
  6. Lift out the chicken and shred it. Return it to the pot.
  7. Add the cream cheese cubes. Stir until melted and smooth, about 10 minutes with the lid on.
  8. Serve hot.

It's done when the chicken reads at least 165°F in the thickest piece and shreds easily. The chili is steaming hot before the cream cheese goes in. Check with a food thermometer.

Leftovers go in the refrigerator within two hours. Reheat them on the stove or in the microwave until hot all the way through (165°F), not in the slow cooker. Slow cooker safety

Make it a freezer dump bag

Put the chicken, beans, green chiles, broth, onion, garlic and spices in one 2-gallon freezer bag. Do not add the cream cheese. Squeeze out the air, seal, label and freeze flat.

Bag: 2-gallon freezer bag. Keeps: 2 months for best quality; safe indefinitely at 0°F in the freezer.

White Chicken Chili

Frozen on:

Thaw in the refrigerator 36 to 48 hours, until no ice is left in the middle. Never cook it from frozen, and cook it within 2 days of thawing. Dump into a 5-quart slow cooker. Cook on low 3 to 5 hours. Check with a food thermometer that the chicken reads 165°F in the thickest piece. Shred the chicken, then stir in one 8-ounce package cream cheese, cubed, until melted.

Best within 2 months of the date above.

Plan several bags at once with one shopping list and printable labels.

The planner prints this label free. A designed set for all 17 freezer recipes, plus blanks, is in the Freezer Bag Labels pack ($7).

This recipe is one of the ten in The Freezer Session ($12): ten dump bags, one shopping trip, one afternoon.

Cooking for two

Use 1 lb chicken, 1 can of beans, half the green chiles, 1.5 cups broth and half the cream cheese package. Use a 2- or 3-quart slow cooker, whichever the food fills at least halfway. Check the chicken at 165°F from 3 hours on low.

More in Cooking for two in a slow cooker.

Tips

  • For a thicker chili, mash a half cup of the beans against the side of the pot with a spoon.
  • Do not freeze the cream cheese in the bag. It turns grainy.
  • Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours, in shallow covered containers. Reheat them on the stove or in the microwave until they reach 165°F. Do not reheat them in the slow cooker.

Food-safety sources

More chicken

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  • Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs Low 4 to 6 hours, or high 2 to 3 hours Freezer bag Boneless chicken thighs in a sweet, salty honey and garlic sauce, thickened at the end and served over rice.
  • Chicken Tortilla Soup Low 3 to 5 hours, or high 1½ to 2½ hours Freezer bag Chicken breasts, beans, corn and tomatoes with green chiles in a cumin-spiced broth. Top with crisp tortilla strips.
  • Teriyaki Chicken Low 4 to 6 hours, or high 2 to 3 hours Freezer bag Chicken thighs and carrots in a ginger and garlic teriyaki sauce, thickened at the end. Serve over rice.