White Chicken Chili

You remember the Polar Vortex last winter, don't you? Days and days on end of sub-sub-sub-zero temperatures? When heat wasn't enough and we began to look for ways to get warm from the inside-out?

Enter the rapid consumption of soup in the Shaffer household. Our one hour commutes turned into two hour commutes {each way} on those harrowing roads, and the last thing either of us felt like doing upon arriving at home was cooking. So we looked for things that could be thrown together quickly and provide much {warm} comfort in a short amount of time.

Enter white chicken chili.

Several years ago, I ate white chicken chili as part of a work carry-in, and I liked it, but there were far too many beans for my liking. Because as you know, I have a firm aversion to beans. Or vegetables in general. So I took a recipe I found on Pinterest and tweaked it pretty heavily to make it Bekah-friendly - and to make it healthier.

We love our white chicken chili because it does come together in a snap, it's ever so tasty, and it warms over nicely. That works out well for us since we carry our lunches.

And with fall upon us, I thought I'd share this with you in case you're looking for a new soup recipe! YUMMY YUMMY!

White Chicken Chili

* 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of cooked and shredded chicken
* 1 chopped onion {choose size depending on how much you like onion!}
* 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1 15-ounce can of Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
* 1 14-ounce can of chicken broth {low sodium}
* 1 7-ounce can of chopped green chilis
* 1 teaspoon of seasoned salt
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1 cup Greek yogurt
* 1/2 cup milk

Cook and shred chicken. Cook onion and garlic powder in the vegetable oil in a large pot until onion is tender. Add chicken and all other ingredients. Cook on low for 30 minutes and serve warm.

A Few Tips:

* I buy frozen chicken in bulk when it is on sale and cook it by putting frozen chicken in water and bringing it to a boil until cooked all the way through. Then I transfer the chicken to my stand mixer and use the paddle attachment to shred it. I also add some seasoned salt to the chicken as it shreds, just to mix in some good seasoned flavor.

* We are meatatarians more than vegetarians, so I actually cut down the amount of beans from the original recipe from 2 cans to 1, and I increased the amount of chicken. If you aren't as crazy about meat, but you love beans, you could always switch those amounts around.

* If you want to add more of a kick, you could always get hot chilis, but I prefer the mild ones. The whole soup is very mild, but it has fantastic flavor.

* The original recipe called for heavy cream and sour cream, but I have replaced those with low-fat or fat-free milk and Greek yogurt, and we think it tastes delicious.

* You could cook this in a crock pot instead of stove top - as long as you have your chicken done ahead of time. I would just let it sit on low for a few hours to keep it warm and let the flavors marry.

* We like to eat ours with garlic bread, but you could pair it with anything you like with soup.

* ENJOY!!