Springtime in Minnesota is unpredictable, beautiful, annoying, and fickle. Admire early blooms one day, shovel snow the next. Grill and sit in the sun one day, shiver and build a fire for warmth the next.
This is one of those days. After a beautiful, sunny, and warm weekend, we got hit with this blast of Arctic air and a wind that rips right thru you. White Chicken Chili is the perfect meal for such a day! But I also worked all day long, so it had to be a quick meal. Thank goodness for the pressure cooker!
Even though there are dozens of ways to make white chili, this recipe is quick and hearty.
I swung by the butcher shop and picked up a chicken breast. She must have been a DD-girl, because one breast weighed 1.4 pounds. Woah!
Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and toss with salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Then core and chop the fennel bulb and stalks – reserving the fronds. Chop the onion and garlic, and dice the carrots and celery. It’s so much easier to get all that done in advance, in fact, I’ve done the prep work in the morning before the day goes haywire, and supper is that much quicker.
Heat oil in the pressure cooker on “brown” setting, then add the onion, carrots, celery, and fennel. Allow them to cook for a couple minutes before adding the chicken. Brown all of this together, stirring frequently, until the chicken is almost done – about 5 additional minutes.
While the meat and veggies are browning, put all the spices together in a spice grinder (or use a mortar and pestle) to lightly crush them. Dried herbs and spices need to “wake up” after their long winters’ nap in the cupboard. Add them to the pressure cooker.
Drain and rinse, and drain the cannellini beans again. What is that goopy sauce anyway??? Add the beans to the cooker, along with the chicken broth. Close it up and cook on high for 5 minutes.
While that’s cooking, strip kale leaves from the tough stem and roughly chop. Grate the parmesan cheese.
Using the quick release method, let the steam out of the pressure cooker. Add the frozen corn and kale. Close it up, and cook for 1 minute on high. Turn off the pressure cooker when it signals time is up, and allow to stand for a couple minutes before releasing the pressure again.
Ladle into serving bowls, and serve with plenty of freshly grated parmesan, flat leaf parsley, and the reserved fennel fronds.
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Quick White Chicken Chili
- Total Time: 50 minutes
Description
What’s not to love about chicken chili???
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 pounds chicken, cubed
- 1/2 tsp each salt, pepper, garlic salt
- 1 fennel bulb and stalks, cored and chopped, reserving fronds
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 Tbsp fennel seeds
- 1 Tbsp oregano
- 1 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- 2 cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
- 4 cups (roughly) kale, stripped from the tough stems and lightly chopped
- 1 pound bag frozen corn
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Cube chicken and toss with 1/2 tsp each salt, pepper, and garlic salt, then set aside
- In pressure cooker on “brown” setting, heat olive oil
- Add onion, carrots, celery, fennel, and garlic and sauté for several minutes
- Add the cubed chicken, stirring often, until chicken is nearly cooked
- Crush the cumin, fennel seeds, oregano, chili powder, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper together
- Add spices to pressure cooker and allow to coat the meat and veggies
- Pour in the chicken stock and rinsed and drained beans
- Stir to combine
- Cover the pressure cooker and set to 5 minutes on high
- While that is cooking, prepare the kale and grate the parmesan cheese
- Release the pressure, remove the lid, and stir in the kale and frozen corn
- Cover, and set to 1 minute on high pressure
- Once the cooker signals that time is up, either turn off the pressure cooker or unplug it, and allow it to stand for several minutes before releasing pressure
- Stir well, then ladle into serving bowls, garnishing with parmesan cheese, chopped parsley, and some fennel fronds
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6-8
