chipotle queso white bean chili
Happy National Chili Day!
Man, these food holidays are for real helping me curate my dinner menus each week. The timing, too, couldn’t have been more perfect: a front whisked through and dropped our overnight lows to the upper 30s for the next couple days.
Perfect soup weather.
Creamy but chunky, silky but fulfilling, our Chipotle Queso White Bean Chili is loaded up with everything good about a hot bowl of beans. Slightly smoky and thoroughly sassy, a bag of tortilla chips or a loaf of crust bread are required for the full experience of spooning and dunking. Lovely for hurried weeknights and the leftovers are just ridiculous if you need a quick lunch to warm up from an afternoon stroll.
Lean, Mean Beans
White beans star as our bulk for this chili. Shredded rotisserie chicken is never a bad add-in if you have some around and need a little more protein, but keeping this vegetarian is the name of the FMG game, and cannellinis are the main character.
We’ve got lots of other pantry staples in our pot, so nothing is hard to acquire if you don’t have it lying around already. Soups and stews are the pinnacle of easy recipes, so the ingredients should reflect that, in my view.
Melt some butter in a big Dutch oven or soup pot. Saute your diced onion for a bit until softened, then stir in garlic, chipotle chili powder, cumin, and oregano. When these become aromatic, stir in two cans of diced green chiles.
Pour in vegetable broth and bring to a simmer for about 10 minutes or so, just enough time to let the spices mingle with one another. Dump in the drained white beans – yes, 3 cans is correct! – and stir.
This next step is Very Important: tempering your cream cheese and yogurt. If you skip this part the chili will become lumpy and weird, which is no one’s favorite thing and it looks more like vomiting up your dinner than dinner itself. Yeah, so, temper your dairy.
To do this, remove about 1/4 cup of broth from the hot pot and stir with the Greek yogurt in a small, separate bowl. Do this same step with the cream cheese. NOW you’re ready to add both to the soup. The cream cheese will need to melt but this will happen within 5 minutes or so with gentle swishing and coaxing.
At this point, also add cheddar cheese, lime juice, and fresh chopped cilantro. Taste your cauldron for salt and pepper and add more if needed.
A bowl of chili is not complete sans toppings. I always do cilantro, avocado, and more cheese. If there wasn’t a mysterious scallion shortage I’d chop some of those sticks up, too.
Of course, crusty baguette is my preference for scooping, but since it’s also National Tortilla Chip Day, why not grab a bag? Double fist it. There are no rules in my house.
Okay, there’s some rules, but not when it comes to carbs and chili, my friends.
Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Chili willy:
Quick and Cozy Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili
White Street Corn Chili Chowder
chipotle queso white bean chili
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 cans diced green chiles
- 2-3 cups vegetable broth
- 3 cans white beans, drained
- 6 oz cream cheese, softened and cubed
- 1/2 cup plain whole milk Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 1 cup shredded white cheddar cheese, plus more for topping
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped, plus more for topping
- sliced avocado, limes, and green onions, for topping
- tortilla chips or crusty bread, for dipping
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Saute the onion for 5-8 minutes until softened. Stir in the garlic, chipotle chili powder, cumin, and oregano for 1-2 minutes until fragrant, then stir in the green chiles.
- Add the broth and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, to let the flavors meld. Drop in the white beans.
- Remove 1/4 cup of the broth and stir into the yogurt to "temper" so it does not clump. Repeat with the cubed cream cheese. Add both to the pot and stir until the cream cheese melts, then stir in the cheddar cheese, lime juice, and cilantro. Continue heating until the chili is creamy and smooth, another 5 minutes or so.
- Spoon into bowls and top with lots fresh cilantro, cheese, avocado, and green onion. Serve with tortilla chips or crusty bread.
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