White Chicken Chili

Back in college, there was a sandwich place near campus called Rollin' to Go that was extremely popular among my friends. Except I never ordered the sandwiches. Instead, I always went for the white chicken chili because it's mind blowingly good. Like I might've ordered it for three consecutive days at one point, got sick of it, but still returned again for it the following week. Might. 

I've attempted to make a decent white chicken chili at home before and it was disgusting. I don't know why but there's something about white chilis that are more fickle and more difficult to do correctly than beef chilis, which all rather straightforward recipes that end up tasting fairly similar. This recipe here is my first successful white chili attempt, so I'm pretty pleased. It tastes nothing like Rollin' to Go's, but it's delicious in its own right, although I will continue to scour the web and experiment until I can duplicate it.

Dice up a small onion, half a jalapeno, and 1/2 a bell pepper

Heat some olive oi in a dutch oven and saute the veggies until soft and lightly browned (around 10 minutes). Add a can of green chilies, a few cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp chili pepper, and 1/8 tsp cayenne. Saute for an additional minute. 

Add 3 cups of chicken broth and bring to a boil, then add a can of drained white beans (I used cannellini), a cup of corn, and 2 cups of diced cooked chicken (I used rotisserie). Stir well and cook over medium heat.

Meanwhile, prepare a roux. In a separate saucepan, melt 3 Tbsp butter and whisk in 3 Tbsp of flour until a thick paste forms. Add 1/3 cup of whole milk and whisk again until smooth.

Stir the roux into the chili until completely incorporated without lumps and season with salt/pepper to taste. Continue cooking for however long you'd like. I think the original recipe called for almost two hours of cooking time on the stove, but ain't nobody got time for that. For me, the whole process  (prep time included) took a little under an hour, and it was still mighty tasty.

Recipe: White Chicken Chili from The Kitchn (adapted slightly)

Would I make this again? Definitely, although it depends on whether I get sick of eating this enormous vat all week