Last spring my friend Amber posted a recipe on her blog BlueBonnets and Brownies for Cheesecake Factory White Chicken Chili. While I like chili on occasion, white chili is way more appealing to me and I am a regular visitor to the Cheesecake Factory. As I am easily distracted, I kinda forgot about it until I had the Chili at the Cheesecake Factory for lunch in the fall and it reminded me that I wanted to make Amber’s version. So I went ahead and bought some chicken and beans, trying to recall the ingredients from memory because of course I had not written them down. As is typical of me, I didn’t read the recipe very closely assuming I could guess how it would be made. (This is one of those things on a list of top reasons your recipe didn’t work out how you expected – you didn’t read through the recipe before getting started – guilty.)
Amber’s recipe calls for chicken breasts or thighs, not the ground chicken I had bought as well as peppers, a variety of beans and salsa verde. I prefer white beans and don’t love peppers so I decided to go ahead and make it without those things and use the ground chicken I had purchased. Well, every experiment doesn’t always work in my kitchen, but using Amber’s recipe as a base and changing it up a bit ended up being exactly what I was imagining. Added bonus was that my husband asked for some too, which I was surprised to hear, and more surprised to see how much he loved it – now I make it once a week as a back up dinner for him or a weekend lunch. To be honest only one of the kids has agreed to try it out and likes it, so I have started freezing half of it before I add the half and half and save it up for a quick dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 T Olive Oil
- 1 Medium Onion, Diced
- 1 Lb Ground Chicken
- 1/4 C Flour
- 2 t Chili Powder
- 2 t Onion Powder
- 2 t Garlic Powder
- 2 t Cumin
- 2-15.5 Oz Cans White Navy Beans, Drained and Rinsed
- 2 C Chicken Stock (Low Sodium)
- 1- 12 oz Package Frozen Corn
- 1/2 C Half and Half
- 4 T Sour Cream
- White Rice, Sour Cream and Cheddar Cheese for Serving
Instructions
- In a dutch oven or large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook 5 minutes, stirring until softened.
- Add chicken, using the back of a wooden spoon break it up into crumbles. Continue cooking until slightly browned and cooked through – 6-8 minutes.
- Add flour and spices and stir well to coat the chicken pieces.
- Stir in beans and then chicken stock. Bring to a boil and add corn. Cook 2-3 minutes until corn is cooked through. (If you want to freeze all or a portion let it cool to room temperature at this stage and freeze. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight, bring to just a boil over low heat and continue with the remaining steps.)
- Add cream, cook 2 minutes and remove from heat.
- Stir in sour cream.
- Serve with a scoop of white rice, sour cream and cheddar cheese.
Notes
Inspired / Adapted From BlueBonnets and Brownies Cheesecake Factory White Chicken Chili
MK, you are so sweet! I’m going to try your version the next time I make this – I didn’t even think to try ground chicken.
Thanks Amber! Can’t get enough of this!
I think I’ll have to try this…and I know the kids won’t eat it….but it would be a good one for Rob and I to have when the kids insist on mac n’ cheese
Exactly Beth!
MaryKay
We loved this recipe! I tasted before I added the half and half and sour cream and it was delicious so I left it out. I put some sour cream on at the table and everyone loved it !!
Thanks!
Robin
Thanks for letting me know Robin! So glad you guys liked it.
Could I make this in the crock pot?
I haven’t tried it, I think it should work out although I’d suggest browning the meat before putting it in the crock pot. Let me know if you try it, I’d love to hear!
This was delicious! We used ground turkey and it still turned out great. I may experiment next time and see if I can make it slightly healthier.
Thanks so much for letting me know! You can definitely cut out the half n half and sour cream and use light, low sodium chicken broth.