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This dairy-free white bean chicken chili was a staple in my home as a child. My mom used to make a similar white bean chicken chili and each and every time, we enjoyed it as a family. If you’re a fan of chili, this one is a bit unique to the traditional red bean chili however, just as delicious. It’s dairy-free & gluten-free with the option to make it just as creamy as a traditional chili with dairy products.
Flavors in this chili will remind you more of a tex-mex chili with hearty, nutritious ingredients that are perfect as freezer meals. When this white bean chili recipe is made with dairy the use of yellow cheese aligns more with the tex-mex example. With ingredients like celery seed, celery, chicken, a variety of white beans, and coconut milk, it’s not the traditional chili, but certainly just as good! If you’re looking for a bit of a sweet & spicy kick you’ll have to try our Mexican salsa macha, salsa verde, or a big scoop from this guacamole recipe.
How To Make This Chicken Chili:
If you’re making this white bean chicken chili, I highly recommend planning to freeze a few servings! If you’re making for a crowd or simply for your family, you may not need to freeze any however it reheats incredibly well if so!
Choose to make crockpot white bean chicken chili or stovetop chicken chili. Both options are great however I prefer using the stovetop as I feel the flavors come out the best. Additionally, if making this dish, I like to make the chicken first and add it in later once the chili has cooled. It makes for the perfect chicken in my opinion, allowing for the pieces to disperse better throughout!
Choose to use an InstaPot to make your chili recipe. I havent made my chili in an InstaPot, however I’m familiar that it drastically cuts down the time spent on cooking the meal. If you’ve made chili in one before, I’d suggest using this to save time.
Can I freeze Dairy-Free White Bean Chicken Chili?
This is a common question, especially when it comes to busy individuals, lazy cooks, and my chronic illness community! Freezing this dairy-free white bean chicken chili is luckily quite perfect upon reheating. To freeze this chili the correct way follow the below frozen chili steps:
- Once you’ve cooked the chicken chili, be sure to add it to a shallow pan. By using a shallow pan, it allows the heat to escape quicker making for a safer freezer food. In the culinary world there is something called the temperature danger zone or the ‘TDZ’. This has to do with the two hour window if food were to sit out in improper temperatures. Be sure to cool your chili enough before freezing in under 2 hours or less! (Typically it will not take you that long!)
- Pre-portion the amount that you will enjoy in one sitting. A big mistake most people do with freezing is that they will freeze a large amount to be reheated when only 1/4 of it will be eaten. To safely enjoy frozen to reheated food, it is recommended to only reheat the item once!
- Use reusable bags and containers like stasher bags or souper cubes to store your chili in! (The stasher bags can be used once the souper cubes have froze individually.)
- Add your chili to your containers with just enough room for them to expand as they freeze. I always leave the lids off for about an hour to allow them to cool and freeze even quicker!
Dairy-Free White Bean Chicken Chili
Ingredients
- 1-2 tbsp avocado oil butter, vegan butter, evoo
- ½ large yellow or red onion about 1 cup
- 4-5 stalks celery or 2 cups
- 4 medium carrots about 1.5-2 cups
- 3 scallions
- ½ cup kitehill chives dairy-free cream cheese OR simple gf roux
- 1 tbsp- 1 tbsp + 2 tsp cumin
- ¼ tsp coriander
- ½ tsp freshly chopped oregano
- ½ tsp celery seeds
- ½ heaping tsp smoked paprika
- 4 large garlic cloves or garlic granules as desired
- Freshly cracked pepper
- 2 cups veggie broth
- 1 cup canned full fat coconut milk (365 brand – whole foods) The whole foods canned milk is the best as the coconut flavor is VERY mild!
- Cilantro
- 2 tsp salt see bean notes below
- 2 can canellini beans or 2.5 cups freshly made beans with can water – remove below sodium if needed
- 1 can great northern beans or 2.5 cups freshly made beans with can water – remove below sodium if needed
- 1.5-2 LB shredded chicken thighs skinnless (remove if wanting to make vegan)
- tajín as desired I use this to top my chili!
Optional Ingredients:
- 1 cup corn optional – I dont add it typically
- ¼ small jalapeno or red pepper flakes as desired
- 1 can pinto beans
- 1 tbsp Nutritional yeast
Instructions
- In a large stock pot or dutch oven, add in your olive oil, avocado oil, or butter.
- Add in your onion and allow to caramelize slightly along with your celery.
- Next, add in your carrots and spices as well as your carrots. Deglaze the pan if needed with a bit of water.
- Follow with your remaining ingredients except your cilantro, kitehill cream cheese, and scallions and let it stew fully. If you're using the water that's the can, make sure you adjust your sodium in this recipe if it contains sodium.
- You can keep your heat set to medium during this process or reduce it to medium low and cover it.
- I suggest cooking the chicken the night prior or simply boiled in a secondary pan so that it can be properly shredded. Chicken thighs are difficult to overcook and will typically only take around 15-20 minutes for boneless/skinless thighs.
- Once the chicken is cooked, shred it with either clean hands or with two forks and reserve.
- Allow the chili to reduce to desired texture and add in your cilantro and scallions and puree 1-2 cups to thicken the chili. If desired, add in your kithehill vegan cream cheese.
- Finally, add in your chicken, sprinkle with tajín, serve, & enjoy!
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