Mexican White Bean & Chicken Soup

October 28, 2016 2 Comments

Category: Dinner, Healthy Eating
Tags: Easy meals, Healthy Eating, Healthy Meals, Meals under 30 minutes, Mexican White Bean and Chicken Chili soup, Soup, Week night meal

The weather has officially turned and these cool, brisk days are making me crave hearty soups. 

There are so many reasons to love a good soup but for me, “the one pot wonder” tastes the cake. One delicious meal – that you can pack with proteins and veggies – and the end result leaves you with only one pot to wash (total bonus!). Plus, don’t soups just make you feel warm and cozy?

I made this particular soup in a Dutch oven because I wanted to sear the veggies and chicken before leaving it to cook for a few hours. You can easily make this in the crockpot instead, but I prefer sauteing the ingredients before since I think it tastes a bit better.

This Mexican White Bean and Chicken Chili soup really elevates your standard chicken soup with its Latin flavors and kick of spice. I made huge pot so we could have leftovers and invited my dad over on a rainy and cold day to enjoy it with me.

Even my dad really loved it: “One of best soups I have tasted in years. Enough heat to grab your attention then keep you wanting more long after you’ve finished the bowl,” he said. Try it out for yourself and let me know what you think!

Mexican White Bean & Chicken Soup

Ingredients

(note I made enough for lots of leftovers so feel free to cut the recipe in half, if preferred)

• 4 chicken breasts (trimmed)
• 2 boxes of low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cans cantenelli beans
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1 yellow onion (chopped)
• 1 tablespoon garlic
• 2 jalapenos (chopped)
• 2 cans of green chilis
• Bunch of fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili flakes
• 3 tablespoons oil
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 1 cup of Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions

• Heat oven to 175 degrees.
• On low heat, add olive oil to Dutch oven. After it begins to heat up, add chopped onion and garlic and stir continuously for 5 min or so.
• While it’s cooking, chop cilantro and jalapeños, juice limes and open cans of green chilis. Add to mixture and stir.
• While vegetables are cooking, trim chicken and add salt and pepper to each side.
• Mix all other seasonings together – oregano, cumin, cayenne and chili flakes – and add half of the mixture to the chicken breasts. The other half will he used in the broth.
• Sauté seasoned chicken in the pot with other items for 5 minutes. You want the chicken to sear on each side.
• Add in chicken broth, remaining seasonings and cantenelli beans and stir. Bring entire soup to a boil.
• Place Dutch oven in the oven for 2 hours stirring every 30-45 min.
• Once fully cooked, take chicken out, and shred with fork and return chicken to soup
• If you’d like to thicken up the soup, add Parmesan about 30 minutes before ready to serve. You can also sprinkle on top when serving with cilantro.

A healthy eating series focusing on simple, low carb/sugar dishes in 30 minutes or less. For more info on how MS affects my eating habits, click here.