White Chicken Chili

We have been making this White Chicken Chili recipe for years, Andy and I love it. Our kids are picky so they don't eat it, but that just means more leftovers for us! 

I wanted to try it out in my Instant Pot, so I'll include the regular stove top recipe as well as pressure cooker directions. 

 

(This pic shows it a little more soupy than chili-like...I added an extra cup of water in the IP, don't! After I boiled it down a little it was the perfect chunky/creamy consistency. So just follow the original recipe amounts for stove top or pressure cooker!)

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes1 medium onion, chopped (or 1/4 cup dehydrated)
  1 taspoon minced garlic
  2 cans (15-1/2 ounces each) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
  2 cups chicken broth
  1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
  1 teaspoon salt
  1 teaspoon ground cumin
  1 teaspoon dried oregano
  1/2 teaspoon pepper
  1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

Directions:

In a large saucepan, saute the chicken, onion and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add the beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream.
If desired, top with tortilla chips, cheese and jalapenos or serve with corn bread which is our preferred side.

Pressure cooker version:

Place full (frozen) chicken breast and all ingredients except sour cream in the pot. Cook for 13 minutes on manual setting, I did a quick release of pressure. 

Remove the chicken and shred or rough chop then return to pot, stir in sour cream. 

Enjoy!

Creamy Tomato Soup

This is my all time fave tomato soup recipe. So good. So creamy.
I've heard that not all care for the texture, but we LOVE it!

Creamy Tomato Soup (Crockpot, 6 hours)

Ingredients:

2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes, with the juice
1 cup finely diced carrots
1 cup finely diced onions (I use dehydrated onions, I find them less repulsive)
1 cup finely diced celery (I also skip this, because I don't usually have celery on hand)
2 T tomato paste
4 cups chicken broth
1 tsp dried oregano
1 T dry basil
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups half and half (I've also just used milk)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

Add diced tomatoes, carrots, onion, celery, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and basil to your slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 5-6 hours until flavors blend and vegetables are soft.

About 30 minutes before the serving, prepare a roux.
In a skillet melt the butter over med-low heat and add the flour. Whisk together constantly for about 10 minutes or until the roux is a nice golden brown color.
Slowly add 1 cup of the soup from the crock pot  to the roux, it will make a thick paste, slowly add 3 more cups of warm soup to the mix and stir until smooth.
Add the roux mixture to the crock pot.
Stir in the Parmesan cheese, half and half and salt and pepper. Stir well, let cook on low for another 30 minutes.
Pour soup into a blender (do this in batches), puree until smooth.

Serve with artisan bread, or fresh rolls. So yum!

Five-can Soup

I got this recipe from Selissa. It is easy and delicious. I don't have a picture, but maybe one can be added later.

1 Tbsp. oil
1 small onion
3 Tbsp. flour
3/4 tsp. cumin
1 can chicken broth
1 can chopped tomatoes, undrained
1 can corn, undrained
1 can evaporated milk
1 can chunk white chicken, undrained

Warm the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently for 5 minutes, or until translucent. Add flour, cumin and chili powder. Cook, stirring constantly.

Meanwhile, bring the broth to a boil in a small saucepan, add the onion mixture to the broth and whisk until liquid is smooth. Stir in the tomatoes and corn. Slowly stir in the milk and the liquid from the chicken. Bring to a simmer; do not boil. Break the chicken into bite size pieces and stir in the soup. Serve.

NOTES: Obviously, there are lots of things that can be varied or substituted. I've done it this way:
Shred cooked chicken into a pan.
Stir in the flour and spices.
Pour in broth and bring to a boil. It will thicken slightly.
Add corn and tomatoes. Heat through.
Stir in the milk. Serve.

It is also good with a can of black beans added (I drain them).

Cream Cheese Potato Soup

Andy doesn't especially like soups. I do, and I've tried to push share my love of a good soup with Andy. I especially like potato soup, but until I found this recipe I didn't have Andy convinced. We love this creamy soup, and make it about once a month (more often sometimes!). We like to look past the fact that it's not super healthy.

Panera's Cream Cheese Potato Soup (Original recipe in black, my notes/changes in red)

Ingredients
4 cups chicken broth (I just use the water/bullion method)
4 cups peeled and cubed potatoes (I do closer to 5 cups, I like it a little thicker)
1/4 cup minced onion (I use about 1 Tablespoon dehydrated onion)
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper (I don't have this, so I just use pepper...)
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (Instead of ground, I use red pepper flakes.)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, cut into chunks

Directions
Combine broth, potatoes, onion, and spices. Boil on medium heat until potatoes are tender. Smash a few of the potatoes to release their starch for thickening. Reduce to low heat. Add cream cheese. Heat, stirring frequently.

Best served with Artisan bread. Yum!

Mashed Potato and Black Bean Soup!

I got this recipe idea from Our Best Bites! I love their site. They have all sorts of yummy stuff!
Anyway, I wanted to make it but I did not have several ingredients and for some reason my baked potatoes did not turn out the way I thought they would so they ended up mashed!

Baked Potato Soup
Recipe by Our Best Bites


3 Tbs butter I love butter which I think is part of my down fall so I added an extra Tbsp
2-3 cloves garlic, minced I ran out of this ingredient so I ended up using 1 small chopped onion and some Garlic salt with parsley. Then I sauteed it all together.
1/2 C flour
4 1/2 C milk (low fat works great)
1 14oz can chicken broth
4 medium baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds) baked* I used 6 potatoes
2 C grated cheddar (or sharp cheddar) cheese, divided
1 1/2 tsp. salt More Garlic Salt!
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 C sour cream (low fat is fine), divided
1/2 C chopped green onions, divided
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled, divided
2 cans Black Beans

*don't have time to bake potatoes in the oven? Just pierce them with a fork a few times and then pop them in the microwave. Cook in 5 minute intervals until a knife easily pierces through them. It usually takes 5-10 minutes. To bake in the oven, pierce each potato with a fork and place directly on oven rack. Bake at 375 for 45-60 minutes.

Melt butter in a stock pot over medium heat. Add garlic or onions and saute for 30-60 seconds until fragrant. Add flour to pan. At this point I mixed the flour in with the onions and let it cook for one minute. It makes it so you don't have to worry about chunks of flour. Slowly add milk a little at a time while whisking constantly to eliminate lumps. Whisk until smooth and then add chicken broth and Beans so the beans will become soft. (Now, if you get to this point and don't have a smooth liquid. Stop! Save your soup by popping the mixture in the blender, then continue.) Bring soup just to a simmer and heat until thickened, stirring often, about 5 minutes.

Once soup is thickened, turn heat down to medium-low. Cut potatoes in half length-wise and use a spoon to scoop out potato flesh into the pot. Use a wooden spoon to smash potatoes, breaking up large clumps. Add 1 1/2 C grated cheese and salt and pepper and stir until cheese is melted. Remove pan from heat and stir in 3/4 C sour cream, 1/4 C green onions, and 4 strips of the crumbled bacon. Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and top with each serving with the remaining sour cream, onions, cheese, and bacon.
Now, I love bacon and if you do too I would double the amount of bacon you put into the soup.

Enjoy!!!!