White Chili (Football Soup)

Submitted by Tornado Ali

"This recipe comes from The Blue Owl Restaurant and Bakery in historic Kimmswick, MO. My daughter named it "Football Soup" because we always make it when we have a crowd over watching the game after church! Incredibly easy, freezes beautifully, and my bean hating husband even loves it. I add an extra can of green chilies for more flavor. You can make it without the chicken for a cheaper meatless meal, and you can make it without the monterey jack cheese for a low-fat, less thickened soup (but the cheese adds a lot of flavor!)"

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 12-14

ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 (4 ounce) cans chopped mild green chilies
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons dried oregano, crumbled
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 (16 ounce) cans great northern beans, undrained
• 6 cups chicken stock or 6 cups canned chicken broth
• 4 cups chopped cooked chicken, to taste
• 3 cups grated monterey jack cheese (about 12 oz.)

directions

1. Heat oil in large pot over medium high heat.
2. Add onions and saute until translucent, about 10 minutes.
3. Stir in garlic, then chilies, cumin, oregano, and cayenne and saute 2 minutes.
4. Add undrained beans and stock and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat and add chicken and cheese to chili and stir until cheese melts.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper and ladle into bowls.
7. FOR FREEZING: Pour soup into a rigid container (or freezer bag), label and freeze. To reheat, thaw in refridgerator overnight or simply put frozen soup into a large pot and gently heat, with lid on and stirring often, till heated through.

Reviews

[amygamet]

Vegetarian recipe?I used to make this as written, now I make it without any meat and it's still fantastic. I use vegetable broth instead of chicken (and 4 cups instead of 6), and I use an extra can of great northern beans for a total of 4. I still use the monterey jack cheese. The flavor is still the same--it's the seasonings that do it, not the chicken. Just love this one. A real keeper. Thank you!!

 

[afullbri]

Very Yummy! I ended up adding a couple more garlic cloves and cumin. They happen to be two of my favorite ingredients. Instead of just adding the cheese I made a cheese sauce with the Monterrey jack, butter and milk. I thought this made for a better consistency. Added this mixture right before serving. Topped the completed chili with a squeeze of lime, cilantro and a spoonful of Mexican Crema.

 

[Heavens Kitchen]

This was good, but it really seemed to be missing something. I was going to go back to 'Zaar to read over this recipe's reviews to see if anyone had added anything to it to perk it up a bit when I came across Recipe #110076, which is a very similar recipe, except with the addition of sour cream and cilantro. I would say, at the very least, some fresh cilantro sprigs would help liven up this recipe. From the other white chili recipe, I borrowed the ideas of adding cilantro and sour cream, and I must say that they really were exactly what this recipe was missing.

 

[misselizabetha]

A good foundation, but more seasoning and flavor were needed to make this 5 stars. Second time around, I cut back on 2 cups of liquid, added 2 Tbs cumin, generous black pepper, 2 1/2 tsp chili powder seasoning, 7 cloves of garlic, and added a red bell and Anaheim pepper with the garlic- both seeded. Since it was still thin, I added 1 c. sweet corn, 1/2 cup pepper jack cheese, and used a stick blender for just a few pulses to puree some beans and thicken the soup. Marvelous flavor, but the tweaking was needed to bring this recipe home.

 

[duonyte]

I noticed the review on making this vegetarian. I had been thinking of making another recipe, but made this instead. I cooked dry beans instead of using canned. From experience I know the mild chiles don't do much for me, so I added a chopped jalapeno to the onions to saute. Used a bit more cayenne. I also added chopped cilantro and a sliced green onion to the garnishes. It was very tasty. Half the recipe made four large soup bowl servings for us.