If you need a quick weeknight meal, this dairy free version of white bean chili is filling, delicious and easy.
Soup!
I love soup – especially when it is fast, filling and delicious. In Arizona, our soup window is a little small but I still make soup even when it is warm outside because I just love it.
This Creamy White Bean Chili is a family favorite and all my kids gobble it up and request it often!
No Dairy
Oftentimes, white chilis are made creamy and well, white with the addition of dairy products – milk, cream, cream cheese or sour cream.
This white chili has no dairy but it is still creamy and delicious. The secret: blending a can of white beans. The blended white beans also increase the fiber and the protein in the finished product.
Additional Toppings
This recipe is naturally meatless but can easily have diced or shredded chicken added. It is also yummy with rice. If I have any leftover cooked rice laying around in my fridge, I will crumble up about a cup of it into this soup. Yum.
We usually eat this soup topped with avocados. Avocados add more delicious creaminess to the meal as well as fiber and some good healthy fat. My kids also love to eat it with chips. If you are grain free, the Siete Brand cassava chips are awesome.
Creamy White Bean Chili
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 cup cornstarch or arrowroot starch
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin
2/3 cup green salsa
5 – 14 oz cans white beans
1 lime, juiced
Optional additions: (if you add additions, you may want to decrease the beans to 4 cans)
1 cup of cooked rice or quinoa
1 cup cooked shredded or diced chicken
Before you begin, open one of the white bean cans and with an immersion blender, blend the beans until smooth. If there is too much liquid in the can for the immersion blender to fit , pour out a small amount of the liquid before you begin. Alternatively, you can puree them in a blender. Set aside.
Add the oil to a soup pot on the stove and heat it over medium heat. Once heated, add the diced onions. Stir frequently until translucent. While the onions are cooking, pour a 1/2 cup broth into a small bowl and add the 1/4 cup cornstarch or arrowroot starch. Stir until dissolved. Set aside.
Pour the remaining 3 and 1/2 cups of broth into the soup pot. Add the 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon cumin, 2/3 cup of green salsa, and the 5 cans of white beans (the blended can as well). Stir until everything is incorporated. Let cook a few minutes and then add the cornstarch mixture and the lime juice. Stir. Bring to a gentle boil to allow the cornstarch to thicken, stirring often. Once the soup has thickened slightly, remove it from the heat. Serve with avocados and chips!
