Chicken Chili, my Portuguese version

I used to make a chicken and white bean chili with a couple small cans of Hatch chiles. I was never big on making my own stock, so I used boxed chicken broth. In Portugal, I have had to adapt both those ingredients. I wanted to figure out how to make this again, because it’s really tasty and it’s my sister’s favorite thing that I make.

Adapted from addapinch.com (https://addapinch.com/white-chicken-chili-recipe/)

Ingredients

• 1 kg boneless chicken
  I use breasts cut into strips, or even better, tenders, which require no prep at all
• 4 cups broth
  I got some natural tasting chicken broth cubes at Auchan and some chemical-free, MSG-free veggie broth powder at Celeiro. I used both to make my broth. The veggie powder tasted just like the brand-name powders I was avoiding (here Knorr is a common brand), but in the final stew it was fine.
• 1 clove garlic, minced or crushed in garlic press
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 jar white beans, drained and rinsed
  The tall jars I buy have 400 grams of beans after rinsing. Adding even more beans would be fine.
• 1 tbsp preserved Old El Paso jalapenos from a jar
  I found this in the international section of the Auchan hipermercado. I froze the rest of the jalapenos into ice cubes for future use.
• 2 or 3 ribs celery, cut into pieces
• Other vegetables as desired
  I added some hunks of already roasted squash. Carrots, zucchini, green beans are other possibilities.

Herbs and spices:

• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp salt (or less)

Directions

1. In a large pot, heat the water and add the broth cubes and powder.
2. Add the chicken and cook for 10 minutes while prepping the rest of the ingredients.
3. Add all the rest of the ingredients. Don’t forget the herbs and spices in the separate list. You could delay added some of the veggies if you want them to be crisper.
4. Cook for approximately 20 more minutes.
5. Break up the very shreddable chicken as much as desired, or leave it to the diner to shred.

Garnishes

I make a milk-free version, but you could add a dollop of sour cream, or a bit of grated parmesan.

Chopped cilantro or parsley is a nice touch.

Black pepper to taste at the table. I don’t add it while cooking for those sensitive to black pepper.