White Chicken Chili
Canned chicken, two kinds of white beans, and enough cumin to make it taste like it took an hour.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 47
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 35 min
- total time
- 45 min
- water
- 950 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Dutch oven
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Winter / snow
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Canned chicken breast chunks | 2 x 10 oz cans | drain off the packing liquid |
|---|---|---|
| Great northern beans | 1 can | go in undrained, the starch thickens the pot |
| Cannellini beans | 1 can | drained |
| Chicken bouillon | 4 tsp | replaces 4 cups of boxed broth |
| Dried minced onion | 1/3 cup | stands in for 1 cup fresh |
| Granulated garlic | 2 tsp | |
| Cumin | 2 tsp | |
| Oregano | 2 tsp | |
| Cayenne | 1/2 tsp | |
| Sour cream powder | 1/2 cup | rehydrates into the 1 cup the original calls for |
| Shredded Monterey Jack | 3 cups | waxed block grated at camp, or a hard aged jack |
| Dried cilantro | 2 tbsp | fresh if you are car camping and have a cooler |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Heat the oil in the pot and toss the dried onion and garlic in it for a minute. It will smell like onion before it looks like anything.
- Add 4 cups of water, the bouillon, both cans of beans, the drained chicken, cumin, oregano, cayenne, and cilantro.
- Bring it up, then hold it at a bare simmer for 30 minutes. Over a fire, pull the pot to the edge of the coals.
- Take it off the heat. Whisk the sour cream powder with a half cup of the hot broth in a mug first, then stir that back in.
- Add the cheese in handfuls, stirring between each. Keep it off direct heat or the cheese breaks and goes grainy.
The original wants a cup of sour cream, a cup of chopped onion, and four cups of boxed broth. All three are volume and refrigeration you do not want in a food box, so they become sour cream powder, dried minced onion, and bouillon plus water. The cans of chicken and beans stay. They are heavy, but they are also the entire point, and nothing shelf-stable rehydrates into chicken chunks.
The undrained can of northern beans matters. That liquid is bean starch, and it is what keeps the chili from separating into broth and solids while it sits. The other rule is that the dairy goes in off the heat. Powdered sour cream and jack cheese both curdle if you boil them, and once a pot of chili goes grainy there is no fixing it in the field.
Packing
Bouillon, onion, garlic, and all the spices go in one bag at home. Sour cream powder rides in its own bag, since it clumps if it meets anything. Cans and cheese are the weight, which is why this is a car or boat dinner.
Variations
- A can of diced green chiles adds heat and a little acid.
- Swap half the beans for a bag of instant refried beans if you want it thicker and lighter to carry.
- Crushed tortilla chips on top do the job that cornbread would at home.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/white_chicken_chili-432.asp