Verde Chicken Chili
This Verde Chicken Chili is hearty, flavorful, and perfectly balanced. It has a homemade salsa verde that gives it a bright, zesty kick, plus tender shredded chicken, fire-roasted corn, and creamy beans. A touch of heat rounds it out, making every bite cozy, vibrant, and deeply satisfying.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs Tomatillos
- 6 oz poblano peppers about 3-4 large poblanos
- 2 jalapeño peppers
- 1 white onion
- Olive oil
- Salt
- 1.5 chicken thighs
- season generously with cumin, chili powder, cordiander, paprika, garlic powder, and salt
- heavy drizzle of olive oil
- 1/2 white onion chopped
- 3-4 cloves of garlic minced
- 3 cups broth can use chicken or veggie!
- 1.5 tsp salt taste at the end and add more to your liking
- 2 cups frozen fire-roasted corn
- 1 can white northern beans or pinto, black, chickpeas, whatever!
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
TOPPINGS
- cilantro
- cotija cheese
- lime wedge
- tortilla chips
Instructions
- If you're making your salsa from scratch, preheat your oven to 425. Peel your tomatillos and place on a baking sheet with your poblanos (cut off the tops), jalapeños (cut off the tops and half them), and a white onion (halved). Drizzle with a good amount of olive oil and season with salt. Bake for about 30 minutes until veggies are roasted.
- In a large bow, season your chicken thighs generously with the spices listed. I eyeballed this and trust that you can too! This is hard to mess up. Drizzle with lots of olive oil and massage oil and spices into the thighs.
- Heat a large skillet (I used cast iron) over medium heat and let heat up for a few minutes. Place your thighs in the hot pan and let them sit on one side for a couple minutes until seared (just leave them alone, don't play with them). Flip to sear the other side. Once seared, remove from heat and set aside.
- In a large soup pot, drizzle olive oil and let heat up. Dice white onion and mince garlic and add to pot. Stir well and let cook for a few minutes until onions are translucent. Add chicken thighs in with the garlic and onions. Add in broth and cover for 20 minutes and set heat to LOW or SIMMER.
- Remove veggies from oven and place into a blender with a big handful of cilantro. Blend on high to puree it. Add salsa to your soup.
- Remove chicken from the soup after 20 minutes and chop into small bite-sized pieces. Return back to soup. Add in your choice of beans, frozen fire-roasted corn, salt to taste, and 1/3 cup of cream. Let simmer for 10 minutes.
- Serve with cilantro, tortilla chips, lime, and cotija cheese (or top with whatever you want!)