Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. Olive Oil
- 1 whole Onion, Diced
- 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
- 2 lb. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, Cut Into A Large Dice
- 1 bottle (12 Ounce Bottle) Good Beer
- 1 can (14 Oz. Size) Diced Tomatoes
- 3 whole Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce, Minced (use Less If Desired)
- 1 can (14 Oz. Size) Pinto Beans, Drained And Rinsed
- 1 can (14 Oz. Size) Black Beans, Drained And Rinsed
- 1 can (14 Oz. Size) Kidney Beans, Drained And Rinsed
- 1 tbsp. Chili Powder
- 1 tbsp. Ground Cumin
- 1 tsp. Salt, More To Taste
- 1/4 c. Masa Harina
- 1 Lime, Juiced
- Sour Cream, For Serving
- Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese, For Serving
- Cilantro, For Serving
- Lime Wedges For Serving
Directions
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat then add the onions and garlic. Cook for a few minutes until onions soften. Add the chicken and cook until lightly browned. Add 3/4 of the beer, reserving the rest, then cook for a couple of minutes to reduce.
Add the tomatoes, chipotles, beans, chili powder, cumin and salt. Stir to combine, then cover the pot and cook for 1 hour.
Combine the masa harina with the rest of the beer and stir to make a paste. Add this into the chili, along with the lime juice. Stir and cook for 10 more minutes or until thick.
Serve with sour cream, cheese, cilantro, and another squeeze of lime!
I’ll be on The Chew today, and I wanted to share the recipe I’ll be cooking since it’s one of my favorites from my new cookbook (here’s a peek if you’d like to look inside!) It’s Chipotle Chicken Chili, and it’s exactly what the title says: Chicken chili with a great chipotle flavor. But what the title doesn’t say is that this chili is a dream. It’s easy to make, easily changeable (I use turkey instead of chicken on The Chew today), and so thick and luscious. It really is one of my favorite things to chow down on these days, and perfect for the cold weather we’re entering into!
Oops. Ended with a preposition.
“…and perfect for the cold weather into which we’re entering.”
Okay, I feel better now.
Mince up some onion and garlic…
And throw it into a pot with a little oil.
Stir and cook it around for a few minutes, until the onions start to get translucent-ish.
Cut up whatever meat you’re using into cubes. This is chicken breast, but as I said, I use Turkey on The Chew…and you could also use stew meat, ground beef, ground turkey, pork, etc. You’ll just need to adjust the simmering time to fit whatever meat you’re using (i.e. beef stew meat will take a little longer to get tender.)
After the onions have cooked, throw the meat into the pot…
And stir it around until it’s starting to brown on the outside.
Next, crack open a bottle of the hard stuff! Add 3/4 of a bottle of beer. This is a good Mexican beer, but you can use whatever kind you want. And if you aren’t the beer type, just use low sodium chicken or beef broth (depending on the meat you’re using) instead!
Let the beer bubble up and cook for a few minutes…
Then pour in a can of diced tomatoes, juice and all.
Then, if you love spicy food, which I do, mince up three canned chipotle chilies packed in adobo sauce (these are in the Hispanic Foods section of the grocery store)…
And add them in to the chili.
Now, about the chipotle peppers: They’re spicy, man. There ain’t no getting around it. Three chipotle peppers results in a very spicy chili. I love spicy food more than life itself, but I realize a lot of people don’t. So you could definitely pull back to one minced chipotle pepper, which would give the chili a slight spice and great smokiness…or, to be safe, you could leave out the chipotle altogether. The chili is still delicious without it!
The best approach with chipotles, if you’re unsure, is just to start with one pepper or half of a pepper and work your way up.
Okay, after you’ve settled the spice issue, drain and rinse whatever kind of canned beans you like. I did a mix of kidney, pinto, and black, but you can use all of one kind if that’s what you have.
Throw the beans right into the pot…
And stir it around to combine everything.
Add a tablespoon of chili powder (and again, you can start with a teaspoon and work your way up here if you’re unsure.)
And a good tablespoon of cumin.
I want to marry cumin. I love it so much.
Next, add about a teaspoon of salt…
And stir everything around to combine.
Cover the pot and simmer the chili for 1 hour…
And now it’s time to thicken it.
My favorite way to thicken chili is to use masa harina. Masa is a corn flour used to make tortillas (I use both all-purpose flour and masa harina mixed together to make a flour/corn tortilla that I love) and you can find it in the same aisle as the chipotle peppers. Grab a small amount…
And mix it with the beer that’s left in the bottle from earlier.
That is, if you didn’t drink it already. If you drank it already, just mix the masa with a little warm water.
Mix it all together until it’s a smooth paste…
Then pour it right into the pot!
Next, squeeze in the juice of a lime…
And stir everything together. Let it cook for another 10 minutes or so; the masa will thicken the chili and give it the MOST incredible corn flavor.
And by the way, I use masa to thicken whatever chili I’m making. The flavor it adds to the mix is just irreplaceable. It is heaven.
Hello, beautiful!
Serve the chili in a bowl…
With a good amount of sour cream, grated cheddar, and cilantro, which really freshens it up. An extra squeeze of lime is always good, too!
Now, this is obviously the classic way to serve chili…but here are other thangs you can do with it:
* Serve it in baked potato skins.
* Serve it over Fritos.
* Serve it with cornbread.
* Serve it in tacos; top with lettuce and tomato. Yum!
Have fun with this chili, guys! It’s thick, rich, and lovely.
Here’s the handy dandy printable.
