Chicken Chili with Beans and Peppers

It is coming up on soups and stews weather here. You know what that means? Chili - plenty of it! We make a couple varieties of chili here and one of the kids absolutely loves this chicken chili. We serve it over rice, but that is optional. It is good over egg noodles also if you prefer noodles instead of rice. We leave room for options.

We make this with a homemade cream of chicken soup so we know everything in it. It is really simple to make and has a better flavor then the cans have.

We have been getting away from highly processed foods here. I say highly processed as we still used boxed pasta, canned beans and things like canned tomatoes. So I created a homemade version of the cream of chicken soup we use here, it is only slightly different then when we make it to eat plain.

Making the chicken chili

I make the cream of chicken soup in a separate pot and set aside until it is time to add it to the chicken. I find it thickens a bit better that way. Being it is my favorite pan, always use my cast iron pan for the chili - recommended but not required. Any excuse to break out my trusty cookware like in my pan fried parmesan chicken recipe 🙂

Preparing the cream of chicken soup

Making the cream of chicken soup is easy and you can make it in a few minutes. First you heat up the pot over medium heat. Add in the butter and onions. Cook until the onions are translucent. Add in the rosemary, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook for about a minute.

Pour the chicken broth in and let it simmer for a couple minutes. Mix the flour and the milk together in a measuring shaker. If you do not have one, you can use a measuring cup and whisk it together well - tho the shaker is much better and you can use it whenever you need to thicken anything with flour.

Slowly add in the milk and flour mix while constantly stirring until all the mix is added. Bring to a simmer while stirring often. Allow it to simmer stirring often for a couple minutes (2-3 minutes is enough) and remove from heat. Set aside until ready for it.

Cooking the chicken

This can be done at the same time as the soup is being made. In a large skillet add oil and heat over medium heat. Now add in the chicken and chopped peppers, cooking for about 5 minutes stirring so the chicken cooks evenly. Add in garlic and the spices. Continue cooking until the chicken is fully cooked. Leave all the juice from the chicken in the pan with the chicken - do not drain.

Drain the black beans - you can add their juice but I usually don't. Stir well and cook for about 2 minutes to heat it through.

As a note:

Chicken chili is perfect for serving over rice or noodles. It isn't as thick as my regular chili beef chili but can be thickened with more flour if you prefer it to be thicker.

The homemade cream of chicken soup I make here is slightly different then the one I make for eating on a day when you just want soup for lunch. I adjusted it to work with the chili, tho it can be enjoyed as is - would be better with chicken added.

If you prefer, you can use canned soup. We do not here, but if you do I would say use 2 cans and some milk or water to thin it a bit. I am not certain the exact amount of liquid so I would start with half a can (from your soup) of liquid and increase as needed to desired consistency. If using canned, add in 1 onion with your chicken and peppers.

Looking for other great soup ideas?

Ham and potato soup - made on the stove

Instant Pot stuffed pepper soup

Instant Pot kielbasa soup

Recipe