Making Roux for White Chicken Chili
The key to making a rich creamy broth for a soup is making a roux. A roux is the combination of a fat (in this case butter) and all purpose flour. The flour coats the fat keeping it evenly suspended when you add in liquid. This White Chicken Chili recipe checks all those boxes and then some. It has a hint of heat that is balanced by it’s rich creamy broth. It has layers of flavors brought by jalapeños, spices, green chiles, beans, and corn. This soup is everything you want in a warm cozy dinner. I always emphasize that a roux will work best if you add the liquid (in this case chicken stock) slowly after the butter and flour are fully combined. Start with a few tablespoons at a time and only add more once what you just added is fully whisked in. The whole process should take less than a minute.
White Chicken Chili Leftovers
Store leftovers of this white chicken chili recipe in the refrigerator for up to four days. To reheat, place only the amount that you want to eat in a saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring often, until it is warmed through. In this white bean chicken chili, it will take between 20 and 25 minutes to cook the chicken through. The best thing to do is use an instant read thermometer and remove the chicken to shred when it is 165 degrees. If you don’t have an instant read thermometer, pull the chicken out at 20 minutes. Cut in half and check it’s doneness. If it is still pink, add it back to the pot for another 5 minutes. To cut the jalapeño easily, think of it as a rectangle. Cut off each side, avoiding the ribbing and seeds. If you want to see this in action, check out the video in my Pico de Gallo. The green chiles in this recipe (I used cans marked “mild”) don’t add in heat. They really just bring flavor to the picture.
