Looking for the perfect set-it-and-forget-it soup recipe for chilly winter nights?
Amanda Batcher's Crockpot White Chicken Chili is guaranteed to hit the spot.
Batcher, the blogger behind The Chunky Chef, says she's seen her slow-cooker white chicken chili recipe perform well on Google and Pinterest, but she was surprised to hear how much love the recipe is getting in the Slowcooking subreddit, where slow-cooker enthusiasts share their favorite recipes.
"This is my FAVORITE slow cooker meal," one Redditor commented on a photo of the dish. "God, it's so damn delicious."
"It's deeeelish!" wrote another.
Batcher said that while she's "touched" by the chili's fan club, she's not surprised.
"I feel so blessed to be able to share my creations with others and love hearing from my readers," Batcher told TODAY Food. "Hearing stories of how they cooked the chili with their children or shared it with a neighbor who is going through something — several have even written in recently to say that they won chili cook-offs with my recipe, which warms my heart."
I wanted to check out the award-winning recipe for myself, so I set out to cook my own pot of Batcher's white chicken chili.
Chicken, white beans, corn, chilies and other ingredients spend eight hours cooking on low with some chicken broth, then it's time to add the creamy goodness. After removing the cooked chicken breasts to shred, cream cheese and half-and-half go into the liquid mixture and meld together to create an extraordinary broth that's velvety, rich and flavorful.
After adding the shredded chicken breasts back to the mix, it was time to serve.
At Batcher's suggestion, we served our chili with cornbread and topped it with fresh jalapeños, tortilla strips, sour cream and more. Batcher said that while her chili itself is delicious, the toppings only add to the party.
"My main tip is not to be shy about the toppings," she said. "I love go crazy with my toppings on chili: corn chips, avocado, cilantro, jalapeño, sour cream, cheese, you name it."
We enjoyed our chili as it was, but for those seeking a smoother chili, Batcher has an an additional tip.
"Try adding the softened cream cheese to a bowl, then top with a few ladles of the hot liquid from the slow cooker," she said. "Whisk until it's smooth then stir that into the chili."
