Fast, Easy, Healthy, Crowd-Pleasing and Quick No-Cook White Chicken Chili Recipe

Here’s a delicious, easy recipe that requires almost no cooking and is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. It's also good enough for company. Every time I make it, at least one person asks for the recipe, and usually more than one asks. I swear, this couldn't be easier or tastier. AND it's good for you! Best of all, you can freeze the extras so you always have a stash of healthy, “homemade” dinners on those nights you can’t face the store or don’t want to cook, or when friends stop over or stay late.

This chicken chili is great to have on hand for impromptu Superbowl parties, the World Series, Oscar Night or any other st-home get-together.

All in, this takes under 30 minutes and makes enough for 8 hungry people — or more.

• 1 rotisserie chicken
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 2 bell peppers, chopped (I like to use different colors for visual effect)
• 3 cans of beans, rinsed (I prefer to use a mix, usually of cannellini, black and kidney beans, though pinto, Great Northerns and others all work as well. Also, it's important to rinse the beans, since this is what makes them less gassy!)
• 1 can corn, rinsed (2 if you are a corn nut)
• 1 can fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 32-oz box of low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tsp. cumin
• ½ tsp. chili powder
• ½ teaspoon cayenne
• blue corn tortilla chips
• sour cream (regular, light, fat-free or plain yogurt)
• shredded cheese
• cilantro
• sliced jalapeños (optional)

(Feel free to add other seasonings like red pepper flakes, oregano etc. to the chili according to your taste. Play with the amounts to find something that suits you.)

1. In a large stock pot or Dutch oven, sauté the onion, garlic and peppers until they start to soften, about 3-5 minutes.
2. Add the chicken broth, beans, corn and tomatoes with their juices. (Again, do NOT forget to rinse the beans! It's not enough to drain them if you want to be sure not to have gas post-chili! Trust me. This makes a huge difference.)
3. Allow the chili to simmer as you tear 2-inch pieces of chicken from the bone and add it to the pot.
4. Add spices to your taste and stir. I think the cumin is the most important spice of all of these.
5. The chili can be served immediately, or you can allow it to simmer a bit to let the flavors meld. Remember, you can control the spiciness of this dish, making it very mild for those who don’t like spice for children or else very hot for the spicy! With jalapeños on the side there’s something for everyone.

1. Lay a bed of blue corn tortilla chips on the bottom of a bowl.
2. Ladle a heaping service of the chicken chili and broth on top of the chips.
3. Garnish with the cheese, sour cream, cilantro and jalapeño, depending on your preference.
4. Serve with cornbread, if desired.

This dish also tastes delicious with fresh baked corn bread. Marie Callendar makes a very good mix that just requires you to add water and bake it in the oven. Jiffy also has a pretty tasty mix. Here, too, you can spice it up and make it feel homemade by adding some canned corn and/or jalapeños. But that's another "fake homemade" hub. Look it up!

This recipe easily makes enough to serve 8-10 people. Extras freeze well, and I always like to have some frozen chili on hand for those nights when I get home from work and want something healthy and delicious with zero fuss.