White Bean Chicken Chili with Lime-Cilantro Slaw

White Bean Chicken Chili with Lime-Cilantro Slaw

⏱ Prep: 15 min🔥 Cook: 30 min⏰ Total: 45 min🍽 Serves 4
Toddler tip: Already mild — serve her bowl over white rice with a little shredded cheese on top.
Low-carb fork: Naturally lower-carb. Skip the rice and tortilla chips; top with avocado instead. The slaw fits too.

Ingredients

Chili

  • 1 tbspolive oil
  • 1yellow onion, diced
  • 4 clovesgarlic, minced
  • 1.5 lbsboneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 (15 oz) cansgreat northern or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 (4 oz) cansmild diced green chiles
  • 1 cupfrozen corn
  • 4 cupslow-sodium chicken broth
  • 2 tspground cumin
  • 1 tspdried oregano
  • ½ tspchili powder (mild)
  • ½ cupplain Greek yogurt
  • 1lime, juiced
  • 1 handfulfresh cilantro, chopped (for serving)
  • to tasteshredded cheese, avocado, tortilla chips (optional toppings)

Lime-Cilantro Slaw (makes two nights — save half for burger night)

  • 1 bag (14 oz)coleslaw mix
  • 1lime, zested then juiced (~2 tbsp)
  • 2 tbspolive oil
  • 1 tsphoney
  • ¼ cupchopped cilantro
  • pinchsalt

Instructions

1Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium. Sauté onion ~4 min until soft; add garlic and cook 30 sec, then add cumin, oregano, and chili powder and stir 30 sec until fragrant (toss in a pinch of minced cilantro stems if you have them).
2Add chicken breasts, green chiles, and broth, bring to a simmer, then keep it at a gentle simmer for 18–22 min, until the thickest breast reaches 165°F — go by temp, not time (halving thick breasts lengthwise speeds this up).
3While the chicken simmers, make the slaw: zest the lime into a big bowl, then whisk in its juice, the olive oil, honey, and a pinch of salt — that's the full dressing batch. Pour half over half the slaw mix with half the cilantro and toss; let it sit so it softens. Refrigerate the other half of the mix (dry) and the other half of the dressing in a separate jar — that's burger night's slaw, dressed fresh in 10 seconds so it stays crisp.
4When the chicken hits 165°F, transfer it to a plate and shred with two forks.
5While the chicken rests, add the beans and corn. Mash about 1 cup of the beans against the side of the pot to thicken the broth; simmer 5 min.
6Return shredded chicken and turn off the heat. Let the bubbling stop (1–2 min), then whisk a ladleful of hot broth into the Greek yogurt to temper it and stir it back into the pot. Squeeze in the juice of the chili lime, season with salt and pepper, and do not return to a boil — boiling after the yogurt goes in is what curdles it.
7Serve topped with cilantro and toppings of choice, slaw alongside.