White Bean Chili
I have a popular super-quick white bean soup on my blog, and a creamy kid’s version in my kid’s cookbook. However, I often make this recipe here when I don’t have a jar of salsa verde on hand, or don’t want the extra sodium that comes with it. It’s flavorful and doesn’t take much more time than those dump-and-warm versions.
Soups are so affordable, nutritious, and filling. If you have reluctant soup-eaters in your house, maybe offer some crushed tortilla chips, guacamole, vegan sour cream or cheese on top. There are good, better, and best versions of every recipe, and sometimes you have to start with good and work your way up. 🙂
Enjoy this quick soup! It’s one of my favorites! It even placed at a church chili cook-off a few years ago, which I think is amazing considering it was competing with meat and dairy entries!
A few of my other favorite soup recipes…
Corn Chowder with Coconut Bacon
Creamy, savory, delicious! And so quick and easy to make, as a bonus!
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 yellow or orange bell pepper, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder (more to taste)
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 4 TBSP lime or lemon juice
- 1 4-oz can green chilies
- 5 cups cooked white beans (or 3 cans, drained and rinsed)
- 1/2 cup cashews covered with 1 cup water (or 1 cup full-fat canned coconut milk)
- cilantro
- avocado
- jalepeno
- hot sauce
- crushed tortilla chips or toasted corn tortillas
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Start by covering cashews with 1 cup of water in a blender. Let sit and soak while you prepare the soup.
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In a pot, saute the onion, garlic, and bell pepper in a splash of water for about 5 minutes, until fragrant and they appear cooked.
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Add spices, then broth, green chilies, beans, and lime juice.
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Blend the cashews with water until very smooth. Pour into soup.
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Stir and taste. Add more chili powder for heat, lime juice for tanginess, salt and pepper, as desired. Use an immersion blender to partialy blend the soup for thicker consistency, although it has a mashed beany texture to it when you do this.
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Serve with desired toppings on top. Leftovers keep well in the fridge for about 5 days, and it freezes well, too.
This is such a good chili. I have to eat very limited salt, so I added neither salt nor vegetable broth, and it was still delicious! I added more cumin, substituted smoked paprika for regular, added a little chipotle. Next time I will grate up a carrot to replace the subtle flavor of vegetables that I am missing because of no vegetable broth. I did partially blend it with an immersion blender, which gave it a nice thickness. White beans are very high in potassium, so I like to eat them often.