Buffalo Chicken and White Bean Chili

The boyfolk and menfolk in my family are nuts about chicken wings….and I love them, too, though I have a harder time justifying an order of them along with a pizza than they do.  I’ll eat them, mind you, but I envy their laissez faire attitude leading to huge piles of bones on their plates. However, the original buffalo wing was apparently invented at a pizzeria, so the connection is an authentic one.

And it’s Frank’s Red Hot Sauce that makes a buffalo wing a buffalo wing, in many people’s opinion (including mine).  The sauce has that perfect balance of cayenne peppers and vinegar, just the smell alone makes your mouth water.  You can of course play around and use other hot sauces to make your wings….but you’ll never go wrong with Frank’s Red Hot (this is not a sponsored post, by the way!).

White Chicken Chili

Not at all hard to justify is a bowl chicken and bean chili.  I came up with this Buffalo Chicken Chili recipe because I was tired of shoving around the Frank’s Red Hot sauce in the fridge, and it was cold and I thought – chili! 

This recipe is quite ridiculously easy, and because the chicken cooks fast and because the hot sauce does a lot of the heavy lifting flavor-wise it takes very little time to cook, unlike many chilis which need to be simmered for quite a while.  Make this a couple of days before you are going to serve it, if possible, so they flavors have time to blend.

This Buffalo Chicken and White Bean Chili recipe combines the spicy flavors of the chicken wings we know and love into a hearty chili.

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I also made this for a crowd (tripled the recipe) with ground chicken, as I didn’t have the patience to dice so much chicken.  I used a mix of light and dark ground chicken, which is more juicy and flavorful than just white meat ground chicken. 

I also added it in after the vegetables were sautéed, and cooked and stirred until pretty much all of the pink was gone before adding my broth and hot sauce.  This seemed like the thing to do to let them eat get nicely and crumbly in the chili.

Other Chili Recipes to Try:

• Slow Cooker Beef Chili
• Instant Pot Vegetable Chili
• Texas Red Chili
• Beef, Black Bean and Jalapeno Chili

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Buffalo Chicken and White Bean Chili

The flavor of buffalo chicken wings translated into a healthy white chicken chili.

Yield: 6 People

Ingredients

• 1 onion chopped
• 3 large carrots peeled and chopped
• 3 stalks celery chopped
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 cup chicken broth preferably less-sodium
• ⅓ cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
• 2 15-ounce cans white beans drained and rinsed
• 1 pound diced boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

To Serve (Pick and Choose)

• Shredded cheese, chopped tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole or diced avocado, chopped onions or scallions, cilantro leaves

Directions

• Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onions, carrots, celery and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes until the vegetables start to become tender. Stir in the chili powder, paprika, salt and pepper, then pour in the broth and hot sauce, and stir in the beans. Bring to a simmer, then add the chicken and simmer for another 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Either serve immediately, or cool and refrigerate for up to 4 days, reheating over low heat.
• Serve hot in bowls with all of the desired garnishes.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 315kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 48mg | Sodium: 682mg | Potassium: 1106mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 5489IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 129mg | Iron: 5mg

The nutrition values are provided as an estimate. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a qualified healthcare professional.

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