Chili sans Tomatoes

Over reading break I tried another instant pot soup: White Chicken Chili once again from “The Ultimate Instant Pot Cookbook” by Coco Morante (p.110). This soup called for lots of peppers (Anaheim, Jalapeno, and Cayenne) so I was a little apprehensive that it would be extremely spicy, but to my relief it was perfect! I learned from the small last soup that I made and doubled the recipe, but otherwise followed it almost exactly. I opted to use canned beans since I was unable to find white kidney beans dried at my grocery store and I also used cheddar and mozzarella to top the finished soup rather than Monterey Jack cheese. Had I used dried beans, this recipe would have taken much longer since I would have needed to soak the beans over night and then briefly cook them in the instant pot before starting the soup. The doubled recipe made 12 servings which just barely fit in my instant pot (I did not actually take this into account and was relieved that it did, indeed, fit). Overall the recipe was easy to follow and, while you will see in my time-lapse video below just how much chopping and prep there was, it didn’t actually take very long even though the prep was effectively doubled.

Once cooked, I topped the soup with grated cheese and green onions and served it with a side of well-buttered Portofino Peasant Loaf. It smelled divine and tasted just as good! Both my husband and I loved the soup and found it to be a wonderful balance of the butter-smooth beans, various peppers, chicken, spices and a creamy tang lent to it from the sour cream. I would describe it as Mexican-inspired comfort food and I will definitely be making this dish again. Moreover, my toddler loved it, eating his entire bowl and asking for seconds!

This delicious soup also didn’t even break the bank, costing about $45 in total which works out to $3.77 per portion. As you will see from my score table below, this soup has rated quite well and I anticipate that it will also rate well after freezing – stay tuned to find out!