White Chicken Chili

The Problem: We found a lot of bad recipes for white chili—most bearing a closer resemblance to chicken and bean soup than actual chili.

The Goal: We wanted to create something worthy of the name "chili"—a rich, stew-like chili with moist, tender chicken, perfectly cooked beans, and a complex flavor profile.

The Solution: We found not one but three solutions. To fix bland, watery sauce we pureed some of our sautéed chile-onion mixture and beans with the broth to thicken the base—this approach had the added benefit of ensuring that chile flavor was present in every drop. To avoid floating bits of rubbery chicken, we browned, poached, and shredded bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, which gave our chicken pieces a hearty texture and full flavor. And to solve the problem of insufficient chile flavor, we used a trio of fresh chiles: jalapeño, poblano, and Anaheim.