This ground chicken chili makes for a hearty, tasty, and mildly spiced dinner on a cold night. It includes cannellini beans and a small amount of corn, but I’ve also left out the corn and had my hubby add it to his own bowl, so my serving is low-starch (also a great choice for those with diabetes or prediabetes, or those eating low-carb). Of course, I’ve also loaded it up with extra nutrition with the addition of greens–and lots of them. The fresh cilantro topping makes it bright, but this dish also freezes well so it’s okay to skip it if you don’t have it on hand. Serve with tortilla chips if you want to keep to the Mexican theme, or otherwise a low-carb bread.

On a separate note: If you haven’t taken the time to peruse my resources for life balance and stress management coaching I really encourage you to do so. I also recently offered group coaching sessions for both resilience and intuitive eating. Contact Truce to get started today! As a friend recently put it: Life coaching is both a necessity AND a luxury–wow, so true. You deserve not to put your life on hold any longer. 

Serves 6

Chicken Chili Ingredients

1 small sweet onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

4 medium cloves fresh garlic, minced

2 pounds ground organic chicken

<1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp fennel seeds

1 Tbsp dried oregano

2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

Optional: 1 can (15 oz) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

2 bags (5 oz each) organic fresh baby spinach leaves or power greens combo (such as kale, spinach, swiss chard)

Optional: 1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed

4 cups low-sodium chicken stock

Pinch cayenne

Fresh chopped cilantro for topping

Optional: avocado slices for topping

Chicken Chili Directions

  1. Saute the onion, bell pepper, and garlic in just a tiny bit of olive oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat, until translucent.
  2. Add the ground chicken, salt, cumin, fennel seeds, oregano, and chili powder. Cook, stirring frequently and breaking up the chicken until it is cooked through and no pink color remains.
  3. Stir the xanthan gum into the chicken mixture.
  4. Mash up half can of the beans (if using) with a little chicken stock or water. Then add it to the stock pot along with the rest of the can of beans, greens, corn (if using), and chicken stock, and cayenne.
  5. Bring to a simmer, and cook for 45-50 minutes, until the chili has thickened up and the liquid has reduced (although feel free to add more water at the end if you like your soups thinner).
  6. Serve with cilantro and avocado to top.ground chicken chili ground chicken chili