RECIPE: Snuggle up with a bowl of quick and easy white chicken chili

White Chicken Chili is rib-sticking comfort food, the culinary version of a fuzzy warm sweater when the temperature dips. The day we tested this recipe, a fellow chef and I sat down to a couple of steaming hot bowls for lunch. As we marveled over the flavors, she described a lengthy process for making her own version: soaking dried beans, poaching a whole chicken, pulling the meat from the bones and using the aromatic broth to cook the soaked beans. The recipe below allows you to nestle up to a delicious bowl of homemade chili when you don’t have the luxury of that much time.

Typically made with sour cream, half-and-half or heavy cream, plus cheese, white chicken chili can really pack a wallop with fat and calories. In this version, chicken stock and Neufchatel cheese, similar to reduced-fat cream cheese, replace the more indulgent dairy ingredients. We also open a can of salsa verde, a green sauce made of tangy tomatillos and spicy green chile peppers, instead of sauteing onion, garlic and jalapeno. The result is both less indulgent and easier to prepare. And this White Chicken Chili is still hearty, creamy and rich, making it quick to feed a hungry family. Consider it a speedy snuggle.

My foodie friend and I were both blown away by the full flavor and absolute ease in how this 30-minute White Chicken Chili came together. Is it as intense and richly flavored as her two-day process? Well, no. But is it absolutely and incredibly satisfying? Yes, it is. In fact, my colleague said this version might become her go-to. I know for certain it will be in my rotation this fall.