We’re deep into chili season, so I’m throwing a good one at you with this jerk chicken chili.
It’s cold, the leaves are a-changing and my enthusiasm to be in the kitchen is…not there. I want a one pot meal that I can pull from all week and this is just the thing.
Have you lost your appetite lately? I never really did go full hog on the pandemic baking and really all summer eating has just been such a chore. I know that sounds overly dramatic but Saturday I ate a bowl of cereal just because I knew I needed to eat something. Nothing sounds good these days, even fries and burgers and crap that I would never say no to eating. Sigh. I blame the pandemic and all its pandemic-ness. My friends and I all concur.
I’m hoping that this jerk chicken chili changes plot of 2020 kitchen exploits.
Now, about this chili.
While I do love my go-to chili recipe, I also love to mix it up where I can. This Aussie Burger Chili really was the surprise of the kitchen experiments, but this piri-piri and sweet and spicy versions aren’t so bad either. Variety, spice of life, and all.
This one was prompted by a recipe club that I’m in and I used the base recipe and added my own flair and homemade jerk seasoning. The kicker that made me go mmm is that it has coconut milk in it! Definitely weird, but in a good way!
This is definitely one of those things that you could leave on the stove for hours to do its thing, but I cheated in two respects.
First, I used a rotisserie chicken because of the aforementioned kitchen apathy. I just couldn’t be bothered to roast my own or start from raw. I mean, the epitome of lazy.
Second, I was on my way out the door for tennis and threw it all in the slow cooker. Since the chicken was pre-cooked and the veggies pre-sauteed it wasn’t super necessary but it does make for a nice cozy smell in the house, right?
The result was great! Served with some herby garnishes and crunchy tortilla chips, I’ll be quite happy to eat this all week. Or, perhaps, have a socially distanced chili party? Either way, make this!
Jamaican Jerk Chicken Chili
Jamaican jerk chicken chili is an island twist on a traditional white chili, full of spices and a little kick!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds cooked chicken, shredded (or about 3/4 a cooked rotisserie chicken, chopped)
- 1 TB olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 orange pepper, seeded and diced
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
- 1" ginger root, grated
- 2 TB cumin
- 2 TB oregano
- 1 tsp cayenne
- 1 tsp all spice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 TB dark brown sugar
- 1 1/2 TB soy sauce
- 1 TB dried thyme
- 2 cans Great Northern Beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 14-oz can light coconut milk
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 lime, juiced
- Fresh Cilantro, chopped, to garnish
- Fresh green onion, sliced to garnish
Directions
- Step 1 In the bowl of your slow cooker, or in another deep soup pot, add the oil, onion, pepper, garlic, ginger, spices and sugar, and soy sauce and cook about 10 minutes over medium/medium-high heat until all the veggies are soft. Add the beans, stock, lime juice, coconut milk and shredded chicken. Cover and set the slow cooker for 2 hours or until everything has stewed a good amount of time.
- Step 2 If you’re keeping it on the stove top, bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer for about 1 hour.
- Step 3 Garnish with cilantro and green onion and serve hot!
