The cold weather is upon us here in New England and when the days turn cold, all I want to do is cook warm food. I’m no different than anyone else, right? But I think I may have an advantage. See, I’ve got Pam Anderson’s Perfect One-Dish Dinners and no matter my mood, there is always a fantastic recipe waiting for me to make in just one pot…err, dish. So considering I’ve been working 10+ hour days for the past 3 weeks, this Jerk Chicken Chili couldn’t have come at a better time.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a sucker for chili. I love it any which way and this way is a definite winner. Jerk Chicken Chili. Rich, warm, and luxurious. The cinnamon brings flavors of the Middle East and North Africa and infused with some heat from the jalapenos and chili powder, you’ve got an incredible chili that makes me want to hop on a cruise ship and head towards the Caribbean. I love that there’s lots of shredded chicken in this chili and I love even more that I didn’t have to cook the chicken. Yep, take the easy way for this dish and pick up a cooked roaster from your grocery store – the most laborious part of the whole dish is picking the chicken but I certainly don’t mind doing so when someone else cooked it for me!
I made some small changes to the recipe and the recipe below reflects them. Basically I omitted half of the tomatoes and drained off some of the bean juices before the beans went into the pot. The chili starts out with quite a bit of liquid and I was afraid the chili would turn out more soupy than I wanted. I also added a cornstarch slurry towards the end because the sauce just wasn’t thick enough for my preferences. Regardless of my changes, this chili is awesome and since it makes enough for a crowd, it’s going on my Thankgiving weekend menu to use up some of that leftover turkey.
Jerk Chicken Chili
source: Pam Anderson, Perfect One-Dish Dinners
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
3 tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 large rotisserie chicken, meat removed and shredded (about 6 cups)
4 cups chicken broth
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (15 oz) black beans, undrained or partially drained
1 can (15 oz) small white beans, undrained or partially drained
2 tbsp chopped pickled jalapenos
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 oz semisweet chocolate
2 tbsp cornmeal or 3 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp water (optional for thickening)
1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
2. Add onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring until softened, about 5 minutes.
3. Add chili powder, thyme, cinnamon, and allspice. Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
4. Add chicken and stir to coat with spices. Add broth, tomatoes, beans, and jalapenos, bring to a boil, cover partially, reduce heat, and simmer to blend flavors, about 20 minutes.
5. Stir in garlic, cilantro, chocolate, and either cornmeal or cornstarch/water slurry if desired. If you add the cornstarch slurry, bring the heat up to medium-high and allow the chili to thicken. Turn off the heat and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Another friend of mine told me chili tastes better with chocolate and cinnamon, and now seeing this recipe I’m super interested to try it.
I can’t wait to try this one; it looks absolutely delicious!
I agree with you !! I absolutely love this dishes..Yours is great!
Meet the Sullivans
I am a big fan of one dish dinners as well. This one looks delicious! I made a white bean chili this week. It was a winner!
ooooh Joey would LOVE this!
I am adding this to my things to make. My husband is going to love me for it. He loves Jerk Chicken anything. Thanks for sharing!
YUM!!! Time to make me some chili again…
What a great twist on traditional chili! I love jerk anything, would have never thought of jerk chili! This is going on my menu ASAP!
Interesting chili recipe! I’m always looking for new variations, and I love the flavors of jerk seasoning. Looks wonderful!
yum, delicious cold weather chili! looks tasty!
Wow, the jerk flavors in a chili! I love both so of course I am going to have to make this.
Thank You
Jason
What a unique chili idea! Love the cinnamon and chocolate in there!
I’ve never had a chili like this before – it looks great! I’ll confess, I’m also a sucker for chili …
I made this tonight and it was a HUGE HIT! I LOVE IT!!!
Thanks for the great recipe! I made this in my slow cooker (dumped the first 14 ingredients in and cooked on high for about 3 hours, then added the chocolate and cilantro and turned it to low for an hour). I also used cubed chicken breast meat (raw) and it gets tender enough to shred with a fork after sitting in the slow cooker. So delicious! Thanks again!
Wow what a novelle idea to incorporate chocolate with the hottest of all”Chili”..I am sure to try it…
wow this looks and sounds wonderful!
Though today is a warmer day for New England
I made this a few days ago and just blogged about it! It was WONDERFUL!
Supper for tomorrow has been chosen. Thanks for the post!
Yum, this chili looks delicious!! It’s one of the best things to look forward to during the winter! You should really consider submitting this to Recipe4Living’s Champion Chili Contest It looks delicious!
The meal was delicious!!:) Thanks.
When I read through this I thought this sounded so interesting. I was surprised at how normal it did taste with just a slight change with the cinnamon and allspice flavor. But.. I ended up just putting normal jalapenos in and I took out the seeds. Now.. it ends up I kind of wanted a little more spice. Are the pickled jalapenos spicier? Because I also didn’t want too much spice.
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