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White Bean Chili

A bean-based chili with onions, cumin, chili powder, poultry seasoning, green chiles, salsa verde, stock, tomatillos, cilantro, lime juice, green onions, and optional sour cream.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 21 ingredients
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Why it works: Cumin and lime match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,216 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

White Bean Chili

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beans

  1. Soak beans overnight or use quick-soak method: bring beans and water to cover by 1 inch, boil for 5 minutes, turn off heat, cover, let sit 1 hour, then proceed.

  2. Pour off soaking water and cover beans with fresh water, bring to full boil.

  3. Lower heat and simmer.

Make the chili base

  1. While beans simmer, in a large soup kettle or Dutch oven, sauté onions using your favorite method (I use a little stock). When translucent, add cumin, chili powder, poultry seasoning, green chiles, and salsa verde.

  2. Sauté for 5 minutes, adding a little stock if it begins to stick.

  3. Then add the rest of the stock, bay leaves, tomatillos, and ¾ cup cilantro.

  4. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered while beans continue to cook.

Combine and serve

  1. When beans are just tender (1–2 hours), add them to the soup pot and simmer everything together for another ½ hour.

  2. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

  3. Just before serving, add the rest of the cilantro and lime juice, stir to blend.

  4. Ladle into big bowls and top with green onions and an optional dollop of sour cream.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

202Calories
21 gProtein
2 gFat
29 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 11 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Yogurt170g plain Greek100
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Limejuice of 1 lime (44ml)11
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Beannot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cumin + limetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,216 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Beans + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,188 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  3. Pepper + limetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,491 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Beans + limetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together700 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  5. Onion + cumintop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,498 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

White beans
Form the body of the chili and become creamy as they cook through.
Onions
Build a sweet, savory base as they soften and turn translucent.
Tomatillos
Add bright acidity and body that balances the spices.
Salsa verde
Adds tangy, acidic green flavor that reinforces the tomatillos.
Green chiles
Contribute mild heat and fresh, green aroma to the broth.

The step that matters

Simmer the beans until just tender before combining. Beans that are undercooked stay firm and grainy, while adding salt too early can slow softening. Cooking them until just tender, then seasoning, gives a creamy texture and well-seasoned broth.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beans, cumin, chicken, pepper, lime, cream):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Spinachfits better
  3. Sweet potatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, cumin, chicken, pepper, lime, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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