Simple Recipe for Canning Chicken Chili

If you like making your meals from scratch, but don’t always have time, then this recipe for canning chicken chili is something you need.

One of my favorite things to do in winter is to stock up on ready made meals, by canning them. Winter is the ideal time for this, because we typically aren’t canning garden produce during that time, and we do have beef, deer, and/or pork coming in, and I need to process that anyway.

So why not add the rest of the meal to it and can it as a meal?

This doesn’t always work, or course, and we do end up canning chicken, canning pork, and canning beef or deer by itself. 

But let me tell you, having a selection of meals on hand to simply warm up and serve is a life saver on busy days! One of our favorites is chili con carne, and its cousin, white bean chicken chili. It’s amazing to have shelf-stable homemade meals on hand. 

Ingredients for Canning White Chicken Chili

Chicken chili is packed with warmth and flavor – which is what you need on a cold winter day.

Just look at these ingredients:

• Chicken – I typically use chicken breasts, but you can use any boneless, skinless chicken, such as thighs.
• Onions – essential for flavor.
• Oil – just a small amount for sautéing those onions to bring out the flavor.
• Garlic – Another essential flavor in white bean chili
• Green Chilis – I typically use canned green chilis, but fresh can be used, and I would recommend sautéing them with the onions.
• Corn – Since it’s winter, I use frozen corn. Of course, if you’re doing this in a warmer season, fresh corn is wonderful!
• Great northern beans (can also use navy beans) – I start with dry beans, and soak them the night before.
• Chicken broth – the necessary, and flavorful liquid that makes it soup
• Black pepper, cumin, oregano, chili powder, and salt.

These are the ingredients for canning. For serving, I recommend adding 1/2 cup of heavy cream or half and half to each quart when heating it, and serving with shredded cheese, avocado, cilantro, and anything else that sounds good.

Pro tips for success

• Cook the soup before canning. There are a number of different canning methods for different types of food. And there are some soup recipes that work well to layer in the canning jars, and let them cook together as they can. For instance, our canned ham and bean soup.
  
  With this chili, however, I feel like it comes together better if you make the soup and cook it before canning. This is partly because the beans absorb so much liquid before they’re canned, and partly because sautéing the vegetables brings out so much more flavor. Another perk is that you make a big batch of it, serve it to your family for dinner, and can the rest, so you kill two birds with one stone as it were.
• Sterilize your jars before you fill them. This is a low acid food, so by nature, it’s a little more difficult to can for long term storage. You can help that along by making sure all your tools are clean, and your jars and lids are sterilized.
• Know how to use your pressure canner. Going back to the last point, since this is a low-acid food, you will need to pressure can it, and so you will need a pressure canner. Look at this tutorial to learn more about using one.
• Give yourself time and space. Canning a big batch of soup like is a job, and like anything, it will take more time than you think it will. Or maybe that’s just me. Give yourself time to peel and chop, and boil and mix.
• Don’t mess around with finicky lids brands. When I made the batch pictured, I was testing out a new brand of lids, and ended up with several seal failures. That’s always frustrating to see your work wasted. Brands I’ve had the best luck with are Ball canning, and Denali Canning.
• Determine your needs for deciding on jar size. I usually can soups in a combination of quarts and pint jars. Most of the time, a single quart is not enough for our family of four, but two quarts is too much. I also do a few extra pint jars for when I need a fast option for brown-bag lunches for an individual. 

How to make white bean chicken chili for canning

1. Soak beans the night before you plan to can. You can also put your chicken in the crockpot with some of the broth, and cook it overnight, and then shred it in the morning. Otherwise, proceed with the recipe.
2. In the morning, drain the beans, and rinse well, use your hands to kind of knead and rub them as you rinse them, This is supposed to help with de-gassing. The high heat of pressure canning will also aid in this.
   
   
3. Combine beans, chicken broth, and if you didn’t already cook it in the crockpot, chicken, along with corn and green chilis, and seasonings except salt and bring to a simmer over medium heat, and cook until beans are tender.
4. While the beans are cooking, dice onions, and saute in olive oil until translucent.
   
   
5. Mince garlic and add to to onions. Saute, stirring for another minute.
   
   
6. Add garlic and onions to bean pot
7. Stir aggressively to break up chunks of chicken.
8. Heat through.

To can:

1. Sterilize your canning jars and lids, and prepare pressure canner with required hot water and canning rack.
2. Use a canning funnel to fill jars, leaving 1 inch head space.
3. Add a teaspoon of salt to each quart, or 1/2 teaspoon to a pint.
   
   
4. Wipe rims of jars with a damp cloth to remove debris, and screw down lids and bands.
5. Arrange jars in canner so that they don’t touch each other, or the sides of the canner.
6. Lock lid onto canner with the valve open.
7. Heat over medium-high heat until a steady stream of steam escapes valve.
8. Let steam for ten minutes.
9. Close valve and bring to ten pounds of pressure. (Use this chart to determine pressure needs for your elevation.)
10. Process for 90 minutes (quarts), or 75 minutes (pints).
11. Remove from heat after process time, and let cool. Remove the lid only after the pressure has returned to zero, and remove jars carefully, keeping safe from drafts, and let finish cooling, covered with a towel, in a place where they won’t be disturbed.
12. Check seals after 24 hours, water the jars if needed, and store on a pantry shelf, or in a cool place out of direct light.

For serving:

Empty a jar into a saucepan or pot, and heat to boiling. Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup of cream of half and half. Some people also add an ounce of cream cheese.

Serve with shredded cheese, cilantro, avocado, tomato, lime or lime juice, tortilla chips etc.

Other Canning recipes for you:

• Canning chicken soup
• Canning potato soup
• Canning split pea soup
• How to can vegetable soup
• Canning Lentil Soup

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