Buffalo Chicken Chili

There’s a chill in the air, the leaves are falling and football is in full swing (Go Bills). You know what that means? It’s chili season! I’ve been searching for a perfect chili recipe and this one spoke to me right away. I can never seem to find breast-only ground chicken at the supermarket, so I almost never use it. When I saw this Buffalo Chicken Chili recipe created its own by tossing some chicken breasts in the food processor I couldn’t believe how simple and genius that was. How did that never occur to me before? It worked perfectly and I loved knowing exactly what was in my ground chicken. Thank you to Biz at My Bizzy Kitchen for introducing me to this easy trick!

Since I’m a Buffalo girl, I’m sure none of you are surprised to see I chose a chili recipe that uses Frank’s Red Hot. I’m so glad I did. The chili doesn’t have an overt “Buffalo Chicken” taste, but I could definitely pick out the Frank’s flavor. I brought some chili to my parents and they both loved it. My mom loved that it was plenty “zippy” but not over-the-top spicy. My dad liked that it’s thick and chunky. We don’t do watery chili in this family.

This was a hearty, filling, comforting, spicy, warm bowl of deliciousness. It’s quick to throw together and perfect for those cold days when you just want something that warms you from the inside out. It might be your new favorite chili recipe. Cook it to find out!

Buffalo Chicken Chili

Yield: 10 (rounded 1 cup) servings

Ingredients:

• 2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 large carrots
• 3 large celery stalks
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded
• 5 cloves garlic
• 5 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• ½ cup Frank’s Red Hot
• 2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce
• 1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 oz) can chili beans in sauce (I used Bush’s brand which comes in mild, medium or hot. I chose medium. Do NOT drain)
• Salt & black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place the chicken breasts in a food processor and run to grind chicken. Heat oil in a large pot to medium-high and add ground chicken breast. Break up chicken with a spoon while cooking. Cook until no longer pink (about 10 minutes).
2. While chicken is cooking, rinse out food processor and add carrots, celery, bell pepper and garlic. Process vegetables until finely minced. When the chicken is done cooking, add the vegetables to the pot and stir to combine. Cook for 5 minutes until vegetables soften.
3. Add the chili powder, cumin, paprika, hot sauce, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, black beans, chili beans, salt and pepper to the pot and stir to combine. Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for one hour.

MyWW SmartPoints per (rounded 1 cup) serving: (SP calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)

Green: 4 SmartPoints/ Blue: 2 SmartPoints/ Purple: 2 SmartPoints

Weight Watchers Points Plus:
6 per serving (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)

Nutrition Information:
263 calories, 4 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 28 carbs, 7 g sugars, 29 protein, 9 fiber (from myfitnesspal.com)

Source: My Bizzy Kitchen