Chicken Chili with Apples
How to Teach Your Kids to Love Chili
The trick to making an awesome chili that kids will love is to keep it flavorful but not spicy. Sorry, but you gotta save the “5-alarm” chili for another day! This easy chili recipe has just enough spice to be flavorful without adding heat. Read more about How to Spice Food for Kids.
Another great tip to teach kids to love chili is to serve lots of toppings family style and allow everyone to top their own bowls! Letting children choose which ingredients they add on their chili helps them feel more connected and in control of their meal and often means they eat more of it.
Chili is a great recipe for teaching children to cook with – not only is it an easy “dump it in” kind of recipe that doesn’t require a lot of prep work, but its also a great one for giving kids confidence in the kitchen and allowing them to learn to season their food. Chili is a really forgiving recipe and is great for practicing cooking skills!
Another great kid-friendly chili recipe to try is Bison Chili with Chocolate .
How Your Kids Can Help You Cook:
- Kids aged 1-3 can help you measure the ingredients, wash the apples, remove the cilantro leaves from the stems, and whisk together the dressings and help set the table.
- Kids aged 4-6 can help do everything above, plus help you grate the cheese, dice the cilantro, cut the apples, open the cans, and rinse the beans.
- Kids aged 7-10+ can help do everything above, plus help you dice the chicken and stir the pot while it cooks.
*Please note that these recommendations are generalized, and to please use your personal discretion with your child’s skill level. And always, always supervise! Read more about how to have your children help you in the kitchen.
Apple Chicken Chili
This easy chicken chili with apples is a fun chili recipe that kids will love! This family friendly weeknight dinner is ready in just over 30 minutes, which makes it the perfect weeknight meal!
Ingredients
- 2 TBSP Olive Oil
- 3 TBSP butter
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced into 1" pieces
- 2 tsp ground chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 large honey crisp apples
- 1/4 cup flour
- 30 oz chicken broth
- 3/4 cup milk
- 15 oz pinto beans
- 15 oz red kidney beans
- Toppings: shredded monterrey jack cheese, chopped cilantro, sour cream, tortilla chips.
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat.
- Add the onion to the pan and sautéed 5 minutes, or until translucent.
- Add the chicken and sprinkle the chili powder and cumin over.
- Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until mostly cooked through.
- Add the apples and cook, stirring occasionally, until started to become softened, about 3 minutes.
- Add the flour to a large measuring cup and slowly whisk in the broth. When combined, add to the dutch oven along with the milk.
- Add in the beans to the dutch oven.
- Increase the heat to medium and let the chili simmer for 10 minutes.
- Serve topped with cheese, sour cream, chopped cilantro and tortilla chips.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 650Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 155mgSodium: 813mgCarbohydrates: 54gFiber: 13gSugar: 10gProtein: 64g
Jocelyn
Wednesday 19th of December 2018
What a great idea to include apples in a chili! Perfect meal for these cool winter days!
Jennifer
Tuesday 18th of December 2018
The apples in this chili makes it the BEST CHILI!!!
Jessica
Tuesday 18th of December 2018
This looks amazing!! Thank you so much!
Aimee Shugarman
Tuesday 18th of December 2018
One of our favorite chili recipes now...it's so good and packed with flavor!
Courtney O'Dell
Tuesday 18th of December 2018
I love the delicious and comforting flavors!