This bright and hearty spring chili with greens from Test Kitchen director Chris Morocco is sure to shake the winter blues. No tomatoes, just lots of chiles, beans, and aggressive use of your spice cabinet, and you can create a chili that’s perfect for the in-between season, when it’s still cold, but you refuse to wear a winter coat anymore. This dish can be made with water, but chicken broth adds extra oomph.
Recipe information
Yield
4 - 6 Servings
Ingredients
¼
2
1
8
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
½
3
4
2
1
Preparation
Step 1
Heat oil and butter in a medium pot over medium-high until butter is melted. Add chopped onion and a large pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until softened, 6–8 minutes. Add garlic, poblano chiles, Anaheim chiles, and jalapeño and cook, stirring, until very tender, 8–10 minutes. Add cumin, oregano, red pepper flakes, and paprika. Cook, stirring constantly, until very fragrant, about 1 minute.
Step 2
Add escarole and cook, stirring often, until wilted, about 3 minutes. Add beans, broth, and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Stir in Parmesan, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until flavors meld, 10–15 minutes. Taste and season with more salt and pepper and/or add more Parmesan if needed. Stir in spinach.
Step 3
Ladle chili into bowls and top with dollops of sour cream, sliced onion, and corn chips.
Leave a Review
Reviews (32)
Back to TopReally delicious and healthy and ingredients that we have on hand almost always. Caveat; this is really not a spring soup, since peppers are Summer to early Fall; we have oodles frozen from last year's garden, so we were good to go.
Anonymous
Arlington Heights, IL
9/11/2021
My sister said it was one of the best soups she'd ever tasted. Didn't have anaheim or jalapeño, so I just used three poblanos. Didn't have escarole, so I used baby kale. Came out wonderfully and will be adding it to the rotation. Adding the recommended sour cream and crumbled tortilla chips was key to elevating this soup.
Whitney
Pomona, CA
6/17/2021
Huge hit!! Used soft kale instead of escarole, and added Shredded Chicken and New Potatoes for some substance. Also added fresh thyme towards the end before the spinach. Delicious. Am going to make again and again.
Megan
Atlanta
5/17/2021
Wonderful bean soup! I doubled the escarole (because I had it) and skipped the spinach (because I didn't have it). Also, roasted the peppers pretty well in the oven then pureed with the garlic, mostly because I didn't feel like chopping all the peppers. Turned out to be one of my favorite soups.
Christie Hahn
Chicago, IL
4/9/2021
Great soup. I added some Portuguese chourico and sauteed that onions/peppers in the rendered fat which really added some nice flavor. I'd agree with the other commenters about the lime, it needs a little acidity at the end, which really ups the brightness of the dish as well. Cilantro goes well as a garnish too.
Davey Boy
4/2/2021
Delicious! Super flavorful for such a quick chili. We also could not find escarole so we used Belgian endive. We followed the suggestion of another reviewer and added lime. We also only used jalapeños as we were shopping at Trader Joe’s and they do not carry other peppers. Would definitely make again! Is reminiscent of a chicken chili, sans chicken.
Leah
Bellingham, WA
4/1/2021
Fabbbbulous. I agree with the other reviews about the surprisingly robust flavor! Deep and warm green pepper vibes with just a little heat. I did totally forget the 2 poblanos accidentally, however, oops. I used kale instead of escarole and it was delish.
HC
Philadelphia, PA
3/31/2021