Hello! I just got back from an extremely restful, yet indulgent, beach vacation. The sea was beautiful and the food and drinks were even better. I have to admit, my friends are far better cooks than I am, and they went all out on our vacation. After a week of eating and drinking with abandon, I was ready to cook some food that was simple and good. These Creole White Beans with Chicken were the perfect fix.
What’s in Creole White Beans with Chicken
I decided on beans and rice because they’re easy, filling, inexpensive, and I always just feel good after eating beans and grains. I added a classic mix of vegetables, onions, celery, and bell pepper, for flavor, color, and more nutrients. I added some chicken thighs for extra protein (because I’ve been killin’ it with my Daily Burn workouts), but you could actually skip the chicken and make this totally vegan if you wanted.
I kept the seasoning simple by using Zatarain’s Creole seasoning blend, plus a couple extra herbs and spices for more oomph. If you can’t find Zatarain’s where you’re at, look for other Cajun or Creole seasoning blends like Tony Chachere’s, or use a recipe like Emeril’s to make your own. If you make your own, just be aware that the store bought blends contain a decent amount of salt and you’ll need to add salt to your beans after cooking to compensate.
How to Serve The White Beans and Chicken
The recipe and price break down below is just for the Creole White Beans with Chicken. In Louisiana we put everything over rice, but this could actually just be eaten like a bowl of chili (sans rice) if you wanted. Think of it like a Creole White Bean Chicken Chili. Yeah!
Freeze the Leftovers
This recipe makes a huge batch, so you’ll probably want to freeze about half of it. To freeze this dish make sure to divide it into smaller portions after cooking so it cools quickly in the fridge. I usually let it cool completely in the refrigerator overnight. Once cooled, transfer as many portions as you’d like to the freezer, where they’ll stay good for about three months. I like to use blue-top Ziploc food storage containers, but zip top freezer bags also work great.
Try These Other White Bean Recipes:
- Slow Cooker White Bean Soup
- Tuna and White Bean Salad
- Easy Rosemary Garlic White Bean Soup
- Creamy White Bean and Spinach Quesadillas
Creole White Beans with Chicken
Servings 12 cupsIngredients
- 1 lb. navy beans (dry) ($1.79)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.37)
- 4 stalks celery ($0.79)
- 2 green bell peppers ($1.76)
- 1 red bell pepper ($1.79)
- 1/2 bunch fresh parsley ($0.39)
- 4 chicken thighs (bone-in or boneless, skin removed) ($3.48)
- 2 Tbsp Creole Seasoning ($0.60)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
- 1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika ($0.15)
- freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
- 6 cups water ($0.00)
Instructions
- Place the beans in a large pot and cover with water. Soak the beans overnight in the refrigerator OR, place the beans in a large pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for one minute, turn the heat off and let the beans sit, covered, for one hour. Drain the beans in a colander.
- Mince the garlic and dice the onion, celery, and bell peppers. Pull the parsley leaves from the stems and give them a rough chop.
- Add the olive oil, garlic, and onion to a large pot and sauté over medium heat until the onions begin to turn transparent (3-5 minutes). Add the celery and bell peppers and sauté a few minutes more, or just until they begin to soften.
- Remove the skin from the chicken thighs (if they came with skin) and trim the excess fat if desired. Nestle the chicken thighs down into the sautéed vegetables.
- Add the soaked beans, a handful of the parsley (the rest will be used later), Creole seasoning, oregano, smoked paprika, some cracked pepper, and six cups of water. Stir gently to distribute the spices, but not to disturb the thighs.
- Cover the pot and bring it to a boil over high heat. Once it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for two hours. Make sure the pot is simmering the whole time, increasing the heat slightly if needed to help it maintain a simmer.
- After two hours, test the beans to make sure they are soft. Remove the chicken thighs and use two forks to shred the meat and remove the bones (if using bone-in thighs).
- Use a large wooden spoon to smash the beans against the side of the pot to help the liquid thicken. Taste the beans and adjust the salt or Creole seasoning if desired. Return the shredded chicken to the pot and top with fresh parsley. Serve alone or over a bed of rice.
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Nutrition
Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Creole White Beans – Step by Step Photos
Presoak one pound of navy beans overnight, or use the quick soak method. To do a “quick soak”, place the beans in a large pot and cover it with water. Bring the beans to a full boil over high heat. Boil for one minute, then turn the heat off and let them sit, covered, for one hour.
After they’ve soaked, drain the beans in a colander.
During the last 15 minutes or so of the “quick soak”, start chopping the vegetables. Mince four cloves of garlic and dice one onion, two green bell peppers, one red bell pepper, and four stalks of celery. Pull the leaves from 1/2 a bunch of flat leaf parsley and give them a rough chop.
Sauté the garlic and onions in a large pot with 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, or until the onions begin to look transparent. I used the same pot that I used for the “quick soak”, so I wouldn’t dirty any more dishes.
Add the celery and bell peppers to the pot and continue to sauté for a few minutes more, or just until they begin to soften.
Add four skinless chicken thighs to the pot. They can be bone-in or boneless. Bones will provide a bit more flavor, but the bones will need to be removed later. You can take the time to remove the excess fat if desired, but I left mine on. I’m lazy and I kind of like the flavor of chicken fat.
Add the soaked beans and a handful of the chopped parsley (the rest will be added after cooking). Also add 2 Tbsp Creole seasoning, 1/2 Tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp oregano, and some freshly cracked pepper.
This is the Creole Seasoning that I used. Zatarain’s has a pretty good national distribution, but if you can’t find it look for Tony Cachere’s or another Creole seasoning blend. Or, you can make your own if you have a well stocked spice cabinet. Here is Emeril’s recipe for Creole seasoning. These tend to contain quite a bit of salt, so I didn’t need to add any extra. If yours does not contain salt, you’ll need to add salt after cooking to really amp up the flavor.
Add six cups of water and give it a gentle stir to distribute the spices. You can use a low sodium chicken broth here for more flavor, but I wouldn’t suggest using a regular broth because the Creole seasoning contains quite a bit of salt on its own and you could quickly cross that threshold of too much salt.
Cover the pot and bring it to a boil over high heat. Once it reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for two hours. Make sure it’s simmering the whole time, adjusting the heat if needed. After two hours, test the beans to make sure they’re soft enough to mash (people living in areas with hard water may find it takes longer). This is what my pot looked like after two hours of simmering.
Use tongs to pull the chicken out of the pot and pull the meat off the bone (two forks works well). Toss the bones and gristle. While the meat is out of the pot, use a large wooden spoon to mash the beans against the side of the pot. This will thicken the liquid. If you still find it too thin, you can continue to let it simmer without a lid to help it thicken a bit. Taste the beans and adjust the salt or Creole seasoning if needed.
Add the pulled chicken back to the pot and top with some of the leftover fresh parsley.
You can serve the Creole White Beans over rice (because beans n’ rice are made for each other) or just eat it like a bowl of chili. Mmm, maybe with some crushed up crackers! This made about 12 cups, so depending on how it’s served, up to 12 servings. And yes, it freezes quite well! :)
Can I be in love yet? This recipe is such a great go-to and time saver. Everyone in the family loved it, right down to my picky picky son.
Hi Beth,
Just letting you know that I received this post twice this week, plus a repeat of your yummy looking Peanut Butter S’mores Pots yesterday. Not that I mind looking at these gorgeous recipes (why, oh why don’t we have graham crackers in Australia!!), but I thought you might want to know about these glitches.
Cheers!
I got the repeats also (I subscribe so that I can catch glitches like this too :) ) I’m still not sure why it happened. :(
This recipe sounds great, but for some reason I can’t see your awesome pictures! I’ve tried it on 3 different browsers, and still the images are broken. Which means I can not Pin it for later :(
Sorry, I was having issues with the website yesterday afternoon and evening. I’m sure the photo issue was a result of that. It should be fixed now. :)
No photo here, or in my email
I’m not able to get any of the pictures to come thru either…
The photos still aren’t showing up.
I had to re-upload all the photos from this post. :( Should be working now, though.
I have a nice load of Black Eyed Peas from my garden. I wonder if they would work in place of the navy beans.
I’m sure it would taste fantastic, but I’m not sure they break down quite as well as navy beans? If they don’t it might end up being more like a soup (but still every bit as delicious!).
Okay, mind reader. I just pulled a pack of dry white beans out of the pantry to get ready for tomorrow. In my head I lamented that I couldn’t cook white beans like my husband’s grandmother in Thibodaux. So what to do with these white beans? Let’s see what Beth has to say. What!? Right there, the post recent post, is Creole White Beans! Yep, this will be dinner tomorrow!
Hahahah That’s awesome. :) I hope they come even a little close to hers, although I doubt I can match an old grandmother from Thibodaux!
This looks delicious! I am trying it this weekend.
Glad you enjoyed your vacation.
I was going to make white bean soup with my bag o navy beans, but alas, I might have to make this instead! Count me in for making this in the slow cooker! :)
If I want to make this meatless do I need to add anything else?
I wouldn’t. I think it would taste just great with the vegetables and seasonings. You can always adjust the seasoning at the end, too, if you find it needs more flavor. You can simmer these beans for a really long time so if you need to add more seasoning and simmer for 15 more minutes, they’ll be completely fine. :)
Looks delish!!! How about using the crockpot for this recepie? Thougts?
Thanks!
Yes, you definitely can. Just chop up all the vegetables, add everything to the slow cooker, and let it go on high for about 5 hours, or until the beans are soft. Pull the chicken out to debone, and proceed as usual. :)
Ha, I wish I could agree and say I was killing it with the workouts. Not. Anyhow I love beans and rice, rice and beans. Cheap and filling. Will add the chix thighs for extra protein though.
Yum, yum! Glad you had a nice vacation. I’ll pin this.
I have about 6 cups of Great Northern beans (cooked from dried) in my freezer that I’d like to use up. Could I substitute those for the navy beans?
Yep, but you’ll need to reduce the liquid quite a bit since they’re already cooked. Try two cups and add more if it gets too dry to too thick. Also, you won’t need to boil it for two hours. Just long enough for the chicken to get fork tender.
Thank you! I made this over the weekend and it was a hit. Both my husband and my toddler asked for seconds! And there’s enough in the freezer for two more meals. You make my life so much easier.
Could this be cooked in a slow cooker?
Yep, you can just put everything in the slow cooker at once and cook on high for about 5 hours, or until the beans are soft and mashable. Take the chicken out to debone and shred, and proceed as usual.
Looks yum. How would you modify for canned beans.
You’d need to reduce the liquid quite a bit since the beans are already cooked. I’d start with two cups and add more if needed to make sure everything in the pot is covered. You won’t need to boil it for two hours, either, since the beans are already soft. Just boil long enough for the chicken to get fork tender so you can debone and shred it.
I recently cooked my first pot of white beans from dried. I soaked them in salted water overnight (a couple of tablespoons of salt), which is supposed to help the skins stay tender when they cook and also impart a bit of flavor. They came out quite well. I might try this recipe for my next batch, now that I am no longer afraid of dried beans. :-)
Mastering dry beans is a life changing event. It opens up so many possibilities and saves so much money! I’m glad you did it! :D