Chile Chicken and Bean Guisado
Updated May 26, 2026
Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.
- Ready In
- 35 min
- Rating
- Comments
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Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, preferably avocado
½ white onion, diced
1 pound ground chicken
Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 teaspoons ground chile powder, preferably ancho or chipotle
2 teaspoons dried oregano, preferably Mexican
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 (15-ounce) cans white beans, such as lima (butter) or great Northern, drained and rinsed
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth or water
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
5 ounces baby spinach or baby arugula, optional
Fresh corn or flour tortillas, salsa roja, minced cilantro and onion (optional), for serving
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
56 grams carbs; 101 milligrams cholesterol; 493 calories; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 14 grams fat; 13 grams fiber; 1302 milligrams sodium; 40 grams protein; 8 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high. When the oil is hot, add the diced onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion becomes fragrant and almost translucent, about 3 minutes.
- Step 2
Add the chicken and 1 teaspoon salt to the pan, breaking the chicken up with a wooden spoon as it sizzles. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is no longer pink, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Step 3
Add the garlic, vinegar, chile powder, oregano and cinnamon to the chicken, stir to combine and cook until garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Step 4
Add the beans, broth and tomatoes, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes until the tomatoes begin to fall apart.
- Step 5
Add greens if using, and cook until just wilted, about 3 minutes. Taste for salt and season as needed. Serve immediately with fresh tortillas, salsa roja, minced cilantro and onion on the side, if desired.
Private Notes
Comments
This is incredible. Sooo flavorful and light and hearty. If anyone else is like me and HATES throwing away a bag of tortilla chips because the last 25% of them are crumbs…save them to dump in this. Much yummier and easier to eat that tortillas per the recipe
Drarchaeo - Re you question about subbing in cooked from dry beans for canned, I do that all the time. Since this recipe spec's canned, you will want to cook your dry beans all the way through so they are as if fully cooked canned beans, however it is you usually cook dry beans. 2 cans of beans = @ 3C of beans so easy to measure your cooked beans then add at Step 4. For most beans, a pound cooks up to 6C so a half pound would get you to 3C (and maybe a little more.)
Made this with a chicken breast and it also worked well. Added a little guajillo Chile powder too. As with so many Mexican foods, a little squeeze of lime as we ate with the must do corn tortillas was all the more magical.
This was amazingly delicious.
Could you use another vinegar? E.G., red wine vinegar, cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar? All have better flavors than white vinegar (at least for me). Or, are you trying to stay “neutral” with the white vinegar?
If you have hatch chili powder in your cupboard like I did, I think adding cumin & ground coriander in place of the cinnamon would be a great flavor combination!