I was wandering around on the web last week and came across a recipe that I just had to try on Simple Organized Living (which is always chock full of great simple living tips). But seeing as I’m not able to leave well enough alone, I had to tweak the recipe a bit. And as you become familiar in your own kitchen, that’s partially what it’s all about. You develop the ability to modify ingredients on the fly, measure spices in the palm of your hand, and throw together a meal without any recipe at all. I’m still working up my skills to feel really comfortable about the latter but after a year or two of cooking, I think anyone can reach that level. Will it always turn out fantastic? Probably not. But I’ve tried tons of recipes as well and some of them turned out be horrible even though they sounded great. Sometimes, you just can’t be sure.

I wasn’t so sure how this taco chili recipe would turn out. I mean it sounded really good on paper and has a bunch of ingredients I really like…but I wasn’t really sure if it would result in something like tortilla soup or an entirely different animal. The consistency of this recipe is definitely like my chili and it is heavenly! You might be a little turned off by the idea of adding both cheddar cheese and sour cream to this, but trust me, it is HEAVEN!

The beauty of this recipe is that you need very little time to prepare it. If you’ve got chicken leftovers or buy a rotisserie chicken (or even pre-cooked shredded chicken), you can throw this dish together in minutes. Baking the chicken yourself does require a bit more time, but the oven still does most of the work for you, until you need to cut the meat up.

This was so good that we ate it two nights in a row. We ended up freezing only one double portion of it so I think next time I make this, I will make twice as much. It’s just as comforting and satisfying on a cold evening as a big bowl of chili, and even easier to make!