Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: White chicken chili, gently seasoned and loaded with chicken, corn, beans, and tomatoes, is one of my most requested recipes. This chili recipe is easy to make and feeds a crowd.
How long it takes: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: large pan
Servings: 8
White chicken chili with tender chicken, lots of beans, tomatoes, corn, creamy cheese, and mild Southwest seasoning – this chili is always welcome. It’s perfect for tailgate parties or game days. Mild, but with tons of flavor, this is one of my most popular recipes. Once you try it, I’m sure you’ll agree.
About this Chicken Chili
Lots to like about this recipe. It’s a crowd pleaser; almost everyone likes white chicken chili. It’s easy to make, always turns out, and is a one pan meal for easy cleanup. You can make it spicy, or not spicy at all. Topped with Monterey Jack cheese and your favorite toppings, this white chicken chili recipe is pretty hard to resist.
Uses cooked chicken breasts. To make this recipe really easy, I like to use already cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced or shredded. I almost always have some in the fridge or freezer. It’s such a time saver. Buy a family pack of chicken and cook up the whole pack for future easy dinners.
Flexible with timing. The chili doesn’t take long to make. Simply sauté the onions, add everything else, and simmer. An hour of simmering is about right, but if you run out of time, no problem, go ahead and serve it, it’ll be fine. Alternatively, if you want to simmer the chili two hours, ditto. It’s super flexible that way. You can also put it into a crockpot and simmer it longer.
Ingredient Notes
- Boneless skinless cooked chicken: Either breasts or thighs are fine, or a combination. If you don’t happen to have cooked chicken, you can poach the chicken in the pan before you begin cooking the soup. Once the chicken is poached, remove it from the pan to cool slightly before you shred or cube it.
- Canned Great Northern beans and black beans: The black beans are something I’ve added over the years because I love lots of beans. Leave these out for a more traditional looking white chicken chili.
- Canned diced tomatoes: There’s no need to drain the tomatoes. Choose a no-salt variety if you can find them.
- Salsa: Mild, medium, or hot, it’s your choice!
- Corn: Canned or frozen is fine.
- Onion: Any type of onion will do. I usually use a yellow cooking onion for recipes like this.
- Ground cumin, Mexican oregano, salt and pepper
- Monterey Jack cheese: Try pepper Jack if you like things spicy.
- Toppings! Sliced avocado, fresh cilantro, crispy tortilla strips, crumbled tortilla chips, sour cream, whatever you like.
How to make White Chicken Chili
Cook the onions. Grab a large pot and sauté the chopped onions in olive oil until tender.
Toast the spices. Once the onions are soft and translucent, add your spices and salsa. Stir them around a bit to let them toast. This really draws out and intensifies the flavors!
Add remaining ingredients. After a minute or two, add all the beans, corn, diced tomatoes, chicken, and chicken broth. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Once it’s boiling, reduce to a simmer and simmer for 30 minutes or 2 hours. This recipe is seriously so forgiving.
Serve. Right before you’re ready to serve the chili, melt in the cheese, or save it and sprinkle it on the top.
There are a few ways to thicken your chili:
-Add masa harina or cornmeal to the broth, 1 tablespoon at a time.
-Simmer the chili longer with the cover off to reduce the brothiness.
-Make a cornstarch slurry, using a bit of broth and 1 to 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Stir the broth and cornstarch together until blended; stir into the chili.
-Mash some of the beans before adding them to your chili.
Usually white chili contains onion, garlic, cumin, Mexican oregano, and cilantro, along with some kind of chili pepper such as jalapeño, poblano, or bell pepper.
Make it your own
There are lots of ways to customize this white chili. This recipe is super flexible. Use dark meat, if you prefer. Deli chicken or leftover turkey work fine. Add more seasoning, or less. Add garlic, if you like, or a can of green chiles. Use whatever kind of beans you prefer, or happen to have in the house. Mix in the cheese for a creamy chili, or sprinkle it on each serving. Go crazy with toppings.
You get the idea! White chicken chili is hard to mess up. It turns out great every time. There are other ways to cook the chili, too. Try:
- Instant Pot White Chicken Chili
- Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili
- Easy Chicken Chili Recipe— a shortcut with only FIVE ingredients!
Make Your Own Chili Buffet
For larger get-togethers, I like to make two kinds of chili, red and white, simmering in slow cookers. I add an array of toppings and have a serve-yourself chili buffet. I usually accompany the chili with homemade corn bread, veggies and dill vegetable dip, and a couple kinds of cookies for an easy party menu. Queso dip and sausage dip are always a hit, too, as well as 7 layer dip with tortilla chips. Warm refried bean dip is a crowd favorite, too.
Refrigerate/Freeze: Leftover chicken chili? You can enjoy it for lunch tomorrow, or another dinner. Store leftovers in a covered containers in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, or in the freezer for a month. For best results, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Reheat: Microwave individual portions in a microwave safe container until heated through. For larger amounts, heat leftover chili in a saucepan on the stove over medium heat.
Make a double batch and freeze half for another day. Thaw in the fridge overnight. Heat it slowly on the stove or microwave, or put it in your crockpot for a couple of hours until it’s heated through.
Free Meal Plan
Interested in a weekly meal plan that includes this recipe? Take a look at Meal Plan #89. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. We add a new meal plan weekly.
More Chili Recipes
White Chicken Chili
Ingredients
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup salsa (mild, medium, or hot)
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 jar (48 oz.) great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can (15.25 oz.) yellow corn, drained (frozen corn is fine, too)
- 1 can (14.5 oz.) can low-sodium diced tomatoes, undrained
- 4 chicken breasts, poached (or baked), cubed or shredded
- 4 cans (15 oz. each) reduced sodium chicken broth (or 5 cups of homemade broth)
- 2 cups (8 oz.) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- Optional toppings: tortilla strips or chips, fresh cilantro, sour cream, sliced avocado, etc.
Instructions
- Heat oil in large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sauté onion in oil until tender. Add salsa, cumin, oregano, and cayenne pepper.
- Add great Northern beans, black beans, corn, diced tomatoes, chicken, and chicken broth. Mix thoroughly, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for one hour (see note).
- Right before serving, add cheese and stir until melted. Or, if you prefer, sprinkle the cheese on top of each serving.
Notes
- Use more or less broth, to taste, for desired consistency.
- The chili can be simmered for less time, or longer. Shoot for an hour, but it won’t be ruined if you don’t have an hour. If you simmer longer, I would recommend adding the corn later so that it doesn’t get tough.
- Nutrition information does not include optional toppings.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
This recipe is absolutely DELISH!!!!
Love it!! Thanks, will share this link on my post today :)
Thanks Marla!
This looks great!! Thank you for submitting it to this week's BSI!
I love white chicken chili… I actually got turned on to it by Ruby Tuesday's of all places, but I have yet to make it at home!
Thanks everyone!
Oh that looks delicious! This will be on my 'must-make' list next time the temperature dips :)
I love chili – it's such a hearty soup that totally works as a meal all on it's own! I love your idea to use chips instead of silverware :).
my oh my – that looks so wonderful and comforting!
Thanks for sharing a crowd pleaser. It's always good to have a stock pile of those. Can't wait to try it.
Delicious! I made this for my family and they loved it. The cilantro really made it feel fancy. My boys liked it so much, they ate the rest for lunch the next day! I did add a little garlic and also a 4oz. can of chiles when it was cooking. And for serving we did all of the suggested garnishes: advacado, pepper jack cheese, sour cream, tomato, cilantro, and chips,. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
So glad you liked it! I’m all about the garnishes too – yum!
This looks great! I love this recipe. I will have to give it a try :)