I’m all about cozy soups, and the White Chicken Chili recipe has always been one of my favorites. This Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili is the perfect example of why people love slow cookers so much. You literally just dump everything in the slow cooker, give it a quick stir, then turn it on and walk away. When you come back you have this hearty white bean chicken chili that’s ready for topping with creamy cheese and diving in with some tortilla chips. And when the sky is dark, the air is cold, and you’ve got the winter blues, easy dinners like this are a total life saver!
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See this recipe used in my weekly meal prep.
Does White Chicken Chili Have Chili Powder?
Nope! Unlike traditional red chili, this “white” chili does not contain chili powder. It’s flavored using salsa verde, cumin, and oregano. This chili gets its name from the white beans used in place of the red kidney beans used in red chili.
Is This Chili Spicy?
This chili is a “medium” level spicy. If you want to make the chili more mild, skip the jalapeño and cayenne pepper listed in the ingredients, and make sure to use a mild salsa verde.
What Size Slow Cooker do I Need?
You can make this in a 3-4 quart slow cooker, or double the recipe for a 5-7 qt slow cooker and feed a crowd. I have a 5 quart slow cooker (affiliate link) and the recipe, as listed below, filled it about half way.
Can This White Chicken Chili be Frozen?
Yes, this chili freezes very well! As always, make sure to chill your chili completely in the refrigerator first, before transferring to the freezer for long term storage. I prefer to freeze all my leftovers in single portions so they can be reheated one by one whenever I get hungry.
Chili Topping Ideas
I highly suggest topping this chili with something creamy, like the Monterrey jack cheese listed in the ingredients below, some sour cream, or avocado. The creamy flavor is the perfect contrast to the salsa verde. You can also top with some green onion, sliced jalapeño, cilantro, pico de gallo, crumbled cornbread, or pickled red onions.
Easy Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili
Servings 6 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 jalapeño (optional) ($0.11)
- 1 boneless skinless chicken breast (about 3/4 lb.) ($3.62)
- 1 16oz. jar salsa verde ($2.59)
- 2 15oz. cans cannellini beans ($0.98)
- 1 15oz. can pinto beans ($0.89)
- 1 Tbsp ground cumin ($0.30)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper ($0.02)
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper ($0.03)
- 2 cups chicken broth ($0.26)
- 4 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, shredded ($0.85)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Slice the jalapeńo lengthwise, scrape out the seeds with a spoon, then dice. Place the onion, garlic, jalapeño, and chicken breast in the bottom of a slow cooker.
- Drain and rinse the cannellini beans and pinto beans, then add them to the slow cooker, along with the cumin, oregano, cayenne, and freshly ground black pepper. Pour the salsa over top.
- Pour two cups of chicken broth over the contents in the cooker and then give everything a brief stir. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for four hours, or on low for eight hours.
- After four hours on high, or eight hours on low, carefully remove the chicken breast from the slow cooker and use two forks to shred the meat. Return the meat to the slow cooker. Stir the chili, slightly mashing the beans with the back of the spoon as you stir. The mashed beans will help thicken the chili.
- Serve the chili topped with shredded Monterey Jack cheese. Other optional toppings include fresh cilantro, diced avocado, freshly squeeze lime, or tortilla chips.
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Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Nutrition
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Serve with a side of Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread!
How to Make Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili – Step by Step Photos
Dice one yellow onion and mince two cloves of garlic. Slice the jalapeño in half, scrape out the seeds, then dice the remaining pepper. Add the onion, garlic, jalapeño, and chicken breast to the slow cooker.
Drain and rinse two 15oz. cans of cannellini beans and one 15oz. can of pinto beans. Add the drained beans to the slow cooker along with 1 Tbsp cumin, 1 tsp oregano, ¼ tsp cayenne, and some freshly cracked black pepper.
Pour one 16oz. jar of salsa verde into the slow cooker (I’ve used many brands for this recipe in the past, the one in the photo is Kroger’s Private Selectrion brand).
Pour two cups of chicken broth into the slow cooker.
Briefly stir the contents of the slow cooker to distribute the spices. Place a lid on top and cook on high for four hours, or low for eight hours.
After cooking on high for four hours, or on low for eight hours, remove the chicken breast to a clean cutting board to shred (or you can shred directly in the pot with two forks).
Shred the chicken using two forks.
Return the shredded chicken to the slow cooker and stir to combine. Use the back of a spoon to smash some of the beans against the side of the pot. The smashed beans will help thicken the chili.
Top with your favorite ingredients and enjoy!
Would it work to sub the chicken with ground chicken to avoid the need to shred or would it just fall apart?ย
To be honest, I’m not sure how ground meat would turn out in a recipe like this. I think I’ve only used ground meat in a slow cooker once before (it was beef) and it got really overcooked, so I’m not sure if that would happen here as well.
Yum!!! I made this tonight and am excited to have leftovers for work. I made this in my Instant Pot with a frozen Costco chicken breast. 15min high pressure and natural release for 20min. The beans held up just fine in the pressure cooker. Another hit Beth!! Thank you so much!!
Thanks for sharing Kristi!
I made this the other day and it was delicious. I didnt’ have any problems with my InstantPot with the chicken. We put it on “more” (since the IP only has low, normal, and more as heat settings lol) for 4.5 hours since I didn’t want to have to start it again if it wasnt done at 4. We doubled the recipe and used 2 large chicken breasts. After 4.5 hours it shredded like no problem with some forks.
I have been eating it for lunch at work for the last two days and it is still delicious! Corn was the only thing I added because I wanted some crunch. Well and cheese – but i feel like thats a given. Cheese gets added to everything.
How many calories per serving?
Thanks for the request! I do get that request a lot, but unfortunately I don’t have a reliable source for the nutrition information. The calculators and databases that most bloggers and websites use to calculate the info can be extremely inaccurate, and for something that can so severely impact the health of people with health conditions, I just don’t feel comfortable publishing unreliable numbers. I prefer to leave it up to the reader to use the database or calculator they trust. I’m sorry and I wish accuracy were easier than shipping the food off to a lab for analysis!
Tried this recipe in my Instant Pot, and I have fallen in love. I only used one can of the cannellini beans since I have the mini IP, and I didn’t add the jalepeno, and I really really loved it. It was super easy to make, and definitely something I’m going to work into my meal prep.
Thank you for the recipe!
Happy to hear it worked in the IP for you Molly.
Another delicious recipe! Thank you, Beth. I made this on the stove top and simmered it for about 30-45 minutes. Served with tortilla chips, sour cream, and shredded Colby jack. Yum!ย
Happy to hear it!
My whole family loves this soup. I know it’s only for four hours but could I cook on a lower heat for 6 hours?
Hi Beth, quick question…if I wanted to make this on the stovetop, do I change anything from the recipe? Or just follow the same instructions and simply cook it in a pot on the stove?
It should work pretty much the same, but it won’t need as long of a cook time. :) Simmering on the stove, even on the lowest heat, is usually still hotter than a slow cooker, so it will go faster.
Hi Beth! This looks incredible – thank you. I don’t have a slow cooker or a crock pot (working up to buy one hopefully soon!) Do you have any ideas for how I can adapt this to work in a regular oven pan or skillet? Thanks in advance.
You should be able to just let everything simmer together in a pot on the stove over low. I haven’t tried this to verify, but it should work very similarly, but it won’t need as much time because even on low it will be hotter than a slow cooker.
I made this yesterday and it was a hit with my family. I did make it in my Instant Pot ran into some problems using the slow cooker function. I cooked it on high for 4 hours only to find that the chicken was not completely cooked!! I then shut the lid and hit the poultry function ,which cooked it at high pressure for 17 minutes and dinner was saved! The chicken shredded and it was great. I would definitely make this again but will just go for pressure cooking for 15-20 minutes or the poultry setting. Need to experiment some more. I also doubled the recipe and added an extra piece of chicken. I definitely think it needs more chicken and would do 2 breast for the original recipe and 4 if doubling. I got about 12 serving when I doubled it. Lastly, I cut the heat in 1/2 by doing 1 jalapeno & 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper for a doubled recipe and it the perfect amount of heat for our family. I also sautรฉed the onions, jalapeno & garlic before adding everything else. I researched later that a lot of people have difficulties getting things cooked on the slow cooker function with the Instant Pot, which was disappointing to hear since I thought this pot did it all. Anyways, this is a 5 star and I would make it again for sure.
Whoa, it wasn’t cooked after four hours?? Was the chicken breast frozen when it went in?
No it was not frozen.
The slow cooker function on an Instant Pot is NOT the same as using an actual slow cooker, unfortunately. Ribs will be fall off the bone in a slow cooker, but in an IP it’ll be cooked through but stick firmly to the bone in the same amount of time and temp. I suspect it has to do with how a slow cooker has a rubber seal to keep heat and moisture in, and the IP’s slow cooker function cant recreate that since only the pressure cooking function seals and traps heat.
SO GOOD! I made it vegetarian by leaving out the chicken and adding an extra can of pinto beans instead. I also use veggie broth. I used a potato masher to mash my beans at the end as I find it more effective than the wooden spoon method. Seriously, so good and so easy. I always make a double batch in my big crock pot and freeze a big container for a future busy week. One of our favorites!
Wonderful. Made with boneless skinless chicken thighs. Added diced celery in Crock Pot (5 ribs to doubled recipe) and cooked all on low for 8 hours. In end added one can of diced tomatoes in last 30 minutes or so. Was very flavorful. Only thing is I omitted the cayenne and jalapeno as the salsa verde I used was spicy enough for me. Used Herdez brand. Thanks for another great winner. Was a yummy bowl of cozy. Very satisfying.
I add corn to it and top with lime juice, sour cream, avocado and tortilla chips. A friend showed me this recipe and paired with baked potatoes and itโs become my favorite!ย
Very easy and so tasty! I used ground chicken because It was on sale for the organic. I think adding a small amount of celery and carrot would round out the flavor nicely. As is, Iโm still happy that I have a second batch of this in my freezer.
Would this work with thighs and other dark meat?
I think that would work great. :)