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.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
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!
I love the update! I don’t want to be “that” guy but do you happen to have a link of the original recipe?
I actually didn’t change the recipe at all on this one, I just took new photos. :) You can see an archived version of the old post here: https://web.archive.org/web/20180614213203/https://www.budgetbytes.com/slow-cooker-white-chicken-chili/
We used to have a stove top chicken chili verde recipe that was similar (but it uses dry beans). If that’s what you’re thinking of just email us at support@budetbytes.com and we can send you a pdf of the recipe.
Its a rainy fall Sunday. This is perfect for a day like this. I use 2 chicken breasts. My 3rd time making this, my 3yo daughter even eats this.
To avoid over-buying, I ended up going with a package 3 thin-sliced chicken breast pieces that weighed just over 3/4 lb in total, just got the slow cooker going! Should I expect a meaningful difference in the end product?
Yes, they will probably cook faster, but it’s hard to tell how much without testing it.
This smells amazing cooking it’s whats for dinner tonight rainy fall day with some hot buttered corn bread.. May nevet eat red chili again lol
Could you use dried beans in this one and adjust cooking time?
There’s probably a way to make that work, but I’d need to test it before offering specific instructions. :)
Can I use frozen chicken breast for this recipe?
I don’t recommend putting frozen chicken in a slow cooker because it takes too long to come up to a safe temperature and can create a food safety issue. So, if you do use frozen chicken breast, make sure to thaw it fully first.
Thank you so much!
Could this be done in an instant pot? If so what would the time conversion be? Or should I just use the pressure cooker as a slow cooker by not sealing the pressure valve
Slow cooker recipes usually convert to pressure cooker pretty well because they’re both wet cooking environments, but I’m not well versed enough to estimate the suggested cook times. You might try Googling “slow cooker to pressure cooker conversion” to see if there is a general rule of thumb to use as a starting point. :)
I made this tonight in my instant pot – set it for an hour which means it took about two hours before it was all done. It was PERFECT. It was a huge hit from my husband down to my 6 year old โค๏ธย
I will be making this recipe in a few days and I am going to do it on the stovetop. I’ll be making it for a get-together so I need to have a good idea of how much time this will take on the stove. Anyone have any good estimates? Thanks!
Great recipe, filling, easy, and tasty! Instead of jalapeno, I added frank’s red hot while serving
Had to make this again! First time making it, was unsure how it would turn out using the salsa verde. And holy unbelievable recipe!!! All that tasted it , LOVED IT!!!! Fantastic!!!
Wow! One of my new favorite recipes, such great flavor. Added in cojita cheese on top, sour cream and avocados.ย
I absolutely love this recipe. Instead of using a jar of salsa verde, we add just over a pound of tomatillos (quartered) and a bunch of cilantro!ย
Can I substitute regular (red) salsa instead of salsa verde? It’s what I have on hand, and we’re still trying to limit grocery stops. ย Thanks for your help!
Yes that will work in a pinch! Enjoy!
Perfect for hosting guests! I really love it with your quick and easy cornbread.
I’ve been making your recipes for years, and this is my first review. This recipe might be one of my favorites I’ve ever made, which is impressive. I thought nothing could dethrone the sweet potato chorizo skillet! I don’t know if it’s that the jar of tomatillo salsa verde I got was exceptionally good (Frontera, for the record) and was doing all the heavy lifting, or what, but this was FANTASTIC. I could eat this five more times this month and not get sick of it. Thanks so much for still showing me how to have delicious meals from shelf-stable ingredients!
Adjustments I made: added a bag of frozen zucchini and summer squash slices, and cooked in a lacquered cast iron Dutch oven for 2 hours on 375. Chicken came out fully cooked and shredded on contact with a fork, basically. Highly recommend that cooking method if you have a Dutch oven.