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!
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
Nutrition
Video
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 agains the side of the pot. The smashed beans will help thicken the chili.
Top with your favorite ingredients and enjoy!
I really wanted to like this, but after 8 hours in the slow cooker, the onion was still crunchy. I’d think that it would have been soft by then, but it wasn’t. I’m a big texture person, so I wasn’t able to eat any of it. If you have this same issue, consider sauteing it ahead of time so you don’t lose the recipe.
Great recipe. The slow cooker does all the work for you. After making this a couple times I added some rotel to satisfy my tomato addiction and drop of da bomb hot sauce to get it to my spice preference. I also added some orange juice on top to add citrus and to cut some of the heat with sweet. Amazing. I make this at least once a week.
What a change from regular ol’ chili. I added brown sugar to tame down the heat. Really nice flavor. I think I’ll half the jalapeño next time. Otherwise, it was great.
Any idea on converting this to an instant pot?
Love this recipe for rainy days.
I’d probably try either the poultry setting or the chili setting (isn’t there a chili setting?). And then if the chicken isn’t tender when it’s gone through the cycle, just add more time. :)
it’s super easy! put the onion & garlic in first
on sauté mode for a couple of mins. then add the beans salsa and chicken. turn it on to pressure cook setting for the chicken breast time – i think around 10 mins should be good! take chicken out, shred it, put it back in, done! super easy. personally i add some celery and carrots before the pressure cook, and i add some sour cream after putting the shredded chicken back in, and it’s amazingly delicious!
This is one of my families go-to meals. I’ve made it so many times and have found that the salsa used DOES seem to make or break it. We serve it with corn chips, sour cream, avocado and a little squeeze of lime and it never disappoints. Thanks for another great recipe!
I have mine going 6+ hours and as the house smells like the salsa I purchased, this is my only concern. I forgot to taste test it before putting it in…!
This looks really good. I’m wondering how I could add some veggies to this. Ideas?
Carrot, celery, and bell pepper would all be really good! :)
This was pretty good! I used unsalted chicken broth and still did not feel a need to add salt (and I love salt). I used great northern beans instead of cannellini since they are easier to find and are very similar. The taste was good, and I think this is a great base recipe to eat alone or build off in the future. I may try to figure out a way to make it a bit thicker since it was more like soup than a thick hearty chili–but that is to be expected.
This was really good and easy. The other comments made me nervous but I didn’t find it bland at all. I used medium salsa and added a bell pepper and corn..omitted the jalapeños!
First – I love this blog so much! Second – this recipe is a great one!
I thought I’d share a tip for anyone who hates shredding chicken like I do. If you have a hand mixer, once it’s time to shred the chicken, you can press the beaters into the chicken breast right in the chili. I turn the mixer to low/ medium low, and it does all the shredding for me! 😅
Made this for husband and I, it was the perfect size to have left overs but not an overhwelmingng amount. Unfortunately neither of us thought it was that great. While there was flavor it had very little depth or complexity, something always felt like it was missing. If I bother to make it again I think I would saute the onions and pepper prior to slow cooking, and maybe add bell pepper as well and hope that helps.
So good great flavor diffently will make this again
This turned out so great and the house smelled amazing. I left the seeds in the jalapeno, used spicy salsa, and still added the cayenne pepper for an amazingly yummy kick! Next time I might add some bell pepper as an additional veggie.
Such a great recipe! I didn’t have a slow cooker, so just prepared this on the stovetop. Sauteed the onions and garlic in a little oil, added some canned jalapeños, and added a can of corn because I just wanted to use it up. Like most chili recipes, there is a lot of flexibility with this one. Looking forward to my leftovers!
Aside from removing the chicken and changing the broth is there anything you would change about this recipe to make it vegetarian or vegan even?
No, those are the only two animal products, so that should do it. :)
I loved this!!! I doubled the chicken and it was great! I’m making it for the second time right now and added a can of hominy corn. I think the brand of green salsa could make a big difference. I’ve had success with Walmart’s brand of it.
Sour cream was a game changer topping for this amazing recipe. I was surprised to not see it on the list.