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 added low fat cream cheese frozen 🥶 onions and green and red peppers no heat, I do not like heat . Delish. Next time I’ll sauté onions and peppers first. I used cannellini and black beans drained.
Fantastic White Chicken Chili (soup). I wanted a white chicken chili that wasn’t so heavy/creamy like most recipes out there. This recipe is exactly that. More soup like. We omitted adding the jalapeños during cooking to reduce spiciness for my partner and just did the cayenne. Spice level was perfect.
We followed the recipe exactly and cooked it in the instant pot 25 mins manual high pressure and it turned out perfect. So good!!! Top with cilantro, avocado, jalapeño, lime juice. Will be making regularly during the winter!!
This smelled divine coming into the house after work. These kind of meals are always a favorite. The flavor was excellent, thank you. Will be making again.
I read previous reviews and made some modifications. First, I sautéed the onions and garlic as some said it made it more flavorful. Also, I used 4 cloves of garlic as I happen to like garlic. I used a serrano pepper but did not remove the seeds or spine because I wanted the heat. And one chicken breast??? How is that enough? I put 2 cause it’s just me but I could have easily put another small one and I don’t think it would have been a problem. And I went harder on the seasoning cause I don’t like bland food. That said, I really enjoyed it. Would make again.
Near the top of the list of family favorites!! We make it once a fortnight. :)
This recipe is really good, especially since it’s dump and go — you don’t even have to handle raw meat if you dump the chicken from the package. That said, I read some of the comments here indicating that they found it bland, and were suggesting that the onions should be sauteed, so I decided to try that. I sauteed the diced onion and two jalapenos without scooping out the seeds or the white parts (high spice tolerance) in 0.5 tbsp of olive oil for about 5 minutes on medium heat in a small skillet, then dumped it in the crock pot and proceeded with the recipe as usual.
The result was that the chili was twice as delicious and satisfying for me. The only problem is now I’m going to feel the need to saute the onions and jalapenos every time to make it this delicious. Only other change I made (which I did with the original recipe as well) is adding 1 tsp of chipotle powder (again, spice tolerance).
So if you’re reading the comments with people saying it’s bland, I just want to point out that the base recipe is still really good, and I didn’t find it bland, but these guys are right that sauteing the onions is a gamechanger — just know you’re not going to want to go back to dump and go afterwards if you try it.
This has become a staple in our house! It is so easy, delicious and healthy, my 6 year old even loves it! I don’t add the jalapeños in the crockpot, I ease on the spice for my kids, then add pickled jalapeños to mine and it’s perfect!
Wow I am amazed by this recipe!!!! It’s so delicious. I didn’t have pinto beans so I modified with northern beans and cannellini. And I was a little pinched for time so I pressure cooked my semi-thawed frozen chicken with the broth, seasoning, and onion for 15 minutes then shredded and added in the beans and cooked it for 45 minutes. 100% will make this again!!!
This is in regular rotation for me and a big hit for any guests! I like experimenting with different accompaniments – cornbread, corn chips, guacamole, etc. Sometimes I just drain the leftovers and use it as taco filling. Always works great! Spice can be dialed up or down and chicken/beans ratio can be adjusted with your budget! I’ve made it with a pork loin and that worked well, too.
This recipe was amazing! My husband and I asked “Where has this been all our lives?” We loved this recipe with no modifications. Will definitely make this white chicken chili over and over! Thank you so much.
I LOVE this recipe. If you have pickled jalapeños in your fridge and chicken breast in your freezer, everything else is a pantry staple and you can whip this up any day of the week. It’s a dump and go kind of meal that’s excellent with cornbread or tortilla chips on the side. Plus it freezes great. What’s not to love?!
I’ve also made a version of this in a dutch oven while camping. It was a hit. :)
This recipe is incredibly mediocre. I believe because there’s no fat in the recipe. I suggest sauteeing the onions, garlic and jalapeño in oil or ghee first, then adding the other ingredients.
I make this in my Instantpot, sautéing the onions and spices in garlic olive oil first. Then I switch it over to slow cook and throw the rest in. It’s always turned out great!
This recipe is so good!
I also experimented and cooked this in the instant pot. A cooking time of 25 minutes was perfect. The only change is that I’d reduce the broth by ~1/2 cup for a more chili texture, the full liquid resulted in more of a stew. Otherwise the recipe can be followed exactly.
We Make this weekly for lunches and it’s delicious! We always add an extra chicken breast!
Easy to make but I was disappointed it wasn’t very good. I won’t make again.