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!
Think I could cook this on low for 8+ hours? I normally turn on the crock pot when I leave for work around 7:30, and I don’t get home til after 5…
Yes, that will work well for this recipe :)
This is a seriously good recipe. I made it with a second chicken breast, because I had it, and without the pinto beans, because I didn’t have them, and chucked in two potatoes, diced, because I found them. And on the stove, no crockpot. Took less than an hour, but did improve second day. Yum.
Is it ok to leave this in the slow cooker for longer than 4 hours? Like 10-11 hours? I am gone from home for work for that long
Yes, just set it to low heat instead of high.
this looks delicious! i have some leftover cooked chicken that i froze, and i was wondering how you think i should incorporate it in this recipe?
I would add it in the beginning just as if you were adding the raw chicken.
Any suggestions for doing this with dry beans instead of canned?
You’ll need about six cups of liquid for every pound of beans that you use (one pound should be plenty).
Is there a way to do this with dry beans instead of canned?
Yes, you’ll need six cups of chicken broth for one pound of beans, then just cook on high until they’re soft and mashable.
Beth, have a toddler who will gladly consume bite size chicken but not shredded – any harm in slow cooking everything else and grilling chicken separately to add at end? Or would you do this sans slow cooker by sautรฉing onion/garlic/jalapeรฑo, then sautรฉing chicken, then adding everything else and simmering ~30 minutes?
Yes, you can definitely grill the chicken instead and the only reason I used the slow cooker was to make the chicken tender and shreddable, so if you’re grilling you might as well cook it faster on the stove top. :) You’ll just need to simmer long enough to get the beans soft enough to mash up.
Thanks for your thoughts, and for Budget Bytes! Seriously I’m about to stop putting Budget Bytes in front of the recipes on our weekly menu because they’re basically all from Budget Bytes. No need to differentiate anymore!
Same here, John! :)
Beth, if I wanted to double the chicken in this recipe, how much would I need to increase the broth by (if any)?
Also, congratulations on your collaboration with Albertson’s! I have been following the blog since 2012, and it is wonderful to see you and the blog flourish. Now when is the next Budget Bytes cook book coming out?! Kidding. Sort of. ;)
I also wanted to say thank you, because without Budget Bytes I would not have half the confidence in the kitchen that I do today. Before I found Budget Bytes I was sort of scared of cooking and hardly ever cooked. These days, I LOVE it and cook nearly every night! It has become an outlet for me, and is a total stress reliever.
Wishing you all the best in 2015! Happy New Year!
Thank you! I might start working on an ebook soon. :) If you double the chicken you won’t need to increase the broth any. If anything, it will add moisture, plus the chili is fairly thin to begin with. Happy new year to you, too!
Be careful if you double this recipe in a slow cooker, its just a bit too much stuff for a 5 qts, had to move it to the stove-top!
Also, I thought there were too many beans =X
Wow this was great! I made this last night, I love my chili, but have never used a verde sauce before; I’ve been missing out! I normally use tomato based sauces… need more tomatillos now :)
do you think I could pull this off without a crockpot? I’ve been able to make shredded chicken breast in the oven before, think I can add that to the ingredients and try to make a stovetop version?
Yes, I think if you let it simmer on the stove top, that should be fine. When I make chicken noodle soup, I simmer for about 30-45 minutes before the chicken is shreddable, so it will probably be much faster than the slow cooker. :)
That. Was. Awesome.
Made this last night (not in the slow cooker) and it was divine!
As an FYI all the following chains are owned by Albertsons and you can get the Essential Everyday brand at them:
ACME
Jewel-Osco
Farm Fresh
Lucky
Shaw’s
Bristol Farms
SuperValu
Safeway
Yeah, Albertsons owns a LOT of markets. I did this with boneless skinless thighs and it was a winner!
Awesome, thanks for that info!
Looks divine. Do you have any recommendations for a heathen household that won’t eat beans, no matter how well I disguise them?
Yikes, I dunno. Beans are the main ingredient! :D Even if you subbed them all for vegetables (carrots, celery, corn, etc.) the beans won’t be there to thicken it up, so it probably wouldn’t work. :(
I’ve used refried beans to thicken regular red chili as I’m not a fan of beans either, maybe that might work? They melt right in and since they’re pureed you can’t tell.