Easy White Chicken Chili - Slender Kitchen (2024)

Easy White Chicken Chili Recipe

This super easy to make White Chicken Chili is filling, packed with protein, and tastes so so good. It's a seriously delicious chili and one of our new soups along with this Healthy Taco Soup and Healthy Cabbage Soup.

Chili is something that everyone should absolutely have in their fridge or freezer. It's the perfect solution when you need a quick, filling meal everyone will love. This white chicken chili is hearty, filling, full of protein, and most importantly, tastes really really good.

The other amazing thing about this chili is that it couldn't be easier to make. There isn't any chopping, browning, mincing, or hard work. Instead, we let store-bought salsa verde do all the hard work. Just dump everything in and dinner is ready in as little as thirty minutes.

Now before we get into the recipe, let's talk about green salsa for a minute. This is the main flavor component of this recipe so you want to make sure to buy a salsa verde with lots of flavor. It adds spice and tang and heat without needing to buy lots of ingredients. Now, of course, you could definitely make your own salsa for this chili as well. It's just a bit of extra work.

Recipe Ideas for White Chicken Chili

• Change up the salsa: This chili gets a lot of its flavor from the salsa, so changing the salsa you use can give you all different flavor combinations. Use a thick and chunky red salsa for a more traditional chili flavor. Try a chipotle salsa for a smoky heat. Use a hot red salsa if you want lots of spice. And if you are looking for more of a traditional chili flavor, go with mild salsa and then add lots of chili powder.
• Make it creamy: If you want a creamy chicken chili, add some light cream cheese to the mix. It will melt right into the soup and make it super creamy and delicious.
• Add ranch: There is a cult following for ranch chili and for good reason. If you want to add some ranch flavor to your chili, add a packet of ranch seasoning (or homemade) to your chili.

• Switch up the protein: This recipe will work with chicken breast as written. You can also use boneless and skinless chicken thighs, lean ground beef, lean ground pork, lean sausage, or lean beef stewing meat. If you use ground meat, brown it first.
• Add veggies: This soup can definitely benefit from some extra veggies. During the last 30 minutes of cooking consider adding some spinach, chopped zucchini, cauliflower rice, or chopped cabbage. You can also add onion and garlic to kick up those flavors.
• Toppings: Since this is chili, you can have fun with the toppings. Consider adding shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado, baked tortilla chips, queso fresco, diced onion, cilantro, or lime juice.

• Vegetarian White Chili: If you want to make a vegetarian chili, just leave out the chicken and add an extra can of beans. Usually, I reach for black beans to make it a three-bean chili.
• Make it thicker: For a thicker chili, you add a can of refried beans. It will thicken up the broth and make it creamy. You can also use less broth for a more stew-like chili.
• Lower sodium: With so many canned and jarred products, this chili can quickly get really high in sodium. To reduce the sodium, look for low-sodium or no-sodium beans. You can also make your own salsa so you can control the salt level. Lastly, make sure to reach for a low-sodium chicken broth.

How to Cook Chicken Chili

This chicken chili is super versatile and can be cooked in the slow cooker, Instant Pot, or right on the stovetop.

• Slow Cooker: This is such an easy way to make this chili. Just dump everything into the slow cooker, set the slow cooker to cook on low for 4 hours, and the soup is ready. Since chicken breast can get dry when cooked too long, I wouldn't recommend cooking it longer than 4 hours. In fact, three hours may be plenty if you have a crockpot that runs hot.
• Instant Pot: This is also super easy to cook in the Instant Pot. Just add everything to the Instant Pot and set it to Manual for 8 minutes. Let it come to pressure, this will take a while with all the liquid. Then let it naturally release. Depending on the size of your slow cooker, make sure not to overfill it and go past the "max" line. You can also add more broth after.
• Stovetop: Simply add everything to a large soup pot. Bring to a simmer and let cook for about 30 minutes. Shred the chicken and return to the pot to serve. You can saute some onions and garlic using this method to get things started if you like.

Tips for Making White Chili

• This soup freezes really well for easy future meals. I like to freeze it in individual or family-size portions so that it is easy to grab and defrost for a quick and easy meal.
• The salsa is a huge part of the flavor of this recipe so make sure to choose a salsa with lots of flavor. Herdez makes a great green salsa that you can find in most stores. Trader Joe's also sells a good salsa verde.
• If you like things really spicy but can't find a hot green salsa, then add some fresh jalapenos or serrano peppers to the chili. You can also add chili powder or cayenne.
• For a more traditional chili flavor, you will want to add some ground chili powder to your soup. You could also add a packet of chili seasoning.

• For extra flavor, some people like to add a packet of taco seasoning to their chicken chili.
• Adjust the thickness of the chili to your liking by using more or less broth. Some people like it super thick and some enjoy it as more of a stew.
• If you love tomatoes, consider replacing a cup of chicken broth with a can of diced tomatoes.

The Recipe

Easy White Chicken Chili

PREP TIME: 5 Min

COOK TIME: 4 Hours

TOTAL TIME: 4 Hours, 5 Min

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