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White Chicken Chili is easy to make in one pot on the stove. It is thick, creamy, cheesy, and loaded with shredded chicken and white beans. It’s a great recipe to use up leftover cooked chicken or a rotisserie!
Be sure to try 7 Can Soup recipe next!
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Recipe
- Creamy – The combination of sour cream, cream cheese, and shredded cheese gives the chili a great creamy, cheesy flavor.
- Leftover Chicken – I love recipes that use up leftover cooked chicken. Check out this round up of leftover chicken recipes for more inspiration.
- Adjustable Spice Level – As written, this chili is not overly spicy. But you can easily kick up the heat if you’d like. See the recipe tips for more information.
Ingredients
This is a great recipe to use up leftover chicken or you can buy a rotisserie chicken from the store.
- Cooked and Shredded Chicken – Great use for leftover chicken or you can use a store bought rotisserie chicken
- Yellow Onion – You can also use a white onion
- Minced Garlic – Freshly minced is best, but the pre-minced garlic in a jar works too
- Oil – such as canola oil, avocado oil, or olive oil
- Spices – Cumin, Dried Oregano, Chili Powder, Salt
- Chicken Stock or Broth – Try How To Make Chicken Broth.
- Cornstarch – Making a slurry with cold water helps thicken the chili.
- Canned Chopped Mild Green Chiles – If you can’t find diced green chilies, you could char some poblano peppers, remove the skins and chop them.
- Canned White Beans – Cannellini, navy, or great northern beans.
- Frozen Corn Kernels – Thawed. You can use regular or the fire roasted kind.
- Cream Cheese
- Sour Cream
- Shredded Cheese – Such as Monterey or Pepper Jack
- Lime Juice – Fresh is best, but the kind in a bottle works
- Sour Cream, Cilantro, Shredded Cheese, and Corn Chips – Optional for topping
How To Make White Chicken Chili
See recipe card below for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
- Cook Onion – Heat up a large pot over medium with the oil and cook the onion until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and spices and cook for another 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Add Broth and Slurry – Add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer for 20 minutes the mix up the cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl and whisk into the soup. Let boil for 1 minute.
- Add Chili Ingredients – Add the cooked chicken, beans, corn, chiles, and cream cheese then let simmer for 10-15 minutes. Finish by stirring in the lime juice, sour cream, and shredded cheese until melted.
- Serve – Serve immediately. I like to top with extra sour cream, shredded cheese, fresh cilantro, and corn chips.
Recipe FAQs
While a traditional red chili (like this easy chili recipe) is made with tomatoes giving it a red color, a white chili does not have tomatoes so it is a lighter color.
This chicken chili is made from white beans, chicken, and broth. On its own that combination would be watery, but it is thickened up thanks to a cornstarch slurry and the cream cheese/shredded cheese that is melted in.
A cornstarch slurry (cornstarch mixed into cold water) is the thickening agent for a white chili. When the slurry is added to the chili and then brought to a bubble, it thickens it.
Storage
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Soup can be frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat on the stove over medium-low, or microwave for about 1 minute.
Pro Tips
- Keep Soup at a Simmer at the End – Do not let the soup come to a boil after adding the sour cream and cheese as it could cause the soup to curdle. A low simmer is fine.
- Add Green Chiles at the End – Adding the green chiles toward the end of cooking keeps the chili white. If simmered too long, the chiles can turn the chili gray/green.
- Make it Spicy – If you prefer more heat, you can add a dash of hot sauce, some cayenne pepper, or add diced jalapenos with the onions.
More Soup Recipes
- Creamy Chicken Potato Soup
- Instant Pot Tomato Soup
- Chicken Poblano Soup
- Hamburger Soup
- Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup
White Chicken Chili
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 1 medium yellow onion diced small
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups chicken stock or broth
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 7 ounces chopped mild green chiles canned
- 2 15 ounce cans white beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn thawed
- 4 ounces cream cheese cubed
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 cup Monterey or pepper Jack cheese shredded
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- Optional: sour cream, cilantro, shredded cheese, and corn chips for serving
Instructions
- Heat a large pot on the stove over medium high heat and add the oil. Saute the onion until translucent and softened, about 3 minutes. Add in the garlic and seasonings and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add in the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes. Mix the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water or broth and whisk into the soup. Bring to a boil for 1 minute.
- Add in the chicken, beans, corn, chilies, cream cheese, and simmer for another 10 – 15 minutes, not allowing the mixture to boil. Stir in the lime juice, sour cream and the shredded cheese just until melted. Serve immediately with sour cream, shredded cheese, cilantro and corn chips.
