Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili
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!
Originally posted 1-2-2015, updated 2-9-2020.
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
Ingredients
- 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.
Nutrition
Equipment
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!
Can you do this with lentils? Will they soften enough over 4 hours in a slow cooker?
Quick-cooking brown lentils should soften in that amount of time. But different lentil varieties can require different cooking times.
I’ve got this going in my slow cooker right now. I love this recipe! It is perfect and so tasty. I have made it quite a few times. Once I made it with a large can of posole instead of beans and that was really great too!
Really nice, flavorful, easy meal. If you have any frozen corn laying, it would add a nice texture and sweetness to compliment the spice if you use jalapeños. As others have mentioned, it’s really nice when served with tortilla chips atop.
This was so simple, tasty, and satisfying. I didn’t have time to use the crockpot, so I just tossed everything in a pot on the stove and considered it done once the chicken was shreddable. We had guests who were not fans of spicy food, so I just made sure to get a mild salsa verde. I also subbed paprika for the red pepper. Everyone liked it. The best part is that my husband, who has never liked white chicken chili, loved it and had two bowls. Thanks for the great recipe!
Can you make it with chicken thighs?
Yes, thighs are great in recipes like this. :)
I just made this for a weekend outdoor get-together and it was a hit. You know you’re onto a good recipe when several people request the recipe as they eat it. I was more than happy to oblige!
I was worried it was going to be too thin but once I shredded the chicken and let it soak a few more minutes, the consistency either thickened or the chicken shreds balanced it out.
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!