Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili

Can you believe it? It’s already 2015! After a holiday season full of decadent goodies and drinking probably a tad too much, I’m ready to kick my health into high gear. So, when Albertsons supermarkets asked me to develop a healthy, fresh recipe using their private label products, I thought the timing couldn’t be more perfect. I’ve wanted to make a White Chicken Chili for some time, and because it uses simple ingredients, it’s a natural for store brand staples.

I whipped up this Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili because it’s full of flavor, has tons of fiber and protein, is low in fat, and contains simple, real ingredients. The best part, though, is that it’s pretty much a “load and press go” recipe. Just combine all the ingredients in your slow cooker, turn the heat on, and when you come back a few hours later it’s all done! It couldn’t get any easier than that.

Don’t have an Albertsons market in your area? Don’t worry. This recipe uses very simple and easy to find ingredients, so you can sub any brand or generic label products that you can get your hands on.

P.S. I scaled this recipe down a little to make it work in smaller slow cookers. You can make this in a 3-4 qt slow cooker, or double it for a 5-7 qt slow cooker and feed a crowd.

See this recipe used in my weekly meal prep.

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili

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4.8 from 68 votes

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili

This healthy and flavorful White Chicken Chili practically makes itself in the slow cooker. Easy, healthy, delicious.

Total Cost: $11.59 recipe / $2.89 serving

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 4 hrs

Total Time: 4 hrs 15 mins

Servings: 4 1.5 cups each

Ingredients

• 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
• 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
• 1 jalapeño (optional) ($0.05)
• 1 boneless skinless chicken breast (about 3/4 lb.) ($2.49)
• 16 oz jar salsa verde ($2.89)
• 2 15 oz. cans Essential Everyday™ cannellini beans ($2.00)
• 1 15 oz. can Essential Everyday™ pinto beans ($1.00)
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin ($0.30)
• 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper ($0.02)
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper ($0.02)
• 2 cups Essential Everyday™ chicken broth ($0.85)
• 4 oz Essential Everyday™ Monterrey Jack cheese shredded ($1.39)

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 salsa, cumin, oregano, cayenne, and freshly ground black pepper.
• 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.
• After four hours, the chicken should be tender and easily shreddable (if not, replace the lid and cook for one more hour). 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.
• Serve the chili hot topped with shredded Monterrey Jack cheese. Other optional toppings include fresh cilantro, diced avocado, freshly squeeze lime, or tortilla chips.

Video

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Step by Step Photos

Dice one onion and mince two cloves of garlic. Slice the jalapeño lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a spoon. Dice the remaining jalapeño flesh. Add the onion, garlic, jalapeño and chicken breast to the slow cooker.

Add one 16oz. jar of salsa verde, two 15oz. cans of cannellini beans, one 15oz. can pinto beans, 1 Tbsp ground cumin, 1 tsp dried oregano, ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, and ¼ tsp freshly cracked pepper to the slow cooker.

Add two cups chicken broth to the slow cooker, and give the ingredients a brief stir. Place the lid on the slow cooker, turn the heat onto high, and cook for four hours.

After four hours on high, the chicken should be fork tender and easily shreddable (if not, replace the lid and cook for one more hour). Carefully remove the chicken breast from the cooker and use two forks to shred the meat. Return the meat to the slow cooker.

Stir the shredded chicken into the chili, using the back of a wooden spoon to slightly mash the beans as you go. The mashed beans will help thicken the chili.

Serve the chili hot with your choice of toppings. Creamy Monterrey Jack really brings the chili together, but fresh cilantro, avocado, sour cream, or tortilla chips all make the chili a little extra fun.

So yum! And this is one of those recipes where the leftovers just keep getting better…