White chicken chili is pure comfort food. Our easy recipe is perfectly spiced, creamy, and filled with tender shredded chicken, white beans, green chilies, and corn.
Related: We also love these green chicken enchiladas!
What is White Chicken Chili?
If you have never had white chicken chicken before, I am here begging you to try our easy recipe below. Regular chili has a rich base of red chilies (or chili powder) and sometimes tomato, while white chili calls for green chilies. We use canned Hatch green chilies, white beans, and tender shredded chicken to make our white chili recipe. It tastes quite different from red chili but is just as delicious!
How to Make the Best White Bean Chicken Chili
This white bean chicken chili recipe is pure comfort. The star of this chili is green chilies. Both Adam and I love green chilies. We’ll take them fresh, sautéed, roasted, and canned. Canned green chilies make this white chicken chili so tasty (and easy). We use three 4-ounce cans (I love the Hatch brand). We also use them to make our breakfast quesadillas!
We have tried this recipe with fewer cans and weren’t happy with the flavor, so even though three cans seem overkill, do it. It’s better this way. You can buy mild or hot canned green chilies. The one you choose is up to how spicy you enjoy your food. I typically purchase mild and add spice with cayenne pepper or chipotle powder if I want my chili to be more spicy.
This white chicken chili is easy. First, in a large pot, simmer onion, garlic, spices, broth, canned green chilies, and chicken. I use chicken thighs since they are more tender, but chicken breasts work, too. Gently simmer the chicken in the broth until cooked, then remove and shred it (this is the same method we use to make this tender shredded chicken).
Keep the shredded chicken on your counter for a minute, and then stir in white beans — we add two cans. Then steal about a cup of the chili — beans, broth, and all. Place that cup of chili into a blender and blend until smooth. This puree is the secret to making creamy white chili!
We do not use sour cream or cream to make this chili and don’t think it needs it, as it just muddies the flavor. I leave it for serving and love to add a handful of shredded cheese and sour cream to your bowl, as we did in our photos.
When the puree is back in the pot, stir in the chicken and some corn; frozen is fine. Finish with fresh lime, cilantro, and some masa harina (or a corn tortilla that’s chopped) for an extra kick of corn flavor. We use masa harina in our red chili and love it!
White Chicken Chili Recipe Ingredients
The ingredients for this chili recipe are pretty standard; you’ll need onion, garlic, spices, chicken stock, canned green chilies, chicken thighs, white beans, and corn.
What really makes this chili taste amazing is the spice blend. When making chili, the spice blend takes it from okay to outstanding. Looking at this tomato-based chili recipe, you can see our favorite spice blend for red chili. The spices for this white chili are similar but tweaked slightly so that the spices don’t overpower the chicken:
- Fresh onion and garlic (we use 6 cloves!)
- Ground cumin
- Onion powder (fresh onion and onion powder create the best flavor)
- Dried oregano (use Mexican oregano if you can find it)
- Salt and cayenne pepper (or ground chipotle powder)
In addition to the spice blend, we call on fresh lime juice and fresh cilantro to make the flavor of the chili pop. It’s delicious!
How Do You Thicken Chili?
We love making this chili creamy and thick — no brothy soups here! We thicken this chicken chili in two ways. First, we stir masa harina or chopped corn tortillas into the chili a minute before serving. These add a lovely corn flavor to the chili and thicken the sauce slightly.
Because we love this white chili to be on the thicker side but don’t want to add too many more ingredients or dairy, just after removing the chicken, we blend about one cup of the broth and beans. Then, we stir the bean puree into the chili, which gives the chili more texture.
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Easy White Chicken Chili
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White chicken chili is pure comfort food. The base is perfectly spiced, creamy, and filled with tender shredded chicken, white beans, green chilies, and corn. We do not use dairy to make this chili and don’t think it needs it, as it just muddies the flavor. We also find that leaving out the dairy makes this white chicken chili healthier. It is best left for serving. As we did in our photos, you can always add a handful of shredded cheese and sour cream to your bowl.
Makes 4 servings
You Will Need
2 tablespoons butter or oil 1 medium onion, finely chopped 6 medium garlic cloves, minced, about 2 tablespoons 1 ¼ teaspoons ground cumin 1 ¼ teaspoons onion powder 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt 1/4 teaspoon cayenne or chipotle powder, optional for heat
2 cups low sodium chicken stock, see our chicken stock recipe
3 (4-ounce) cans mild chopped green chilies
1 ¼ pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breast
2 (15-ounce) cans white beans like great northern beans or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn
1 tablespoon masa harina or 1 to 2 small corn tortillas torn into small pieces, optional
1/2 small bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
1 lime, juiced, plus more to taste
Scallions, sour cream, avocado, shredded cheese for serving
Directions
1Heat the butter or oil in a large pot (like a Dutch oven). Stir in the onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
2Stir in the garlic, ground cumin, onion powder, oregano, salt, and cayenne pepper. After one minute, pour in the chicken stock and diced green chilies with their juices.
3Bring the broth to a simmer, then submerge the chicken into it. Adjust the heat so that the broth is gently simmering around the chicken. Partially cover the pot with its lid and cook until the chicken is cooked through and tender; 25 to 30 minutes.
4Transfer the chicken to a clean work surface and allow it to cool enough so that you can shred it. Use two forks to shred the chicken into smaller pieces.
5Adjust the broth to a low simmer and stir in the beans. Use a measuring cup or jug to steal about one cup of beans and broth from the pot, and then pour it into a blender. Blend into a smooth puree.
6Pour the blended beans back into the pot. Add the shredded chicken and corn, then stir everything together and allow it to reheat.
7Mix the tablespoon of masa with three tablespoons of water into a smooth paste, and then stir into the chili. If you are using corn tortillas instead of masa paste, tear the tortillas into small pieces and then stir into the chili. After a minute or so, the tortillas will disintegrate into the chili.
8Taste the chili and then adjust with salt, pepper, or cayenne pepper.
9Take the chili off the heat, and then serve with fresh lime, cilantro, and any other chili toppings you love.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Buying canned green chilies: You can buy mild and hot canned green chilies. The one you choose is up to how spicy you enjoy your food. I typically purchase mild and add spice with cayenne pepper or chipotle powder. I love to purchase the Hatch brand.
- Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values. We used 1/2 teaspoon of salt in our calculations and assumed a generous serving (about 1/4 of the pot).
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations onInstagramandFacebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste
Nutrition Per Serving Serving Size 1/4 of the pot (4 servings total) / Calories 316 Calories / Total Fat 10.2g / Saturated Fat 4.5g / Cholesterol 59mg / Sodium 710.7mg / Carbohydrate 38.9g / Dietary Fiber 9.8g / Total Sugars 7.8g / Protein 19.9g
AUTHOR: Adam and Joanne Gallagher
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