White Chicken Chili - Easy weeknight recipe (2024)

White Chicken Chili is a quick and easy recipe you could make any weeknight in just 20 minutes. Full of Mexican flavors from cumin, coriander, and green chilies, this easy white chicken chili is a nice change from the traditional chili recipe.

Once fall season arrives and the air turns cooler in the evening, it's nice to come home and have a recipe that can be made fast and also be delicious. This delicious chili recipe is just that! Serve some with a side of Cheesy Italian Garlic Bread and offer up Peppermint Surprise Brownie Bites for dessert to complete the meal.

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Quick and Easy Recipes for busy weeknights

Every year, when school is back in session, moms are out there looking for recipes that can be ready in a flash. High School Soccer is in full swing and who wants to go home and have to cook something complicated? That is where this Easy White Chicken Chili recipe comes in real handy!

This chili recipe can easily be made ahead and just reheated. It also can just be tossed all together in a slow cooker on high right before you leave the house to go to an after school event. A couple hours later, when everyone walks in the door, dinner is ready to serve! Those hungry athletes will appreciate a delicious hot bowl of chili after a hearty workout!

How to make White Chicken Chili

This chili recipe is so versatile that you can make it in several ways to suit what you need! I have made this several times with several different variations. Below are some ways you can make this white chicken chili!

• Make the recipe ahead of time so it is ready to reheat. If you do this, you can always cook 2 pounds of chicken breast cut into small bite sized pieces with a tablespoon of oil, salt and pepper. Then proceed with the recipe. When your ready to eat, just reheat and enjoy!
• Rotisserie chicken works great in this recipe. You can also buy pre-cooked chicken in the grocery store. I like to buy the diced cooked chicken in the refrigerator section at Trader Joes!
• If you like your chili more soup like, just measure out 1 cup of the white beans and mash them, or don't mash any of the beans.
• Change the recipe up a little and use one can of black beans and 1 can of white beans. Mash the white beans to stir in the soup, or leave them all whole.
• If you like a little more heat, add 1 teaspoon chili powder or a few dashes of cayenne pepper
• Add 1 cup frozen corn to the soup for a veggie boost
• Like onion and garlic? Add a minced clove or two with the onions.
• Add 2 oz softened cream cheese for a creamy white chicken chili

Making the recipe in a slow cooker

If your like a lot of parents out there, you likely work a day job and are too tired to try and fix dinner when you get home. That is ok, because with this recipe, you can either throw it in the slow cooker before you leave the house and put it on low temperature.

I love the slow cookers out there that allow you to cook your recipe at low or high, but then go to a "keep warm"setting when its done. That way, you aren't leaving the slow cooker cooking until you get home. Many people are gone more than 8 hours in a day by the time you get home your food may be dried out or just plain overcooked.

When making this particular recipe in the slow cooker, you would just add all the ingredients at once, excluding 1 can of white beans and 1 can of chiles. You still would mash the beans and chiles together, then you can add them to the slow cooker and put it on the desired setting.

If you want a thicker White Chicken Chili

Some people think of chili as a nice thick meaty spoonful of food that does not have a loose broth. Therefore, if you are that type of person, you still may feel this is more of a soup than a chili. However, there is a solution to that!

If you would like to have a thicker White Chicken Chili recipe, you could thicken it yourself with a slurry of cornmeal! To do so, just add 2 tablespoons of cornmeal to the mashed bean and chili paste prior to adding to the chili. This will aid in making the broth thicker and more "chili"like.

What to eat with Chili

The first thing I think of for side dishes to any chili is bread. My favorite all-time recipe is Cheesy Garlic Bread. I also serve muffins made with cornbread. Two of my favorites are Maple Cornbread Muffins, sweetened with maple syrup, and Sweet Corn Muffins which have corn right in the muffin!

What toppings go well with White Chicken Chili

Your traditional Mexican style ingredients go well with this chili. Some of our favorites are:

• Sour Cream
• Avocado
• Jalapeno slices
• Shredded Cheese
• Extra Cilantro
• Lime Juice

We also like to buy the scoopable corn chips and have been known to use the chip as our spoon! The corn chip goes really well with the chili flavors!

What to do with leftover White Chicken Chili

If you happen to just have two people to feed, this recipe will likely be more than you can eat in one meal. This is our current situation! Because of this, and because Grumpy is not a huge leftover fan, I love to repurpose my meals and make something slightly different with my leftovers

White Chicken Chili is not as thick as regular chili. This will limit some of the regular things you could make with chili leftovers. However, one thing I love to do is strain the liquid off the chili and use the solids in enchiladas. You can thicken the liquid from the chili to make more of a sauce, then pour it over the enchiladas and bake!

You could make a cheesy white chicken chili dip! Just melt some velveeta cheese and stir in a cup of the chili using mostly the solids. This makes a great appetizer that you can put in your slow cooker on warm and use for tailgating. Just add corn chips for dipping!

Other Chili and Soup Recipes you may like

If you are like me, then you want a variety of different soup and chili recipes to pull from. To help you out, I will share with you some of my favorites!

Soup Recipes to try

Soups are great for lunch or dinner. My mom would make Green Bean Soup every summer during our bean harvest. This is a simple yet very delicious soup recipe! Another favorite is Hamburger Soup. So easy yet so flavorful!

Meat Filled Chili Recipes

One of my very favorite chili recipes is Italian Sausage and White Bean Chili. I will use the hot Italian Sausage in this recipe to add some extra heat! Another unique but delicious chili recipe is this Apple Ale Pumpkin Chili. This recipe is a total fall recipe with ground turkey, pumpkins, and hard cider.

Vegan Chili Recipes

While I love a good meaty chili, I also am a fan of vegetarian and vegan recipes. Two must try recipes that are for veggie lovers would be Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili with Quinoa, and Slow Cooker Lentil Sweet Potato Chili.

Other Chili Recipes on Grumpy's Honeybunch

Since I had to have a section dedicated to just chili recipes that are on my website, you will be safe in assuming the I love chili! Below is a list of all of my favorite chili recipes you will find right here on Grumpy's Honeybunch!

• Roasted Garlic Meatball Chili
• Cincinnati Style Chili
• Buffalo Style Chicken Chili
• Spicy Sweet Chili Bowl (my absolute FAV!)
• Mexican Black Bean Chili
• Venison and White Bean Chili

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