Lyndsey Hands down the best white chicken chili you’ll ever have!
Soup season is here! But, even if it wasn’t soup season, there is never a bad time for this best white chicken chili recipe! I have worked over the years to perfect this white chicken chili recipe to be absolutely amazing. This recipe can simply change from mild to medium or spicy. The flavor is wonderful. It has just the right consistency, and you won’t want to stop eating it.
If you are looking for a white chicken chili recipe that will really set the bar high, well then you’ve found it! The combination of ingredients is so fresh, but so comforting the satisfying. Don’t forget to check out my list of suggested toppings to really bring this recipe together. You can use some of them, all of them or none of them. It will still be amazing!
Some links in this article may be affiliate links. This does not affect the cost to you, but may provide commission for items purchased.
- Moments From a Tired Mom | Weird Things About Parenting
- Meal Plan Monday 3/25/24 | Easy Menu Ideas and Recipe Share
- The Best Sweet Thai Chili Chicken with Scallion Rice
- Meal Plan Monday 3/18/24 | Easy Menu Ideas and Recipe Share
- Beautiful Succulent Table Centerpiece | A Neutral and Year Round Centerpiece Idea
Ingredients
- Chicken breast
- Onion
- Poblano pepper
- Green chilis
- Garlic
- Salsa
- Great northern beans
- Chicken broth
- Cream cheese
- Pepper jack cheese shredded
- Colby jack cheese shredded
- Heavy cream
- Sour cream
- Cumin
- Chili powder
- Oregano
- Salt & pepper (fresh ground is my favorite)
Topping Ideas for the Best White Chicken Chili
The below toppings are all suggestions, but not all required. Use them as you see fit. Most recently, the toppings I used included green onion, lime, cilantro, sour cream, pepper jack cheese, and Santa Fe tortilla strips.
- Fresh chopped onion
- Green onion
- Limes (fresh juice)
- Cilantro
- Sour cream
- Pepper jack cheese shredded
- Colby jack cheese shredded
- Tortilla strips
- Tortilla chips
- Fresh jalapeno
- Pickled jalapeno
- Crispy jalapenos
- Tomato (fresh diced)
- Corn (fire roasted corn is great!)
- Avocado
- Serrano peppers
- Cotija cheese (or Queso Fresca)
- Chipotle chili powder
- Red pepper flakes
- Fritos/corn chips
About the Best White Chicken Chili
Chicken
Your chicken should be shredded for this recipe. You can use a rotisserie chicken if you would like, but I provide instructions in the recipe below for a quick shredded chicken that plays right into the other ingredients. This quick shredded chicken is super great, not just for this soup, but for many other recipes as well. It deserves a post of it’s own. Use the chicken broth to cook the chicken after browning, and then use the same broth to add into your chili. It gives AMAZING flavor.
Poblano Pepper
Fresh poblano pepper has a smoky mild heat that you just can’t beat with other peppers. I love the flavor and the subtle heat this pepper gives off. If you wanted, you could use fresh jalapeno instead, but you won’t get the smoky sweetness along with the kick. Your heat would be higher, as poblanos have a mildness to them.
Diced Green Chilis
I use a 7oz can of diced green chilis. I use mild, although you could always opt for hot if you love spicy foods. Hatch chilis are the same, and can be used interchangeably.
Onion
I use Vidalia onion in almost all of my cooking. Feel free to change this up, I just prefer the sweetness of the Vidalia onion. I feel that these onions don’t have a tendency to overpower a dish, which I prefer they don’t. Change this up to red onion, white onion or yellow onion.
Salsa
The salsa you choose will be one of the key players in the recipe. I used chunky fresh salsa, mild. I love spicy foods, but I also love making food my children will actually eat. Keeping the heat mild, this chili still has great flavor, just without as much of a kick. You can always add your heat with your topping (if you make it mild but prefer hot).
Changing the heat of your salsa will have a big impact to the heat of your chili. Opt for hot if you want a spicier chili. Additionally, I HIGH SUGGEST using fresh salsa that you can get in the refrigerated section. Jarred pantry salsa doesn’t give the same freshness, and has too much tomato juice. It will turn your chili pink, as well (this is white chicken chili, not pink chicken chili). If you aren’t a fan of tomatoes, don’t get a chunky salsa, opt for restaurant style.
Chicken Broth
My go to for chicken broth is Better Than Bouillon. I have linked this in the ingredients section if you are interested. This is my absolute favorite, and I always have a jar on hand. Make sure to save the chicken broth after cooking your chicken.
Cream Cheese
I don’t use reduced fat anything in my cooking. I’m sure you could use reduced fat, but I’m not sure it will have the same rich and amazing flavor if you do. I wanted to add a section for the cream cheese mainly to discuss adding it into the chili. Be sure to cut it into smaller squares before adding to the pot. It will take a very long time to mix in if you just add a big chunk of cream cheese into the pot.
Spices
It’s best to add your spices into your sautéed peppers, onion and garlic. Adding the spices at this point will allow them to sauté along with the peppers and onion, which really allows the flavors to release and enhance. This will also allow the spices to incorporate well without clumping up (as they do sometimes when adding to liquids).
Check out the recipe below. Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions in the comments below!
Keep up to date with the latest posts through email updates. Just enter your email below, click “get updates” and go to your email to confirm.
Don’t forget to follow me on social media for the most current information, advice, ideas, topics, and recipes!
The Best White Chicken Chili Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Large Pot
- 1 pan with lid
Ingredients
- Olive Oil 2 large drizzles
- 2 lbs Chicken Breast cooked and shredded
- 2 cups Chicken Broth
- 1 Poblano Pepper diced
- 1 Onion diced, Vidalia preferred
- 7 oz Diced Green Chilis drained
- 4 cloves garlic pressed (you can use 3 if chopping instead)
- 2 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Chili Powder
- 1/2 tsp Oregano
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- 4 oz Cream Cheese cubed
- 1 cup Pepper Jack Cheese shredded
- 1 cup Colby Jack Cheese shredded
- 1 cup Heavy Cream
- 1/4 cup Sour Cream
- 30 oz Great Northern Beans with liquid
- 16 oz Fresh Salsa I prefer chunky (mild/medium/hot as preferred)
Instructions
Shredded Chicken
- Pat your chicken breasts dry. Season with salt and pepper on each side, generously.
- Add a large drizzle of olive oil to a pan with a lid. After heating, place the chicken breasts in the pan to brown on each side, about 3 minutes per side.
- Pour in the 2 cups of chicken broth and allow the broth to boil. Place a lid on the pan and simmer on medium-low heat for about 15-20 minutes. While cooking, start working through the remaining steps.
- After the chicken has finished cooking, remove from the pan and let it cool. Shred the chicken with forks or your hands. Reserve all the remaining broth from the pan for the chili.
Chili
- Dice your poblano pepper and onion. Peel your garlic cloves and press the cloves (or finely chop them). Take out your cream cheese and cube it. Open your cans of diced green chilis and great northern beans. Drain the liquid from the green chilis, but not the beans.
- In a large pot, heat a large drizzle of olive oil. Add in the poblano pepper, onion, and green chilis. Season with some salt and pepper to taste. Sauté on medium-high heat until the onion starts to become translucent. About 5-8 minutes.
- Add in the garlic and saute for an additional 1-2 minutes.
- Add the cumin, chili powder, oregano, and a touch more salt and pepper if needed. Sauté the spices together with the peppers and onions until everything in well incorporated. This will take another 1-2 minutes.
- Taking the chicken broth from your cooked chicken, top it off with a little water to assure there are 2 cups of broth. Pour this into the pot with the peppers, onion, and seasonings. Allow this to heat for a couple of minutes.
- Add in the cubed cream cheese and heat on medium-high while stirring the cream cheese in. If there are clumps that are not stirring in, try to break them up with your spoon until everything is pretty well incorporated. There can be some small pieces, this will all mix in as it cooks.
- Add in the pepper jack cheese and colby jack cheese. Allow this to simmer and heat until all the cheese is incorporated into the liquid.
- Pour in the heavy cream and stir to combine. Then add the sour cream, great northern beans and salsa. Stir all ingredients to combine. Allow everything to come to a boil, still over medium-high heat.
- Once the mixture has come to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, allowing the chili to simmer. Add in the shredded chicken and stir to combine.
- Allow all ingredients to cook on medium-low for at least 30 minutes. Stir this frequently, as a thicker chili like this can start to burn if not stirred.
- Serve immediately with the desired toppings. See my list of suggested topping ideas in the post above. I highly suggest at least adding some fresh lime juice.
Other Recipes You May Like
Easy Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings Recipe
Chicken Fajitas – Kid Approved
It certainly looks delicious!
It most definitely is!
This looks so yummy! Never heard of Chicken chili but makes sense! Yum!
If you haven’t heard of White Chicken Chili you should definitely give it a try!! It’s so good!
Thanks so much for sharing your awesome post with us at Full Plate Thursday, 661. Hope you are having a great week and we hope to see you again soon!
Miz Helen
Thanks so much!
Amazing, although I am not the best one to eat chili – it does not like me for some reason, but this is mouthwatering delicious looking.
I visited you via The Happy Now Blog Link- Up #399
I linked up this week with = 108+109. Hope you will join us M-S SeniorSalonPitStop and W-S #WordlessWednesday. You will find both under BLOGGING.
Regular chili and I don’t agree, but for some reason I don’t have an issue with this one. It is super good, thanks for visiting!
Sounds like a recipe my hubby would enjoy. Thanks so much for linking up at the #UnlimitedLinkParty 138. Pinned.
I hope you try it, it truly is fabulous!
I am saving this one for my New Year’s Day chili party. I usually serve a variety and this one sounds perfect for one of them.
I love that! Let me know how it goes over, it’s been a hit any time I’ve made it.
[…] The Best White Chicken Chili […]
[…] Find my white chicken chili recipe here! […]