Healthy White Chicken Chili

This White Chicken Chili is an easy, hearty chili recipe with lots of flavor and a great change up from the traditional chili recipe. Gluten free and dairy-free friendly recipe.

I’ve been on a huge soup and chili kick this season!

A few months ago my sister hosted a little gathering where her and her husband had prepared white chicken chili for us. There was a huge pot on the stove waiting for us when we arrived and I could not wait to dive in.

Actually, thinking back on this gathering… that was just before we found out we were pregnant. Literally days before I took a test.

Now I’ll never think about white chicken chili the same…

Easy & Healthy White Chicken Chili

Anyways, I digress.

Let’s go over the ingredients…

You may find you already have some of these items in your pantry. If not, the ingredients list isn’t too long and you should be able to find everything you need at your regular grocery store.

Ingredients needed for this recipe

• cooking oil – I typically use avocado or oil for medium heat cooking, but whatever you have on hand will work (as long as it’s not for low heat cooking).
• onion & garlic – always provide such great flavor in chili! For the onion white, sweet or yellow all work.
• canned green chiles – I go for canned because it’s easy and you can find them at just about any grocery store.
• corn – fresh, canned or frozen work.
• Great Northern Beans – If you can’t find these, any white bean will do.
• salt & ground pepper – I ended up adding a full tsp salt, but start with 1/2 tsp and adjust to your liking.
• chili spices – A hefty amount of ground cumin (one tablespoon) is a must for white chicken chili. Then I add a decent amount of ground coriander, and a hint of ancho chili powder (or regular chili powder).
• chicken broth – adds loads of flavor.
• shredded cooked chicken breast – I cooked my chicken breast in the instant pot while I got the rest of the ingredients around and started on the chili. Once cooked, shred a bit, but feel free to leave some larger pieces.
• limes – I always love adding fresh lime juice to chili recipes.
• cilantro – if you don’t love cilantro you can always omit.

How to make White Chicken Chili on the Stovetop

Step 1 – Prepare the beans

Drain and rinse the canned white beans. Add half of the beans to a medium bowl and mash until chunky. Reserve the un-mashed and mashed beans for later.

Step 2 – Start cooking the veggies

Heat large Dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot to medium-high heat. Add oil, onions, garlic, chili seasonings plus salt and pepper; sauté until soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add in green chilis and corn, chicken stock, and lime juice then bring to a simmer. Add the beans (both whole and the mashed ones) and continue to simmer for 20 minutes.

Step 3 – Add chicken and cilantro

After 20 minutes of simmering, taste test (you might find you want additional salt here). Then add in shredded rotisserie chicken and cilantro.

Step 4 – Simmer until ready

Now just simmer another 5 minutes until ready to serve!

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This chili is ready on the stovetop in just about 30 minutes! I haven’t tested this in the slow cooker quite yet, but I imagine cooking on low for 4 hours would be plenty. Especially if you add everything pre-cooked.

More cooking time equals more flavor.

And I love serving White Chicken Chili with a little dollop of sour cream or full-fat greek yogurt (if not dairy-free) and some avocado.

Oh, and tortilla chips!

How do you store White Chicken Chili?

In the fridge: Store in an airtight container in the fridge; best enjoyed within 5 days.

In the freezer: store in glass container or storage bag (I like these reusable ones) and enjoy within 3-4 months.

Make sure the chili has cooled down and come to almost room temperature before storing.

How to Reheat White Chicken Chili

Place the frozen container of chili in the fridge overnight to thaw, then simply warm up on stovetop over medium heat, stirring occasionally until warmed through.

This is a great dish that can easily be made the evening of (doesn’t take too long!), prepare it on your day off and enjoy leftovers, or save some of the batch to freeze and bring to new parents who don’t always have time to cook when their newborn arrives.

If you make this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and review on the blog! I love hearing from you, and it helps others learn more about the recipe too! Xx Ashley