Our Favorite Creamy White Chicken Chili
As soon as the weather starts cooling down, white chicken chili goes right back into our dinner rotation.
It’s creamy and cozy without being overly heavy, with chicken, white beans, green chiles, corn, and just enough spice to give it plenty of flavor. Add avocado, cheese, cilantro, tortilla chips, and a squeeze of lime on top and it’s one of those dinners we could make over and over again all fall and winter.
We also love that you can make this easy creamy white chicken chili three different ways: on the stovetop, in the Instant Pot, or in the slow cooker. And if we’re making the stovetop version, we’ll often use precooked chicken to get dinner on the table even faster.
One little trick we’ve found makes a big difference: instead of adding the cream cheese straight to the chili, we melt it together with the half-and-half first. It creates a smooth cream sauce that mixes right in without leaving little chunks of cream cheese behind.
Recipe inspiration: This recipe was originally inspired by a white chicken chili from The Chunky Chef, but over the years we’ve tweaked it into the version our family makes now.
Easy Creamy White Chicken Chili
Ingredients
Method
- Cut each chicken breast into about three pieces and set aside.
- Add the butter and olive oil to a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook 4–5 minutes, until softened.
- Stir in the garlic powder, salt, black pepper, cumin, oregano, chili powder, and cayenne.
- Add the chicken, beans, green chiles, corn, chicken broth, and cilantro. Stir together.
- Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30–40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the chili has thickened.
- Remove the chicken, shred with two forks, and return it to the pot.
- Combine the softened cream cheese and half-and-half in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in short intervals, stirring between each, until melted and smooth (or warm in a small saucepan over low heat).
- Pour the cream sauce into the chili and stir well. Simmer a few more minutes, then serve with toppings.
- Place the chicken breasts in the bottom of a 6-quart Instant Pot.
- Add the onion, garlic powder, broth, beans, green chiles, corn, cilantro, salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, chili powder, and cayenne. Stir gently.
- Secure the lid, set the valve to sealing, and cook on Manual/High Pressure for 20 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then carefully release the rest.
- Remove the chicken and shred with two forks.
- Combine the cream cheese and half-and-half and heat in short intervals, stirring, until smooth.
- Pour the cream sauce into the pot, return the shredded chicken, and stir until creamy. Serve with toppings.
- Place the chicken breasts in the slow cooker and sprinkle with the garlic powder, salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, chili powder, and cayenne.
- Top with the onion, beans, green chiles, corn, broth, and cilantro. Stir gently.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 3–4 hours, until the chicken shreds easily.
- Remove the chicken, shred with two forks, and return it to the slow cooker.
- Combine the cream cheese and half-and-half and heat in short intervals, stirring, until smooth.
- Pour the cream sauce into the slow cooker and stir. Cover and cook on HIGH 15 more minutes, until hot and slightly thickened. Serve with toppings.
Notes
Toppings we love: shredded cheese, avocado, cilantro, tortilla strips, sour cream, jalapeños, green onions, and lime wedges.
Inspired by a white chicken chili from The Chunky Chef.
Which Method Should You Use?
The best part about having all three options is that you can make this work with whatever kind of day you’re having.
Stovetop: Our favorite for a normal weeknight, especially if we already have cooked chicken in the fridge.
Instant Pot: Great when you want to start with raw chicken but don’t want the longer simmer or slow-cooker time.
Slow cooker: Perfect when you want to get dinner started earlier in the day and have most of the work done by dinnertime.
Whichever method you choose, don’t skip making the cream cheese sauce separately. It only takes an extra minute or two and gives the chili a much smoother, creamier texture.
What to Serve With White Chicken Chili
This can easily be dinner all on its own, especially once you load it up with toppings.
If you want something on the side, try it with cornbread, tortilla chips, warm bread, or a simple green salad.
And definitely don’t forget the toppings. A little avocado, shredded cheese, cilantro, crunchy tortilla strips, and fresh lime make a really good bowl of chili even better.
This is exactly the kind of recipe we love having in our back pocket once fall hits. It’s cozy, easy to make, feeds the whole family, and can be adapted to whatever kind of cooking day we’re having.
If you make it, let us know which method you used!
X.o.
The Threads Between Sisters
Check out our favorite Chicken Noodle Soup recipe here!
Looking for more cozy meals like this one? Our easy dinner ideas for early fall has a full week of them.
If you are in a soup mood, we rounded up more of our favorites in our fall soup recipes post.
