This is a quick and easy white chicken chili made with shredded rotisserie chicken, white beans, a jar of salsa verde, and a few other basic ingredients.
This uses heavy cream, rather than sour cream or cream cheese. Serve it with sliced green onions, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped cilantro, and chopped jalapenos if you want some extra heat.
This is perfect for an easy weeknight dinner. Or make a double batch of this amazing white chicken chili recipe the next time you need a big batch of chili for a chili cook-off.
Why You'll Love This White Chicken Chili and Why It's Good for a Group:
- It's easy to make.
- It's easy to double or triple.
- It can be made days in advance.
- It re-heats well.
This is arguably one of my favorite go-to recipes if I need a last-minute meal for a group!
Ingredients
- Shredded Rotisserie Chicken - Using a rotisserie chicken significantly reduces the total prep and cook time. Costco often has pre-shredded rotisserie chicken in a vacuumed sealed bags, which can be found near the deli area next to the pre-prepared foods, like their taco kits.
- Salsa Verde - This is the secret ingredient! If you have a Trader Joe's nearby, I highly recommend buying their salsa verde. It has a little kick and a fresh herbal profile and adds great flavor with very little effort. The Herdez brand salsa verde is my second pick, and it's available in most major grocery stores.
- Canned White Beans - Using canned white beans (instead of dry beans) also cuts down on prep time. Using part of the starchy liquid they come in adds a nice thickness to the chili that you'll lose if you rinse them.
- Chicken Better Than Bouillon - Using this in addition to chicken broth (or chicken stock) is what gives the chicken chili its needed salt.
- Garnishes - Offering garnishes such as lime wedges, cilantro, chopped jalapenos, shredded cheese, and sour cream allows guests to customize the chili to their personal preferences. This is especially nice when people have different spice tolerances.
- Heavy Cream - adding heavy cream at the end, rather than sour cream or cream cheese, gives the chili a nice creamy flavor without adding in extra tang.
- Chopped Jalapenos - The seeds and white ribs are jalapenos' main sources of spicy heat. Remove the white ribs and seeds when chopping the jalapenos if you want a less spicy flavor. Leave them in if you want extra heat.
- Fresh Cilantro—When you chop the cilantro, discard just the ends of the stems, and then chop and use as many of the remaining stems as you can. The majority of the cilantro flavor is in the stems!
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions Overview
In short, you'll add everything to the pot in stages in the following order and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes. Letting the chili simmer after you add the beans and chicken will break down the compounds in the beans that typically cause gas, and it will soften and break up the chicken a bit.
- Sautee the onions
- Add green chilies and salsa
- Add chicken broth, chicken bouillon, and white beans
- Add the chicken
- Add the cream and serve
Substitutions
To make this dairy-free, use avocado oil instead of butter and a dairy-free alternative creamer. Coconut cream is inadvisable because it will overpower the other flavors.
If you want a more tangy and creamy white chicken chili, substitute the cream for ½ cup sour cream.
Swap store-bought salsa verde for a homemade. I typically use the salsa verde recipe from Gimme Some Oven.
Advance Preparation / Storage / Reheating
Advance Preparation — All the ingredients, such as shredding the chicken and chopping the onion and garnishes, can be prepared a day or two in advance.
Likewise, you can make the whole recipe 3 days in advance if you are preparing for a potluck or party.
Storage —Keep the prepared or leftover chili in an airtight container in the fridge. Leftovers can be kept for about three days. Chili can also be frozen in smaller portions. I recommend freezing about 4 cups of chili in quart ziplock freezer bags or other freezer-safe containers. Freezing it in large quantities can cause problems when you go to reheat it.
Reheating White Chicken Chili - The chili can be warmed over medium-low heat on the stove, or in the microwave. If you have prepared the chili in advance for a party, it can also be warmed in a crockpot. While it's largly dependent on what crock-pot or slow cooker you use, I recommend setting aside at least an hour or two for the chili to wam up in a crock-pot.
Related: If you're looking for a salad that can also be prepared in advance, I recommend my Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad with Bacon and Parmesan.
Hosting Tips
If you are serving a large group, double this recipe! If I double this recipe, I actually triple the amount of garnishes I serve. That typically helps guests feel they can liberally add garnishes without using up what everyone loves.
Other garnishes you can add to provide some flavor and texture variety: tortilla chips, finely diced red onion, or any of your favorite toppings.
Cheers!
Susan
FAQ
I have not personally tested this recipe with either option. This could likely be converted to a slow cooker recipe, but the instant pot would likely turn the beans and chicken into mush.
Generally, about 3 days. However, if kept cold and in an airtight container, it could be good for 5-7 days. After 7 days, I wouldn't recommend it. And, as always, "When in doubt, throw it out."
Directly translated, it means "green salsa." Salsa verde is typically made using tomatillos, onions, jalapeños, limes, and cilantro. Often, the tomatillos are roasted before they are blended with the other ingredients. Sometimes it can also be called Tomatillo Salsa.
Drinks
White Chicken Chili pairs nicely with a fruity mocktail, such as these:
📖 Recipe
Easy White Chicken Chili
Equipment
- Large heavy bottomed pot
Ingredients
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 4 ounce can diced green chili peppers fire roasted if possible
- 1 12 ounce jar salsa verde Trader Joe's brand is possible
- 4 cups shredded rotisserie chicken from one large rotisserie chicken
- 2 15.5 ounce can white beans slightly drained but not rinsed, see notes
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon Better Than Bouillon brand if possible
- ½ cup heavy cream
Garnishes
- 2 Limes sliced into wedges
- 2 Chopped jalapenos see notes
- 2 cups Shredded chedder or montery jack cheese
- 5 Green onions thinly sliced
- 1 cup Chopped Cilantro
- 1 cup Sour Cream
Instructions
- Sautee the onions: Heat a large, heavy-bottomed pot to medium heat, and add diced onions and butter. Sautee until onions begin to become slightly translucent around the edges.
- Add green chilies and salsa: Add green chilies and salsa verde and stir gently, allowing the mixture to bubble and simmer for about 30 seconds.
- Add chicken broth, chicken bouillon, and white beans: Add the chicken broth, chicken bouillon, and white beans and stir.Increase the heat and bring the chili to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.
- Add the chicken: Add the shredded chicken and stir to combine. Partially cover the pot and let the chili simmer gently for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the cream and serve: Just before serving, stir in the cream. Serve with lime wedges, shredded cheddar or Monterey jack cheese, thinly sliced green onions, sour cream, chopped cilantro, and chopped jalapenos.
Ginny
A little bit of extra lime made this perfect for us!