Chicken Chili is the ultimate cozy comfort food and a recipe you’ll have on repeat in Fall. Tender shredded chicken simmered in a creamy and hearty base is so inviting, especially topped with cheese that melts into the hot chili. It also reheats well so it’s a great make-ahead recipe for meal prep.
We love Chicken chili and we’ve made every variation from Crockpot Chicken Chili to Instant Pot Chicken Chili which produces the most tender chicken. Whichever is your favorite cooking method, this recipe is a crowd-pleaser.
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Chicken Chili Video Tutorial
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Ingredients for Chicken Chili
- Chicken – we use 2 large chicken breasts, but you can sub with leftover roast chicken or storebought rotisserie
- Onion – yellow or sweet onion work great
- Chicken broth – use any kind of chicken stock or bone broth or make your own with water and bouillon
- White beans – try any kind of white beans such as cannelloni, Great Northern, or Navy beans (avoid garbanzo beans). Canned is so easy, but you can also use home-cooked beans
- Corn – drained can of whole kernel corn
- Rotel tomatoes – use a 10 oz can with the juice
- Spices – chili powder and cumin make this mildly smoky and spicy.
- Ranch mix – this is the secret ingredient to add a ton of flavor. Ranch dip or dressing mix packets range from 0.4 oz to 1.5 oz, depending on the brand, but it should be enough powder to make 2 cups of ranch.
- Cream cheese – regular full-fat will give the chili a creamy consistency
- Lime juice – squeezing fresh lime adds a zesty twist
Pro Tip: To save time, use leftover cooked chicken breast or use a store-bought rotisserie chicken. Chili is the best way to repurpose leftover chicken and it never tastes like leftovers.
How to Make Chicken Chili
- Saute onion – heat oil in a dutch oven pot and sautee onion 5 minutes.
- Make chili base – add broth, rinsed beans, drained corn, Rotel tomatoes with their juice, chili powder, cumin, salt and the ranch packet.
- Add chicken – submerge chicken breasts in liquid, bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer 20-25 minutes until chicken is tender.
- Shred chicken – transfer chicken to a plate and shred with forks into bite-sized pieces.
- Finish chili – add cream cheese pieces, and lime juice and simmer 5 minutes. Add chicken back to the pot, bring to a simmer and season to taste.
Common Questions
You can easily substitute with a cooked rotisserie chicken, just shred the chicken and add it to the pot when you would normally add the shredded chicken back into the chili. Chicken tenders would also work well.
If you prefer a thicker chili, you can leave the lid uncovered during the 20 minute cook time to allow more of the steam to escape.
This chili is very mild. To make it spicier, you can add more chili powder.
You can slow cook chili, letting it putter away in a crockpot for several hours. We have print-friendly instructions for Slow Cooker Chicken Chili.
Lucky for you, we’ve already tested this and posted a tutorial for Instant Pot Chicken Chili. It’s super fast and the chicken becomes super tender.
Serve with
We love to serve this as a main course paired with:
- Instant Pot Baked Potato or Air Fryer Baked Potato
- Tortilla chips
- Diced avocados
- Fresh chopped cilantro
- Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
- Lime wedges to squeeze over chili
There are so many ways to dress up a bowl of White Chicken Chili. Let me know about your favorite toppings in the comments below.
More Easy Dinner Ideas
If you’re looking for simple, family-approved recipes to add to your regular rotation, here are some of our top-rated dinner ideas.
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Easy Stovetop Turkey Chili
- Sloppy Joe Recipe
- Lemon Chicken
- Meatloaf with the Best Glaze
Easy White Chicken Chili (Stovetop Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 2 cups chicken broth , or stock
- 30 oz canned white beans, drained and rinsed
- 15 oz can corn, drained
- 10 oz can Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilis, with juice
- 1 tsp chili powder, (use 1/2 for mild chili)
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1.5 oz packet ranch dip mix, *
- 2 chicken breasts
- 8 oz cream cheese, cut into cubes
- 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
Instructions
- Heat a 6 quart enamel coated dutch oven pot over medium heat and add 1 Tbsp olive oil. Add onion and sauté 5 minutes until softened.
- Add chicken broth, drained white beans, drained corn, Rotel tomatoes with juice. Season with chili powder, cumin, 1 tsp salt and ranch packet. Stir to combine.
- Add 2 chicken breasts and submerge in liquid. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer partially covered for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is tender and easy to shred.
- Remove chicken to a bowl and shred with forks into bite-sized pieces.
- Add diced cream cheese, lime juice and stir to combine. Continue simmering for 5 minutes or until cream cheese is incorporated. Add more lime juice to taste, and season with another 1/2 tsp salt or add salt to taste. Simmer another 3 minutes or until chili reaches your desired thickness. It will thicken more as it cools.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
Another one of our family favorites. A hit every time. Love it.
I can always count on your recipes to be amazing, Natasha! And, I love your cookbook too! It’s always the first one I reach for when I’m looking for something to make.
Aww, thank you so much!
This was my first time making this recipe. It’s super easy and has a delicious flavor! I’ll be making it again.
My go-to dinner for a meal that can be on stand by. I also like using jalapeño cream cheese for a little extra spice. Even better the next day…if it lasts that long.
Janet
I’ve been making this for the past 3 years. It’s a winner and friends always ask for seconds. It’s the best!
That’s wonderful to hear, Karen!
Fabulous. I’ve been searching for a great white chicken chili. This is it and will be a standard for me!
That’s so great to hear, Peggy!
Love it! Super tasty. The cream cheese was chunky and wouldn’t melt. I’m Wondering how to get it fully melted and incorporated into the soup?
Hi Zhanna, I haven’t had that experience, but maybe chopping the block into slightly smaller pieces will help it?
Hi! I have made this chili many times and it’s phenomenal. I was wondering if you can tell me what a serving is for this particular recipe. I know it feeds 6 people but needed to know if the serving size is a cup, two? I would appreciate this information. Thank you for the job you do!
Hi Cynthia! I believe it’s about 1.5-2 cup per serving.
I’m glad that you always make this recipe! I did not measure the per serving size though, sorry about that. But this recipe serves 6 people so each serving would be roughly 1 to 1.5 cups of chili, depending on how much you ladle into each bowl.
1st place in the chili cook off!! Everyone loved this recipe and it’s a staple in our house during the winter. Thank you Natasha!!!
Hi Kitty! That’s amazing. Congratulations! Thank you for the feedback.
Absolutely love this recipe. Only change to it is that I roast the chicken before or use shredded chicken from the store.
Hi Dave! I’m so glad you’re loving it!
Hi! Would this freeze well? Seeing if I can meal prep it for later use 😊
Hi Alina, this chili reheats well so it is make ahead friendly. I personally have not tried freezing it to advise, but one of my readers mentioned they like to freeze it.
It freezes well. We make it and freeze it to carry on RV trips.
Looks delicious!
Do you have an idea what can I use instead of the ranch packets?
We have no such thing in Europe, don’t even know what taste profile I’m supposed to look for 😀
Hi Eve! You can look up a recipe online for making homemade ranch seasoning. It contains herbs/spices like chives, dill, parsley, onion powder, garlic powder, etc.
I hope you love the recipe!
Fantastic recipe! Making this for the second time! Perfect for such a cold, winter night and to watch the Notre Dame game tonight. Thank you, Natasha, for sharing this!
Fantastic recipe!! I have made it several times in the last couple of years and everyone loves it. I made it this weekend and shared with my neighbor and she said it was the best chili she ever had…:)
Super delicious and really easy. How large is a serving please.
Hi Tracy! I’m so glad you loved it. We were able to serve 6 bowls with this recipe. Sorry, I don’t have the exact amount of each serving.
Maybe I can help here! I love this recipe so much I finally did the measurements for my meal plan. It was roughly 11.5 oz per serving (or just under 1.5 cups)
This is an amazing recipe. The creaminess of the cream cheese and the lime, gives this recipe an excellent taste flair. It’s warm comforting , tasty, and has become one of my favorite soup recipes.
So glad you love the recipe, Terri!
This recipe was so easy and deeeeeelish! I shared with my co-workers so I made another pot (doubled the recipe second time) 2 days later! I added an extra can of diced green chiles for an extra kick and an extra can of diced tomatoes.
That’s great to hear, Pamela! Thanks for sharing.