WOAH! This White Chicken Chili is done in less than an hour start to finish in the Instant Pot with melt-in your mouth tender chicken. It’s one of our favorite instant pot recipes! Just stir everything together, top with cream cheese and set for 20 minutes. So EASY!!
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Instant Pot White Chicken Chili!
We love chili around here including this hearty beef chili and easy turkey chili. It’s wonderful to have quick homemade meals like this in your pocket for busy weeknights. The instant pot makes it faster than ever to enjoy a piping hot bowl of white bean chicken chili in no time!
Ingredients for White Chicken Chili:
We have made this recipe healthier over the years by using organic produce and non-bpa lined cans. You can absolutely use home-cooked beans, or your own bone broth and freshly boiled corn on the cob (if using fresh corn from the cob, use 1 cup of chicken broth instead of 1/2 to compensate for the lost liquid).
*What Size Ranch Dressing Mix Should I Use?
Various ranch mix brands come in different sizes. It should be enough to make 16 oz of dressing or dip per the package instructions.
- Hidden Valley brand ranch packets come in a more concentrated 0.4 oz packet yielding 2 cups ranch.
- Simply Organic ranch dip used here came in a 1.5 oz packet which also yields 2 cups ranch dip.
How to Use an Instant Pot:
**CAUTION: If you are new to using the pressure cooker, always read the instruction manual and safety warnings for your machine as various brands or even models might have a different process and settings for use.
Pour yourself a cup of coffee and call on your inner nerd to read through the instructions. Instant pots are fabulous tools for speedy cooking, but they have to be used properly.
How to Make White Chicken Chili:
Step 1: Combine everything in your Instant Pot and stir together
Step 2: Top with cream cheese and set on manual high pressure for 20 minutes. It will warm up, cook 20 minutes then let it naturally depressurize 10 minutes.
Step 3: Remove chicken and shred then put it back and stir everything together.
The shredded chicken absorbs the liquid and because super juicy and melt-in-your-mouth tender. Instant pot chicken is the only way to get super tender chicken this fast!
How to Serve White Chicken Chili:
White chicken chili can be served over baked potatoes or as an appetizer with tortilla chips. Garnish with:
- Avocado
- Cilantro
- Shredded Cheese
- Sour Cream
- Jalapeños
Instant Pot Recipes You’ll Make Over and Over:
- Chicken Bone Broth – the best way to make bone broth!
- Instant Pot Beef Plov – a flavorful one-pot rice pilaf
- Dulce De Leche – unbelievably fast in the Instant Pot
- Instant Pot Beets – blazing fast and so flavorful
Instant Pot White Chicken Chili Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients for White Chicken Chili:
- 2 large chicken breasts
- 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 15 oz can white beans, drained
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 15 oz can corn with juice
- 10 oz can Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilis , (with their juice)
- 1/2 cup chicken broth or stock
- 1 tsp chili powder, or to taste
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 0.4 oz packet ranch dip or dressing mix*
- 8 oz package cream cheese, cut into 6 pieces
Optional Toppings and Serving Suggestions:
- 1/2 cup chopped Cilantro, for garnish
- 1 avocado, diced, for garnish
- Tortilla chips or baked potatoes to serve
Instructions
- Place all of your ingredients into your instant pot bowl in the following order: 2 chicken breasts, drained black and white beans, chopped onion, corn with juice, tomatoes with juice, and 1/2 cup chicken broth.
- Add 1/2 to 1 tsp chili powder (use 1/2 tsp to make it kid friendly), 1 tsp cumin, ranch packet. Stir everything to combine, getting some of the juice under the chicken to keep it from scorching.
- Cut cream cheese into 6 pieces and place over the top of chili. Cover and seal with lid, switch the valve to the "sealing" position and cook for 20 min on manual high pressure. Once it is done cooking, let it naturally depressurize for 10 min then switch the valve to the "venting" position to completely release steam before opening lid.**
- Remove the chicken breasts to a plate and shred apart with 2 forks. Stir everything together in the pot to melt the cream cheese into the chili then return the shredded chicken and stir to combine. Serve garnished with avocado and cilantro if desired.
Notes
**CAUTION: If you are new to using a pressure cooker, always read your instruction manual prior to use.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Q: What is YOUR favorite way to use an Instant Pot? If you were to name 1 recipe that makes owning an instant pot worthwhile, what would it be?
So easy, so good. A keeper for sure.
Served over a bed of spaghetti squash.
Even my toddler liked it.
Thanks for the nice feedback KC. Thank you for dropping by and leaving a great review!
LOVE this recipe. It is easy, different and delicious!
Thanks for the great feedback Mary. Glad you loved this recipe!
I need to double or triple the recipe…do I need to add more time?and how much for 6 chicken breasts?
Hi Crystal, I haven’t tried doubling in a 6 qt. A reader reported doubling in an 8qt, but no one in a 6qt. You could also make the slow cooker version of this and easily double it. Here is the video tutorial for the slow cooker version. It would need a longer cooking time so cook until the chicken is easily shredded with a fork.
WOW!! This dish was AMAZING! The recipe was on point. The flavor was perfection! I couldn’t stop going back for more! Love how easy it was to make and full of flavor! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Violetta! Sounds like you found a new favorite!
Very good!
Made this for my son’s birthday, everyone raved about it!
I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you for sharing that with me & happy birthday to your son!
Could this also be done is a slow cooker instead of instapot? Could someone tell me how that would effect cook times and any or the ingredients? Thank you!!!
Hi Meghan, I have good news. We have a recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Chili. It’s essentially the same recipe just modified to the slow cooker.
This recipe has become a staple in our house! So delicious and simple. Thank you!
Thank you Michela. Glad to know that this has become your go-to-recipe in the house!
Going to make this tonight. I noticed others used already-cooked and shredded chicken. My question is – does that change the cooking time if you use already cooked, shredded chicken? I didn’t see anything about that in the other reviews. Thanks!
Hi Julie, one of my readers, LaTasha reported using chicken meat from a fully cooked rotisserie chicken – it seems she added it with everything else as usual with great results & without any other changes.
Thank you, Natasha! I did see that comment but I wasn’t sure it would need to cook 20 minutes. Anyway, this recipe is in the Instant Pot right now, and I did end up using 2 uncooked chicken breasts! Can’t wait to try this!
I hope you love it!
So delicious! My 5 year old, who is the pickiest eater ever, took one bite and said it was “the best food he’s ever eaten and…can I have it for breakfast too, mom?” Excellent recipe! The whole family loves it!
I’m so glad that your 5-year-old loved this recipe too! Thanks for the great feedback, Tatyana.
Natasha, thank you so much for your YouTube channel, your blog, your emails, and all of your wonderful recipes. My husband found your channel on YouTube and you are so fun to watch. Not only that, I’m so happy to have a great blogger/YouTuber to watch to get good meals for my family on the table!
I made this recipe yesterday and it was delicious! I would make a few tweaks for our family’s tastes next time. I did use 2 chicken breasts, but it turned out to be a *lot* of chicken. I was wondering if you could put the amount of chicken you use in ounces? Chicken breasts can vary so much in size. I got the $1.99/lb ones from Walmart and I guess they are pretty big.
Next time, I also think I will not double the chicken b/c it was a lot (at least if I use the same kind I did this time), but double everything else. Hubby wanted more veggies 🙂
This recipe is a keeper!! Thanks so much! Going in my family recipe book!!! Keep up the great work! <3
I forgot to mention that I served with sour cream, cilantro, sliced yellow onion, avocado, and these great tortilla chips from Late July brand in jalepeno flavor! yum!
Hi Catherine, chicken breasts can definitely vary by size. Some are huge and some are small. I’m glad you loved the recipe!
Thanks Natasha! Do you have any idea how many ounces the chicken breasts you use for this recipe are?
If you ever update the recipe, it might be nice to know the ounces:)
Thank you for that suggestion, Catherine. I wish I had measured it that way.
Very yummy and easy! When it was done, I decided to use an immersion blender to lightly blend up some of the tomatoes and there were a couple of very small pieces of cream cheese that hadn’t melted all the way. I thought that worked really well. I didn’t really try it before I did it but I think I may have liked it better that way.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Amazing! Made this tonight for the first time and it will definitely be going into my regular rotation! Thanks, Natasha!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
I made this tonight following the directions exactly, and I still got a burn notice. I think it needs more liquid, and the cream cheese should be added at the end–
Hi Ashley, To avoid the dreaded burn notice, you need to make sure you stir to get liquid under the chicken. If the chicken is sitting directly on the surface, it is more likely to scorch. You can also add 3/4 cup broth to 1 cup if your pot gives you problems with burning
One of my favorite recipes! I love how this turns out in both the Instant Pot and slow cooker.
It is one of our favorites also, Melissa! I hope you love this recipe.
I love that you do the nutrition facts and you do it for 1 serving. But, how much is 1 serving? I’m interested for this Chicken Chili, but also for all your other recipes. The specific amount for 1 serving is not listed. Thank you!
And, I love all your recipes!!
Hi Angie, this recipe makes 8 servings and the serving size is about 1 cup.
This recipe was incredible! I doubled everything but the chicken and onion. It just fit in my Duo and it was a big hit. It has more of a tex-mex flavor than other white chicken chilis I’ve made before which I chose intentionally for the picky group I was feeding. Chicken came out perfectly tender and easy to shred. I was very impressed for such a fast recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Samantha! Thank you for that great review!
Can I used already cooked chicken breast? I have 2 breasts left over after smoking a chicken. I have made this recipe before as written and it was great! Than you
Hi Karissa, one of my readers, LaTasha reported using chicken meat from a fully cooked rotisserie chicken – it seems she added it with everything else as usual with great results.
Can I do this in a crock pot?
Hi Ash, we have a crock pot version here for you.
Thank you so much! I made this today in my crockpot and it was amazing!
Hi Ashley, I’m so glad to hear that!
I used cream corn cause thats all i had and i got the burn symbol three times! I added 3 more cups of water. Hope it comes to pressure!
I have never recieved the burn symbol before. Had no idea what to do… scrapped the bottom, added water and tried again!
Hi Brittany, I have not had that happen before. To avoid any kind of burn, you need to make sure you stir to get liquid under the chicken. If the chicken is sitting directly on the surface, it is more likely to scorch. You can also add 3/4 cup broth to 1 cup if your pot gives you problems with burning.
Wondering what will happen with this if Icut the amount of cream cheese in half? Recipe looks great but trying to lower the fat since my household is trying to eat healthier.
Hi Traci, we always use the full amount but I think it would still work fine with 1/2 of the cream cheese. It just would be a lighter sauce in the chili.
Traci- I was thinking the same thing! I may try making this with half the cream cheese (or using low fat cream cheese).
Hi Natasha, I’m Whitney. Thank you for your Instant Pot recipes! I love them all!! I have watched some other YouTube videos about cooking a whole chicken in Instant Pot but I couldn’t find one that I really like. Would you suggest me how to cook a perfect whole chicken in Instant Pot? A ‘dry rub’ one or a ‘hot bath’ one? Thanks a lot!
Hi Whitney, I’m so excited that you asked! We just filmed an instant pot whole chicken and it takes some time to edit and process but we will share it in a couple of weeks on Friday. Shooting for posting it on January 10th.
Wow! That’s really great! I’m longing for that! Thank you so much!
Can you use regular ranch dressing rather than powder packet?
Hi Marie, we prefer the packet but one of our readers reported great results using ranch from the bottle. I hope this helps.