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?
I LOVE this recipe! It is definitely my go-to. Everyone in the family loves it – even my 1 year old! It’s quick, easy, and sooo delicious! You can add whatever you want to it. I add avocado and cheese and my husband adds cilantro, hot sauce (because nothing is ever hot enough), cheese, and avocado. We dip tortilla chips in it. This is also a great meal for a family who just had a baby! We’ve used it many times. Thank you Natasha for the wonderful recipe. We always enjoy your creations.
That is the best when kids love what we moms make. Isn’t it amazing how versatile this recipe is! I’m so glad your family loves this recipe.
I dont have an instapot, is there a different way I can make it? Like stock pot or crockpot?
Hi Lala, yes, we have a slow cooker chicken chili of this chili which is excellent.
I was looking for something fast and easy to make for our family of four adults. Typically, I would not make something like this because I like to cook with fresh ingredients (rather than canned). Everyone loved this and gave the unanimous vote to put on the repeat menu. Soooo easy. The only prep is dicing the onion. I also minced a large clove of garlic and used chipotle pepper instead of regular chili pepper (full tsp). Just awesome! Thanks for sharing
You’re welcome, Janine! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Don’t you love it when easy recipes are also so flavorful!
Hello Janine, I am so happy to read your comments and review. Sounds like they found their favorite recipe! Thanks for sharing that with us and I hope you love the other recipes that you try too.
What if chicken is already cooked and shredded? Would you change cooking time?
Hi Jamie, 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.I hope that helps.
Can I double this in the instant pot?
Hi Alice, 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.
I want to use chicken tenders to make the white chicken chili. Could you give me an idea about the weight of the chicken or how many tenders?
Hi Ernie, I would use the same amount as chicken breasts. One large chicken breast usually weighs about a pound so about 2lbs of tenders. I hope that helps.
Thanks for the help. Used 2 lbs of tenders and it came out perfect. Added diced roasted red peppers just because I had them. Quick and delicious! It will be a regular and so will your recipes.
Awesome! Great that it was a success and that it will be a regular for you. Thanks for your great feedback!
This was so good!!! I used my Instant Pot for the first time last night with this recipe – my chicken breasts were half frozen, so I put it up to 25 mins, and it was perfect. The breasts were super tender and easy to shred. I used low fat cream cheese and had to stir more vigorously for it to melt well, but it worked just fine. This is going to be in my rotation!
I’m so glad you enjoyed that! Thank you for that wonderful review, Jessica.
Hi Natasha I live in the UK and don’t have access to Ranch Dressing Mix what could I use as a substitute? Thanks
Hi Julie, we prefer the packet but one of our readers reported great results using ranch from the bottle. I hope this helps.
This was so delicious! I added 3 bell peppers (completely by accident, I confused it with another recipe and it was already too late, but I’m glad I did) I also like to add spinach to recipes like this to up the veggies, and all 4 of my kids devoured it!!
Thank you for the great recipe. Can’t wait to try more!!
Thanks for sharing that with us and I’m glad that you liked it even if you accidentally added more bell peppers.
I made this for my family and it was absolutely delicious. Even my picky eaters loved it! I now want to make it for a larger group. I will have to double the recipe, so I can use 2 instant pots. The tricky part is that I would have to transport the pots, since the event is not in my home. Would I just make the chili in the morning and leave it in the pot until the lunch? I see people transport slow cookers, but have never seen anyone take their pressure cooker to a party. Would love any ideas. I’m feeding a group of high school girls. Thank you!
Hi Marilu, I haven’t transported with an instant pot but I think it could work fine. Here’s what I would do – if you are planning to cook it at home, I would make it and release pressure at home and keep it covered with the lid. Once you arrive at your event, you can set the instant pot to slow cook on low heat to keep it hot until ready to serve, then remove any residual pressure before removing the lids and serving. Let me know how it goes.
Thank you so much for your reply. I just found out I am feeding 35 girls! Yikes, I’m not used to cooking for such a large crowd. Do you think this recipe will still work? Any suggestions on how you would feed such a big group? I’m already making pasta for them at dinner. The chicken chili would be for lunch. Thanks again. And, I love your site!
Hi Marilu, I think it could still work fine. I had a co-worker bring this into work one day served with baked potatoes which helped to bulk up the meal.
Thanks again for your quick response. I’m making it on Saturday for the girls. Will keep you posted. I decided to make 4 batches. One girl can’t eat dairy, so one of the pots I’ll make without the cream cheese or using the dairy free cream cheese. Will let you know how that goes. Fingers crossed:)
I would love an update, please. Thank you so much and I hope it will turn out great!
My family loves this recipe! I make it all the time. I use a variety of beans and it’s always great. I have also used a can of tomatoes plus a fresh chopped jalapeno when I didn’t have Rotel and that was great, too. I have used frozen chicken breasts and cooked the regular 20 minutes on high pressure, then let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes and they shredded perfectly.
Thank you for sharing that awesome tips with us Elizabeth! I’m glad you’re enjoying our recipes.
How would one modify the recipe if no chicken added? We are trying to cut out meat from our recipes so I need to modify the recipes. Thanks.
Hi Liliya, I have not tested this without chicken but here is what one of our vegetarian friends wrote: “I just made this for the first time. My daughter just decided she is a vegetarian, so I used veggie stock. I doubled the recipe and used some Hatch green chilies since we live in Arizona and have some on hand. I plan to add some cooked chicken to my son’s, but the taste is amazing!! Thank you for a quick, easily adaptable recipe. Delicious!!!” I hope that helps.
Just made this for lunch; they loved it and it was super easy and quick. Thanks!
Great to hear that, Kelly. Thank you for sharing!
This is one of my family”s favorite recipes that I have ever cooked! And it was so easy. The only thing I would do differently next time, is use way less cream cheese. Probably cut it in half. But we are going on a large family gathering in the mountains next week and I had been asked to make this.
This sounds like the perfect treat in the mountains!! That’s so great!
This looks delicious & I can’t wait to try it tomorrow. I appreciate you putting the nutrition facts. However, would you be able to specifically tell me how big a serving size is? I know it says 8 servings at 308 calories per serving, but I don’t think I’m able to measure the entire batch of chili after cooking to divide it out. Would you happen to know how many cups/oz one serving size is? Thanks!
Hi Desiree, thank you for that suggestion. We are slowly working through all of our recipes to add nutrition info but it is a time-consuming process as they have to be added one at a time. Thank you for being patient! Typically recipes like chili have a serving size of 1 cup.
Yum! I made this with low fat Neufchatel cheese because my family is on a diet, and it was still very yummy. Turned out a little watery/liquidy, but maybe it’s supposed to look that way. I also added more chili powder (it needed it!). A big hit for my husband who’s doing low carb 🙂 I was going to add a picture but couldn’t figure out how to upload an image.
Thanks for your wonderful review Lisa. I don’t think it’s possible to add photo in the comments here but you can join our Facebook group so you can share photos of your cooking.
Hi! Excited to try this recipe thank you for posting! Was wondering if my chicken breasts were frozen what the cook time should change too? Also do you know if anyone has tried subbing Greek yogurt for cream cheese? Trying to be healthy 😐 appreciate any feedback! Thank you!!
Hi Jess, I have had several people write in with great results using frozen but with frozen chicken breast, I would increase the cooking time from 20 to 25 minutes on high pressure. I don’t recall anyone using Greek yogurt – I’m not sure if that would blend into the mixture or be grainy looking though.
What if you make it in a slow cooker crockpot. What would the difference be..?
Hi Erika. 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.
Can’t find it! Please let me know where to look! It looks delicious but I don’t have an Insta pot!
We have that HERE for you. So sorry I forgot to link that.
I am a divorced dad and I was hopeless in the kitchen until I came across your website. Mine turned out fantastic!
I couldn’t find any ranch dressing packets in the supermarket, so I used a bottle of black pepper ranch dressing to make the 16 ounce required. My pressure cooker came with a trivet tray, so I didn’t have to worry about the chicken scorching.
Thanks for teaching me new skills.
That’s so great! Thank you for that wonderful feedback Andrew!
This recipe was a HUGE hit at my Super Bowl 2020 party!! Everyone was coming in for seconds!!
That’s so awesome Shannon! Thank you for that wonderful review!
My sister has made this for me before and I loved it. However, I don’t have an instant pot, only a crockpot. Can I still use this recipe? How would I modify the timings and settings to do that? Thanks!
Hi Haley, 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.