White Chicken Chili (Stovetop)

At a glance

What stands out: White chicken chili, gently seasoned and loaded with chicken, corn, beans, and tomatoes, is one of our most requested recipes. This stovetop chili recipe is straightforward to mix and feeds a crowd.

How long it takes: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: large pan
Servings: 8

Impossible to Mess Up

White chicken chili is the gold standard for game day food, mostly because it’s nearly impossible to mess up. This chili is one of our most-requested recipe for a reason: it’s flavorful, creamy, and doesn’t require you to be a martyr in the kitchen.

Topped with Monterey Jack cheese and your favorite toppings, this white chicken chili recipe is pretty hard to resist.

What makes it special:

• Lots to like about this recipe. White chicken chili is a crowd pleaser. It’s straightforward to mix, always turns out, and it’s a one pan meal for straightforward cleanup. You can make it spicy, or not spicy at all.
• Uses cooked chicken breasts (or not). To make this recipe straightforward, we like to use already cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts. However, if you don’t happen to have cooked chicken in the house, we've also included instructions for cooking the chicken right in the chili.
• Flexible with timing. Whether you have twenty minutes or two hours to simmer, this chili is incredibly forgiving and tastes great regardless of the clock.

Daisy Said:

“Rich! We made this for our family and they loved it… Our boys liked it so much, they ate the rest for lunch the next day!”

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What goes in

Scroll down for the complete recipe, including measurements! This is just an overview, with some helpful tips and substitution ideas.

• Boneless skinless chicken: Either breasts or thighs are fine, or a combination. If you don’t happen to have cooked chicken, you can also cook the chicken in the pan. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the pan to cool slightly before you shred or cube it, and add it back to the soup.
• Canned Great Northern beans and black beans: The black beans are something we've added over the years because we love lots of beans. Leave these out for a more traditional looking white chicken chili.
• Salsa and canned diced tomatoes: Choose your favorite jarred salsa, mild, medium, or hot. We usually use no-salt added canned tomatoes.
• Corn: Canned or frozen is fine.
• Onion: Any type of onion will do. We usually use a yellow cooking onion for recipes like this.
• Ground cumin, Mexican oregano, salt and pepper: The white chili is seasoned with pantry seasonings to keep things straightforward.
• Monterey Jack cheese: For best melting, shred your own. Pepper Jack cheese can be substituted if you like spicier chili.
• Toppings! Try sliced avocado, fresh cilantro, crispy tortilla strips, crumbled tortilla chips, sour cream, whatever you like.

How it comes together

Cook the onions. Grab a large pot and sauté the chopped onions in olive oil until tender.

Toast the spices. Once the onions are soft and translucent, add your spices and salsa. Stir them around a bit to let them toast. This draws out and intensifies the flavors!

Add remaining ingredients. After a minute or two, add all the beans, corn, diced tomatoes, chicken, and chicken broth. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Once it’s boiling, reduce to a simmer and simmer for 30 minutes or 2 hours. This recipe is seriously so forgiving.

Serve. Right before you’re ready to serve the chili, you have a choice. You can either melt in the cheese, or save it and sprinkle it on the top. Either way is great!

How To Thicken White Chicken Chili

The consistency of this white chili recipe is more like a chunky soup. If you want to thicken it for more stew-like consistency, there are a few ways to do it:

• Mash some of the beans. Before adding all of the beans to the chili, reserve a cup or two. Mash the reserved beans with a fork before adding them to the chili. They’ll give the chili a creamier consistency without adding any dairy.
• Add a thickener. Masa harina or cornmeal can be added to the broth, 1 tablespoon at a time. Add it slowly, stirring constantly to make sure it doesn’t turn into lumps.
• Make a cornstarch slurry. Use a quarter cup of extra broth or water and 1 to 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Stir the broth and cornstarch together until blended; slowly stir into the chili.
• Add cheese. Stir in 4 ounces of softened cream cheese or 2 cups of shredded Monterey Jack cheese (or both!).
• Increase cooking time. Simmer the chili longer with the cover off to reduce the liquid.

Ways to change it

There are many ways to customize this white chili. This recipe is flexible. Use dark meat, if you prefer. Deli chicken or leftover turkey work fine. Add more seasoning, or less. Add garlic, if you like, or a can of green chiles. Use whatever kind of beans you prefer, or happen to have in the house. Mix in cheese for a creamy chili, or sprinkle it on each serving. Go crazy with toppings.

You get the idea! White chicken chili is hard to mess up. It turns out great every time. There are other ways to cook the chili, too. Try:

• Instant Pot White Chicken Chili
• Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili
• Straightforward Chicken Chili Recipe— a shortcut with only FIVE ingredients!

Chili Buffet

For larger get-togethers, we like to make two kinds of chili, red (beef chili) and white, simmering in slow cookers. We add an array of toppings and have a serve-yourself chili buffet. We usually accompany the chili with from-scratch corn bread, veggies and dill vegetable dip, and a couple kinds of cookies for a straightforward party menu. Queso dip and sausage dip are always a hit, too, as well as 7 layer dip with tortilla chips. Refried bean dip and Mexican street corn dip are crowd favorites, too.

Storing & Reheating Leftovers

Refrigerate/Freeze: You can enjoy leftover chicken chili for lunch tomorrow, or another dinner. Store leftovers in a covered containers in the fridge for 3 to 4 days, or in the freezer for a month. For best results, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.

Reheat: Microwave individual portions in a microwave safe container until heated through. For larger amounts, heat leftover chili in a saucepan on the stove over medium heat.

Make-Ahead Ideas

Make a double batch and freeze half for another day. Thaw in the fridge overnight. Heat it slowly on the stove or microwave, or put it in your crockpot for a couple of hours until it’s heated through.

Free Meal Plan

Interested in a weekly meal plan that includes this recipe? Take a look at Meal Plan #89. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. We add a new meal plan weekly.

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• Yield: 8
• Prep: 5 minutes
• Cook: 1 hour 15 minutes
• Total: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt, more if needed
• ½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper, more if needed
• 1 cup salsa (see note)
• 1 ½ teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 jar (48 ounces) great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (15.25 ounces) corn kernels, drained (frozen corn is fine, too)
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained (look for no-salt-added tomatoes)
• 4 chicken breasts, poached (or baked), cubed or shredded (see note)
• 4 cans (15 ounces each) reduced sodium chicken broth (or 5 cups of homemade broth)
• 2 cups ( 8 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• optional toppings: tortilla strips or chips, fresh cilantro, sour cream, sliced avocado, or any of your favorite toppings

Method

1. Heat oil in large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sauté onion, seasoned with salt and pepper, in oil until tender. Add salsa, oregano, cumin, and cayenne pepper.
2. Add great Northern beans, black beans, corn, diced tomatoes, chicken, and chicken broth. Mix thoroughly, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for one hour (see note).
3. Right before serving, over very low heat, slowly add cheese and stir until melted, or, if you prefer, sprinkle the cheese on top of each serving. Taste the chili and adjust the seasoning, if necessary.

Notes

Salsa: Salsa that’s sold in a can or jar works better than fresh salsa, such as pico de gallo. Choose mild, medium, or hot, whichever you prefer.

Using raw chicken: If you prefer, substitute raw boneless skinless chicken breasts (or boneless skinless thighs). Add the uncooked chicken with the broth, tomatoes, etc. Simmer the chili for at least a half hour or until the chicken is done. Remove the chicken from the chili, and shred the meat, using 2 forks. Put the shredded chicken back into the chili and continue to simmer until you’re ready to serve the chicken.

Adjust the consistency of your chili: You can use more or less broth. If you want to thicken it further, slowly stir in a couple tablespoons of masa harina or fine cornmeal. Another way to thicken the chili is to reserve a couple cups of the beans and mash them before adding them to the chili. For a creamier chili, slowly stir in 4 ounces of softened cream cheese over low heat.

Simmer time: The chili can be simmered for less time or longer. Shoot for an hour, but it won’t be ruined if you don’t have an hour. If you simmer the chili much longer, we would recommend adding the corn later so that it doesn’t get tough.

Storage: Leftover chili can be refrigerated for up to 4 days in a covered container. It freezes well, too. For best results, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.