Your new favorite White Chicken Chili
This Crockpot Creamy White Chicken Chili recipe is sooooo creamy (without any heavy cream!), comforting, wonderfully hearty, and the layers of flavors are out of this world! It’s almost dump and run for the ideal easy weeknight dinner or fabulous for crowds! So even if you have never tasted White Bean Chicken Chili before, it is guaranteed to have your family and friends begging for more!
This is the easiest White Chicken Chili Crock Pot Recipe
I’ve been counting down the days to soup season – and slow cooker season – my favorite “food” season of the year – so I could finally post this White Chicken Chili Soup recipe! Not only are slow cooker recipes fantastically easy and fill every nook and cranny of your home with anticipated savory deliciousness all day, but they also taste as if you have been slaving away all day when nothing could be further from the truth! (Check out my slow cooker recipes HERE).
Soups are also one of my favs – so comfortingly delicious and they generally only require one pot, are a meal in one, boast layers of complex flavors from simmering, reheat beautifully for leftovers, and require hardly any “hands on” pep time – winning! And my absolutely favorite types of soups – slow cooker soups! If anyone ever tells me they “can’t cook” or “don’t have time to cook,” I tell them to check out my slow cooker soups!
Some of my favorite slow cooker soups are Slow Cooker SKINNY Potato Soup, Slow Cooker Thai Coconut Chicken Wild Rice Soup, Slow Cooker BEST EVER Beef Stew, Slow Cooker Bacon Ranch Chicken Chowder my Cheesy Broccoli Chicken Rice Soup — and now I’m adding this Slow Cooker Creamy White Chicken Chili to the top of the list. It’s epic.
This White Bean Chicken Chili is bursting with everything that makes White Chicken Chili delicious and then some: tender shredded chicken, creamy, hearty beans, warm fiestalicious spices, tangy bright green chilies and aromatic fresh cilantro. But to make this truly epic Crockpot White Chicken Chili – it’s creamified! Because nothing says ultimate comfort food like warm, creamilicious soup.
And because this soup is so knock your socks of delicious – you are going to want to eat bowl after bowl after bowl – which is why I’ve used a “skinny” method to make this soup rich and creamy.
White Chicken Chili Crockpot Recipe Ingredients
Despite being a “lighter” recipe, this is a white chicken chili with cream cheese — because it’s not really white chicken chili without it! Here’s what you’ll need to make this creamy chicken chili:
- Chicken breasts: I use boneless skinless chicken breasts in this recipe.
- Great northern beans: These beans are large and ultra creamy in texture!
- Chicken broth and bouillon: Use reduced sodium chicken broth so we can also use chicken bouillon, which is slightly salty and adds intense, concentrated flavor.
- Yellow onion: I used a large onion to pack in more flavor.
- Diced green chiles: You can buy mild chiles, or spicier ones to amp up the heat.
- Diced tomatoes: You want petite diced tomatoes. Be sure to drain them!
- Cream-style corn: My secret ingredient for making creamy soups without having to add cream!
- Jalapeños: Leave the seeds in for a spicier chili.
- Garlic: I used four whole cloves, because garlic adds lots of great flavor.
- Spices: I used a blend of cumin, chili powder, oregano, and smoked paprika.
- Cream cheese: I use ⅓ less fat cream cheese to keep this creamy chicken chili soup on the lighter side.
- Cornstarch: Helps thicken the soup without having to add lots of cream cheese.
- Cilantro: Fresh cilantro imparts a boost of flavor that cuts through the creamy broth.
How to Make Crockpot White Chicken Chili
- Lightly spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Add chicken in an even layer followed by all our remaining slow cooker ingredients of Great Norther Beans, low sodium chicken broth, onion, diced green chilies, diced tomatoes, cream style corn, jalapenos, garlic and our warm fiestalicious seasonings. Give the top ingredients a stir to combine. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours or until chicken is tender enough to shred.
- Remove chicken to a cutting board, shred chicken and return chicken to slow cooker. Turn Slow Cooker to High (if it had been on Low).
- Remove ½ cup broth and add it to your blender along with 1 can beans, ¼ cup cilantro, light cream cheese and 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Blend to create a smooth puree then add this back to the soup along with your chicken. Cook for another 30 minutes and your soup will emerge soooooo wonderfully creamy. Then go crazy on the toppings!
White Chicken Chili Crockpot Tips for Success
- I lighten up this Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili with my favorite method for making soups “skinny” — I use a can of cream-style corn as part of the soup base instead of heavy cream! Its natural creaminess is a life changing secret ingredient!
- We get even creamier by blending 1 can of beans, light cream cheese and 2 tablespoons cornstarch together until smooth then adding it back to the slow cooker. This trifecta is perfection at producing creamy soups.
- We cook the soup on HIGH for another 30 minutes so the cornstarch can activate and the soup can thicken even further.
And because we’ve saved a load of calories by not using heavy cream, we can afford to indulge in toppings. Lots and lots of toppings…cheese, avocado, cilantro, tomatoes, sour cream, tortilla chips etc. all your favorites in one bowl. An epically delicious bowl.
Can I prep this White Chicken Chili Crockpot Recipe ahead of time?
Yes, you can make a big batch of chili and reheat it throughout the week! If you’d like to prep the ingredients for this chili in advance, there’s no a whole lot that can be done. You can certainly chop up all the veggies and store them in the fridge, but otherwise this is a dump and cook kind of recipe.
Chicken Chili Crock Pot storage directions
Slow cooker white chicken chili can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days.
Can this White Chicken Chili Crockpot Recipe be frozen?
Because this creamy chicken chili doesn’t contain much dairy, it should be fine to freeze.
To freeze:
- Let chili cool completely.
- Divide chili into freezer-friendly plastic containers or freezer bags. Squeeze out any air.
- Label and date.
- Freeze for up to 3 months. Lay freezer bags flat to safe space.
- Let frozen chili thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
Reheating Crockpot White Bean Chicken Chili
Transfer to a soup pot, microwave-safe dish or Crockpot to reheat. To reheat in the crockpot, cook on low for 1-2 hours depending on leftover volume.
What to serve with Crockpot White Chicken Chili
We LOVE our easy Crockpot white chicken chili with my favorite ever Moist Cornbread and a big green salad. Some people also love their chili over rice or pasta for some added texture. If you wanted a full spread, chili is also wonderful with:
- Potatoes: Baked Parmesan Fingerling Potato Fries or Twice Baked Potatoes
- Comforting Sides: Million Dollar Macaroni and Cheese,
- Breads: Soft and Fluffy Dinner Rolls, Garlic Parmesan Breadsticks, Cheesy Pull Apart Pesto Bread, Bacon Ranch Pull Apart Bread
- Salad: Wedge Salad with Blue Cheese Ranch, Cucumber Salad, Spinach Salad, Broccoli Strawberry Salad
- Veggies: Roasted Asparagus, Glazed Carrots, Roasted Cauliflower, Sautéed Lemon Garlic Brussels Sprouts, Roasted Broccoli, Roasted Honey Carrots
Crockpot White Chicken Chili Toppings
Topping time is the time to customize your chili! Use all or some of your favs:
- cheese
- sour cream
- Tomatoes
- homemade salsa
- salsa verde
- Avocados
- Tortilla chips
- cilantro
- lime juice
- hot sauce
LOOKING FOR MORE MEXICAN SOUP RECIPES?
- Chicken Fajita and Rice Soup
- Cheesy Taco Soup
- Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Salsa Verde Chicken Tortilla Soup
- White Chicken Chili
- One Pot Pepper Jack Chicken Fajita and Rice Soup
- Albondigas Soup
WANT TO TRY THIS CROCKPOT CREAMY WHITE CHICKEN CHILI RECIPE?
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Ingredients
SLOW COOKER
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 14.5 oz. cans Great Northern Beans rinsed and drained*
- 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 2 4 oz. cans mild diced green chilies
- 1 15 oz. can petite diced tomatoes drained
- 1 15 oz. can cream style corn
- 1-2 jalapenos seeded and minced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 tsp EACH chili powder, ancho chili powder, salt
- 1/2 tsp EACH smoked paprika, dried oregano
BLENDER INGREDIENTS (ADD LATER)
- 1 14.5 oz. can Great Northern Beans rinsed and drained*
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 4 oz. Cream Cheese softened (I use ⅓ less fat)
- 1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro
- 1/2 cup soup “broth” (removed from slow cooker – see directions)
TOPPINGS
- cheese
- sour cream
- Tomatoes
- Avocados
- Tortilla chips
- cilantro
- lime juice
- hot sauce
Instructions
- Lightly spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Add chicken in an even layer followed by all remaining slow cooker ingredients. Give the top ingredients a stir to combine. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours or until chicken is tender enough to shred.
- Remove chicken to a cutting board, shred chicken and return chicken to slow cooker. Turn Slow Cooker to High (if it had been on Low).
- Add all Blender Ingredients to a blender including ½ cup soup from slow cooker (try to just scoop out broth). Blend until smooth. Add puree back to slow cooker and stir to combine. Cook on HIGH for 30 minutes.
- Season soup with salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste. Top individual servings with desired toppings. Enjoy!
Notes
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Stephanie says
Delish! This was so easy to toss in the slow cooker & cook itself all day. I’ve made other white chicken chili recipes that took a lot of cooking & fussing with but this had all the flavor with none of the work. Great recipe and helped me get rid of a bunch of canned goods from the pandemic stockpiling I did months ago, hahaha. Your beef barbacoa is up next to use up some frozen beef roast. As always….Thank you Jenn!
Jen says
Thank you so much Stephanie, I’m so pleased you loved this recipe and were able to put all of those cans to use ;). I hope you love the beef barbacoa just as much (gotta love the crockpot)!
Connie says
This recipe is SO DELICIOUS! My husband, mom and brother all loved it! It is creamy and so tasty. I’ve now tried a couple of your recipes and I can always count on them being out of this world delicious. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes with us, Jen!!!
Jen says
Thank you for your awesome comment Connie! I’m so pleased this white chicken chili recipe was a winner and that you’ve been enjoying my recipes!
Carly M Rowe says
Hi! I want to make this but there is one part I am confused about.
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon
Do I boil the chicken bouillon cube to make a broth and put 1 Tablespoon in or am I just putting the cube itself into the crock pot? or am I crushing the cube until I have one tablespoon of it?
Love your recipes! Thanks!
Jen says
Hi Carly, sorry for the confusion. I use granulated chicken bouillon so it’s easy to add directly. If you are using cubes, simply crush and add them. 1 cube = 1 teaspoon, so you will need 3 crushed cubes. Hope this helps!
Erin says
This soup was for dinner tonight, another great recipe but it was little too spicy for my little boys so I added sour cream and fresh avocado, they devoured it. We loved it so very much! I used canned diced jalapenos which had the seeds as well. Would the soup have more or less kick if I used fresh chopped, seeded jalapenos? Definitely a warming inside and out soup for these cold winter nights. Thanks soooooo very much for having super great recipes.
Jen says
Thanks so much Erin, I’m glad you were able to tone down the heat and make it work! Yes, can diced jalapenos are WAY hotter than a chopped seeded jalapeno. Next time, you shouldn’t have a problem if you stick with that.
Kristi J Beshears says
This was so delicious! I’ve been looking for something like this to make for my family. Blending the beans etc in the blender was genius to make the creaminess. Do you happen to have nutritional stats?
Jen says
Thanks so much Kristi, I’m so pleased you loved it! You can calculate nutrition here: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator
Shawnae says
This Slow Cooker Creamy White Chicken Chili is the bomb dot com!! Blending the cream cheese with a can of Northern Beans was a very genius way to give the Chili that creamy consistency. My whole house smelled amazing while the Chili was cooking in my Slow Cooker. I served my bowl with Sharp Cheddar, crushed tortilla chips, and hot sauce. I will be making this delicious Chili again soon. Thank you so much for sharing, Miss Jen!!!
Jen says
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment Shawnae, I’m thrilled this recipe was a huge hit! It sounds like you made the perfect bowl – yum!
Connie says
I just want to thank you for sharing your recipes. This is my third or fourth time cooking one of your recipes and I have not been disappointed. They are all delicious ❣️
Jen says
That means so much to me, thank you Connie! I hope you continue to discover many new favorites!
Andrea says
This was SO GOOD! I am such a fan of yours – you’ve become my go-to for any recipe I’m ever looking for. I should leave reviews on everything I’ve made, because it’s all been fantastic. Such as your chocolate crinkle cookies – they’re going to be on my christmas cookie menu every year now (my youngest’s absolute new favorite! And my neighbors, too!). Anyway, this crockpot creamy white chicken chili was a hit at my house. My daughter had seconds last night, and my husband already asked for more for lunch today. I even got a text at hockey practice last night that the chili was top notch. So, this will go into our rotation, as hockey practices leave me needing more crockpot recipes!
I didn’t have green chiles so I subbed in a 10oz can of diced tomatoes with mild green chilies. I also didn’t have chicken bouillon and instead used what I did have – Penzey’s chicken soup base (which, in hindsight, added a lot of sodium. Next time, I’ll have low-sodium chicken bouillon on hand!). Other than that, I pretty much kept everything the same. I weighed everything out and logged the recipe and it’s amazing how low-calorie this chili is. One very large bowl of it was approximately 250 calories. Perfect!
Thanks again! So sorry for the very lengthy review! I’m so happy to have found your blog (the first recipe I made was your beef bulgogi! We love ethnic food, so I love how diverse your recipes are!)!
Jen says
I’m so sorry for the late replay Andrea, we moved around the time of your comment and I’m still playing catchup! But I want you to know how grateful I am for your comment, kind words, for following along and for making and sharing my recipes! You made my day! xo
Monica Grinestaff says
Loved this lighter version but wanted to cook it in my instant pot. I never replaced my crock pot after I was gifted an instant pot. Here’s what I did in my Instant Pot DuoNow. I followed the recipe and then set the IP on slow cooker high setting for 4 hours. After doing the blending step, I set it on saute until thickened – about 10 minutes. Also, I like that this recipe has a perfect time (before adding blended ingredients) to take out a portion that is GF/DF for any sensitive eaters.
Jen says
Thank you so much Monica for sharing your IP instructions, I’m sure many will find them very helpful!
Lisa says
This recipe was delicious. I had to make a few minor tweaks to fit whar is available in Australia. Our chilli powder is different and you can’t get tins of mild green chillies so I adjusted how much chilli and cayenne as well as used a small amount of jarred jalapeños. My husband doesn’t like corn so left that out and doubled the cream cheese to keep that creaminess of the recipe.
The flavours were sensational. Served the chilli over rice with cheese and coriander toppings and corn chips. A big hit!
Jen says
Thank you, Lisa! I am so happy the recipe worked for you and that it was such a hit! Your tweaks sound delicious! I hope you have a wonderful weekend and find more recipes to enjoy!
Maxey says
This would be better if you sweat out the onions first in a fry pan. It has a raw onion taste that overpowers it. Secondly, I think it needs more chicken, but that is a personal preference.
Jen says
I am glad that you are finding ways to make it your own!
Kori says
If I have someone who doesn’t like cilantro, could I leave it out of the “blender ingredients” section and just have it on the side for those of us who do like it? Thank you!
Jen says
Absolutely!
Mariel says
I made this for dinner tonight. It was so delicious. My sister is dairy free, so I omitted the cream cheese and it turned out well. I will add this to my rotation. Thanks for another great one, Jen.
Jen says
I’m so glad it worked out and will be a repeat!
Paula Bolt says
I made this today and it was delicious! The addition of blending the cilantro and cream cheese with the broth is a game changer. It really adds a rich depth to the chili and sets it apart from many other chicken chili recipes I have tried. LOVE IT
Jen says
Thank you so much for the kind review! I’m so glad you loved it!
Dallas says
This recipe is so good as is! This time I added the whole block of cream cheese, a tsp of garlic powder, onion powder and paprika (I love seasonings!) And it was so delish. I shred my chicken and then cut it as small as possible since my family does not like chicken. They loved it! We topped it with shredded cheddar cheese, lime, jalepenos and avocado!
Jen says
Thank you so much! Happy to hear that it was a hit with the family!
Chris says
We love white chili but have never tried one that’s done in the slo-cooker. Look forward to making this probably after Easter. Soup is my number one favorite thing to make and I’m constantly trying new recipes. We don’t limit soup just to the colder months – I make a new one mostly every week and my husband is wonderful about trying new things. I am SO glad that I found your site!
Jen says
I’m so glad you’re here! I hope that this makes for a delicious Easter meal!