Easy Crock Pot White Chicken Chili (2024)

🐓Ingredients

Chicken—shredded
White beans—precooked
Salsa
Pepper Jack cheese
Cumin
Optional—chicken broth to adjust the thickness

👨‍🍳How to Make White Chicken Chili

A few simple ingredients. Get your chicken any way you want. You will need about 3 cups. I have included several raw chicken options in the recipe card notes.

Cube 8 oz of pepper jack cheese.

In a small (3.5 qt minimum) crock pot, pour one 48 oz jar of great northern beans (undrained), 8 oz of salsa, about 3 cups of shredded chicken, 2 teaspoons of cumin, and 8 oz of pepper jack cheese (cubed).

Cook on low for 4 hours or 2 hours on high. Try to stir once or twice in the middle of cooking to distribute the cheese, but it can wait until the end if needed.

Add a 14 oz can of chicken broth if you want a standard thick chili. Leave it out for extra thick. Stir very well.

Ready to serve, refrigerate, or freeze.

For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.

🐓Ingredient variations

• Chicken—Shredded precooked chicken, like rotisserie chicken, is used, but raw chicken may be used with adaptions in the recipe card.
• Beans—Use precooked white beans like Great Northern or Navy beans. Black beans may be used if you wish.
• Cheese—Use Pepper Jack cheese unless you need to adjust the heat of the chili some by using Monterey Jack cheese instead.
• Salsa—use one you like to eat. Mild, medium, or hot, depending on the spiciness you want.
• Seasoning—only cumin to add more flavor, but you may want some cayenne pepper to adjust the heat more.
• Optional—Chicken broth to thin, if you want.

Tips to get it right every time

• I often bake skinless chicken breasts in a 350° oven for about 35-40 minutes. Then shred with forks while still warm. One good size breast will make about 1 ½ cups of shredded chicken. Chicken thighs will work well, also.
• This is not a recipe for uncooked beans. But other precooked beans like cannellini or white kidney beans may be used. Also, some people like some black beans added.
• Use a good quality salsa you like and would use for dipping. I like chunky salsa.
• To decrease the sodium, you can drain and rinse the beans. You will need to replace that fluid with low-sodium chicken broth.

🔥Adjusting the heat and taste

The spiciness of this chili is a 4/10. You can adjust that up and down with your choice of the spiciness of the salsa. You can also use Monterey Jack cheese instead of Pepper Jack cheese to adjust the heat. If you want even more spiciness, add a bit of cayenne pepper.

Adjusting the cumin will change the spiciness, but only a small increase or decrease in the heat. I suggest depending on the salsa and cheese as the primary adjustments.

Other taste adjustments can be made by adding onion, garlic, green chiles, or other spices. But if you need to do much of this, you have the wrong salsa.

↕️How to make this a "for two" or "family size" recipe

This is a very easy recipe to cut in half or double.

The full recipe makes about 11-12 cups for 8 servings. We do love leftovers. For both half and double recipes, we are pushing the size limit of the crock pot. The solution is to hold the broth until everything is done cooking, then add any desired broth for thinning.

1. Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings to half or double.
2. Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
3. The half recipe will fit in a 2-quart mini crock pot.
4. A double recipe fits in a 6 ½ quart or larger crock pot.
5. Cook for the same amount of time.

♨️Making Chicken Chili on the Stovetop

Cooking on the stovetop will take only about 30 minutes since everything used in this dish is safe to consume before cooking. You only need to heat everything to come together. But some simmering to help the tastes combine is a good idea.

Use a large pan like a full-size Dutch oven. Add everything, mix well, and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for about 15-20 minutes more.

It is done when it all mixes, but simmering longer to bring the tastes together is recommended. I suggest an hour.

🍽️Serving white chili

This chili stays hot for a long time due to the cheese, so it will work well for tailgating or parties.

A big bowl of white chili served with tortilla chips is all I need. But typical chili or southwest toppings and sides work well—like added cheddar cheese, sour cream, fresh cilantro, avocado, or guacamole.

I love to add some Old Fashioned Cornbread or Cornmeal Biscuits.

Storage of leftover chili

Good in the refrigerator for 3-4 days and reheat on the stovetop or microwave.

You can also freeze sealed in an airtight container or freezer bag for 3-4 months—thaw in the fridge before reheating.

❓FAQs

Food Safety

This chili is frequently used for parties of various types. Be sure the chili stays above 140°. If it falls below 140° for more than 2 hours, it should be discarded.

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Easy Crock Pot White Chicken Chili

This Easy Crock Pot White Chicken Chili recipe only needs 5 ingredients and 10 minutes of preparation to make the best chili for dinner, potlucks, or game-day parties—creamy, cheesy, and delicious.

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Servings #/Adjust if desired 8 servings

Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print. Otherwise step-by-step photos are in the post.

Your Own Private Notes

To adjust the recipe size:

You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.

Nutrition Estimate

Calories : 348 kcal (17%)Carbohydrates : 33 g (11%)Protein : 23 g (46%)Fat : 14 g (22%)Saturated Fat : 7 g (35%)Polyunsaturated Fat : 0.3 gMonounsaturated Fat : 3 gTrans Fat : 0.4 gCholesterol : 44 mg (15%)Sodium : 1033 mg (43%)Potassium : 274 mg (8%)Fiber : 14 g (56%)Sugar : 1 g (1%)Vitamin A : 550 IU (11%)Vitamin C : 4.1 mg (5%)Calcium : 260 mg (26%)Iron : 2.3 mg (13%)

Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.

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