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White Bean Chili is a cozy, flavorful meal made with hearty beans, tender chicken or turkey and a little kick from green chilis and jalapeño. You will be hooked on this all season.
Table of Contents
Why Make This White Bean Chili
This is the best change up from the classic beef or turkey chili. It’s a totally different flavor and there are no tomatoes in this. A marriage of flavors giving it a little bit of a southwestern flavor. Light and filling.
The topping options are endless. I always top my with corn, avocado and tortilla chips but you can use anything your heart (and stomach) desire! This is husband approved, my husband was so impressed with this meal, he has been requesting it ever since. It is great for meal prep. It gets more flavorful sitting in the fridge, so you can make it ahead of time and enjoy it throughout the week.
Ingredients Needed
Chicken. Use rotisserie chicken or cook up your own. It adds protein and flavor.
Olive Oil.
Seasoning. Garlic, onion powder. Cumin, paprika, salt, pepper.
Chicken Broth. A low sodium broth.
Green Chilis. They add lots of flavor! Grab mild chilis if you are faint of heart for heat.
Jalapeño. Just one for some extra heat.
Garlic. Fresh is always best!
White Onion.
White Beans. I always use canned.
Sour Cream or Cream Cheese. You can use dairy free sour cream or cream cheese as well! Either will work great.
Milk. You can use any milk, or heavy whipping cream. Unflavored almond milk will also work if you are making this dairy free.
Optional Toppings. Avocado, corn, tortilla chips, cheese.
Steps To Make White Bean Chili
Step One. Prepare chicken. Be sure it is shredded. Chop onion, jalapeño and garlic. Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven or pot on medium/high heat. Add onion and jalapeños and sauté 4 minutes. Add in chopped garlic and sauté 30 seconds longer.
Step Two. Add chicken broth, green chilies, cumin, paprika, garlic, onion powder oregano, salt, pepper. Bring mixture just to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 15 minutes.
Step Three. Drain and rinse beans in a fine mesh strainer or colander. Add them to the dutch oven. Then add in the sour cream or cream cheese. Keep the mixture on simmer and make sure the sour cream is spreading in. Add in cooked chicken (or rotisserie). Add milk last. Mix well. Let the mixture return to a simmer.
Step Four. If you are using corn, add it to the chili directly and mix in. Once it is heated through, take chili off heat and serve with toppings.
Recipe FAQ’s
yes. Use raw chicken on the bottom. Layer onions, jalapeños, garlic, seasoning, broth, chilis and cook on high for about 3 hours. Then add in beans, corn if using, sour cream or cream cheese. Cook for another hour. Add milk, pull our chicken, shred the chicken, add it back in before serving.
Besides the ones I mentions, you can also add cilantro, a squeeze of lime, tomatoes, extra sour cream.
In the fridge for up to 5 days! You can also freeze this meal for up to 3 months. This meal gets better by the day if you want to meal prep it for the week.
YES! Leftover cooked turkey is fantastic in this dish.
Other Soup Recipes To Try
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White Bean Chili With Chicken
Ingredients
- ½ cup yellow onion, chopped
- 1 jalapeño, chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp garlic
- 2 -14 oz cans of chicken broth, low sodium , about 3½ cups
- 2 -7oz cans of mild green chilis
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- 1½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp crushed, dried oregano
- ¼ tsp course salt
- ¼ tsp cracked pepper
- 1 -15 oz can cannellini beans
- 1½-2 lb cooked chicken or rotisserie , *about 3 cups
- 1 cup sour cream , *see notes
- ¼ cup milk , *see notes
- ½ cup corn kernels, *optional for topping
Instructions
- Prepare chicken. Be sure it is shredded. Chop onion, jalapeño and garlic. Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven or pot on medium/high heat. Add onion and jalapeño, sauté 4 minutes. Add in chopped garlic and sauté 30 seconds longer.
- Add chicken broth, green chilies, cumin, paprika, garlic, onion powder oregano, salt, pepper. Bring mixture just to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 15 minutes.
- Drain and rinse beans in a fine mesh strainer or colander. Add them to the dutch oven. Then add in the sour cream or cream cheese. Keep the mixture on simmer and make sure the sour cream is spreading in. Add in cooked chicken (or rotisserie). Add milk last. Mix well. Let the mixture return to a simmer.
- If you are using corn, add it to the chili directly and mix in. Once it is heated through, take chili off heat and serve with toppings.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Perfect fall meal! Great any time of year!
When do you add the jalapeno?
Add it in with the onions and sauté. Thanks for catching that.
My hubby couldn’t get enough of this recipe. We ate so much that left overs were few and far between!
I love this recipe and it’s a nice change from my usual chili recipe, everyone loved it!!
For the crock pot instructions, do I need to sauté the onions etc. as in the original recipe or just add to the crock pot without first sautéing?
I would personally skip this sauté step and just toss them into the crockpot to cook! Enjoy! Let me know how it turns out for you.
Fantastic recipe! Made mine with leftover smoked turkey from Christmas.
This was delicious!! I used chicken breast and it was so tender and loads of flavor. I can’t wait for my leftovers tomorrow.
Hello! I plan on making this for the week. I try and track calories and macros, and was just wondering what the serving size was for the nutrition facts?
Thank you!
Hi Tasha! It’s about 1.25 – 1.5 cups of soup per serving. This can vary a tad bit with how long you cook it down 🙂 hope that helps. Enjoy
The flavors are so rich and delicious. Squeeze of lime on top and some Seedtastic toast….yum!
What is seedtastic toast?
Love that this recipe is so high in protein and it’s delicious! Definitely going in my recipe box 🙂
Super yummy meal, everyone loved it.