This 5-ingredient white chicken chili recipe is super quick and easy to make, full of great flavor, and always a crowd fave!
After sharing a new recipe for easy (red) chicken chili, I thought I would circle back today to share one of my all-time favorite recipes for easy white chicken chili.
Even better — my favorite easy white chicken chili recipe that is made with just FIVE easy ingredients. ♡
This recipe is as easy as it gets. Simply stir all of the ingredients together, bring the soup to a simmer, ladle it up while it’s nice and hot, then pile on your favorite toppings and enjoy! I’ve probably made this recipe at least a hundred times over the years, and it always has a way of hitting the spot. It also freezes and reheats well if you would like to save the leftovers or make and save a big batch for easy meal prep.
I’m telling you — this recipe is always a winner. Let’s make a batch!
5-Ingredient White Chicken Chili Ingredients:
To make this white chicken chili recipe, you will need the following five ingredients (plus I highly recommend going big on toppings):
- Chicken: Any kind of diced or shredded chicken will do. I typically shred a rotisserie or use leftover frozen chicken from my Instant Pot Shredded Chicken or Baked Chicken Breasts recipe.
- Salsa verde: Either homemade or store-bought, whichever you prefer. I will note that store-bought brands of roasted salsa verde can vary pretty dramatically in terms of heat. So if you prefer a milder soup, I would definitely recommend finding a salsa that is on the milder side.
- Beans: You are welcome to use whatever type of beans you love best for this chicken chili. I typically use white beans (such as Great Northerns), but pinto, garbanzo or black beans would be delicious too.
- Chicken stock: Because this ingredient list is so short, I recommend using a good-quality brand of chicken stock or veggie stock, whichever you prefer.
- Cumin: We will also add in a hint of cumin to the broth to helps round out the seasonings in the salsa verde.
- Toppings: Finally, I recommend using a generous amount of whatever toppings you love best! I almost always add cilantro and fresh avocado to my soup. But a crumble of tortilla chips, diced red or green onions, sour cream, shredded cheese (sharp cheddar, Monterrey Jack or a Mexican-blend), crumbled cotija cheese, and/or sliced jalapeños would also be delicious additions!
How To Make This Soup:
To make this 5-ingredient white chicken chili recipe, simply…
- Combine ingredients. Stir together chicken stock, shredded chicken, beans, salsa and cumin in large stockpot.
- Bring to a simmer. Cook on high heat until the soup reaches a simmer. Then reduce heat to medium-low to maintain the simmer briefly for 5 minutes.
- Serve. Then ladle the soup up into serving bowls, garnished with your favorite toppings.
Possible Variations:
There are so many ways that you could get creative with this soup recipe! For example, feel free to…
- Add extra veggies. If you would like to add some extra veggies to this soup, diced poblano peppers, onions and/or potatoes (feel free to use frozen hash brown potatoes as a shortcut) are some of my other favorite additions.
- Make it in the Crock-Pot or Instant Pot. This soup really just needs to be stirred together and warmed. So feel free to let it simmer on low in the Crock-Pot or use the sauté button on your Instant Pot, if you would prefer to use one of those appliances.
More Favorite Chili Recipes:
Here are a few more of my go-to chili recipes, if you would like to give them a try!
5-Ingredient White Chicken Chili
Ingredients
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 3 to 4 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 2 (15-ounce) cans beans of your choice, rinsed and drained (I used Great Northern beans)
- 2 cups (16 ounces) salsa verde (store-bought or homemade)
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- optional toppings: diced avocado, chopped fresh cilantro, shredded cheese, chopped red or green onions, sour cream, crumbled tortilla chips, fresh jalapeño slices
Instructions
- Combine ingredients. Stir together chicken stock, shredded chicken, beans, salsa and cumin in large stockpot.
- Bring to a simmer. Cook on high heat until the soup reaches a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue simmering for 5 minutes.
- Serve. Serve immediately, garnished with lots of your favorite toppings.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Hands down my new favorite dinner. Does anyone by chance know the calorie count for this?
Thanks Tabitha, we’re so happy you like it! Unfortunately we do not know the calorie content in this, but feel free to try My Fitness Pal — a lot of our readers tend to like that for configuring calories.
Can you freeze leftovers?
Yes, you can! : )
I just made this soup/chili tonight and it was so good I almost cried in the kitchen. Kudos to you for this recipe. I’m reading through the comments now to see the variety of toppings that everyone has been putting into this pot but seriously, this recipe made me really really happy tonight. The flavor is just so amazing and it was super easy to make too. Thank you so much!! You made my day :)
P/s: What’s the font that you used for the website and the comments section? I’m loving it. It’s so cute!
That’s such a high compliment, thank you! We’re so happy to hear that you loved it so much!
This sounds amazing. Where can I find the pre-made salsa verde? And do you add the avocados and green onions after once its already cooked? So excited to try.
Most grocery stores sell pre-made salsa verde now. And yep, I just added the avocado and green onions as a garnish while serving the hot soup.
I agree…definitely more of a soup than a chili, but very yummy. I added zucchini and spinach, still topped with avocado and cheese and loved it! I’ve made it for two gluten intolerant friends with great success.
Thanks, Rachel, we’re glad you liked it!
Just made this tonight and it is delicious! I was worried that the flavor would be lacking but the salsa verde gives it the right kick. my add-ins were avocado, a dollop of greek yogurt and a sprinkling of grated cheddar. I made this in the crockpot (too hot for the stove right now) and only tweaked one part: adding the beans in the last 30 min of cooking instead of at the beginning.
Looking forward to trying some of your other recipes!
Thank you, Laurel! We’re glad you enjoyed it, and we love your take on it. Thanks for sharing!
I recommend Greek yogurt as an optional topping. It was so good! It is like a soup but I put more beans (I like a lot of beans) and put it over rice and that made it seem more like chili to me. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you, Christina, we’re so glad you enjoyed it!
I just finished a bowl of this and had to come straight here to comment…this was seriously SO delicious. I know I’m years late so I hope this still gets to you, but I ate until I was stuffed and then went back for more! The only change besides halving the recipe (husband is deployed overseas so I’m only cooking for one) is that I used a lemon pepper rotisserie chicken which only added to the flavor. I put a dollop of sour cream, 1/4 avocado and a pinch of cheddar cheese. Seriously excellent.
That’s wonderful, Megan, that makes us so happy! : )
I made this a few nights ago and the flovor was wonderfull. I think its more of a soup than a chili because it doesn’t have the thicker texture that I associate with chili. If I make this again I will cut down on the chicken broth.
We’re glad you liked it, Kimmie!
The chili and salsa verde recipe are fantastic! It’s CSA season so we threw in a ton of greens (chard, spinach, kale) so it wouldn’t go to waste. Can’t wait to eat it again for lunch today. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Thank you, we’re so glad you liked them! : )