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!
Looks great! I will try this recipe…
Thanks Maya — we hope you enjoy! :)
I’m not going to lie to you – I made this recipe with strong reservations…”5 ingredients? How can this be flavorful? Ugh is this going to come out bland?”…well my suspicions were put to rest with the first bite! I followed the recipe almost exactly, the only difference was I put in an extra chicken breast and bumped up the cumin a bit. We served this over rice with avocado, cheddar cheese and sour cream. Got a big thumbs up from my BF who had two big bowls and is already claiming the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Now our bellies are full and satisfied, thank you so much for this recipe!
Thanks for sharing with us Sandra — we’re so happy you and your friend were pleasantly surprised! Thanks for giving it a try! :D
Delicious!!! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
You’re welcome Lanie — we’re happy you enjoyed this!
I’ve made this several times & it’s sooooo delicious!! Even my very picky hubby & our three year old son love it! I top it with chopped avocadoes & cilantro. Very filling & perfect for these cold winter nights.
Thanks Jessy! We’re so glad you and your family enjoy this! :)
Just made this white chicken chili, and it’s SO good! I made it in the pressure cooker at pressure for 40 minutes and the chicken absolutely fell apart into delicious shreds. Next time I’ll make my own green salsa, but even with store-bought it’s delicious! Thanks for the quick and yummy recipe!
Thanks for sharing Brooke, we’re glad you enjoyed it! :)
I’m obsessed with this soup! I make it in my slow cooker and it feeds me all week. It also freezes very well. Highly recommend :)
Thanks for sharing with us Elena! We’re so happy you love it! :)
Simple and delicious! I modified at bit by using 4 cups of chicken broth and about 18oz of salsa verde simply because that’s what I had on hand. I also added an additional teaspoon of cumin and used 3 boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts. I’ve read a few comments suggesting that the soup was bland. That wasn’t my experience with my modifications and I do like flavor! I think selecting a really good tomatillo sauce is definitely key. I used the one in the refrigerated section at Trader Joe’s and it was bomb!
Thanks for sharing with us Kali! We’re glad you enjoyed this! :)
I love this soup! Do yo happen to know the nutritional fact?
Thanks Bre, we’re glad to hear that! Unfortunately though, we aren’t sure of the nutrition facts/amount of calories in this recipe. We currently are not publishing nutrition facts on the site, as the nutrition calculators available are not 100% accurate, and we never want to publish anything that might be misleading. However, a lot of our readers love the My Fitness Pal nutrition calculator, so feel free to try that for an estimate. We hope that helps!
I’m not real food savvy, I intend to make this and for lunches throughout the week. The avocado topping looks really appealing, does that need to be added fresh each time or will it save well in the refrigerator for a few days and not lose its flavor/texture?
Thanks
Hey Joe! Yes, you’ll want to add the avocado fresh each time (just cut however much you want off the avocado and store the rest in the fridge – keeping the pit in the avocado will help preserve it too). We hope you enjoy the chili!
This looks so good. I plan on making it this week with a few of my own additions. For those of you loking for a thicker consistency, try adding some masa or cornmeal while the chili is simmering. It will thicken up nicely. I am going to try adding some torn up corn tortillas just to make it a little fuller than a soup.
Thanks for sharing your tip Kristi — we hope you love the chili! :D