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!
Great recipe, so easy and painless. I don’t live in the US, so salsa verde is hard to find. Went with a chunky green dip instead and added some extra spice. Made it three times now and with the two of us we had enough leftovers for lunch/dinner the next day, depending how hungry we were. Can really recommend adding some of the extra toppings though, it can feel a bit empty without.
Thank you, Thom, we’re so glad you’re a fan! :)
What sort of chunky green dip did you use. I really don’t like salsa verde. Looking for an alternative to the salsa.
This is one of my favorite meals. We load extra Monterey Jack cheese onto it and eat it with chips. So good. I’m making it right now and wanted to say thank you!
That’s so sweet of you to say, Will — we’re thrilled you enjoy it! :D
Made it in the slow cooker. More soup-like than expected. Added cheese and sour cream as some others suggested. Very good taste even before the additional ingredients. I’ll definitely make it again and double the amount of chicken.
We’re glad you enjoyed it, Caryn!
Looks delicious! I was just wondering, does this recipe freezer well?
Thanks, Alyssa, we hope you enjoy! And yes, you can freeze this!
Hi! I want to make this tonight but realized I only have cannellini beans. Are they similar enough to white beans that it shouldn’t be an issue?
Hi Randee! Yes, you can totally use cannellini beans for this. We hope you enjoy!
For those using an instant pot or other electronic pressure cooker:
Cook your boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs in the stock. Do a manual pressure release. If your meat is chunked, you can leave it as it, but I used whole boneless skinless chicken thighs and lightly shredded them with tongs at this point.
Add the other ingredients, with cooked beans, and set for 3 minutes. You can do a quick or natural release.
Alternatively, you can use the saute function to simmer the chicken with the added ingredients, lid off, for five to ten minutes as desired.
Top once in serving bowls, I added cilantro, avocado, and a squeeze of lime juice. Hubby piled on pepper jack cheese and cilantro.
I love this recipe! Have made it twice now, both times in the crockpot, and I appreciate that it’s fast and easy to put together in the morning. The store-bought salsa verde is genius. :)
Thank you, Carol — we’re so glad to hear that! :)
Love this recipe! I’ve made in a couple of times in my slow-cooker, but my hubby just got me an Instant Pot pressure cooker, which is awesome! Any tips for converting the original recipe to adjust for the reduced liquid requirements? Thanks!
We’re so glad to hear that, Erika! Unfortunately we aren’t sure how best to convert this for the instant pot though.
Hi !! I love this recipe. My tweak is to cook all on low for several hours and then cube a small block of Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack and add it to soup at that point. Then, cook on high for a couple hours. It makes the broth very creamy and delicious !! Thanks for the great recipes.
Hi Cindy! We’re so glad you’re a fan of the recipe and we think your tweak sounds fabulous! :)
Hey! A friend made a batch of this for me and my husband, and I’m trying to calculate nutritional info. This says it makes 2-4 servings, but I don’t know how much that is since I only got part of the original amount made. How big are your servings or about how many cups does this make?? Thank you! Its SO good.
Hi Janelle! This makes 2 really generous servings or 4 average-sized servings. Unfortunately we don’t know the nutrition info for this though, but feel free to use the My Fitness Pal nutrition calculator. We’re so glad you enjoy the recipe! :)