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!
I love this recipe! I’ve made it multiple times for my family, boyfriend, and friends. So simple and so delicious. The only thing I add is some sautéed onion and garlic.
I love this easy, yummy white chicken chili. I add cumin, more mild green chilis and light sour cream or fat free greek yogurt to make it creamy (just heat it up before you add at end).
Delicious and so easy! I used a roasted chicken!
Awesome! I made this vegan with beyond meat seasoned chicken strips. I also added some corn and thickened with rice flour. It turned out delicious! A quick and easy lunch
Great recipe! I would probably add one more can of beans but great as is, thanks.
Just what I was looking for; easy, tasty and quick. I used Costco’s canned cooked chicken and it was just great. Had to cut back on the ingredients because I only had one can of chicken but it was just fine in doing that.
Awesome, so glad you enjoyed it!
This is absolutely one of my favorites! I recommend it to all my friends who are starting to cook and/or meal plan. You seriously can’t go wrong!
Awesome, agreed! :)
This is an incredibly delicious and easy dish. You can add additional ingredients but the flavor is in the core five ingredients on the recipe. I substituted ground turkey for the chicken…Delish!
Yay, glad you enjoyed it!
For the crock pot recipe, when do you add the beans?
Oh goodness, thanks for catching this, we accidentally left that step out! You can just add them during the last 30 minutes of the cooking time. We hope you enjoy!
The flavor is very good but it’s very runny. It should be called White Chicken Chili soup as it’s thin and watery–definitely not the consistency of chili.
Hi Laura! We’re glad you enjoyed the taste, and sorry this came out watery for you. It sounds like it may have needed to simmer longer. You could also make a slurry to thicken it more. In a bowl, just whisk 4 TBS flour or cornstarch with 1 cup of the chili liquid, then add back to the chili pot. We hope this helps for next time!