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5-Ingredient White Chicken Chili

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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…

  1. Combine ingredients. Stir together chicken stock, shredded chicken, beans, salsa and cumin in large stockpot.
  2. 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.
  3. 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!

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5 Ingredient White Chicken Chili Recipe

5-Ingredient White Chicken Chili

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.9 from 105 reviews
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 10 minutes
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x

Description

This delicious and easy white chicken chili recipe can be made with just 5 ingredients in 15 minutes!


Ingredients

Scale
  • 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

  1. Combine ingredients.  Stir together chicken stock, shredded chicken, beans, salsa and cumin in large stockpot.
  2. 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.
  3. Serve.  Serve immediately, garnished with lots of your favorite toppings.

Notes

Chicken: 4 cups shredded chicken is equivalent to approximately 2 medium-sized boneless skinless chicken breasts.  I often shred a rotisserie chicken for this recipe, or use leftover chicken from my Baked Chicken Breasts or Instant Pot Shredded Chicken recipes.

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458 comments on “5-Ingredient White Chicken Chili”

  1. So, quick and delicious. I’ve made more complicated versions of white chicken chili but this one is great. I need more recipes that don’t take all day to make. I did roast the chicken beforehand (we have whole chickens from our farm) but putting the rest of the ingredients together was a breeze. I love that it took salsa verde – so much flavor!






  2. I love this recipe, so thanks for sharing! I’ve probably made it a dozen times in the past few years. This weekend I added orzo at the end to make it a bit more like chicken noodle soup and it was sooo yummy! I’m eating leftovers of it now and just had to let you know.






  3. Made this while I lived in Ireland ALL the time, now attempting to make it back home in my local college town back in the states for friends, it’s easy enough that even a college student in a tiny flat can make it easily and filled me up when I was so broke! Cannot wait to jazz it up tomorrow.

  4. Quick and easy and very yummy! This will be my new “go to” recipe for white chili. Used 4 cups stock and 4 cans of beans. Added mozzarella cheese on top and served with cornbread muffins.






  5. This is one of my favorite recipes! Just made it with leftover thanksgiving turkey stock – it is fantastic!!! (and so simple) love it ?






  6. I have made this several times over but think I’ve perfected it by making it more “chili” like by tweaking the recipe just a bit.
    I add a can of cream of chicken along with 32oz of chicken broth, I also add 3 chicken breast cooked & shredded, then add 2x the amount of beans.
    It’s much thicker, creamier & more substantial this way.
    No loss on the flavor component either. I add a taco seasoning packet vs the cumin & it is yum yum perfect, if I say so myself!
    If you feel like yours is too “brothy”, try it my way & be sure to tell me what you think.






  7. We like it really spicy, so we use a jalapeño verde instead and it’s our favorite!!

  8. Can I use raw chicken for the IP method? How would that change the cooking time? Thanks!

    • You can … just cook the chicken first. I used chicken tenders, seasoned them and cooked in a grill pan, diced them up. This recipe is so yummy!

  9. Love it, love it!!! i am now using it for company, with all the fixings on top: sour cream, cheese, avacado, green onions and corn chips (scoops) . . fantastic!






  10. This is so easy and SO GOOD!!!






  11. I make this all the time – just for the two of us or for groups of friends. Its always a hit and super yummy….and so easy!

  12. This is such a perfect weeknight meal idea! We’re totally going to have to give this a try soon!

    Paige

  13. Great recipe…had to “make it work” with what was on hand – didn’t have salsa verde so used can of diced green chilies and big can of fire roasted diced tomato, also had to use black beans…it turned out great topping with avocado and red onion.






  14. I have made this is instant pot. I used fresh beans, I added sour cream, cheese, green onion and tortilla chips. I was amazing taste. just yammmi.

  15. I’ve been making this soup on a regular basis for awhile now. I’ve made it for my parents and for me and my boyfriend. I usually make it in the slow cooker, with chicken thighs, and with Herdez medium salsa verde. Everyone loves it. Thanks so much for grabbing my attention with these great pics of the soup! Yummm!






  16. I looooove this recipe! It’s such a staple in our house! I’ve tried others but this is the best for sure. It’s especially great when we are on a tight food budget as this is super cheap and actually makes quite a bit!

  17. Nice recipe best for cold season,I’m been craving for that.






  18. Made this even easier on my grocery shopping day by using a rotisserie Chicken!! So easy and delicious!

  19. If I’m putting it in the crockpot with raw chicken breasts, how long and what setting do I cook it on?

  20. I keep this page in my bookmarks and it came in handy today! Store was out of white beans but managed pinto. The simplicity of the recipe makes it possible with bare shelves due to our global pandemic ? skinned 3 of 4 turkey wing portions and slow cooker on low for a while. Looking forward to it later! Thx






  21. I agree with the other commenters – 4 cups of stock is plenty!






  22. Most delicious soup ever. And so easy. Thank you






  23. loved it, so yummy!
    Neeti






  24. My family of five loved this recipe! The only change I made was to thicken it with cornstarch. I topped it with avocado, cilantro, sharp white cheddar, and crumbled blue tortilla chips. Delicious! So easy – thank you!






  25. 1 of top 5 soups






    • Good morning, Victoria
      What are the other 4 soups that you would recommend. Thank you in advance for sharing.

  26. I’ve been making my family this recipe for years and it is one of their favorites. I always make it in the slow cooker and use Peruano beans. Tonight I’ll be using it to make Cafe Rio style burritos for my daughter’s quarantine birthday. I’ll scoop the beans into a separate pot while shredding the chicken. I’m making cilantro lime rice, fresh flour tortillas, and salsa verde, too. And I bought aluminum cake pans to put under the broiler and make them “enchilada style”

    Thank you for this easy fantastic recipe, it has brought my family so much joy!






  27. I made this tonight using what I had left over in my fridge. Instead of chicken I had turkey. I also added leftover saffron rice to it and since I didn’t have any salsa verde I left that out. Overall a very yummy meal. I did the 6 cups of stock because of adding the rice.






  28. I’ll be honest: I was doubting this recipe just a little bit, but I read so many positive reviews, so I went for it. As always, you nailed it. It was super quick, easy, and flavorful. We served it with your honey beer bread which is another favorite of ours. My husband even said this recipe was better than my usual crockpot chicken chili that takes much longer. Guess we have a new soup in the rotation!

  29. Flavor was good but I think I would reduce the amount of stock as this was more of a soup than a chili. I even tried mashing some bean to try to thicken it up a bit.






  30. Love this recipe. It’s so easy to toss it together with leftovers from the previous night’s chicken dinner.






  31. I added a few more ingredients but this was a good base.






  32. Very good but I made some tweaks. Lots of freshly squeezed lime juice. 4 cups chicken broth and 2 cups veggie stock. Chopped baby potatoes. Let it simmer for about an hour.






  33. Absolutely delicious!!! ?????






  34. This was sooooo good! Yum!!! I did make a few changes… To start I sautéed finely sliced leek, celery & cubanelle pepper. I served with rice.






  35. Making this soup for the first time. We are not a spicy family ;-). Any substitute suggestions for the salsa verde? Thanks!

    • Sometimes recipes claim to be easier than they really are. This is not the case here. The flavor quotient to the amount of effort to make this recipe is off the charts. It’s a great way to repurpose leftover chicken breasts. If you are running tight on time, this is a hearty, satisfying meal that can be prepared in the same amount of time it takes to chop the ingredients. I got lucky and found a very good salsa verde which helped huge on the flavor. Leftover, it was even better!






    • I used the mild salsa verde. Little to no spice level..

  36. This was delicious! My picky 12-year-old daughter said she would like me to give her the recipe so she can share with her kids when she’s older. LOL – Super quick and easy. Definitely going into the rotation. Thank you!!






  37. This is chicken tortilla soup. Not white chicken Chile. Very good though.

  38. Solid recipe. I agree with others that it only needed 4 cups of stock. I am thinking I will add a 4 oz. can of diced chiles next time for a little more heat.






  39. Honestly didn’t think this would turn out great but was feeling too lazy to make my regular long recipe(olgas white chicken chili recipe) I COULD NOT BELIEVE HOW EASY, CHEAP AND GOOOOOOOOD THIS WAS!!!! I won’t bother with any others from now on! Thanks so much for sharing this!! Its all about making life easier when you’re pregnant, over 40 and have 5 hungry kids and a hangry hubby already lol. You’re a lifesaver!






  40. Very good chili even the kids liked it I cut back on chicken broth to 4 cups put cheese and tortilla strips on top a Squirt lime in it






  41. I have been using this recipe for years and have even won a couple chili cook offs. This is literally the best recipe out there!






  42. SO delicious! The flavor is just excellent.






  43. Super easy and good, yes, but more like a soup than chili

  44. This was delicious! I didn’t have white beans, so I used a can of garbanzo and a can of black beans. Also tossed in a small can of fire roasted tomatoes and added a handful or two of Goya Spanish rice. Big success!






  45. This is my go-to soup recipe for carry-ins and Sunday soup day. I get so many compliments and have shared the recipe many times. Best part, it is sooo easy AND delicious!






  46. So delicious!!! I’m not too savvy in the kitchen but the pandemic has had me spending more (enjoyable) time in there and this was the perfect recipe for me to successfully make and enjoy ?






  47. I used 4 cups of broth as 6 would have been soupy. Excellent results: no leftovers!






  48. I had a package of Costco rotisserie breast meat, and threw in carrots, onions and zucchini ( basically cleaned out my crisper drawer) and made a giant pot of this. It was excellent and I had plenty to give to neighbors.
    This one is a keeper!






  49. Hi, soup was good, But I thought it was going to be more of a chili substance.

  50. such an easy and tasty recipe that will last a couple dinners for my boyfriend and I! I added yellow squash, roasted corn, and lime juice! as for toppings I added jack cheese, avocado, green onions, cilantro and tortilla strips. very delicious and customizable soup, thanks!