5-Ingredient Easy White Chicken Chili
Last year, I posted one of my all time favorite White Chicken Chili recipes on the blog. But while I love it, there’s also a little shortcut white bean chicken chili recipe that I make even more often when I’m short on time. It is super easy and only calls for 5 ingredients. So I thought I would share it with you today and give it an extra creative name — 5-Ingredient Easy White Chicken Chili.
In addition to only calling for a handful (get it, a handful) of ingredients, this easy white chicken chili recipe also can be made and on the table in just 15 minutes. Definitely a perfect busy weeknight meal, and it also makes great leftovers and can be frozen for later. So if you love it, consider making a double or triple batch and you will have multiple dinners prepared and ready to go in minutes.
Ok, are you ready for the secret ingredient?
It’s salsa verde!!!
This delicious salsa singlehandedly provides pretty much all of the seasoning you need for white chicken chili! It’s flavorful, has a bit of heat, and a bit of tang, and pairs perfectly with delicious chicken broth, shredded chicken, and white beans. I do like to add a little ground cumin to the mixture just to round things out. But when I discovered the salsa trick a few years ago, I was amazed. Such a great shortcut!
Also, when I’m in a hurry, I tend to buy pre-made salsa verde for this. But if you want to make homemade tomatillo salsa verde, I have a delicious recipe on the blog that I recommend. It’s so simple to make at home, and so good!
If you want to get fancy and add a few toppings to this soup, I love throwing in some diced avocado, fresh cilantro, green onions, and occasionally some sour cream or shredded cheese. But it’s also delicious as-is with just five ingredients.
Hope you enjoy!
5-Ingredient Easy White Chicken Chili
This delicious and easy white chicken chili recipe can be made with just 5 ingredients in 15 minutes!
Ingredients:
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups cooked shredded chicken (*or see slow cooker method below, which uses uncooked chicken breasts)
- 2 (15-oz) cans Great Northern beans, drained
- 2 cups salsa verde (store-bought or homemade http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/tomatillo-salsa-verde/)
- 2 tsp. ground cumin
- optional toppings: diced avocado, chopped fresh cilantro, shredded cheese, chopped green onions, sour cream, crumbled tortilla chips
Directions:
Stovetop Method: Add chicken broth, shredded chicken, beans, salsa and cumin to a medium saucepan, and stir to combine. Heat over medium-high heat until boiling, then cover and reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for at least 5 minutes.
Serve warm with desired toppings.
Slow Cooker Method: Add chicken broth, 2 (uncooked) *boneless skinless chicken breasts, beans, salsa and cumin to a slow cooker, and stir to combine. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 3-4 hours until the chicken is cooked through and shreds easily with a fork. Add the beans during the last half hour of cooking. Shred the chicken.
Serve warm with desired toppings.
If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a photo and hashtag it #gimmesomeoven. I'd love to see what you cook!
Be sure to check out my other 5-ingredient soup recipes too!
5-Ingredient Black Bean Soup Recipe
5-Ingredient Tomato Soup Recipe
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My friend highly recommended this recipe but when I made it last night the broth/stock appeared to separate. Instead of putting in whole chicken breast I cubed it so not sure if it’s just the fat? After cooling it overnight though there isn’t anything to skim on top. Any recommendations on how to bring the stock back together? It’s tasty but just doesn’t look right.
Yes, we think that could just be the fat. If there isn’t anything to skim off the top, we’re not really sure what you could try. We’re glad it tastes good though!
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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! :)
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! :)
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.
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! :)
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.
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!
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Looks delicious! I was just wondering, does this recipe freezer well?
Thanks, Alyssa, we hope you enjoy! And yes, you can freeze this!
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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!
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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
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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! :)
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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!
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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!
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