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
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
Description
This delicious and easy white chicken chili recipe can be made with just 5 ingredients in 15 minutes!
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
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.
Simple and yummy, I made and Shredded my chicken, seasoned with Danno’s Spicy Seasoning. Added some southwestern canned corn and reduced the cumin 10 about a teaspoon and a half. Topped with cheese, avocado and tortilla turned out great.
Absolutely delicious and so very easy!
For so few ingredients, the flavor is so vibrant and yummy. I usually start off with a finely diced yellow onion, sauteed, and then proceed from there. And then everybody can garnish as they desire, but meanwhile you have a delicious dish that can be dairy free and/or gluten free, that’s super easy to throw together. Thanks for the great recipe, I’ve made it many times!
I love this chili. I made this in a slow cooker today. I made the salsa verde using the linked recipe. I added a cup of frozen corn. High 4hrs. I pulled the fully cooked chicken at 3 hours and shredded it and added it back. Had 2 bowls with a quesadilla for dinner. 5 stars.
I love this recipe…quick, easy and delicious! I do add a half block of cream cheese to the pot after it simmers to make it thicker and creamy.
This was sooo delicious!!! Definitely loving to be a staple go to for us! I used hatch chilis and they were perfect.
How long will this soup last? Even though I have a feeling it will gone between the two of within just a couple of days.
This was a marvelous “base” recipe! I found that I didn’t have the salsa verde on hand, so I raided the pantry and added a can of Mexican Corn and Rotel Tomatoes. I’d already made the Shredded Chicken (via Instapot recipe), so I had almost a pound of chicken to add that was already made. The only other addition I made was a bit of ground chili pepper. I shredded a brick of Sharp Cheddar and have sour cream, a bit of avocado and corn chips to add to the finished product!!
A family favorite. I often add frozen peppers and onions from Trader Joe’s.
How long would you cook it in the Instant Pot? I usually use the crockpot but sometimes I’d like to use the Instant Pot.
Definitely more soup like than a chili. I make this often and it’s one of my husbands favorites. I crush in the tortilla chips and avocado. Excellent recipe!
So if I don’t have cumin, could I just opt for chili seasoning? It’s cold and storming and not trying to get out for cumin 😭