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 1x
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.
Can you make the white chili recipe in the crock pot?
Yes, you can. Just note that if you’re using raw chicken, it will take longer.
Delicious!
I threw all the ingredients into the crock pot and cooked on low for 5 hours. I used a bag of northern beans so they were still a bit crunchy but my family prefers crunchy beans! Thanks for the amazing recipe. We added the salsa verde on our own to our bowls,
I used ingredients that I had on hand… 4 cups of turkey broth, 2 cups water w/ 2tsp. of chicken boulion,1 lrg. leftover turkey leg quarter-shredded, 2 cups grn. enchilada sauce, 4oz. of canned chopped grn. chilis,cumin,1- 15oz. can of Northern beans and 1 can of while frigoles;drained. For accompnyments:sliced grn. onions, grated pepperjack,chopped cilantro,tortilla chips and dollop of plain sour cream. DE LISH
Ali, this is *the* best white chicken chili recipe! Love the use of salsa verde, makes perfect sense. Best of all, it comes together fast and my family loves it!
YAY! I’m so glad you like it! :)
I tried this recipe for the first time today and it is AMAZING. It absolutely hits the spot and the flavors are incredible! I love that it was simple and easy for me to make as I am a grad student always on the go! I get really turned off by recipes that require so many ingredients and the fact that this only required 5 was highly appealing! I didn’t include cumin (forgot to, admittedly), but it still tasted great. I also topped mine with cilantro, avocado and sour cream. I got 4 very hefty portions out of it that will make up my lunch for the week! Such a great recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Made this for dinner today, it was SO delicious! I got a spicy salsa verde, and it was awesome! Thanks for sharing, saving this recipe!
This sounds incredible! I’ve never made white chicken chili pepper but imagine I would like this even more the the tomato based beef chili : ) So glad to have come across this post after seeing it featured on buzzfeed.
I’m crazy for chills and this one sounds incredible! I love how easy you’ve made this! It’s so nice to have an arsenal of quick dinners for those nights you just can’t think straight! The salsa verde and those chunks of avocado are calling my name! ;)
This is delicious! The avocados at the store were rock hard, so we topped off the chili with some guacamole. YUMMY. Saved time by using a rotisserie chicken too.