Crockpot White Chicken Chili Recipe
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This Crockpot White Chicken Chili recipe is perfect to make for dinner tonight!
Chili is perfect for a cold night when all you want to do is warm up your body and soul. This chili recipe is clean and easy to make in your slow cooker!
How Spicy Is This White Chicken Chili?
The spice is very mild. You can up the spiciness by adding jalapeno peppers if you want. You can also use cayenne pepper if you prefer that.
What To Serve With CrockPot White Chicken Chili
This is great served with one of the following on the side:
- A grilled cheese sandwich or grilled cheese roll-ups.
- English muffins
- Garlic bread
- A green salad
Why Is My White Chicken Chili Runny?
Any time you make chili like this, it will tend to be on the runnier/brothy side because you don’t use the usual chili ingredients that thicken things up. If you enjoy that, great! If not, read on…
How Do You Make White Chicken Chili Thicker?
You have a couple of options if you want to thicken this chili.
- You can add starch during the cooking process.
- You can reserve some of the beans for blending (or use extra beans just for this purpose).
- You can drain/rinse the beans so there is less overall liquid in the finished chili.
If you use starch, you’ll want to make a slurry with cool water or broth first. Use about 2 tbsp. of starch to 1 tbsp. of water. Whisk it until smooth, then stir it into the pot.
If you want to use beans to thicken this, I recommend using extra beans. Blend them with a tiny bit of broth until they are smooth. Then add it to the chili.
You can also use a combo of blended beans and starch slurry to get this super thick. The addition of yogurt will help as well.
If you opt to drain the beans, know that the broth itself will still be on the thinner side. So you may want to do any combination of the above suggestions.
Making White Chicken Chili Creamy
To make this chili creamy, simply stir in 2 cups of plain yogurt after cooking. This can be regular yogurt, Greek yogurt, or non-dairy yogurt. I used the Kite Hill brand of almond milk yogurt. (Not paid to promote them).
Recipe Variations
- Try adding some corn to this.
- Try adding sour cream if you want this to be truly rich and creamy.
- Some folks may like to add a splash of heavy cream.
What If I Don’t Have Rotel?
This is a relatively simple fix. All you have to do is use a 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes as well as one or two, 4 oz. cans of green chilies.
How To Garnish Crockpot White Chicken Chili
Opt for one or more of the following to top things off. I highly recommend using all of them in generous amounts!
- Green chiles
- Lime juice
- Avocados
- Fresh cilantro
- Tortilla chips – We like to crush ours.
About The Ingredients
Boneless skinless chicken thighs – you can also use boneless skinless chicken breasts.
Great Northern beans – low sodium if canned. You can use any type of white beans, like cannellini beans.
Rotel – I used the organic variety that has a very clean ingredient list. However, if you cannot find this, (not all Rotel is clean) you can use the suggestion above.
Red onions – diced.
Large garlic cloves – minced.
Chili powder
Ground cumin
Chicken broth (or stock) – reduced sodium, no sugar added.
Salt and black pepper – to taste.
Yogurt – Optional if you want this to be creamy. You can also try sour cream or cream cheese if you prefer that.
How To Make Crockpot White Chicken Chili
Prep all your soup ingredients.
Place the chicken in the crock.
Add all the remaining ingredients to the crock.
Stir well. Cook the chili for 6-8 hours on low in a slow cooker, or on high pressure for 25 minutes if using an Instant Pot or Ninja Foodi pressure cooker.
While the chili cooks, prep all the garnishes as needed.
When the chili is done cooking, remove the crock from the appliance and let it cool for at least 10 minutes. Then stir in the yogurt and season with salt and pepper to your liking. Note that adding the garnishes adds tons of flavor, so you won’t need to go overboard with the salt and pepper.
Ladle some chili into a bowl.
Garnish as you like and serve.
Storage
Store this in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
Freezing
This freezes better without the yogurt added (if you use it). Pack it well and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheating
Reheat in a microwave or in a pot on the stovetop.
Recipe Supplies
For this recipe, you’ll need a slow cooker, an Instant Pot, or a Ninja Foodi. If you need one, you can click any image here to be taken to that product on Amazon. (Affiliate links)
More Healthy Chili Recipes
White Chicken Chili Crockpot Recipe Card + Video

White Chicken Chili Crockpot Recipe
CLICK TO WATCH THIS RECIPE IN ACTION!
Equipment
- 1 Slow Cooker (at least 5 quarts – Or use an Instant Pot or Ninja Foodi)
Ingredients
Soup Ingredients
- 2½ lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into bite-sized pieces)
- 1 medium red onion (diced – approximately 1½ cups of diced onion)
- 8 large garlic cloves (pressed or minced)
- 30 oz. Rotel (no sugar added. If you can't find it, see alternative suggestion in post above)
- 60 oz. Great Northern beans (This is 4 (15 oz.) cans, no sugar added, do not drain.)
- 1 tbsp. ground cumin
- 1 tbsp. chili powder
- 4 cups chicken broth (no sugar or dextrose added, low sodium is best)
- 2 cups plain yogurt (see notes in post above)
- salt and pepper to taste
Garnishes
- 2 medium limes (or 1 lime per person)
- 2 medium avocados (or ½ an avocado per person)
- 2 large jalapeno peppers (sliced or diced, with or without seeds)
- 1 cup chopped, fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Prep all your soup ingredients.
- Place the chicken in the crock.
- Add all the remaining ingredients to the crock. Stir well.
- Cook the chili for 6-8 hours on low or 4-6 hours on high. In a pressure cooker such as an Instant Pot or Ninja Foodi, cook on high pressure for 25 minutes.
- While the chili cooks, prep all the garnishes as needed.
- When the chili is done cooking, remove the crock from the appliance and let it cool for at least 10 minutes. Then stir in the yogurt and season with salt and pepper to your liking. Note that adding the garnishes adds tons of flavor, so you won't need to go overboard with the salt and pepper.
- Ladle some chili into a bowl.
- Garnish as you like and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe from the Gracious Pantry® archives, originally posted on 5/17/12.
Recipe updated on 3/24/23.
I'm Tiffany, a writer for MSN and the AP Newswire, a cookbook author, digital publisher, food lover, and mom. I create healthy, clean eating recipes for everyday living.
I make something very similar to this and it is AMAZING. The flavor is huge and the best part is under weight watchers it is about 2 points! I don’t add the cheese but fat free sour cream instead. I will try your version tonight!
Tracy – I hope you enjoy it! Just watch out for the fat free cream cheese. They have to add a lot of not-so-nice stuff to make it still taste edible.
greek yogurt instead. its just as yummy as sour cream but lower in fat and not all of those additives that ff sour cream has. I use 2% Fage. mmmmmmmmmmm….. thanks for the recipe….eating it right now! 😉
Tiffany, the photos are amazing! Thank you so much for sharing! I hope everyone likes it as much as everyone that has tried it in the past!
Vicki – Thanks so much! It’s definitely a popular recipe. Some people have cooked it already today and they love it!
This is a family favorite! We add a bit of cilantro and lime juice, too. Happy cooking!
Caryn – Sounds wonderful!
Michelle – That’s fabulous! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
Mnelmnel – I tried installing ziplist on my blog and it was a complete disaster. Maybe some day in the future I’ll try it again.
Hi Tiffany,
I apologize if you’ve already answered this…but it looks like we don’t drain and/or rinse the canned beans, is that correct?
Thanks!
Nicole
You can if you want, but I didn’t.
Do u shred the chicken after its cooked ? 🙂
I sure did! I love shredded chicken.
Thanks!
just wondering if this is spicy? i have a two yr old and not sure if he would eat ir.
Not especially, but you can leave out anything that might be too spicy.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! And you’re right, some nights, dinner just wouldn’t be on the table without my slow cooker!
Glad you liked it! 🙂
Yup. It really is. But if you’re worried about it, start with 1 or 2 tbsp. You can always stir in more later.
I would cook them first. Then make the recipe. There isn’t enough liquid to cook them from dry, even if they are soaked. There also isn’t enough cooking time for dry beans.
I absolutely love white chicken chili…I just wish my husband did too.  I will be making this one asap with the cooler weather now on it’s way! 🙂
Have this in the slow cooker right now! Can’t wait I think I will love it!
This may be a dumb question but is the chicken breast raw when you place it in the slow cooker or cooked??
The chicken is raw.
Trying this recipe for the first time. Is it really 1/4 cup of chili powder? Just seems like a lot.
Yup. But if you don’t feel comfortable with that, start with 2 tablespoons instead. You can always add more after cooking.