This delicious and simple to make creamy white chicken chili uses mild peppers, sweet corn, mild green chilies, white beans, cream cheese and chicken for a quick and comforting chili soup. We love serving it with crispy tortilla chips and loaded with all the fresh fixings, chopped cilantro, avocado, sliced jalapeños and for extra creaminess even a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt.
Creamy White Chicken Chili Recipe Ingredients
- BUTTER & OLIVE OIL: I like to use a bit of both to saute the chicken and the aromatics in. Feel free to use one or the other as desired though.
- CHICKEN: You will need 1 lb of chicken either skinless boneless chicken breast or boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into bite size pieces. For a quicker version you can use cooked chicken that you shred or shredded rotisserie chicken. Just stir it in with when you add the corn.
- ONION & GARLIC: These are the main aromatics that create the base for the soup. If you would like to add carrots and celery to the mix you definitely can for more of a mirepoix happening.
- POBLANO PEPPERS: I use poblano peppers or cubanelle peppers that are really flavourful but you could also just use any sweet green bell peppers. They freeze well, so if you find them on sale dice them and flash freeze them for recipes like this.
- JALAPENO: This adds a mild pop of heat to the soup and flavor.
- SPICES: Dried Oregano, Ground Cumin, Chili powder and chili flakes or cayenne pepper for some mild heat is what I add for that earthy fragrant flavor in chili. Along with these spices we also season the chili with salt and pepper. Feel free to adjust amounts to taste
- CANNED DICED GREEN CHILES: This is one of the key ingredients for white chicken chili. You can find inexpensive (4.5 oz) cans of green chiles in almost every grocery store.
- CANNED WHITE BEANS: I prefer canellini beans but other white beans life Great Northern beans, navy, chickpeas, or even pinto work, too.
- CHICKEN BROTH: Feel free to use store bought canned or cartons of chicken broth or homemade for this recipe. I like to use low sodium broth so I can control the amount of slat in the recipe.
- SWEET CORN: I always have frozen corn on hand but feel free to use fresh corn if you’ve got it.
- FRESH CILANTRO: Fresh cilantro stirred right into the chili and for garnishing add great flavor. If you aren’t a fan swap it out for fresh parsley.
- CREAM CHEESE: Full fat cream cheese is what I always recommend which adds the creamy rich component to this chili. Another option is stirring through ½ cup of sour cream or heavy whipping cream.
How To Make Creamy White Chicken Chili
- PREPARE white beans, drain one can and mash the other can of white beans – set aside
- SAUTE chicken in butter and olive oil
- SAUTE onion, garlic, poblano peppers, jalapeño, and spices
- STIR in green chilies, corn, the drained beans and mashed white bean, and broth
- SIMMER 5-7 minutes
- FINISH off by stirring in the cream cheese and test for seasoning – adding more salt and pepper if needed
- SERVE garnished with avocado, cilantro, shredded or crumbled cheese, fresh lime juice, hot sauce (optional), and crispy corn chips or whatever else you want to load up on.
