Quick and Easy White Chicken Chili
A few weeks ago we had a chili cook-off at my work. It was a ton of fun, and we got to eat lots of good chili. I think we had at least 16 entries, which means there were 16 different types of chili to try. I had a blast trying them out and voting for my favorites. You would think that with so many entries, it would be hard to pick a winner, but as it turns out there was one pot of chili that won by a landslide – my friend Lynn’s white chicken chili. Not only did she have the most votes by far, but hers was the chili that nearly everyone was talking about as they left the cook-off. Of course I immediately asked her for the recipe and wasted no time in making it for a quick and easy weekend meal. 🙂
This chili is thick and creamy with a wonderful flavor. You can easily control the spice level by adjusting the seasonings or using a spicier or milder salsa. The recipe comes together incredibly quickly and is very hands off. I certainly don’t claim that it’s the healthiest chili I’ve ever made, but occasionally, the taste is worth it. 🙂 Mike loved it as well, but he seemed to think it was more of a dip than a chili. We actually both ate it as more of a dip, with tortilla chips as dipping utensils – so good! If you think it’s too thick, you could easily thin it out with some chicken broth or even some water. Give this warm and comforting chili a try as the days get colder and let me know what you think!
Quick and Easy White Chicken Chili
Ingredients:
- 1 jar salsa
- 1 16 oz container sour cream (low fat or fat-free is fine)
- 4 oz shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar)
- 1 can great northern white beans
- 2-3 cups chopped cooked chicken
- cumin, to taste (I started with 1 tsp and went from there)
- garlic powder, to taste
- pepper, to taste
Directions:
- Combine all ingredients in crockpot and heat on low until warmed through.
- Alternately, heat on the stovetop on medium until hot, stirring occasionally.
- If too thick, thin with chicken broth or water.
- Serve with tortilla chips.
from Lynn Buikema
Welcome! I'm Megan and it's my hope that here you'll find food that has been made with love and recipes that are shared with joy. Thanks for stopping by! 
This chili looks amazing! Perfectly comforting for this colder weather…yum!
This recipe has similar ingredients to a casserole dish we make, so I am sure that the soup is fantastic! I’ll add it to our winter list of soups to try. Thanks for reminding me how much I like soup season 🙂
I. Love. This. My husband would eat it up, I’m sure. What’s not to love?!
I have been looking for the perfect white chicken chili for several years now. This one comes with such high praise that I can’t wait to try it! Maybe even this week (:
This looks wonderful and easy to make. Thanks!
White chili is one of my favorites to make and eat! This looks like a great version.
Will definitely give this recipe a try. It has delicious and comfort written all over it.
I have a white chicken chili recipe, but it doesn’t have the salsa. Not too sure I would like the tomato taste with the chicken. I am a beef eater, especially chili.
I ask my youngest son one time if he thought he would like white chili. He ask me why was I changing my chili recipe. He said he likes the one I make. I told him it was a chicken chili. I sent him some, but he never said if he liked it. So, I stay with the regular recipe. (-:
I’m always looking for new chili recipes. This looks and sounds delicious!
Just made this and it is FABULOUS!! I added chicken broth to make it thinner but it was a huge hit with even the picky eaters in my family.
Thanks Amber, so glad you liked it! 🙂
Love this easy and delicious-sounding recipe! I make a “green” turkey chili with green salsa.
White chili is one of my favorites, but I love the simplicity of this recipe and the fact that I almost always these ingredients in my pantry or fridge!
I added green chiles, 2 tsp. cumin, lime juice, chicken broth and cayenne. Thanks for sharing!
Great suggestions for additions to the chili – thanks for the comment! 🙂
I am planning to make this tomorrow night and was wondering what size jar of salsa to use? Looking forward to trying it!!
Hi Susie. Just a normal size jar of salsa, the average size you buy in the store. I don’t have any in the house right now to see what the exact size is, unfortunately. But just go with the average size jar and you should be fine. 🙂
Thanks Megan! We loved it tonight! It was delicious and also came together really quickly (i cooked the chicken yesterday). Will make again for sure!
I’m so glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
This looks like a fun basic recipe with many possibilities. Can’t wait to try it.
Made this tonight and it was a hit! My alterations:
Added: Celery, Onion, chicken stock…it was too thin so I added rice and it turned into like a cheesy chicken stew.
I’m so glad you liked this! And the addition of rice and chicken stock sounds great. There’s something about a cheesy chicken stew that sounds so good right now! 🙂
I pinned your amazing looking chili on Pinterest… http://pinterest.com/pin/211528513717949148/
Can’t wait to try it!!
I’m just curious how long “heat on low until warmed through” usually takes? Just trying to figure out when to start cooking 🙂 Both crockpot and stovetop timing (approximate is fine) would be awesome! 🙂
I’m not sure of exact timings, but I would think around 20 minutes on the stove would be good. I left it for a few hours on low in the crockpot and it was warm and ready to be eaten when I came back. You could start it earlier however and just leave it on low/warm until you’re ready to eat. I hope you like it! 🙂
Sounds just like a recipe for chicken tortilla soup.
This looks SO tasty!! I am a huge soup person and we make it a lot in our house. can’t wait to try.
I’m cooking this up right now. I have it simmering on the burner on low to keep it warm for when my husband gets home from work (which hopefully will be soon!) So I have not tasted it yet but it smells great! (Hope I did not add too much Cumin!) I used home-made salsa instead of a jar of store-bought salsa so mine has a VERY pink color to it. I’ll let you know if this recipe is a hit once he comes home for dinner! But it smells yummy.
So I forgot to post the verdict for you. This was a huge hit! My husband gave it 5 out of 5 stars! He liked it better than the cheesy cauliflower soup and even better than the stuffed pepper soup (which is a big deal because he always rants & raves about the stuffed pepper soup, which I make often by his request.) Thank you for another winner! (P.S. I’m baking your cranberry-lemon cookies in the oven right now and they smell ammmmmazing!)
I’m so glad you liked it! Your comment seriously made my night, thank you 🙂
Chicken chili is so comforting and perfect for this time of year.
What size jar of salsa?? Thank you so much for a truly easy recipe. I have been searching for easy but it doens’t always seem so easy. Can’t wait to try this one!
I made this tonight and it was delicious! I couldn’t find the salsa so I used green enchilada sauce instead. Yuummmmm!
Sounds like a great substitute – glad you liked it! 🙂
How many does this serve? and at what serving size?