This slow cooker white chicken chili recipe is going to blow your mind! It is delicious, takes no hands on time to make and all of the ingredients are inexpensive.

Using our slow cooker is our busy weeknight secret weapon. It allows us to make tasty food with minimal mess and requires no active attention while cooking!

two bowls of white chicken chili with sour cream, avocado, jalapeño, and tortilla chips.

The components of this recipe

The beauty of this recipe is that it contains simple ingredients, that balance each other out perfectly!

  • Chicken thighs: We love to use chicken thighs for this recipe! Chicken thighs have more fat on them than any other part of the chicken, which helps them hold up well under the long cook time. And because of the way fat is distributed through chicken thighs, they shred very easily once cooked.
  • Chicken broth: Instead of using water as the liquid for this chili, we use chicken broth. You can make chicken broth yourself from scratch, or you can buy it at the store. A more shelf stable alternative would be to buy bouillon cubes or powder so that you always have chicken broth on hand!
  • Garlic: Need we say more? Garlic is a staple ingredient in most of our recipes as it enhances the flavor of every dish!
  • Paprika: This spice is native to Hungary, and has eight different classifications based on the method used to dry the peppers. More often than not, you will encounter sweet or smoked paprika. For this recipe, we prefer smoked paprika!
  • Cumin: This spice is common in all chili recipes. It is earthy and rich. Fun fact: cumin seed is a part of the parsley family, although you will find that ground cumin tastes pretty different than the fresh herb!
  • Canned green chilis: In our opinion, it’s always good to have canned green chilis on hand! They typically include a mix of anaheim peppers and poblano peppers. They carry a bit of a spicy kick, but aren’t too intense.
  • Red onion: Compared to other onions, red onions are great in chilis as they have more of a sharp flavor profile than sweet white or yellow onions.
  • Cannellini beans: These beans, also called white kidney beans, are a key component of white chili, because of their color! They are also packed with plant based protein and their texture once cooked is absolute perfection.
  • Frozen corn: Rather than cook corn on the cob and separate the kernels, we love using frozen corn in our homes. It carries the same amount of flavor but saves so much time!
one bowl of white chicken chili with sour cream, avocado, jalapeño, and tortilla chips. pictured with crockpot.

Can I make this recipe vegetarian or vegan?

Absolutely! And it is so easy to modify this recipe to be vegetarian friendly and vegan friendly.

To make this recipe vegetarian, simply replace the chicken thighs with a plant based protein alternative. Jackfruit works very well in this recipe because it shreds in a similar way as chicken does. You can also replace the chicken with more beans. Whether you choose to double the cannellini beans or add a different kind of bean, you can’t go wrong!

You will also want to use a vegetable based broth or vegetable stock in place of chicken broth. You can use water, but we like the extra flavor that comes from cooking this together in broth.

To make this recipe vegan, make both of the replacements mentioned above and remove the sour cream from the recipe. It really is THAT simple to adjust this recipe to accommodate those dietary preferences.

Other variations you can make to this recipe

We personally love all of the components in this chili, but encourage you to follow your tastebuds and adjust as you see fit! Here are some recommendations for changes you can make:

  • If you aren’t a fan of dark meat, you can easily use chicken breast in place of chicken thighs. Because they have less fat, chicken breast may cook and dry out more quickly so consider cutting back on the cook time by a half hour.
  • Make this dish dairy free by removing the sour cream from the recipe!
  • Feel free to use whichever beans you have on hand. Black beans and kidney beans are a great alternative if you cannot find or do not have cannellini beans.
  • You can really add any veggies to this recipe! If you have some leftover veggies or greens in your fridge, you can add them to the crockpot to soak up the flavor of this chili.
  • Try using fresh bell peppers if you are not a fan of spice. Simply chop them up and throw them in the crockpot with the rest of the ingredients. Red bell peppers and green bell peppers taste great in this recipe!
  • On the other hand, if you love spicy food and want to take this up a notch, add fresh jalapeño peppers to the crockpot before cooking.

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How to make white chicken chili

  1. Lay the raw chicken thighs down along the bottom of the slow cooker.
  2. Sprinkle on salt, pepper, paprika and cumin.
  3. Add the chopped garlic, canned green chilis, diced onions, cannellini beans and frozen corn.
  4. Pour the chicken broth over all of the ingredients.
  5. Cover the slow cooker and cook for 2-3 hours on the high setting or 5-6 hours on the low setting.
  6. Once the cook time is up, remove the top and shred the chicken using two forks.
  7. Add a couple scoops of sour cream and mix it all together.
  8. Serve immediately. Top with fresh herbs, sliced peppers, cubed avocados and a dollop of sour cream!
a bowl of slow cooker white chicken chili topped with jalapenos, sour cream, avocado, and tortilla chips

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili

4.82 from 16 votes
Author: Food Dolls
Servings: 8 servings
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 2 hours
Total: 2 hours 20 minutes
This slow cooker white chicken chili is so good, light and comforting, with option to keep it non-dairy!

Ingredients  

  • 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chilis
  • 1/2 large chopped red onion
  • 2 (14 ounce) cans canned cannellini beans rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 5 cups low sodium chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
  • sour cream avocado, jalapeño and cilantro for serving

Instructions 

  • Lay the raw chicken thighs down along the bottom of the slow cooker. Sprinkle on salt, pepper, paprika and cumin.
    2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, 1 teaspoon paprika, salt and pepper to taste, 2 teaspoons cumin
  • Add the chopped garlic, canned green chilis, diced onions, cannellini beans, and frozen corn.
    4 cloves garlic, 2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chilis, 1/2 large chopped red onion, 2 (14 ounce) cans canned cannellini beans, 1 cup frozen corn
  • Pour the chicken broth over all of the ingredients. Cover the slow cooker and cook for 2-3 hours on the high setting or 5-6 hours on the low setting.
    5 cups low sodium chicken broth
  • Once the cook time is up, remove the top and shred the chicken using two forks. Add a couple scoops of Greek yogurt and mix it all together.
    1/2 cup Greek yogurt
  • Serve immediately. Top with fresh herbs, sliced peppers, cubed avocados and a dollop of sour cream!
    sour cream

Video

Equipment

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 271kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Cholesterol: 108mg | Sodium: 478mg | Potassium: 541mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 90IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 110mg | Iron: 4mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this recipe?Please leave a comment!

If you love this recipe, try this Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas!

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Meet Alia & Radwa

Welcome to Food Dolls! We’re so glad you found us. We are Alia and Radwa, sisters who want to share simple and easy recipes with you. We hope you find recipes here that you enjoy making as much as we do! Learn more about us!

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Recipe Rating




21 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    We loved this white chicken chili!! We like a thicker chili and after making it the first time, I have used an emersion blender to purée one of the cans of beans with some of the broth and reduced the broth to a total of 4 cups, and loved the thicker version. Thank you for this tasty and healthy recipe!!

    1. We have several Mac and cheese recipes, is there a specific one you are looking for? You can go to the search bar and type in “Mac and cheese.”

  2. 5 stars
    Absolutely loved this easy white chicken chili recipe. Love that you just throw everything in and it’s so perfect for a weeknight dinner! Creamy and delicious!

  3. 5 stars
    I love this recipe! We’ve made it several times. I’m making it tonight but only have chicken breasts. Can I substitute the chicken thighs for breasts? If so, does the cook time change at all?

    1. Hi Adeline-

      Yay, happy to hear! Great question, we suggest 2 hours on high or 4-5 hours on low for chicken breast! Let us know how it turns out!

      xo,
      Alia & Radwa

  4. Delish! I would like to add some thickening agent to it but not sure what to add. I also love the fact that it is healthy, very healthy

  5. 5 stars
    So so easy and delicious! I added about 1/4c of the jarred jalapeño juice for some extra kick and served it with some tortilla chips!

  6. 5 stars
    So so simple and delicious! I added about 1/4c of the jarred jalapeño juice for some extra kick and served it with some tortilla chips!

  7. 5 stars
    I used this recipe and it was divine. I used a white onion instead of red, a can of corn instead of frozen (forgot the frozen corn at the store) I also sided white chili beans and added a small can of jalepeno . I had to use a little corn starch to thicken it up. With the Greek yogurt and a little sour cream it turned out AMZING! I will be using this recipe forever!! Thank you!

  8. 5 stars
    DELICIOUS! I made this today for dinner. Serves with tortilla chips and it was a hit. Definitely a keeper. We live in Houston, Tx and had to add some heat (Tabasco). Thank you for the slow cooker meals.

  9. 5 stars
    I decided to try this recipe out because I had all of the ingredients and it seemed so easy. It was amazing! So simple and yet super delicious, this is a recipe my husband and I will have regularly! Thanks so much!