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Cozy up with a bowl of Chicken Chili made with white beans, chicken, poblano chilies, cilantro, coriander and lime. Flavorful and healthy, this one-pot meal is hearty and delicious! Serve it up with this Skillet Cornbread! Video.
This recipe for Chicken Chili is hearty, healthy and delicious and full of so much flavor! Made with shredded chicken white beans, fresh poblano peppers, cilantro, coriander and lime giving it a delicious mild heat and brightness.
Watch How to Make White Chicken Chili!
How to make White Chicken Chili!
- Braise chicken thighs or chicken breasts in the flavorful cooking liquid, then simply shred with two forks before adding the white beans.
- Although the cooking time on the stove is about 40-ish minutes, the actual hands-on time is relatively short. And in the end, you’ll have a healthy, delicious, one-pot meal, made from scratch, perfect for Sunday dinner. . . and lunches thereafter.
- You can also make this in an Instant Pot or slow cooker!
While the chicken chili is simmering, why not make a batch of skillet cornbread to go with the meal?
We’re back home after taking a couple of weeks off, exploring Boston and the coast of Maine. The fall color was absolutely astounding and we were incredibly lucky with the weather – blue skies and sunshine – perfect for kayaking and exploring Acadia National Park. So beautiful! I fell in love with the area. But home is nice too and it feels good to hunker in and get cozy.
Brian lit a fire in the fireplace and is bundled in a blanket watching the game while I around fiddle around in the kitchen making this chili and cornbread.
All feels well in the world. I savor these simple moments, grateful when they come, knowing how quickly the tides can change.
Give the Chicken Chili a whirl and see what you think. I personally love these flavors. For even more flavor you can always toast whole cumin seeds and coriander seeds and blacken the poblanos over a gas flame, removing the skin. But for ease and time, the recipe is simplified. Feel free to experiment.
Happy week, friends!
More chili recipes you may like:
- Vegan Chili Verde with Jackfruit
- Homemade Chili Seasoning
- Homemade Instant Pot Chili
- The BEST Vegan Chili
White Chicken Chili Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 50 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 mins
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Mexican
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
A flavorful recipe for White Chicken Chili using white beans, fresh poblano peppers, cilantro, coriander and lime. Serve with cornbread!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 6 garlic cloves, rough chopped
- 1–2 poblano peppers, finely diced (or sub 1–2 x 4 ounce cans green chilies – please see notes)
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or GF Bragg’s liquid amino acids
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, more to taste
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano ( or regular)
- 1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts or thighs – boneless, skinless
- 3 cups white beans, cooked. ( 2 x 14-ounce cans, drained –or 1 1/2 cups dry, soaked and cooked.)
- 1 bunch cilantro, chopped, divided
- 2 limes
- pinch cayenne or chipotle powder to taste
- —–
- Garnishes: cilantro, sour cream, lime, avocado, sliced jalapeno
Instructions
- Heat oil in a large heavy bottom pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and poblano pepper and sauté until tender about 8 minutes.
- Add cumin, coriander and chili powder and lightly toast, for about 1 minute.
- Add broth, scraping up the brown bits. Turn heat to high.
- Add soy sauce, vinegar, oregano and salt.
- Stir, add chicken breasts or thighs whole and bring to a boil. Cover turn heat to low and keep at a low simmer for 20-30 minutes, until chicken is coked through and breaks apart easily.
- Once the chicken is tender, shred it into smaller pieces with two forks. (If it is not shredding easily, it may need longer to cook.)
- Add the cooked white beans and juice of 1 lime ( for a thicker consistency you could mash 1 cup of beans). Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat, uncovered for 10 minutes, until it reduces and thickens just a bit. Taste, adjust salt and spice level -adding a pinch of chipotle powder or cayenne of you like.
- Stir in half the cilantro and serve.
- Divide among bowls, serve with more cilantro, a dollop of sour cream, avocado, and lime wedges.
Notes
- If using canned green chilies, add when you add the chicken, no need to sauté. Fire-roasted canned chilies add good flavor, although I prefer the vibrant color of fresh poblanos.
- Feel free to add 1-2 cups corn for extra heartiness.
- Feel free to use whole seed cumin and coriander, toasted and ground
- SLOW COOKER: place everything in the slow cooker (including beans) and cook on LOW 7-8 hours or high for 6 hours.
- INSTANT POT: Saute and stir the onion, garlic and fresh poblano chilies (if using) in oil until fragrant, about 4-5 minutes, then add the spices, soy sauce, water or broth, vinegar, salt, oregano, chicken, and canned beans, scraping up any browned bits. Pressure cook on high for 12 minutes. Naturally release 10 minutes. Shred the chicken with two forks, returning it to the pot. Taste for salt, adjusting and adding a pinch of chipotle powder if you like. Stir in half the cilantro and serve with any garnishes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 313
- Sugar: 3.2 g
- Sodium: 789.3 mg
- Fat: 9.4 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 24.7 g
- Fiber: 7.2 g
- Protein: 33 g
- Cholesterol: 82.7 mg
Keywords: white chicken chili recipe, best white chicken chili, chicken chili verde , white chili, white bean chili, white bean chili recipes
I made this with dried mayacoba beans and added a finely diced jalapeño and a tablespoon of diced chipotle peppers. This was sooooo yummy! Thank you for such a great recipe! My hubby and I absolutely loved it!!!
★★★★★
Sounds delicious Candice, thanks for sharing!
This was fantastic! It’s definitely being added to our regular rotation.
Great to hear Jennifer!
Tried this last week. Everyone loved it! Definitely putting it in the regular rotation. Thanks for sharing, Sylvia!
Great to hear Jennifer!
Another winning recipe!! This packs a flavor punch and was gobbled up by the entire family. I only used 1 poblano as I wasn’t sure of the heat (for children), but it can easily take 2 …. YUM
★★★★★
Great to hear!
Made this for probably the 5th time and used homemade duck stock and added some chipotle in adobo sauce and it was a little too savory so added the sweet corn like suggested and came out perfect. This is by far the best white chicken chili recipe there is. It comes out perfect every time.
Thanks so much Matthew!
Made this tonight and it was delicious! I took your (and others’) suggestion and added a cup of frozen sweet corn with the beans.
Served with toasted sourdough brushed with olive oil and garlic.
10/10 would recommend!
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed it Moe!
Great recipe. Love your spices. So flavorful. I used the cans of chopped chilis and beans. I substituted Worcestershire sauce for soy sauce (didn’t have any). I will definitely make again.
Awesome Jo- gald you enjoyed this!
This chili is amazing. I’ve cooked it many times now for friends and family, and it’s always a big hit. Family members have started feeding it to their guests as well. I usually reduce the broth by half to make it thicker. I also add 1-2 cans of hominy and 1-2 green peppers to add more veggies.
★★★★★
Thanks Karen! Love it!