Everyone will love this amazing white bean chicken chili recipe! It’s a deliciously creamy white chicken chili that gets its flavor from caramelized corn and an amazing combination of spices! It’s creamy, filling, and absolutely delicious!
The Best Chili
I like two kinds of chili – Cincinnati chili and this white chicken chili. I hate onions and most chilis have onions. This one doesn’t and the flavors are amazing. It’s kind of the perfect dinner for a cold winter evening.
And it’s won more than its fair share of chili cook-offs in the past ten years. It’s also one of our favorites for a Super Bowl party – perfect for serving to a crowd!
This chili (and this homemade chicken noodle soup) is a staple at our house during the fall, winter, oh and spring/summer. It takes a little while to make but the extra effort of caramelizing the corn and grilling the chicken is what makes this chili recipe so amazing.
And most of that time is just spent letting it all marinate together anyway – not actively cooking!
White Bean Chicken Chili Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Olive oil – we prefer olive oil in this recipe but you could also use avocado oil or coconut oil to caramelize the corn
- Chicken breasts – we prefer organic grass-fed (these are our favorites!) but you can use any chicken breasts you want.
- Lime juice – fresh or bottled is fine but try to use a good quality bottled juice if you go that route
- White beans – canned, these are also regularly called cannellini beans
- Corn – canned corn, frozen corn, or if its in season – fresh ears of corn
- Chicken broth – regular broth or chicken bone broth works great as well (one of our Whole 30 must-haves)
- Toppings of your choice – this would be great with some sour cream, tortilla strips, avocado slices, jalapeno slices, or any other toppings of your choice
Instructions
This white bean chicken chili takes a bit of time but that time is totally worth it in the end. And all of the steps are SUPER easy! It’s easy white chicken chili but does take a bit of time to simmer and let the flavors combine.
White Chicken Chili Video
You can watch the video below to see how easily this comes together!
1 – Marinate the Chicken
You start by marinating your chicken in the spices. If you skip the marinating part, the flavor won’t be as good.
Once the chicken is marinated, grill it and shred it.
Yes, you could just bake, saute, or cook the chicken however but the smokiness of the grilled chicken really makes this white bean chili amazing.
2 – Caramelize the Corn
While your chicken is cooking, put your corn in a pan and cook it until it’s nice and crispy.
Don’t be tempted to flip it too often or you’ll end up with warm corn but not caramelized corn – and this is a game-changer for this white bean chicken chili. The flavor of the caramelized corn is amazing.
It’s the same stuff we use in our white chicken enchiladas, which readers have called the perfect enchilada recipe!
3 – Make Your White Chicken Chili Base
Next up, you’re going to actually make your chili starting by combining the shredded chicken, spices, and a little flour. Read through the actual recipe below for tips and timing on these additions!
Once that’s all mixed together, you add the chicken stock, beans, and corn and bring it to a boil before moving onto the next step.
4 – Let the White Chicken Chili Thicken
Technically once things get to a boil, everything will be warm and cooked. You could eat it then BUT you aren’t going to want to because it’ll be super thin.
Instead, simply let the white bean chicken chili simmer until it’s thick. The flour that you added with the chicken in the first few steps of this recipe will help thicken it up.
Do not add more flour at this point if you think it’s still too thin – the flour won’t mix in the same way and you’ll end up floury tasting broth.
Just wait it out. The longer it simmers, the more chicken stock will be reduced, and the thicker it’ll be. We typically let it simmer until the chicken stock has been reduced by half.
5 – Serve and Garnish
Once the white chicken chili is thickened, it’s ready to serve! You can choose what to garnish it with but I’ve included some of our favorite toppings below!
I also love to serve it with this yummy cornbread recipe and pumpkin crunch cake for dessert!
- Tortilla strips
- Sour cream
- Chopped cilantro
- Shredded cheese
- Jalapeno coins
- Sliced black olives
Expert Tips
Salt and marinate your chicken for 30-60 minutes beforehand to give the chicken the best flavor. If you don’t have time, you can grill right away, but it’s better marinated.
Wait until your corn is caramelized before removing. You want it to have a bit of a brown caramelization to it to really get the sweet flavor of the corn.
Under salt the chili if you’re planning on eating it with salty chips and cheese.
Sprinkle spice evenly among the mixture rather than just dumping all in one place to help distribute the flavors in the chili.
Make double and freeze to enjoy at another time.
White Chicken Chili FAQs
The flour that you added with the chicken in the first few steps of this recipe will help thicken it up. Do not add more flour at this point if you think it’s still too thin – the flour won’t mix in the same way and you’ll end up floury tasting broth.
Just wait it out. The longer it simmers, the more chicken stock will be reduced, and the thicker it’ll be. We typically let it simmer until the chicken stock has been reduced by half.
No, this is not a low carb recipe. There are a good amount of carbs in the corn, beans, and flour that helps to thicken the chili. If you would like a low-carb chili recipe, this Cincinnati chili is a great keto or paleo friendly option!
There are so many different definitions of healthy these days that I’m not going to say yes or no to this. But if you want something with fewer calories, this almond chicken might be a better choice!
Follow this chili recipe and you’ll get a deliciously creamy white chicken chili!
White chicken chili will last in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week.
Yes, definitely! This chili freezes great in a freezer safe container. We use these for freezing things and love them!
When you’re ready to reheat, simply put it in a pot on the stove and reheat – add a bit of chicken broth or bone broth to give it more moisture.
Other Great Chicken Recipes
- Homemade chicken and noodles
- White chicken enchilada recipe
- Lemon chicken thighs
- Almond crusted chicken
- Buffalo chicken potato skins
Best White Bean Chicken Chili
Ingredients
- 2 T olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves , minced
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts , marinated, grilled and shredded
- 1 tsp salt + salt to taste
- 2 T ground cumin
- 1 T fennel seeds
- 1 T dried oregano
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 3 T flour
- 2 (15-oz) cans cannellini/white beans
- 1 (15-oz) can corn, drained, rinsed, and dried OR 3 ears fresh corn dekerneled
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup Mexican blend (or any other kind) cheese for garnish
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro for garnish
Chicken Marinade
- 1 T olive oil
- 2 T lime juice
- 2 T water
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp fennel
Instructions
- Salt and marinade your chicken. If you have time, let chicken marinade for at least a 1/2 hour. If not, go ahead and grill right away.
- Grill chicken. Once fully cooked, let cool then shred chicken.
- Heat 1 T olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, add corn.
- Toss corn in olive oil to coat, sprinkle with kosher salt, and roast for 8-10 minutes or until caramelized and brown, only stirring every few minutes. Once caramelized pull out and set aside.
- Add 2 T olive oil to the same pot you used to cook the corn and heat to medium heat.
- Once hot, add chicken and cook for 1-2 minutes just to reheat.
- Sprinkle spices (up through chili powder) over chicken, cook for another minute.
- Add flour to chicken, stirring to coat and cook for another minute.
- Add 1 cup chicken stock to deglaze, scraping up all the brown bits from the bottom.
- Add the other 3 cups of chicken stock, beans, and corn. Bring to a boil.
- Lower the heat and simmer 30-45 minutes or until reduced by half and thickened.
- Salt to taste. Be careful to not over salt if you will be adding salty cheese and/or eating with salty chips. It's better to under salt.
- Serve hot and garnish with cheese, cilantro, and other desired toppings.
Nutrition Info
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Shauna Smart says
This chicken chili looks so delicious! I might have to make this for dinner this week 🙂 Pinned!
Shauna @ The Best Blog Recipes
Britni says
Shauna, you should. It is a great fall dinner!
Quinlan Bristow says
Hello..
I am making this for a chili cook off and need to bring a quart… if I double the receipt do you think I will have enough?
I cant wait to try it!!
Thank you
Quinlan
BritniV says
The original recipe makes more than a quart already so you should have plenty.
stevenandkari1018 says
Looks yummy Brit! And yes, Cincinnati Chili has onions but only if you order a four or five way! Other than that it’s onion free 🙂 Sounds like it’s time you come for a visit and a trip to Skyline!!
Britni says
Oh good Kari, I was hoping Cinncinnai chili didn’t have any onions. And I like a three-way but won’t touch anything more than that. I would love to come out to Ohio but doesn’t look like it’ll be happening anytime soon.
marcia@joyismygoal says
making this right now –almost ready to reheat chicken-and mix it all together:) I am Pretty excited taking it to a gathering tonight–Thanks for the recipe w/ pictures always makes it better too so you know if you are on the right track
marcia@joyismygoal says
oh its yummy so flavorful
Britni says
Marcia, so glad you liked it. It’s Richie’s recipe (of course) so probably could assume it’d be good.
Denise says
This looks lovely! I pinned it to try in the future. I found you through Turn It Up Tuesday blog hop.
Britni says
Thanks for stopping by Denise, I hope you do try it out.
Natasha Peter says
I’ve never really liked beans, but this looks so delicious that I may try it!
Thanks so much for sharing on Turn It Up Tuesdays! 🙂
Jen Nikolaus says
I have a thing for chili and I have a few great recipes but this one goes the extra mile. I think I’ll make it this weekend for a Halloween party I’m going to! Thanks for sharing on Saturday Night Fever! Pinning this to our group board as well as my dinner idea board. See you again this Saturday!
Angela says
I made this last night and we had the missionaries over for dinner, it was such a hit! thanks!
BritniV says
So glad you liked it Angela!
Stephanie Simmons says
I love this chili recipe so much! So flavorful and easy to make 🙂
Shihoko says
I have learnt a lot about American cooking from the post. I only knew vegetable Chilli. I did not know Chilli is dishes too. Look fantastic. Thank you for the post.