Have you ever had creamy white chicken chili? If not, you’ve got to give this recipe a try. It’ll surely satisfy your Fall chili cravings.
There’s nothing like a pleasing, comfort meal and creamy white chicken chili fits right in. I’ve made white chicken chili before, using my daughter Katy’s recipe. This recipe is adapted from a firefighter in Upsala, Minnesota who is a finalist in a national firefighters chili cook-off contest. Garrett Doucette is one of 5 finalists in America’s Best Firehouse Chili Contest, sponsored by Hormel. Since it is starting to cool down in Minnesota, I knew I had to give his recipe a try.
What Ingredients Go Into Creamy White Chicken Chili?
- Chicken – Garrett is a turkey farmer, so obviously, he uses turkey in his recipe. Fresh chicken is so much easier to find in stores, (especially when it’s not Thanksgiving), so I used boneless skinless chicken breasts. The breasts were cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Leftover cooked chicken would work too. Just shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
- Onion – adds lots of flavor to the chili.
- Chicken Broth – for the liquid and I used Better Than Bouillon chicken base.
- Great Northern Beans – or cannellini beans for more protein, and one can gets mashed to make a thickener.
- Chopped Green Chilis – from a can for a nice bit of heat.
- Garlic powder, cumin, and oregano – spices for flavor.
- Sour Cream and Heavy Cream – for the richness of flavor and to pull everything together.
Along with these ingredients, there is a variety of garnishes that can be used such as, corn chips, avocado slices, pickled jalapeno peppers, chopped cilantro, or grated cheese.
Making the Creamy White Chicken Chili
Cook the chopped chicken bites and onion together until the chicken is cooked through which takes 12 to 15 minutes. You can tell when the chicken is done when there are no pink spots on the meat and clear juices are coming out.
Next, all the ingredients except the cream and sour cream are added and simmered for about 30 minutes. 3 cans of white beans are used, but I mashed the beans of one can as a thickener.
You can put one can of beans into a food processor with a half cup of the broth and puree the beans. Another option is to put the beans into a bowl and use a fork to mash them. In the event that your chili seems a little too thick, add some more chicken broth.
After 30 minutes, remove the pot from the stove and stir in the sour cream to combine, then add the heavy cream. Serve the creamy white chicken chili hot and garnish with your choice of toppings. A few splashes of hot sauce are good in this too. I used Gringo Bandito hot sauce…my new favorite.
Make the Chili with Leftovers
To make this recipe super versatile, it can be made with leftover rotisserie chicken or turkey. Just cut the meat into bite-sized bits and add them after the onion is cooked along with the beans and broth.
This saves time and the white bean chili with chicken could be an easy weeknight meal.
With cooler weather coming, this white chicken chili will hit the spot. Let me know how you like it.
And be sure to try these tasty recipes:
- Stovetop Lentil Chili
- Hearty Vegetarian Chili Recipe
- Stir-fried Pork with Rice Noodles
- Stovetop Italian Chicken
- Classic Thanksgiving Green Bean Casserole
Creamy White Chicken Chili
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs chicken breast, boneless, skinless, diced to 1/2 inch pieces (3 breasts)
- 1 med. onion, diced
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 cups chicken broth, (I used Better than Bouillon, chicken base)
- 3 15 oz cans Great northern beans, or cannellini beans, rinsed, 1 can mashed
- 2 4.5 oz. cans chopped green chilis
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 1/2 cups sour cream
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- In a dutch oven or stock pot, add the oil, chopped onion and chicken pieces and cook on medium heat 12 to 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and not pink,
- Next, add all other ingredients except the cream and sour cream, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer, 30 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream to combine, then add the heavy cream. Serve hot with garnish of your choice, (cheese, tortilla or corn chips, jalapeno pepper)
Notes
- To mash 1 can of beans, put them into a small bowl and use a fork to mash them. Or, place the beans into a food processor with 1/2 cup of chicken broth and puree by pulsing 4 or 5 times.
- Garnishes are optional but they add texture and flavor and are highly recommended.
- This recipe was first published in September, 2018.
- Recipe adapted from Garrett Doucette, Upsala, Minnesota.
Nutrition
This recipe post has been updated on November 22, 2021.
Hi Joe,
Just to let you know, we have used and enjoyed your White Chicken Chili recipe many times since we read your original post a while ago, and just this week we tried it again using our left over Thanksgiving turkey rather than chicken. Since we had a rather large turkey we doubled the recipe. It turned out excellent once again, and per your suggestion we also added two garnishes that really kicked it out of the park for me; to each bowl that I ate I added, “a large squeeze of fresh lemon”, plus a table spoon of “505 Southwestern Flame Roasted Green Chile Sauce”. I turned out FANTASTIC. No kidding, my mouth is watering just writing about it. Thanks again and keep the great recipes coming!!!
Thanks Al,
I also love this recipe and don’t prepare it often enough but it’s a perfect time of year to make it.
Joe
Just came across this, honored you liked the recipe
Great recipe Garrett. I hope you won the contest because you deserve it.
We had this with hot-out-of-the-oven cornbread and it really was the perfect fall supper.
We love white chicken chile. This is perfect for the start of chili season in Minnesota!
This is a different recipe than I’ve used before Al, but it is very good. You could kick it up a bit with 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Hope you like it. Very good as left-overs.