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This delicious white chicken chili is made homemade tortilla strips, perfect for cold days whenever you desire a warm cozy meal.

White Chicken Chili

White Chicken Chili is a twist on traditional chili, using white beans and chicken as an alternative of the same old red beans and beef. It’s lighter, full of flavor, easy to make, and could be customized to fit your taste preferences. Mixing the veggies into the soup is a great method to create a creamy consistency without
adding cream. Serve this dish together with your favorite toppings, like avocado, sour cream, or red onion. For those who prefer ground turkey, try my White Bean Turkey Chili.

What’s White Chicken Chili?

White chicken chili is a flavorful stew that mixes tender chicken with white beans, poblano peppers, fresh corn, and spices. Unlike its red counterpart, which is usually tomato-based and spicier, white bean chicken chili is milder. It’s often finished with sour cream or Greek yogurt so as to add richness and a velvety texture.

White Chicken Chili Ingredients

• Poblano Peppers: Slice two small poblano peppers, or any green chiles.
• Onion: Slice one white onion.
• Cumin adds smokiness to this white chili chicken recipe.
• Beans: The perfect beans for white chili are white beans like Great Northern Beans, cannellini beans or navy beans. Don’t drain the can—pour the liquid and the beans into the pot.
• Broth: Use 4 cups of low-sodium chicken broth or chicken stock.
• Bay Leaf: Add one bay leaf for a subtle herbal flavor and depth.
• Chicken: You’ll need a pound and a half of boneless chicken breasts.
• Salt to season the chili
• Corn Tortillas: Make your individual tortilla chips with less oil by baking the corn tortillas.
• Corn: I prefer fresh or frozen corn, but drained canned corn works too.
• Toppings: I like to recommend topping this white bean chicken chili with fresh cilantro, sliced jalapeños, and a squeeze of fresh lime. Another topping ideas are sliced avocado, Greek yogurt, red onion, low-fat sour cream, or shredded Monterey Jack cheese.

The right way to Make White Chicken Chili

1. Sauté the onions and poblano in a big pot for five minutes. Add the cumin and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, followed by the can of beans with the liquid, broth, bay leaf, and chicken.
2. Simmer: Increase the warmth to medium-high and convey it to a boil. Reduce the warmth to medium-low and simmer for 25 minutes.
3. Tortilla Strips: Cut the 4 tortillas into strips. Place them on a sheet pan in a single layer, spray with oil, and season with salt. Bake until golden and crispy for 10 minutes at 350°F.
4. Chicken: Remove the chicken breasts from the pot and shred them.
5. Mix the Chili: Remove one cup of chili and mix it in a blender or with an immersion blender. Return the chicken and blended broth to the pot with the corn. Bring it to a simmer, after which turn off the warmth.
6. The right way to Serve: Pout the chili into bowls and top with tortilla strips and some other desired toppings.

The right way to Thicken White Chicken Chili without Flour

I used two methods to thicken this white chicken chili without adding flour:

1. Puree a cup of the bean-broth-veggie mixture for a creamy consistency without cream.
2. Don’t drain the beans, because it adds viscosity.

Customizing Your Chili

One among the nice things about white chicken chili is how customizable it’s. Listed below are some ideas to make it your individual:

• Spice It Up: Sauté diced jalapeños with the onion and poblanos for more heat. You may also add chili powder or cayenne pepper.
• Add Veggies: Throw in diced bell peppers or baby spinach for extra nutrition and color.
• Chicken: Swap the chicken breasts for boneless chicken thighs should you prefer dark meat. 
• Make It Creamy: Add sour cream, Greek yogurt, or cream cheese for a richer chili.
• Hate Cilantro? Skip it.
• Tortilla Strips: For those who don’t have the desire to make the crunchy tortilla strips, swap them with tortilla chips.
• Crockpot White Chicken Chili: To make this chili within the slow cooker, sauté the vegetables in a skillet and add all of the ingredients to the crockpot. Slow cook on low for eight hours or high for 4 hours.

What to Serve with White Chicken Chili

Full of protein and fiber, this healthy white bean chicken chili with tortilla strips is a filling meal by itself, but when you wish to serve it with something, listed below are some side dish ideas:

Storage and Meal Prep

Leftovers taste even higher the subsequent day and can remain good for as much as 4 days in an airtight container. Reheat it on the stove or within the microwave. Make a double batch and keep it within the freezer as much as 3 months for a fast, easy meal later.

Are you able to freeze white chicken chili?

This easy white chicken chili recipe is ideal for freezing. For those who plan to serve it to a gaggle, store it in a bigger container. For those who want individual portions for quick meals, store it in two-cup containers. Thaw it within the refrigerator the night before and microwave or heat on the stove until warm.

More Chili Recipes You’ll Love

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 45 minutes mins

Total: 55 minutes mins

Yield: 5 servings

Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups

• ▢ olive oil spray
• ▢ 2 small poblano peppers, sliced
• ▢ 1 sweet onion, sliced
• ▢ 1 1/2 tablespoon cumin
• ▢ 15 oz can white northern or navy beans, with their liquid
• ▢ 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
• ▢ 1 bay leaf
• ▢ 1 1/2 kilos chicken breasts, or boneless chicken thighs
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ 4 6-inch corn tortillas, yellow or white
• ▢ 1 cup sweet corn, fresh or frozen
• ▢ chopped fresh cilantro, thin sliced jalapeno rounds & lime wedges for topping
• ▢ optional toppings: sliced avocado, Greek yogurt, low-fat sour cream, diced red onion, or jack cheese

• Preheat the oven to 350F.

• In a 3 quart or large pot, heat some olive oil spray over medium. Add the poblano peppers and onion, cook occasionally until soft, about 5 minutes.

• Add cumin and cook, stirring often until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

• Add full can of beans, chicken broth, bay leaf and chicken breast; raise the warmth to medium-high, and convey to a boil then lower the warmth to medium-low and simmer for 25 minutes.

• While the soup is simmering, stack on a cutting board and cut the tortilla stack in half, then into 1/2-inch wide strips.

• Arrange the strips on a sheet pan in a single layer (you could need to make use of a couple of pan, or bake in rounds) & spray with cooking oil. Season the strips with just a few pinches of salt and bake until golden and crispy, about 10 minutes.

• Remove chicken breast from pot, shred and reserve.

• Pull 1 cup of the chili from the pot and mix. Return to the pot with the shredded chicken; add corn. Bring to a simmer & turn off the warmth.

• To serve, top the chili with a handful of tortilla strips, cilantro, jalapeños and some other desired toppings.

Last Step:

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• Add a jalapeno or two when sauteeing the vegetables for a kick of warmth
• Keeping the bean liquid when cooking adds viscosity to the soup
• Mixing the veggies into the soup is a great method to create a “creamy” consistency without adding cream
• Fresh or frozen corn is best, but canned corn (that has been drained) works as well.

Serving: 1 1/2 cups, Calories: 372 kcal, Carbohydrates: 40.5 g, Protein: 41 g, Fat: 5.5 g, Saturated Fat: 1 g, Cholesterol: 99.5 mg, Sodium: 590 mg, Fiber: 7.5 g, Sugar: 6 g