Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili
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This slow cooker white chicken chili is for the nights you want chicken soup and chili in the same bowl: creamy broth, shredded chicken, white beans, corn, and green peppers. Everything goes in raw, so the only real work is dicing an onion and two peppers beforehand and stirring in the cream cheese at the end.
It reminds me of my grandma’s chicken soup, but with a spin from the cumin, oregano, and green peppers. As often as I make dump-and-go dinners, it still surprises me that raw chicken, a can of beans, and a few cups of broth turn into dinner by evening with nothing browned first. My slow cooker chicken paprikash works the same way, everything raw and the dairy stirred in last.
If you want something to dunk, a buttery loaf of roasted garlic bread with Parmesan on top soaks up the broth. More of what I load into the slow cooker lives in my slow cooker recipes collection.
How It Comes Together
Everything except the cream cheese, cream, and garnish goes into the slow cooker at once: the chicken first, then the beans, corn, peppers, onion, broth, and spices. Cook it on Low for 6 to 8 hours or on High for 3 to 4. The chicken is done when it pulls apart easily with a fork.
Lift the thighs out onto a cutting board and shred them with two forks or chop them into bite-size pieces. Once the chicken is back in the pot, stir in the cubed cream cheese and the cream, cover it, and give it 10 to 15 minutes before stirring until no lumps of cream cheese are left. When you lift the lid at the end it will look thin, with the chicken, beans, and corn sitting in a pale, creamy broth. That’s how it’s supposed to look.
Brothy on purpose. Most slow cooker white chicken chili builds its body with two or three cans of beans, and some recipes purée part of them to thicken the pot. This one uses a single can and half a block of cream cheese, so it eats closer to a creamy chicken soup. When I want something thick and chunky, I make a classic chili instead.
It’s not the usual chili, but it still goes with cornbread just as well. I set a square of my mom’s cornbread with Bisquick on the side and eat it with a fork.
The printable recipe card below has the full ingredient list, measurements, and step-by-step instructions.
Ingredient Notes
Chicken thighs: Boneless and skinless. Put them in whole, and they’ll pull into the big, chunky pieces you see in the photos.
Anaheim peppers: Fresh Anaheim tastes greener and less smoky-sweet than the canned chiles most white chicken chili recipes call for. Two keep it mild, and one makes it milder still. A 4-ounce can of diced mild green chiles works in their place if that’s what your store has.
Cream cheese: Let it soften before you cube it. Cold cream cheese is slow to melt into the broth in the 10 to 15 minutes it gets at the end.
Salt: The ½ teaspoon is fine table salt, which is what I cook with. Broths vary in saltiness, so taste before you serve and add more if it needs it.
What I’ve Learned Making This
- If I get it going in the morning, it runs the full 8 hours on Low. If it doesn’t go in until lunch, I cook it on High instead of stretching Low to fit.
- Shred or chop the chicken on the cutting board, not in the pot. It’s tempting to save a dish, but fork tines can scratch the ceramic coating on the insert, and I’d rather wash the board.
- Leftovers keep up to 4 days in the fridge. I warm them in a saucepan over medium-low and stir often, which is just my preference. If you’d rather use the microwave, the usual practice with cream soups works here: reduced power, short bursts, and a stir between each so the cream doesn’t separate.
Creamy Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 15 ounces white beans 1 can, drained and rinsed
- 15 ounce sweet corn 1 can, drained
- 2 medium Anaheim peppers seeded and diced (use 1 for a milder chili)
- 1 medium onion diced
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper plus more to taste
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened and cubed
- ½ cup heavy cream
- chopped fresh parsley for garnish
- 1 medium jalapeño thinly sliced, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Place the chicken in the slow cooker. Add the beans, corn, Anaheim peppers, onion, broth, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper.
- Cover and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours or on High for 3 to 4 hours, until the chicken pulls apart easily with a fork.
- Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and shred it with two forks or chop it into bite-size pieces. Return the chicken to the slow cooker.
- Stir in the cream cheese and heavy cream. Cover and let the cream cheese melt for 10 to 15 minutes, then stir until no lumps of cream cheese remain.
- Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. Sprinkle with the parsley and jalapeño, if using, and serve warm.
