One of the best white chicken chilies out there. Great taste and almost good for you. Give it a try today.
Editor’s Note: Originally Published December 4, 2010. Last Updated June 14, 2018, with updated text and photos,
I’m a big chili fan, so when I had three split chicken breast staring me in the face, it just seemed right. I was buying the ingredients for Tortilla soup, but I ran into my neighbor who was shopping for chili ingredients. So today when I got to it, I decide to do white chicken chili instead.
I wanted to use the chicken to make broth for the soup. I needed a new recipe. I want simple and common ingredients. Nothing was just right, but I found a nice inspiration recipe at The Pioneer Woman Cooks.
On a heat scale this is 3/10, but on a taste scale, it’s a 10 for us.
My Rating
The mere volume of soup produced almost made me rate it a four. Remember this is cooking for two, but it will freeze well.
Recipe notes for Excellent White Chicken Chili
First, I cooked the chicken in a large stock pot covered with water until internal temp of 160. I then shredded the chicken and cooked everything together for a couple of hours. Finally, I used some masa flour to thicken and add some corn flavor.
Since I was using chicken breast instead of the whole chicken, it needed more “chicken taste.” After multiple cookings, you can make half the water chicken broth, add 4 teaspoons of chicken base, or 4 bouillon cubes.
Difficulty: 2/10 this would be hard to louse up. Only the mincing of the garlic and jalapeno takes minimal skill but just don’t cut your fingers, and it’s ok.
Notes: Like a lot of chicken recipes, this is cheap eats especially if you used dried beans instead of the precooked ones I used for convince. If you don’t have the masa flour, you can use cornmeal. If you don’t have that, it will still taste great but will be a little thinner.
Instant Pot Version: Instant Pot White Chicken Chili
Trim the chicken of any trim-able fat then split in half to aid cooking.
Place in a large stockpot and cover with 8 cups of water. Bring to boil the decrease to low to simmer. Cover with lid and cook until internal temp is 160. About 40 minutes.
Mince five cloves of garlic and chop a large onion. Then prep the jalapeno by splitting it and removing the seeds and veins before mincing.
Remove the chicken and allow to cool for about 20 minutes and then hand shred discarding the skin and bones. Combine all ingredients except the masa flour and simmer for about 2 hours. Stir occasionally.
Mix the masa flour in 1/4 cup very hot water and mix well. Combine the soup and frequently stir for another 10 minutes then remove from heat.
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Excellent White Chicken Chili
Ingredients
- 3 split chicken breast with bone and skin - large about 3 lbs
- 8 cups water
- 1 onion - large chopped
- 1 jalapeno pepper - cleaned and minced
- 5 cloves garlic - minced
- 72 oz Navy beans - precooked, drained
- 8 oz diced green chilles
- 4 teaspoons ground cumin - increase if you want spicy
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika - increase if you want spicy
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper - increase if you want spicy
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper - black is ok if you don't have white
- 4 teaspoons Chicken soup base - or 4 bouillon cubes
- 2 tablespoon masa flour - in 1/4 cup hot water
Instructions
- Trim the chicken of any trim-able fat then split in half to aid cooking.
- Place in a large stockpot and cover with 8 cups of water. Bring to boil the decrease to low to simmer. Cover with lid and cook until internal temp is 160. About 40 minutes.
- Mince five cloves of garlic and chop a large onion. Then prep the jalapeno by splitting it and removing the seeds and veins before mincing.
- Remove the chicken and allow to cool for about 20 minutes and then hand shred discarding the skin and bones. Combine all ingredients except the masa flour and simmer for about 2 hours. Stir occasionally.
- Mix the masa flour in 1/4 cup very hot water and mix well. Combine the soup and frequently stir for another 10 minutes then remove from heat.
Have a question or something not clear? Ask in the comments.
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Nutrition is for one serving. Number of servings is stated above and is my estimate of normal serving size for this recipe.
All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
If you like this recipe or find it useful, the pleasure of a nice 4 or 5 rating would be greatly appreciated.
Originally Published December 4, 2010.
Nicole
December 21, 2010 at 1:01 pmWhite Chicken Chili is on the regular rotation at our house. I love the fact that you used masa to thicken it up. My recipe calls for cream, but I would love an alternative. I will try this next time.
Dr Dan
December 5, 2010 at 10:11 pmExactly why I did it. A hot meal with just enough heat and great taste.
Chris
December 5, 2010 at 8:12 pmWith the cold snowy weather we’ve had today, this looks so inviting!