This crock pot white chicken chili is everything you want in comfort food: warm, cheesy, and ready with almost no effort. It’s a true dump-and-go recipe with just 5 simple ingredients—shredded chicken, white beans, salsa, Pepper Jack cheese, and cumin.
A small recipe that is fully scalable, make it for two in a mini 2-quart crock pot, or for a crowd or party in a full-size slow cooker. Either way, you’ll have a thick, hearty chili that cooks in a couple of hours and tastes like you worked all day.
Jump To (scroll for more)
- ❤️ Why I Love This Recipe
- 🐓 Ingredients for 5-Ingredient White Chicken Chili
- 👨🍳 Quick Overview: Crock Pot White Chicken Chili
- 🐓 Variations and Ingredient Options
- 👨🍳 Tips to Get It Right Every Time
- ↕️ How to Make This a "For Two" or "Family Size" Recipe
- 🐔 Using Raw Chicken in White Chicken Chili
- ♨️ Making Chicken Chili on the Stovetop
- 🍽️ Serving White Chicken Chili
- ❄️ Storage and Reheating
- 📋 More Crock Pot Chili Recipes
- ❓ FAQs
- 📖The Recipe Card
Featured Comment by Kaitlyn :
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "I have used this recipe numerous times now, and I love it! I have entered multiple chili cook-offs with this recipe, and I have won 3rd place and 1st two different years! Hoping to get 1st again this year!"
❤️ Why I Love This Recipe
- Salsa does the heavy lifting — the flavor base with most of the spices in one jar.
- Tried, true, and award-winning — we’ve made this for 45+ years, and it’s even won cook-offs.
- Ultra simple, dump-and-go — stir, cover, and walk away.
- Infinitely scalable — works in a 2-quart mini crock pot up to a full-size slow cooker for a crowd.
- Cheesy comfort food fast — hearty, ready in a couple of hours, and tastes like it cooked all day.
🐓 Ingredients for 5-Ingredient White Chicken Chili
- Chicken — shredded, like rotisserie or leftover baked chicken. Use of raw chicken is discussed below.
- White beans — Great Northern or Navy, canned and precooked
- Salsa — your choice of mild, medium, or hot for heat control
- Pepper Jack cheese — for creaminess and spice (or Monterey Jack if you want it milder)
- Ground cumin — the one spice you can’t skip
Optional: chicken broth at the end to adjust thickness.
👨🍳 Quick Overview: Crock Pot White Chicken Chili
1. Add to the crock pot: undrained white beans, salsa, shredded chicken, ground cumin, and cubed Pepper Jack cheese.
✅ Pro Tip: For lower sodium, drain and rinse the beans and replace the liquid with low-sodium broth.
2. Cook on low for 4 hours or high for 2 hours. It’s done when the cheese has melted in and the chili stirs together smoothly.
3. Near the end, add chicken broth if you want to thin the chili to your taste.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
🐓 Variations and Ingredient Options
- Chicken — best with shredded rotisserie or leftover cooked chicken. For raw chicken, see the section below.
- Beans — Great Northern or Navy are classic. Cannellini or black beans also work. If you drain them, replace the liquid with a little chicken broth.
- Salsa — the backbone of the flavor. Choose mild, medium, or hot to control spiciness.
- Cheese — Pepper Jack adds creaminess and heat; Monterey Jack keeps it mild.
- Seasoning — cumin is essential. Add cayenne if you want extra heat.
- Optional — chicken broth at the end to thin the chili to your taste.
👨🍳 Tips to Get It Right Every Time
- Cooked beans only — don’t use raw dry beans in this recipe. They won’t cook in the time of this recipe.
- Salsa matters — it’s the backbone of flavor, so use a brand you’d eat with chips.
- Ingredient amounts are flexible — it’s chili, not baking. A little more or less chicken, beans, or cheese won’t hurt.
- Leave room in the crock pot — normally avoid filling past 75%. Since this chili is mostly heating and blending flavors, you can push it a little — just wait to thin with broth until the end.
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↕️ How to Make This a "For Two" or "Family Size" Recipe
This recipe makes about 8 servings, but it’s easy to scale down or up:
- Half recipe — fits in a 2-quart mini crock pot and makes 4 servings.
- Full recipe — best for a 3½- to 5-quart crock pot.
- Double recipe — use a 6½-quart or larger crock pot.
✅ Pro Tip: Wait to add any broth until the end to adjust the thickness to exactly your preference. That way, the chili won’t push the crock pot past its recommended 75% full limit.
🐔 Using Raw Chicken in White Chicken Chili
You don’t have to start with cooked chicken — raw works too.
- Oven method: Bake chicken breasts (or thighs) at 350°F until 165°F internal temperature, about 35–40 minutes. Shred while warm and stir into the chili.
- Crock pot method: Place raw chicken breasts or thighs directly in the slow cooker with the other ingredients. Cook on low for 4 hours or high for about 2½ hours. Shred and stir back in before serving.
Using rotisserie or leftover chicken keeps this recipe truly dump-and-go, but both raw methods work just as well.
♨️ Making Chicken Chili on the Stovetop
Since all the ingredients are safe to eat as-is, the stovetop version is quick.
- Use a large pot or Dutch oven.
- Add the beans, salsa, chicken, cumin, and cheese. Stir well.
- Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15–20 minutes.
- For best flavor, let it gently simmer up to an hour so the tastes blend.
- Add broth at the end if you want a thinner chili.
🍽️ Serving White Chicken Chili
Due to the cheese, this chili stays warm for a long time, which makes it great for tailgates, potlucks, or family dinners.
- Serve with tortilla chips, extra cheese, sour cream, cilantro, avocado, or guacamole.
- Pair it with Old Fashioned Cornbread, Cornbread Biscuits, or a simple side salad.
- Leftovers make an easy next-day lunch — it reheats beautifully.
❄️ Storage and Reheating
- Refrigerator: Store in an airtight container for 3–4 days.
- Freezer: Freeze up to 3–4 months in freezer bags or sealed containers. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Reheating: Warm gently on the stovetop or in the microwave until hot. Add a splash of chicken broth if it seems too thick after storing.
📋 More Crock Pot Chili Recipes
Looking for more cozy slow cooker chili ideas? Try these favorites:
- Crock Pot Three Bean Turkey Chili — hearty, lighter, and protein-packed.
- Crock Pot Texas Chili — bold and spicy, bean-free style.
- Low Fat Crock Pot White Chicken Chili — a lighter variation on this recipe.
- Salsa Verde Chicken Chili — tangy twist with green salsa.
Small Crock Pot Chili
A classic All-American chili with ground beef, a mildly spicy tomato-based sauce, and tender beans. You can easily make chili for two in a mini crock pot or larger for a crowd.
❓ FAQs
With medium salsa, the spiciness is about a 4/10. For less heat, use mild salsa and Monterey Jack cheese instead of Pepper Jack. For more heat, choose hot salsa or add a pinch of cayenne. Adjusting the cumin won’t change much; let salsa and cheese do the work.
This chili is naturally thick. It’s easier to cook it thick, then thin at the end with chicken broth. Keep the bean liquid and about 2 cups of broth for a moderate thickness. For extra thick, skip the broth; for more soup-like, use up to 4 cups. If you drain the beans, replace that liquid with broth.
Yes, you can. See the section above on Using Raw Chicken in White Chicken Chili for details on both oven and crock pot methods.
Yes. A half recipe fits perfectly in a 2-quart mini crock pot and makes 4 servings. The full recipe works best in a 3½–5 quart crock pot.
📖The Recipe Card
Small Crock Pot White Chicken Chili (Easy 5 Ingredients)
Video Slideshow
Ingredients
- 48 oz white beans - Great Northern or Navy
- 3 cups shredded chicken - about 1 pound
- 1 cup medium salsa
- 8 oz pepper jack cheese cubed
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 14 oz chicken broth - Optional, add at the end to adjust thickness
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Prepare about 3 cups of shredded chicken (rotisserie or baked). The use of raw chicken is discussed in the post.
- Cube 8 oz. of pepper jack cheese.
- In a small (3 to 5-quart) crock pot, combine one 48-oz jar of white beans (undrained),1 cup of salsa, about 3 cups of shredded chicken, 2 teaspoons of cumin, and 8 oz of pepper jack cheese (cubed).
- Cook on low for 4 hours or high for 2 hours. Stir once or twice during cooking to distribute the cheese, or just stir well at the end. If desired, add up to one 14 oz can of chicken broth at the end to thin the chili to your preferred consistency.
- Serve hot, refrigerate, or freeze.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Use Rotisserie chicken or bake and shred some chicken.
- Adjust the heat according to the type of salsa. You can use Monterey cheese instead of Monterey Jake cheese. You can also adjust the cumin to taste.
- As written, a 3 to 5-qt crock pot should be good. Refer to the notes in the post to adjust the recipe size.
- Good in the refrigerator for 3–4 days. Good in a freezer for 3–4 months.
- Add broth at the end of cooking to achieve the desired thickness. This will also help it fit into a smaller crock pots.
- If you bring this to a gathering, print extra copies—you’ll be asked for the recipe.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You can adjust the number of servings above; however, only the amount in the ingredient list is adjusted, not the instructions.
Nutrition Estimate (may vary)
Publisher note: Originally published March 2, 2010. It has been updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
RMS says
You mentioned to use canned beans in this recipe as dried beans won't cook safely in a crockpot. Dried beans cook wonderfully in a crockpot, just not in the amount of time used in this recipe. You could use dried navy beans that have been cooked in the crockpot previously (about 6 hours oh high), then add all your other ingredients. I've done it this way many years. I like to control salt everywhere and anywhere I can, even if it's just a minor difference, or low sodium cans are available. Besides, they taste better!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Welcome to the blog
You are right, this is not a dump for dry beans recipe (my ham and bean soup is). There is no time to cook them, generally about 5 hours on high or 8–10 on low. And they should be briefly boiled ahead of cooking (the "quick soak").
I did fix the wording (that should have been better) to say it is a time, not a safety issue.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Stacy says
There previously was a note about how to cook this with raw chicken. I can’t seem to find it now. Can you please share?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Stacy,
Welcome to the blog.
My bad. When I refreshed this recipe in October, I was moving it to the main post and took it out of the recipe card. It got removed but not inserted. I have placed it back in the recipe card.
Dan
Maria Tetterton says
How many people will it feed?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Maria,
Welcome to the blog.
As written, it makes 10-12 cups (depending on the thinning you choose). I call that 8 servings. In the recipe post, you will find the discussion of the size of the recipe and crock pot size in the "↕️How to make this a "for two" or "family size" recipe" section.
I hope that is what you need.
Dan
Chris Zengler says
So delicious and so easy. I use leftover cooked chicken breasts from the freezer to speed things up. We make this often. Just the two of us and we get two meals easily.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Chris,
Welcome to the blog. This is one of our favorites too.
Thanks for the note and rating.
Dan
Catherine C says
Hi Dan, Can I use ground turkey instead of chicken? Or do you
have a white chile with ground turkey? Thank You
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Catherine,
Welcome to the blog.
This should work well with ground turkey but I have never tried it.
I don't have any white chili specifically for ground turkey. I have one red chili specifically for it at https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/crock-pot-three-bean-turkey-chili/.
Enjoy your chili, it you try this recipe with ground turkey, please come back and let the community know the results.
Dan
Melody (Lodi) says
Thanks for another winner to add to my repertoire! While I was preparing this, my husband was skeptical of the recipe (and I think he was prepared to dislike it). However, he absolutely loved it! He's raved about it and looked forward to leftovers 🙏.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Melody,
Welcome to the blog.
This has been one of your favorite recipes over the years. I took the summer off and only cooked it once but it will now be at least monthly until spring.
Thanks again for the comment and also the rating.
Dan
Raven White says
Hi, I can’t eat dairy will it taste good without cheese? Can I add vegan cream cheese to make creamy?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Raven,
Welcome to the blog.
This recipe depends on the cheese for lots of the texture and taste. Eliminating it is just not going to be the same. The vegan cream cheese will bring a completely different taste profile. So that is your choice but I would look at other recipes. Perhaps https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/low-fat-high-taste-crock-pot-white-chicken-chili/
Dan
KJill says
This is very very good! Wanted to try it out before cooking for a soup and bread event and I am sure now this is a great choice. Also love that it is so easily scalable both up and down! Used half medium salsa as suggested and half TJ's green chili salsa. Poached the chicken first in crock pot -shredded - then dumped everything together, could not be easier, this really works!
KJill says
Follow-up, this was a major hit at the soup and bread event. We were the only chili and only spicy entry, even people wary of spice thought this was just perfect. A keeper recipe for us, Thank You!!!