I’m ready for fall. I’m looking forward to the casseroles and stews and roasts of colder weather, but first, this chili. It’s the perfect dish to bridge the gap between summer and fall because while it’s warm and thick and comforting, it also highlights the best of late summer’s corn and bell peppers. And it couldn’t be easier to make. Most of the ingredients are thrown in the crockpot in the morning — including the uncooked chicken — to simmer away all day. But what you’ll love most is the creamy indulgence of this chili; a bit before serving, you stir in heavy whipping cream and sour cream, placing this chili somewhere in the 95th percentile on your belly’s glory index.
You can give this chili a southwestern flair with limes and cilantro and tortilla chips, but it’s just as good with some fresh parsley and crispy garlic bread for dipping.
Autumn, we’re ready for you this year.
White Chicken Chili Recipe for Crockpot or Slow Cooker
Ingredients:
1 large onion (about 2 c.), chopped
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 (15 oz.) cans great northern beans (rinsed and drained)
1 2/3 cups (14.5 oz.) chicken broth (either low-sodium store-bought or homemade)
1 (10-oz.) can Rotel Original (diced tomatoes with green chilies — use 2 cans of Rotel for the tiniest hint of heat)
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons ground cumin
5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (a little over 2 lbs.)
2 cups sour cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 red bell peppers, cored and chopped
2-3 ears of corn, kernels removed OR 1 ½ cups frozen corn
optional: cooking spray
Serving Options:
Group 1 – lime wedges for squeezing, chopped cilantro, chopped green onions, sour cream, shredded cheese OR
Group 2 – chopped parsley, garlic bread
Directions:
If desired, spray crockpot with cooking spray to make cleanup easier.
Add the onion, garlic powder, beans, broth, Rotel, salt, oregano, black pepper, and cumin to the crockpot. Stir to combine. Place chicken breasts in the mixture, tucking them underneath and spooning some of the mixture on top of each breast.
Cook on low for 8 hours (see below for shorter cooking time option). After the cooking time, use a spoon to break the chicken breasts into small pieces.
Stir in the sour cream, heavy whipping cream, bell peppers, and corn. Cook on low for an additional hour until heated through or on high for 20 minutes if in a rush. (The bell peppers will be slightly less tender with the shorter option).
Enjoy with serving options above as desired.
Tips:
This dish can also be cooked in your crockpot for 4 hours on high. You will get a slightly less thick chili this way, and the chicken will not be quite as tender, though definitely still fine. With a longer and slower cooking time, the chicken fell apart at the mere sight of my wooden spoon; whereas, I had to shred the chicken with a fork after 4 hours.
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Credits: Images, styling & recipe by Liz Berget for Design Mom.
I’m always looking for a good throw-everything-in kind of crock pot recipe. Thank you for sharing! This is happening soon! xox
This looks delicious! We love chili in our house but I’ve never actually made a white chili before! We’ll have to try this soon!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Can’t wait to try this!! I’ve been on a chili kick lately, but all red chili! My mom has been telling me about a white chili she had once upon a time and this sounds similar!!! Yay!
This looks so great! This may be a dumb question, but can you use frozen chicken breasts and maybe just cook it longer?
Not dumb at all! Yes – you can start with frozen chicken. You’ll probably need to let it cook around 1 – 1.5 hours longer :)
Thank you I don’t know why I never thought of this combo before ! Lovely mix
Thanks
Dale
Made this yesterday- it was great! Tons of flavor, and there was plenty for extra meals this week.
Thanks for the recipe!
So I made this on Friday and it was really tasty. Having said that, I hadn’t paid attention to the full recipe and having to cook it for an extra hour after all day in the crockpot really threw off my dinner timing. Good thing my family was patient. On Saturday we ate it for leftovers. As we were heating it up, my husband said, I really think this would benefit from some bacon. I’ve not yet encountered something that bacon doesn’t improve and this chili is no exception. We threw in some precooked bacon and our world was rocked. It took the chili from “that was good” to “this should be a regular on our menu”. Thanks!
Glad your family enjoyed it! For next time, keep in mind that you can cook the sour cream, whipping cream, peppers, and corn on high for 20 minutes instead of low for an hour if you’re in a pinch for time :)
Also – yay bacon! Definitely trying that next time!
Made this last night because I knew I’d be gone from 6 – 9. Husband texted me at my meeting to say, “OMG. SOOOO good!” The kids loved it, too! So, so easy to throw together in the AM. I agree that you have to plan ahead for that addition of cream in the last hour, but if you can make it work, definitely go for it. (And my crock pot, from Costco, tends to run pretty hot. After seven hours on low, the chicken was definitely cooked and falling apart, so I just put the cream and sour cream in then and kept it on low for the next couple hours. It was fine.)
Glad you and yours liked it ;) See reply to Lauren above for shorter cooking time for those last 4 ingredients.
are the cans or rotel drained?
Maybe it’s just our taste, but this recipe turned out too creamy for us. Even with extra chicken and both cans of Rotel, the cream & sour cream together overpowered the other flavors. For those who don’t cook with a lot of cream, I would suggest using half (or maybe less) of the sour cream & the cream and then tasting it.