One of my goals this year is to go camping more as a family. We’ve gone camping in the years past, and with three little boys, it can be umm… challenging. I love seeing my boys running wild and free in the wilderness as they were meant to do, but the bugs, meal planning, and freezing cold nights make me think twice.
No one sleeps very well, washing dishes is a pain in the rear, and the boys get dirt in every little crevice! It’s a lot of work to prepare for the trip, a lot of work once you get there, and a lot of work to put everything away when you get home. That’s a lot of work!
But on the other hand, we make memories, spend time with family and friends, become one with nature, and unplug from technology… which is all good and needed.
Last summer when we camped with my sister’s family and some family friends, my sister made this white chicken chili, froze it in Ziplocs and then warmed it up in a dutch oven for dinner.
It was pretty slick for campground cooking. I’m all about doing the prep work at home ahead of time where my dishwasher can do the dirty work for me!
It’s one of my family’s favorite meals in the wintertime, and I’ve made a few changes to make the recipe a little healthier.
The original recipe calls for canned soup and a packet of taco seasoning, and I simply made a white sauce that substitutes for the canned soup, and added the spices one by one. This cuts down on the processed food a little bit, and really doesn’t add too much time to the prep.
It’s convenient because it cooks all day while you do your thing, and then you add the creamy ingredients an hour before serving.
Go crazy with the toppings if you can! Fritos, shredded cheese, avocado, cilantro, and sour cream are my favorite. When we go camping again this year, I’m definitely putting white chicken chili on our menu!
PrintCreamy Crockpot White Chicken Chili
A family favorite made healthier, and so easy too! No cream of chicken soup or seasoning packets.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 hours
- Total Time: 6 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 3–4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, uncooked
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- dash of cayenne pepper
- 14.5 ounce can chicken broth
- 4.5 ounce can chopped green chiles
- 15 ounce can white corn, drained
- 2 15.5 ounce cans white beans, drained (Cannellini or Great Northern are good)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon Better Than Bullion chicken base
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 1/2 cup sour cream
Instructions
- Place chicken breasts on the bottom of a crockpot, and add chili powder, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, chicken broth, green chiles, corn and beans. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
- About an hour before serving: In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium high heat. Whisk in flour, and allow to bubble and brown a bit. After a few minutes, gradually whisk in the milk and chicken base.
- Allow the sauce to simmer for 4-5 minutes, whisking frequently until it is slightly thickened. Add salt and pepper.
- Pour sauce into crockpot and mix to combine.
- Add sour cream and mix.
- If chicken has not already shredded with stirring, take out large pieces, shred them with two forks, and return to the crockpot.
- Let the chicken chili cook on low 1 more hour if you can.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Serving
- Calories: 421
- Sugar: 5g
- Sodium: 704mg
- Fat: 14g
- Saturated Fat: 7.1g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5.5g
- Trans Fat: 0.4g
- Carbohydrates: 39g
- Fiber: 7.1g
- Protein: 36g
- Cholesterol: 92mg
Disclaimer: the links in this post for the Better than Bullion chicken base are Amazon affiliate links.
I’m a big fan of chicken. So I’d like to do 5 or 6 chicken breasts. Would you suggest changing anything? And I’d also like to add noddles. Again, do you think I should change anything? Maybe adding more broth?
Christina, yes I think if you add a little more chicken, you could add maybe 1 or 2 more cups of broth to keep it from being too thick. Hope you enjoy!
Really good – will kick up the spice next time. Added diced celery and onion at the beginning also! Might add some carrots too next time just for more veggies
That sounds good Leah! Love your additions.
Looks great! Have you ever tried it with Lite Sour Cream?
I haven’t tried it but should be fine. Enjoy!
I have a question on the Creamy Crockpot White Chicken Chilli. I am making this today and I don’t have the Better than Bullion chicken base. I did pick up Knorr Homestyle Chicken Stock, will that work for the last few steps? Or do I still have to use cream of chicken?
Do you have a chicken bullion cube? If so, you can crush it up in a few tablespoons of hot water and make a paste that would be similar to the Better Than Bullion. I’m afraid if you add more chicken stock it could be more liquid than you need.
The Knorr chicken stock is thick until you add water. I was thinking it does the same as a bullion but in a more paste natural form. I don’t know I might try and see if it’ll work before I add it to the pot. I will let you know how it turns out. Thanks for your response! I can’t wait to try this chilli!
Oh that sounds fine then. Enjoy!
Just wanted to let you know that it turned out great here in Germany and using the Knorr chicken stock worked fine! Everyone enjoyed it! Thank you! 🙂
Thank you so much for letting me know Colleen all the way from Germany! Love how food brings us together :0)
I love white chicken chili, but this recipe looks amazing. I know what’s for dinner tomorrow night.
This may be silly question…but can you use frozen chicken? That’s all we have and I’d love to make this for tonight’s dinner 🙂
You can use frozen chicken – when I start with frozen, I just put the crockpot on high for the first few hours, and then switch to low. Enjoy!
was thinking of substituting half boneless chicken thighs in this recipe, do think that is a good idea???
I think that would be great. Might just add a little more richness with the dark meat.
Do you think this would keep in the fridge well for 2 days before serving? I have to make a LOT. I need to feed about 50 fraternity guys – 30 of them who will have walked 20 miles in below freezing temps (long story – fundraiser for MS – total walking is 160 miles over 8 days – we’re feeding them after day 3). I need to make it ahead of time so I can transport it to the university. Then warm in crock pots until time for eating. I wanted to start making batches probably tomorrow (Tue) but didn’t want to freeze it as I’m not sure how much “cook” time I’ll have Saturday afternoon. That…and the frat house I’ll be working from has a questionable kitchen (I’m not even sure I recall seeing an oven 😉 Any suggestions or advice appreciated!!
Two days in the fridge should be fine. Great idea for feeding a crowd. One piece of advice might be to just have a little extra chicken broth on hand to add if the chili thickens as it sits in the fridge. Sometimes I find that I need to thin it out when reheating. Sounds like a great cause! Hope this helps Carol!
This looks absolutely amazing and I cant wait to try it, but can I use precooked ground chicken instead of the chicken breasts?
Could I use corn starch instead of flour (and if so, how much)? Trying to make it gluten free 🙂
Thanks! Sounds delicious!!
Lindsay, you could definitely try thickening with cornstarch. I found these instructions on Argo’s website. Hope this helps!
“If you’re cooking hot liquids like sauces, stock or broth, 1 tablespoon of corn starch per cup of liquid will give you a thin to medium consistency that’s appropriate for soups or very thin sauces.
2 tablespoons per cup will give you a thicker, more gravy-like consistency.
When you want to thicken hot liquids, first mix ARGO Corn Starch with a little cold water until it’s very smooth. Then, gradually stir the corn starch/water mixture into the hot liquid until it’s blended. Be sure to stir constantly. You’ll want to bring the mixture to boil, and boil it for 1 minute. You’ll notice there are no lumps.”
Julie,
Can I cook this in 4-5hrs on hi slow cooker setting or will chicken be too tough?
Think that should be fine. The liquid should keep the chicken from drying out. You just may have that burnt edge around the crockpot that makes it a joy to clean 🙂
I am making this as I type… but I put the chicken base in the crock pot with the rest of the ingredients… About to make the roux… Here is hoping it’s still as delicious!! Looks amazing, can’t wait to try it!!!
It’s pretty forgiving so no worries! Hope you enjoy :0)
Found this recipe on Pinterest and I gotta say, YUMMMMM! I am by no means a master chef in my kitchen, I’ve had plenty of hits & misses, but I followed your recipe to a T and it turned out amazing! Thanks so much for this, I’m always on the lookout for new recipes to add to my book and this one is definitely a keeper!!!!!
Cassie, I’m so glad you loved it. Thanks for taking the time to comment and let me know!
This is a great recipe! Well done, Julie.
OK. This is by far the best WCC I have ever made (in the slow-cooker or otherwise)!
It’s so easy. . .especially not having to pre-cook the chicken – and it’s healthy and just plain delicious!
My kids love this with a side of tortilla chips for dipping, and I love it with a side of arugula salad with olive oil and lime dressing!
Many thanks.
You are so welcome Lisa! We love it too!
Julie,
I just wanted to let you know that I am so completely in love with this recipe. It’s so so good and I’m just so happy I found it! And it’s healthy too! Thank you 🙂
Thanks Michelle! So glad you found it!
This looks great! I’m hoping to make it tomorrow. Just a question… what kind of “seasoned salt” did you use? I’ve seen this in recipes but have never bought any. I have some Lawry’s. Is that the kind of thing to use?
Sorry just getting back to you – yes I used Lawry’s seasoned salt.
so I ran out of time and thought you said I could cook this on high for 4-5 hours but that was the part for the sauce… Do you think I can do that?? And also I only bought one can of beans and so I put in black beans… Lol I apparently don’t real directions well
And I couldn’t find chiles..
My family loves this chili, so thanks for the recipe. Our one year old had his first green chilies; I used 1/4 of the can this time. For us, it could have had a bit more but it still tastes lovely. As other Europeans I used the Knorr liquid concentrated bouillon in my roux. Since I made this beforehand and reheated it on a stovetop, I didn’t put any cornstarch in; that worked perfectly. Next time we’ll add toppings, I forgot those (which is crazy for someone who loves cilantro, avocado and cheese as much as I do).
So glad your family liked it!
I made this today after coming across it on Pinterest. It is SOOOO GOOD!! I made it identical to the recipe except that I used a bouillon cube because it’s all I had. This is definitely going into the regular rotation. Even my husband, who always has something to say about everything I cook, said “Mmmm this is pretty good!” First trip to your site too–great find on both accounts!
Thanks so much! I had to laugh when I saw your comment because I was literally in the middle of making a double batch of this very recipe. Glad it was a hit!
I just wanted to let you know I’ve made this several times. It is the easiest meal but so much flavor, it turns out delicious every time. I’ve started cutting carbs and calories so this last time I used guar gum to thicken it (eliminated the butter, flour, and milk) and it turned out great, again, and didn’t really affect the flavor. This recipe has been a much needed addition to my list of quick and easy meals that I can take for lunch every day. No chopping! Wonderful! Thank you!
That’s great. Thanks for your comment!
Hello, My husband is not a fan of left overs, but we enjoy this chili. Would I be able to freeze half of it and then defrost it? Also would you suggest putting ingredients together in a freezer bag to make quickly in the future? If so, what would you put in the bag? Thank you!
Sorry just getting back to you Samantha – yes, you can definitely freeze half. If you want to freeze ingredients ahead of time, you could put the first 10 ingredients listed in a freezer bag ahead of time. Then you would just need to make the white sauce with the flour, butter, and chicken base at the end. Hope you enjoy!
Julie,
I never gave the final report on feeding the 2 fraternities last Feb. I was just worrying I lost this recipe, but thank heavens I bookmarked it. The chili was a HUGE success…I had a 5 gallon bucket of it made up…I didn’t bring any home :). Everyone raved about it, and possibly it won me ‘sweetheart mom’ of my sons Frat :). Looking forward to making this for the fall!!
Carol, how sweet of you to come back and give me an update. I’m so very happy it all worked out. A very sweet mama you are indeed!
I made this for my family for the Ravens game tonight and it was a big hit! I topped it with cheese, Fritos, avocados and green onion. Yum! I also halved the green chillies because my family doesn’t like spicy and it was perfect, flavorful but not spicy at all. Thanks!!!
Perfect game food! So glad everyone liked it!
Made this today and it is so good. I did use Chipotle Chili Pepper in place of chili powder (because I didn’t have any) but it was wonderful and had a great smokey flavor.
I think I have some Chipotle Chilli Pepper too, I’ll have to try it next time I make this! Glad you guys enjoyed and hope you all are doing well! xoxo
Made this tonight 2 crockpots (double recipe) one whole crockpot is gone! Some people garnished with bacon bits, some with cheese, avocado, green onions! Thank you for sharing such a great recipe! From the 4yr old to the 40yr old and the 8 people in between thete was 100% approval!!! 👌
Hi Nichole, so glad it was a hit with everyone!
Absolutely perfect!!!! This one is a keeper.
Wonderful Kim!
Hi! I’m planning to make this tomorrow and I’m wondering if you drain the green chilies? I’ve never used them before so I’m not sure whether to drain or not? Thanks!
Dianne
Hi Dianne! No, you do not need to drain the green chilies. Enjoy!
Great thanks! and do you use salted or unsalted butter or does it really matter?
I almost always use salted butter, good question!
I made this tonight for dinner and it was awesome! My boyfriend asked me to make it again this weekend! And its extemely easy to make! Thanks for sharing!
I agree, it is so easy. Glad you liked it!