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!
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Creamy Crockpot White Chicken Chili
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 hours
- Total Time: 6 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Soup
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Description
A family favorite made healthier, and so easy too! No cream of chicken soup or seasoning packets.
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.
Jayce says
Best WCC recipe by far. Only difference is I use org ground chicken rather than breasts. Prefer the texture. Thank you!
Julie says
I’ll have to try that. Thanks!
Ashton Walters says
Hi,
I found your site looking for slow cooker recipes and this looks great! I have been living abroad for the last few years and some things are impossible to find like condensed soup (which makes casserole so much less convenient) but I now make my own cream of mushroom and cream of celery. It’s really tasty and is so much healthier than the canned stuff. I freeze it and it could be perfect here because it covers flavors less than white sauce.
Nikki says
What if I don’t have the chicken base? Will it make a big difference or can I substitute it with something else. I’m making it now and just realized I didn’t have it.
Trina Dale says
This recipe sounds delicious BUT I need a NO bean chili. Due to IBS I can’t eat beans. Can I just omit the beans?
Julie says
You could omit the beans, but you might try subbing something in their place. I wonder if cubed sweet potato might be worth a try?
Nicholas gulich says
I make this at work for the guys and I at least twice a year everybody loves it thanks for the recipe
Julie says
Thanks Nicholas, this is a great recipe for feeding a crowd. Glad it was a hit!
Brittany Goodman says
HELP!! I accidentally mixed all ingredients in from the beginning except for the better than buillion. It’s been on low for about 4 hours. Is there any way to save it?
Julie says
Hi Brittany,
I think just keep going at this point and see what happens. Go ahead and add the Better Than Bullion now, and just let cook for a few more hours. Then shred your chicken and hopefully it will still be fine. The only thing I’m wondering about is the raw flour…
Brittany Goodman says
Thanks Julie — that worked perfectly and it was still delicious and creamy! I even subbed almond milk for reg milk (my daughter is dairy free) and it was SO GOOD!! Thank you so much for your quick reply!!
Julie says
So glad it still worked out. Thanks for letting me know!
lisa donnellan says
I love this recipe – it’s a staple for me.
My question:
If I want to make this for ‘gluten free’ friends, what flour would you suggest I use to make the roux?
Thanks.
Lisa
Julie says
Great question Lisa, you could substitute sweet rice flour for the wheat flour to make it gluten free. Follow the directions as written. Glad you like the recipe!
Denise says
Do you rinse the beans, also? Using organic, canned Cannellini beans, and even after draining, there is a thick, paste-like coating on them. Also, what size crock-pot works best for doubling this recipe? Thank you.
Julie says
I rinse the beans, but don’t worry if there is still a bit of residue. I believe it would fit in a 6 quart sized crockpot if you double it.
Emily Hollingsworth says
My hubby and I love this recipe! Made it a bunch of times! Only way I can get him to eat white meat chicken! This last time I tried and succeeded replacing the roux with nueftchatel cheese (low fat cream cheese). Turned out great! Thanks for the recipe!!
Julie says
Good to hear Emily! Thanks for the feedback!
R Diez says
Have you ever used dried beans with this recipe? I bought 2 lbs of beans but I feel like that might be too much. I will probably also have to adjust the amount of liquid for the beans to cook completely.
Julie says
I haven’t tried this with dried beans, but I think it could work. Maybe soak them overnight beforehand. Yes, I agree 2 lbs would be too much… Maybe 1 cup?
Kelly Flugstad says
This is my family’s favorite dish. It is so easy and delicious!!! I make it so often that I have kept about 5-6 empty spice jars and have put all the spices for one recipe in each jar so I only have to measure the spices once every seven times I make it. This makes it even easier to an already easy recipe. I have made it for many families in need of a meal. It is definitely my go to recipe. Great for winter or summer!
Kate says
My sister swears by this recipe so I’m excited to make it!! Could this be modified to be made on the stovetop?!
Julie says
Yes – just add all the ingredients except the last seven to a large pot or dutch oven and simmer for 1-2 hours or until the chicken is tender enough to shred or cube. Then follow the recipe instruction for the last seven ingredients, add the to the pot and bring to a simmer for a bit longer until you are ready to serve it. Enjoy!
Katy says
Loved this chili when a friend made it! I was planning on making it tonight but forgot to get it in the crockpot on time. Any idea if I could make it using an Instant Pot?
Julie says
Katy, I’m glad you liked it! I’m sure there is a way to do it in the instant pot, but I don’t have one so I’m afraid I’m not able to be very helpful. I think you could do just your chicken and some broth in the instant pot, and then just add the beans, corn and spices etc after that and just cook on low for a couple hours?
Katy says
Thanks for your reply! I think I’ll give it a whirl and see what happens! 🙂
Monica says
Katy, how did the IP work out?
Katy says
I’m making this again tonight and just noticed your comment! The instant pot worked great! I am using it again tonight! I followed your directions, but omitted the beans. Cooked on manual high pressure for 20 minutes. Stirred in the beans when I shredded the chicken. I found they just kind of turned to mush when I had them in the IP from the beginning. So tasty and so quick!
Monica says
We have loved your recipe for years! Thank you from me and all my boys! I have been asked to make it for some friends, only gluten free. Having not cooked gluten free, what do you think would be the best substitute for the flour?
Julie says
Hi Monica, thank you so much for your kind words! I don’t have a lot of experience with gluten free cooking, but I’m wondering if you could make a corn starch slurry instead of the butter, flour, milk mixture that this recipe calls for to thicken the soup. I’ve also posted a turkey chili recipe that we love that uses masa (corn flour) to thicken the broth. Here’s a link to that one (with a video) https://www.instagram.com/p/BPpn_ksAbSN/?taken-by=lovelylittlekitchen
Hope this helps!
Mandy says
I had made this recipe with the cream and cream cheese before and panicked a minute when I could no longer find it on the board I knew I had pinned it to! So I searched and found it again with the healthier ammendements and we’re about to have it for dinner. It smells wonderful. I added onions and fresh garlic and used ground venison (we had it in the freezer and it needed to be used!) I’ll follow up with the feedback from my very discerning boyfriend who requested this recipe. 😉 We will top it with a bit of cheddar and sour cream (I’ll add avocado, the bf hates it lol, my gain!) and maybe some crushed tortilla chips… Cheers!
Erica says
I’ve made this recipe several times and this is by far one my favorite recipes ever! I even made it today. Even my young nieces love it and they typically don’t love spicy food. Thanks for sharing!
Julie says
Thanks Erica, glad you love it!
Amber says
Do you put the chicken in the crockpot frozen or thawed?
Natalie says
Hi there! This recipe looks AMAZING! What’s your suggestion if I want to make this in my Instapot? I was thinking 20-25 mins? Since I bought my Instapot a couple years ago, my crockpot has not been used. 😬😬😬😬
Julie says
I haven’t used an instant pot so I’m not sure. You could try 20 min. It really just needs to cook the chicken so it will shred. I think I would add the creamy ingredients after that. Let me know what you think if you try it!
Rose says
Amazing recipe! Honestly it is scrape the last bits out of the crockpot good! Family and friends will be asking for the recipe
Julie says
So happy to hear it was a hit!
Kelley says
I have been making this chili for years. Its so good!! Everyone that I have fed it to loves it. My household and most of my friends love spicy food, so I usually add jalapenos or habanero peppers… but other than that, the recipe stays the same. Mexican stayle cornbrean goes great with this 🙂
Julie says
Thank you Kelley!