A dairy-free healthy Crock Pot White Chicken Chili full of flavor and hidden veggies. This easy slow cooker white chicken chili makes dinner time a breeze.
My personal favorite is the deliciously fresh poblano chilis. I bought them at a Latin American store. If you can’t get your hands on those where you live just buy canned green chili. The chili will still be absolutely delicious.
If you are as big a fan as I am of Mexican-inspired cuisine you will also love these Crock Pot Chicken Tacos. They are made with chicken breast, too.
How To Thicken Crock Pot White Chicken Chili
What’s probably the best part is that the chili can be either chunky or super creamy without the need for dairy.
For a creamy of thick chili all you have to dois use your potato masher to mash up the cannellini beans and voilá, consistency as if you’d emptied a whole carton of cream in there.
If you prefer it chunky you leave the chili as is once it’s cooked. OR you can go in between and just mash up a couple of beans.
The important part here is to use dried overnight-soaked cannellini beans instead of canned. The recipe can, of course, be made with canned beans as well but the consistency will be different. I highly recommend soaking your own beans.
Can Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili Be Frozen?
Absolutely! This is a great recipe to double and freeze.
To defrost and reheat all you have to do is place the frozen crock pot white chicken chili in the fridge the night before. Let it completely defrost. Then add the defrosted chili to a pot and bring to a boil. Let simmer the absolute minimum amount of time necessary.
The reason you don’t want to defrost by adding the frozen block to a pot or pan is that the chicken overcooks and all the liquid evaporates and you are left with a pasty chili.
Crock Pot White Chicken Chili
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 4 stalks celery
- 2 poblano chilis
- 1-2 jalapeño chilis
- 2 chicken breasts - 10 oz each
- 1 cup dried cannellini beans >> soaked overnight, rinsed, and drained
- sea salt
- pepper
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp ancho chili powder
- 4 cups chicken broth
- sour cream
- cilantro
- avocado
- tortilla strips
- lime juice
Instructions
- Peel and chop onion and peel and crush garlic.
- Wash and chop celery and wash, deseed, and chop chilis.
- Optional: Stir-fry vegetables in a large pan over medium heat until onions are translucent or even browned. (This is not absolutely necessary, gives great flavor though).
- Add vegetables to crock pot and place two large chicken breasts in the slow cooker, too. Add soaked drained beans and spices and then pour chicken broth over everything.
- Put on the lid and set to 8 hours on low.
- Remove the chicken breasts from the slow cooker and place on a cutting board to then shred with two forks.
- If you want your soup to be super creamy you can take a potato masher and mash up some of those super soft cannellini beans before you add the shredded chicken back into the crock pot.
- Serve in bowls and top with one or all toppings listed in the ingredients. A dollop of sour cream, some cubed fresh avocado, fresh cilantro, crisp tortilla strips, and lime juice. To make your own tortilla strips check out the instructions on my Tortilla Soup Recipe.
Rosemary Lemon Chicken
Teriyaki Chicken Meal Prep Bowls
Winter Salad with Sage Vinaigrette
Brad says
This looks delicious! I’d like to make it this weekend to I need to serve 8-10 people. I know simply doubling every ingredient does not necessarily yield the same delicious result. I’m considering making two batches in separate crock pots…or, making one batch in a Dutch Oven. Do you have other suggestions?
Lorena says
If you have a really big slow cooker you can most definitely simply double all the ingredients for this specific recipe. Mine wouldn’t have been able to hold all the liquid though so if you have two crockpots that’s definitely an option. Same with the dutch oven. I don’t think mine is big enough to double the recipe.