This White Chicken Chili recipe is a healthy and lighter alternative to the traditional beef and red bean chili. It's an easy one pot meal made with chicken breasts, white beans, and topped with a cilantro cumin sauce. Ready and on the table in no time!
White Chicken Chili recipe for a PERFECT winter meal
White chicken chili recipe is definitely one of my favorite recipes. It's easy, quick, healthy, and makes a ton of leftovers!
While living in Florida, I probably ate chili only a couple times a year because it's really not the type of food you want to eat and then go lay out at the beach.
Now I live in New England, so I make chili all the time, especially during the winter months.
Types of beans to use in white chili
There are three type of white beans for the best chili:
- Navy - A small bean that cooks up quickly, becoming soft and creamy. They are mild in flavor and work well in all kinds of soups, chills, and stews. It was my Grandmother's favorite bean to cook with and it's my favorite too! My bean of choice for this white chicken chili recipe and I love making them homemade from dried in 30 minutes with my Instant Pot White Beans recipe.
- Great Northern - Medium sized beans with a mild, nutty flavor. A bean with a firm skin that holds up well to longer cooking periods without breaking up. Sometimes I like to substitute great northerns for the pinto beans in my beef chili recipe.
- Cannellini - A larger kidney shaped bean that has a meatier nutty flavor with a tender skin. Most commonly used in the Italian soup Minestrone. I like to saute them with spices and herbs for a quick Italian side dish or add them to a pasta dish.
Want a thicker chili? Remove some of the beans to a bowl and purée with an immersion blender or in a stand up blender. Add back to the chili and stir!
Cilantro sauce for one of the most flavorful chili toppings
The idea of topping the chili with a cilantro sauce stared with having some leftover Indian cilantro relish in the refrigerator.
Indian cilantro relish is made simply with cilantro, lemon juice, jalapeños, cumin, and salt and is used as an accompaniment to my tandoori chicken.
Figured since the cilantro relish was similar to Mexican flavors, I'd adjust it and use it to top the chili.
I added more cilantro, ground cumin, and fresh lime juice, blended it up and stirred it into a bowl of chili. DELISH!
Can try it as a cilantro lime dressing too!
For another variation of the cilantro sauce, add it to sour cream and use it to top the chili.
You can even use the sour cream cilantro lime dressing to top a fajita salad, nachos, or tacos. Yum!
Looking for even more chili recipes? Try these:
Try this White Chicken Chili recipe with Cilantro Sauce next time you want a hearty, yet light and healthy chili.
PIN it for later and please let me know in the comments how you top your chili!
White Chicken Chili Recipe {with Cilantro Sauce}
Ingredients
FOR THE CHILI:
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion , chopped
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh or jarred jalapeño peppers , minced
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
- 8 cups good quality chicken broth (use 6 cups if you want it thicker and less soupy)
- 2 cooked chicken breasts (boneless and skinless), chopped or shredded (To cook chicken breasts: cover chicken with water and simmer until done, about 20 minutes)
- 1 recipe of homemade white beans or subsitute 4 (15.5 oz) cans of white beans, drained and rinised
- salt to taste
FOR THE CILANTRO SAUCE:
- 1 ½ cups fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice or water
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- pinch of salt
optional toppings: shredded cheese and/or minced jalapeños
Instructions
FOR THE CHILI:
- In a large dutch oven over medium heat, sauté onions and garlic for 2 minutes. Add the minced jalapeños, oregano, cumin, and white pepper and cook together with the onion/garlic mixture for another minute.
- Increase heat to medium-high and add the chicken broth, chicken, and beans to the pot. Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes.
FOR THE CILANTRO SAUCE:
- Place all ingredients in a small food processor or blender and process until smooth. Add more lime juice or water if need to thin out.
- To serve: place chili in bowls and top with cilantro sauce, shredded cheese, and/or extra minced jalapeños.
Recipe Notes & Tips:
- For a thicker chili, purée some of the beans before adding to the chili.
- Can freeze chili by placing in a freezer proof container for up to 6 months. Thaw chili in the refrigerator when ready to use.
- For a more developed flavor, make the chili the day before and heat up in a heavy bottomed pot, over medium low heat.
Genie
I plan on substituting smoked sausage for the chicken and will use canned chopped green chilies instead of jalapeños. Has anyone else tried this?
Karrie
Yes, you can alter this recipe to suit your taste preferences and substituting smoked sausage is a great idea Genie! I would brown the sausage in the pot, remove and set aside, then add it at the end of the soup's cooking time. I have substituted chopped green chilies in this soup and it's delicious! Let me know how it turns out for you.
Karen (Back Road Journal)
It doesn't have to be cold outside for me to enjoy chili, especially with the cilantro topping. When I living in New Hampshire, I used Swad coriander chutney often but it is not carried in my market here in Florida. I'll try your version.
Karrie
So true Karen! I've never heard of jarred coriander chutney but just looked it up and it got awesome reviews! People love it! I'll have to look for it around here.
Kelly | Foodtasia
Karrie, tihs white chili looks so delicious! I love the white variation. And the cilantro sauce looks amazing!
Karrie
Thanks Kelly! The cilantro sauce is a definite flavor booster!
mimi rippee
This is wonderful. I really love the cilantro topping! And thank you for using white pepper. I've never seen it on a recipe before, but I really love it!
Karrie
Thanks Mimi! I love white pepper too and use it often, but really never see it in recipes.
Adam
Looking for a real winter after living in FL? We have 2-3 ft of snow coming to us in the next 24 hours. Better stock up on the white chili, gonna be rough out there! Be safe Karrie:)
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Good times, Adam! I was just siting here thinking the 6-8 inches of snow we got this past weekend just wasn't enough. This is way better than winter in Florida, where it's a yucky 80 degrees
Claudia Gallardo
That’s the best part of Florida the 80 degree weather in the winter 😃 anyways the recipe looks amazing and I’m definitely going to try it ! From a south Florida girl eating chili in the summer lol 😂
Karrie
Oh how I miss those Florida winters! Thanks so much Claudia and please let me know how you like the chili!
Sandi
I made this recipe 2 nights ago and it is fantastic! So easy to make and on a cold winter night it is just the right thing for supper! Will be making this one again and again!
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Thank you, that's great Sandi! So glad you liked it.
Trevor aka The Burger Nerd
Love your take on this classic comfort food. To be honest, I needed to see this recipe because even though I make a good pot of "standard" chili, it's one of those dishes I just have never gotten around to tweaking or experimenting much with....and to be honest, I'm kind of bored with my chili recipe. Thanks for sharing this recipe, looks super tasty!
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Thanks Trevor! BTW, I bet you make an awesome chili burger.