White Bean and Chicken Chili

Super tasty recipe – it actually had flavor, which I have been looking for during my trek through slow cooker recipes…I tweaked the recipe—followed all except: did NOT pre-cook beans (just started cooking them along with everything else); added 3.5 lbs of semi-frozen no-skin chicken breasts/tenderloins straight into broth up front; added 1 jar of Ortega green salsa; 2x amount of beans; 1.75x cumin; 2x garlic; did NOT add water; kept chicken broth at 4 cups; cooked on low for 7 hours. Removed 3 cups of the bean & broth mix to puree (I pureed it in a plastic cup with a hand blender) and then put it back in the pot. Meanwhile, removed chicken, shredded it with a fork and added it back in. Stirred and refrigerated everything in the pot overnight and served the next evening with low-fat shredded Mexican cheese and light sour cream. Delicious! [Doubling the recipe maxes out the crock pot, but ensures maximum leftovers for the rest of the week!]

I found this a very boring recipe. I even added extra jalapenos and spice, and it was still kind of 'meh'. I think it would have been better without the chicken and just left as a "white beans in the crockpot" comfort food kind of recipe. If I make something like this again, I'll use less broth, leave out the chicken, spice heavily, and add bacon.

This recipe is fantastic. I make it for girls nights all the time. Low in calories, cheap, but delicious and simple. Everything you want when entertaining! I add dried cilantro to mine and a little more cumin to spice it up a bit. I didn't blend any of the beans, but that is because I don't like the texture. I like it to be more like soup then chili I guess. Top it with shredded cheese and sour cream! Try it with some Jiffy Corn bread to make a complete meal!

I like this recipe!!! I made it several times. The first time I made it, I feared 2 cans of chilies would be to spicy for the kids. But...it wasn't. However, I do reduce the liquid and add another can of beans. The chilies and cumin add great flavor. I have shared this recipe with others who have never heard of it. They too like it!!! Out of convenience, I just put everything in the crock pot. I also use 2 boneless chicken breast halves. We like this recipe better than the others we tried. Garnishing with sour cream, adds flavor and creaminess.

I loved this but altered it a little. I used store bought rotisserie chicken pulled from the bone, 1 box of chicken broth, 2 cans of white beans, 2 tsp of taco seasoning, salt, pepper, 1 can of green chilies, 1 shallot, 2 cloves of garlic grated and I garnished with sour cream and cilantro. This was a great quick meal for a cold snowy day. Thanks for your help!

After reading the reviews, I decided to add the following: can of Rotel tomatoes, carrots, celery. I used twice as much green chiles, garlic and only 2lbs of chicken breasts. After cooking for awhile, I took about 3cups and blended it smooth in my Vita-mixer....this helped thicken the soup. Wonderful! Serve with Cilantro and Sirache sauce

Family liked it. Consistency was more like soup than chili

This recipe is ridiculous & obviously was never vetted by the powers that be before posting. CANNED BEANS DO NOT NEED TO BE COOKED FOR 2 HOURS "UNTIL TENDER". Good friggin grief. They're ALREADY COOKED & TENDER. The beans in this recipe shouldn't be added until the very end, unless you're toothless &/or enjoy mush. Sadly, so many sites are now hunting for "new" crockpot recipes, that they think any recipe can be made in a crockpot. "White Chili" is definitely not one of them. Same recipe can be made in less than a 1/4 of the time on one's stovetop. Better quality as well.

I hadn't read the reviews first, so I followed the recipe exactly. I wouldn't bother making this again. It was far too watery, and the colour wasn't appetizing. I really love white beans, garlic and cumin, and with the other ingredients this recipe sounded ideal. I could see that it would look bland, so I added some colourful vegetables alongside. I was really disappointed. The flavour was quite good, but the whole thing just didn't excite the palate. The printed recipe went straight into the paper recycling after dinner!

Wonderful chili. I had chicken breast I needed to use up - had not planned on this recipe so did not crock pot. AND it was still wonderful. After reading through the reviews, I first browned the chicken pieces in a little EVOO, removed then browned the onion and garlic. I added about a cup of broth to deglase, then dumped in everything else. I brought it all to a boil, then simmered about an hour. We served with corn bread and topped the chili with fresh green onion, cilantro and shreds of Jack cheese. The family loved it and hopes that we will have one more cold day so we can make it again.

I thought that this was a little more work than I would have liked but it tasted WONDERFUL. I am more the 'throw it all in and go' type but I will be making this again someday. Maybe I will even double it & freeze some? :)

I cook the chicken overnight in the crockpot before I add everything else. The chicken always turns out tender enough to shred with a fork. Needless to say this is one of my all-time favorite recipes! Can't get enough of it.....YUM!

I did some of the modifications that others mentioned and we loved it!

I read the reviews before I decided to make the dish. I also followed a couple of recommendations per some of the reviews. I left out the extra can of water, added extra can of beans, and also added some corn. I also pureed about a cup of beans and added them back to the chili to thicken it up. The dish turned out great! I served it with a dollop of sour cream, chopped cilantro sprinkled on top with a side of homemade cornbread. It's very tasty and the flavor really goes a long way. It's definitely a comfort dish for those cooler nights, and would also be great to bring to a tailgating party during football season. I would have liked to give it four stars but i don't feel its worthy of a special occasion other than football or casual family gathering. but it is a solid dish that lives up to its flavors! I will definitely make the dish again.

Love this recipe. I like extra beans though. I'll put one more can in next time & will leave out the cup of water.

Very tasty. Great for those who love Mexican style dishes but do not like them too hot. One problem, not enough beans. I recommend 4 cans of beans. For the extra beans, you will need a large crock pot/slow cooker.

Very tasty soup. Also, slow-carb friendly. We used the whole 4 cups of stock in the recipe, but next time will half that to 2 cups. It was really way too soupy.

I find the directions EXTREMELY confusing. Ingredient list call for canned beans, but then they're cooked for 2 hours like dry. Also calls for 2 onions chopped.Needs to be a measurement. Onions vary greatly in size by variety. Example a large noonday produces about 2/3 cup chopped onion while a small 1015 produces well over a cup of chopped onion.

We love this dish. It's a nice break from chili powder/tomato based chili recipes. The green chilis and cumin give it a nice understated flavor. I do usually saute the onions first as I do not like crunchy onions in soups! :)

I know everyone raves white meat of the chicken, but for more protien, flavor, and fiber, dark meat chicken and kidney beans really pack a punch. Kidney beans not only has a higher insoluble viber content but is No.1 for colon cancer prevention. And they taste awesome!! I also grill up over hard wood chicken ahead of time and keep it in freezer for quick use in meals such as this.

Recipe calls for canned beans in the ingredient listing but sounds like dry are what's actually used for crockpot. Can anyone clarify?

I read reviews before attempting this, so I started with 1c. Less broth than recommended. I'm glad I did, I may even reduce it by a cup and a half next time, as it was still a little "brothy" for chili. I also added 1t coriander with the cumin, salt and pepper, and a 1/2t cayenne pepper. 10 min before serving, but after puréeing as directed, I added 2c frozen corn to my crock. Turned out fabulous, my whole family enjoyed it! Stirred sour cream into the kid's bowls, to cut the spicyness. I served it with pepper jack, cheddar and cilantro as topping choices, and cornbread as a side. I crumbled my cornbread into mine though too, also good! Give this one a try!

Does anyone know what the serving size for this is?

We actually liked the flavor of this dish but I would make some changes. First, using a full bone in chicken breast caused some problems. It fell apart and there were bones loose in the dish. I would suggest using boneless breasts to eliminate the risk. It had a tiny bit too much liquid for my taste so I am going to try again with a little bit less. Other than that my husband loved it.

I actually changed this recipe a bit to make it more "chili" like, and it was extremely good. I added a bunch of chili powder to the onion mixture as it was cooking, and I also put a bit of ground coriander, cumin, and chili pepper into the slow cooker with the bean mixture. I used boneless chicken breast cooked in more of the chicken broth. It was a HUGE hit at my house and had a really delicious flavor. I loved the white beans and the green chilies were VERY good - and I added a small amount of sour cream for garnish. Will be doing this again very soon.

I will have to try this one again because I omitted the chiles (thought it would get too spicy for my kids) but the result was a bland chili. And, I'll have to try it in the crock pot next time too!

This is a great slow cooker dinner. COMFORT FOOD! My husband raved about the flavor. Will def. make this again. Thanks Southern Living for another great dinner.

Love this soup/chili. Added 2+ teaspoons dried oregano, more cumin and green chilies. Quicker version is use canned beans (drained), rotisserie chicken, and 1 can cream of chicken soup along with broth for creaminess. Make in a stock pot rather than crock-pot. Freezes well. Definite keeper for me. Served with toasted, buttered french bread and Waldorf salad.

I made this last night and my husband told me this is a "make again" recipe. I did not put the beans in the blender, just ate it like a soup. Might hadd a can of Rotel tomatoes next time.

Like others have said, this was really "brothy", which wouldn't really bother me so much because I like a soup-like chili. But this isn't even close to chili. It had too many onions, and not enough of the other flavors. It was like a chicken and onion soup. After making and tasting, I added quite bit more cumin, and it still wasn't that great. There are other better white-chicken-chile recipes out there, so I won't make this again.

Changed it up, after reading about to much liquid I used 2 1/2 cups broth 1/2 cup water 1 can diced tomatoes with chilies, 1 can green chilies, chilie seasoning, 2 tsp cumin seasoned 4 chicken breasts with Emeril's seasoning and sauted n pan then cut up added 2 ears of corn cut off cob....SUPER!!!

would have given 3.5 stars - a little too brothy. should have followed others' suggestions and used less liquid. i threw it all together in a cast iron pot in ~45 mins so i didn't really follow the directions but it was still very tasty and easy!

flavors were good. I added a bay leaf. I thought it needed at least another can of beans and some extra salt.

I did not enjoy this at all. It was not chili like it was soup like, I would suggest if you are going to make this anyways cut the broth in half and add a third can of beans. And even as a soup, its flavors were only so, so. Again I would not recommend, unless you completely change the receipe.

This is a killer crock pot recipe!! I did tweak it a bit...I browned the 2 onions and garlic, and then made a departure from the recipe as written. I added the 2 cans green chiles, a half can of jalapenos, and 2 jars of Trader Joe's salsa verde (along w/ quadruple the cumin, and some green chile powder). Then I added FROZEN chicken to crock pot as someone else suggested (4 boneless skinless thighs and 3 boneless skinless breasts)and topped it with 4 cans of white beans and green chile mixture and 1 can of broth. I cooked it on low for 8 hours overnight while we slept. In the morning I removed the chicken pieces and shredded them, and refrigerated everything while I went to work. In the evening I pureed about 3 cups of bean and broth mixture and returned to pot. I added shredded chicken and salt and pepper and turned crock pot on "high" while I made a salad and relaxed after work. We served it with fresh flour tortillas, cheese, pico de gallo, and light sour cream. WE LOVED IT!!! Tons of leftovers and I'm sure it will freeze well. I'm so full and I could still eat more because it was so good! :)

I agree that this was more of a soup than a chili. I reduced the liquids to 3 cups total, and it still came out to thin for me. I used only 1/2 of a large sweet onion and one can only of the green chiles. Next time I will cut the cumin down a bit, it was too overpowering, and will go for both the cans of green chiles. I think the recipe may have meant to call for dried beans, as the canned beans are already soft and do not require the two hours to soften. Maybe using the dried beans would have made it less soupy. I put everything together at once and cooked it for six hours on low. My picky 12 year old liked it!

This is a great soup. But if you are looking for something more "chili" like I would reduce the liquid by at least half. I did add some corn starch at the end which did thicken it up a bit.

I would definitely make this again, but I think it should be called "soup" - not chili. Based on other reviews - I cut the broth from 4 cups to 3 cups... but it was still so soupy. Next time I'll try 2 cups? Very tasty though!

Made this chili and served in individual-sized bread bowls. Very good flavor overall, though I felt it was lacking a little bit. I'll have to play with different seasonings next time I make it. Other than that, very good.

Great soup! My frozen leftovers were just as delicious as the original, I will be making this again. It's mildly spicy flavor went well with cornbread. The only change I made was to use fresh cooked beans instead of canned.

When I make this recipe I add a can of white corn. Makes it really good!!

I followed other reviews and added everything at once; 3 cups of chicken broth; and no water. It needs additional salt, but overall a good solid recipe. I added cheese and sour cream and it was perfect for a fall meal.

This is a great, easy recipe. Although it calls for the chicken to be browned before putting it in the crock pot, I don't think this is necessary. I do, however, think it's necessary to brown the onion and garlic. I took other reviewers' advice and added an extra can of beans, which was definitely necessary (unless you like very soupy chili). Served with cheese and sour cream. Great fall staple.

This recipe is very tasty...Wouldn't say"outstanding". The recipe calls for 2 cans of beans. I added three and found the recipe to have more of a soup-like consistancy. I added 2 extra cans and it still seemed "soupy". If you are gonna make this, I would say maybe 3 cups of broth without adding the extra cup of water. Mine simmered all day and barely reduced enough to have a chili like thickness. My family enjoyed it, and I think yours will too....

This was quite easy to make on top of the stove. It tasted okay, but it didn't seem to be anything special. I probably won't make it again.

Umm...still trying to figure out how this got "outstanding" reviews. I'm completely underwhelmed. First of all, mine didn't look nearly as pretty as the pic. Secondly, I'm having a really hard time getting over the texture. The extremely mushy vegi's and stringy chicken aren't doing it for me. I ate an entire bowl, hoping that maybe when I got to the end, I would change my mind. Uhhh....not so much. Probably a MUCH better way to make this so the vegi's/beans aren't completely annihilated. Won't be making this one again!

Really yummy. I will make this again. To simplify, I added everything to the crock pot at once. I used 2 skinless boneless FROZEN chicken breast halves plus added 1 c. sliced carrots and 1c. chopped celery along with the onions and garlic. I used only 2 c. of water and 2 tsp. chicken bouillon granules in place of the chicken broth. In addition to the canned chilies and cumin, I added 1 chopped jalapeno pepper. When it was done (about 8 hours on low) I just used 2 forks to shred the chicken right in the crock pot. I didn't puree the beans. They were good just as they were.

Very simple and tasty! However, I would not call it a "chili", and I even reduced the broth to 3 cups. Also only used one can of chilis.

This was excellent!!!! In my cooker, it seemed to take much less time, but after the beans cooked I did 1 hr on high and 1 hr on low. The chicken was falling off the bone at that point. Next time I will do without the extra cup of water and not use chicken breasts with ribs attached. We really enjoyed it and it lasted a long time. I served it with crushed tortilla chips, sour cream and avocado as garnishes.

I would use boneless next time so I wouldn't have to worry about finding all the tiny bones. I added fresh mushrooms and also added a half bag of spinach at the end. I love to find ways to make things healthier and tastier. My husband and I loved it and plan on making it again soon.

Excellent recipe! I simplified by sauteeing onion, garlic, oil, chicken in stock pot until tender, adding canned beans with liquid, broth and cumin, cooking for approx 30 minutes, adding green chili for final 5-10 minutes. HUSBAND agreed this is restaurant quality, a one pan wonder and SIMPLE! Serving this for a dinner party next! This is going to be a regular in our household. It's cheap, easy, healthy and delicious! Served with a Brasilian cheese bread and it was a huge success!

My family and I all loved this recipe. My kids gave me a 10/10! I blended most of the beans in the blender at the end to make it creamier and also because my kids aren't crazy white beans and they loved it. I am forwarding this one on to family.