This easy White Chili is a hearty soup that’s ready in 40 minutes. It’s made with ground chicken and sour cream for an incredibly creamy and comforting dish. Perfect for busy weeknights and meal prep.
Chili is one of the best comfort foods for colder weather. If you love traditional chili, my award-winning version never disappoints.
This white chili, however, is a deviation from the traditional red chili, but nonetheless, it is amazingly delicious and satisfying.
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Why This Recipe Stands Out
Love a good hearty bowl of chili but want to try something a little different? Here’s why this recipe stands out:
- Classic Chili Flavors: This white chili has all the classic flavors you love in a regular chili but with a unique twist that makes it stand out.
- Quick and Easy: This recipe is one of those easy and quick dinner ideas that you’ll want to make all winter long.
- Healthy: This white chicken chili is packed with protein from the chicken and white beans, making it a healthy option for dinner.
- Great for Fall and Winter Dinners: It's the perfect meal for those cold winter nights when you’re craving something warm and comforting.
Key Ingredients
- Ground Chicken (or Turkey) - The star of our chili, ground chicken or turkey is lean, flavorful, and packed with protein.
- White Beans - We use Cannellini or Great Northern Beans for their creamy texture and mild flavor, which pairs perfectly with the spices.
- Green Chiles and Jalapeno - These add a mild heat and a wonderful depth of flavor to our chili.
- Smoked Paprika, Cumin, and Chili Powder - These spices are the heart of our chili, adding a warm, smoky, and slightly spicy flavor.
- Chicken Broth - It not only adds the liquid base for our chili but also infuses it with a rich, savory flavor.
- Tomatoes - Diced tomatoes add a touch of acidity and freshness to balance out the flavors.
- Sour Cream - We use sour cream in this recipe for its rich, creamy texture and its ability to balance out the spiciness, making our chili even more delicious.
Substitutions and Variations
This white chili recipe is already pretty flexible, but here are some variations and substitutions you can try:
- Meat: The recipe calls for ground chicken, but feel free to substitute it with ground turkey, beef, or Italian sausage, just like in this sausage and white bean soup.
- Vegetables: This recipe is pretty forgiving when it comes to vegetables. You can add more carrots or replace them with celery.
- Beans: We used Cannellini and Great Northern Beans, but any white beans will work. If you're feeling adventurous, you could even try it with chickpeas.
How to Make White Chili
Step 1: Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pot and cook ground chicken until brown. Transfer to a plate.
Step 2: Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the pot. Sauté onion, carrot, garlic, and jalapeno for 5 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes.
Step 3: Add tomatoes, beans, chiles, cooked chicken, spices, and 4 cups of broth. Bring to a boil, then let it simmer.
Step 4: In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of soup broth with sour cream. Add the diluted sour cream to the chili and cook for another 5 minutes.
Step 5: Top the chili with avocado, cheese, and cilantro when serving.
For full list of ingredients and instructions, see recipe card below.
What to Serve with White Chili
Vegetables
- A fresh, crisp green salad is a great way to start your meal. You can also serve some steamed or roasted veggies on the side.
- Corn on the cob or vegan cornbread are classic choices to serve with a chili recipe.
Potatoes
- If you're a potato lover, you can serve your white chicken chili over a baked potato or with a side of crispy potato wedges.
Bread
- If you're serving this white chicken chili to a crowd, consider making homemade bread to serve on the side.
- This chili also tastes great with a side of dinner rolls or a slice of crusty bread.
Frequently Asked Questions
Start by adding just ⅛ teaspoon of Cayenne pepper. Give everything a stir and try the soup. If you think it needs more kick, add ⅛ teaspoon more. A little Cayenne pepper goes a long way, so be careful not to overdo with it.
You have quite a few options. Consider topping it with shredded cheese like Mexican blend or Cheddar, cubed avocado pieces, tortilla chips, and/or chopped cilantro.
White chicken chili can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Make sure to store it in an airtight container to keep it fresh.
Yes, you can freeze White Chicken Chili. But due to dairy ingredients not doing well during freezing, I suggest you do so before you add sour cream. Just reserve the portion of a soup that you're planning to freeze and let it cool. After that you can finish up cooking the remaining Chili and add sour cream.
If you make this recipe, please leave me a comment below and rate it. I always appreciate the feedback. Also, you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest.
Recipe
White Chili With Ground Chicken And Sour Cream Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ lb ground chicken you can also use ground turkey
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion finely minced
- 1 medium carrot diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cans white beans Cannellini or Great Northern Beans, drained and rinsed
- 8 oz (2 4-oz cans) Green Chiles mild
- 1 jalapeno diced
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon Cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 tablespoon Chili powder
- 4-5 c chicken broth
- ½ c sour cream
- 2 tablespoon flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large heavy bottom pot over medium heat. Add ground chicken and cook for 10 minutes or until it's brown on the sides making sure to break large chunks with a wooden spoon. Transfer ground chicken to a plate.
- Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and stir in onion, carrot, garlic and jalapeno. Cook for 5 minutes or until onion is translucent. Stir in flour and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add diced tomatoes, beans, chiles, cooked ground chicken, smoked paprika, chili powder, Cayenne pepper, cumin, salt and 4 cups of chicken broth.
- Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat to a medium low and cook for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile remove 1 tablespoon of broth from the pot with soup and mix it with sour cream. Add diluted sour cream in Chili, give everything a nice stir and cook for another 5 minutes. If Chili comes out too thick, you can add the remaining 1 cup of broth.
- To serve - ladle the soup into the bowls, top with cubed avocado, sprinkle with shredded Cheddar cheese and cilantro.
Notes
Nutrition
More Recipes You'll Enjoy
- Award-Winning Chili - If you're tired of one-note chili recipes, this is the flavorful, cook-off-winning chili you've been dreaming of, complete with a secret ingredient that sets it apart from the rest.
- Crockpot Chili - Not to brag, but if I had another Cook-off, I would have won it again and again. This Crockpot Chili Recipe combines all the flavors of my original Award Winning Chili but also has some new unexpected ingredients.
- Mushroom Chili - This Mushroom Chili Recipe is the ultimate vegan chili you'll ever need! Hearty mushrooms make a wonderful substitution for ground beef.
- Vegan Butternut Squash Chili - You'll love this Vegan Butternut Squash Chili Recipe. Minimal prep work and bursting with flavor, this healthy slow-cooker chili is so delicious, you’ll forget it’s completely vegan.
Iryna Bychkiv is the founder and writer of the culinary website Lavender & Macarons, where she shares clean, European-inspired recipes that are delicious, easy to prepare, and made with wholesome ingredients. Iryna loves creating meals that are simple yet healthy and unique, including vegan and vegetarian recipes.
Iryna is also a freelance writer for MSN and Associated Press Wire.
Mary says
I made this tonight for a quick meal and WOW, this is a winner! We all enjoyed it so much. I am personally not a huge fan of chili but I decided to give it a try for something different and this one will be on repeat!
Iryna Bychkiv says
Mary, thank you so much for your comment and 5-star rating! I'm so glad you enjoyed this chili recipe!
Andrea says
What is the serving size?
Iryna says
About 1 1/2 - 2 cups.
Patricia Van Dyke says
My husband loves it and told me to give you a five star rating!! So full of flavor!
Iryna says
Patricia, thank you so much for your comment and 5-star rating! I'm very glad you and your husband enjoyed this recipe!:)
Liz says
Do you drain the canned beans?
Iryna says
Hi Liz! Yes, the beans should be drained and rinsed.
Randee says
Excellent recipe! wasn’t sure I’d like it but it was very good didn’t have chilies so threw in a few pepperoncini and I hate cilantro so didn’t use that. My Husband loved it said I can make it anytime thanks for a great dish!
Iryna says
Randee, thank you so much for your comment and a 5-star rating! I'm so happy that you and your husband enjoyed this recipe!
Tammy says
Can this recipe be made without the sour cream?
Iryna says
Yes, you can make it without sour cream.
Sheryl says
Hi Iryna, I just made the white chili recipe and it turned out great! I did get confused about the diced tomatoes because they're not listed in the ingredients. So after starting preparation I ran out for diced tomatoes. Are either canned or fresh ok?
I also love your other chili recipe. Thank you!
Iryna says
Hi Sheryl! Thank you for the kind words and sorry for the confusion! I must have forgotten to add diced tomatoes to the ingredients. Already fixed this. And yes, fresh tomatoes can definitely be substituted for canned tomatoes. One can of diced tomatoes equals to 5-6 whole tomatoes.