It's easy to cook a big pot of this award winning white chicken chili, and it's the absolute best! Tender chicken, chilies, white beans, spices and a few more goodies in this winning recipe.
Winning the office chili contest is an annual objective for my husband. Eddie has a really great, very meaty chili recipe that he's been perfecting over time. Last year Eddie's chili took first place and time before he came in second. In both cases the contest was decided by one vote and in both cases the other contender was his colleague Dean.
When Dean's white chicken chili took first place, Eddie came home with his empty pot a bit dispirited by his second place status but couldn't stop raving about the winning chili. I said "let's invite Dean over for chili -- his chili!"
THE BEST White Chicken Chili Ever!!!
Dean came over and cooked chili for us and it was INCREDIBLE - rich, creamy, flavorful, loaded with tender chicken and white beans, and just the right amount of heat. Easy to see why this chili is always a favorite at the office chili cook-off.
How to make Award Winning White Chicken Chili:
There are multiple layers of delicious flavor and spice in Dean's white chicken chili. The first layer is baked right into the chicken.
Cumin, chile powder, a bit of cayenne and salt are spread over boneless chicken breasts and they go into a 350ºF oven for 30 minutes.
While they bake you can get the rest of the chili cooking - onions, garlic, beans, broth, chili peppers, spices.
The cooked chicken is shredded and simmered for a bit with everything else.
Then, for the final (knock-your-socks-off) layer, shredded cheese and sour cream get stirred into the mix. And the result is truly spectacular! This white chicken chili is one of those savor-every-bite kind of dishes.
Now, I have to admit that I tweaked Dean's recipe the tiniest bit in this area of cheese and sour cream. I stayed with the quantity of cheese and sour cream that Dean prescribed but I only added half of each into the soup. I left the other half for adding as a garnish. My reasoning for doing this?
- Firstly, after I made this chili a few times and experimented a bit, I discovered that it's still totally amazing with only half the cheese and sour cream.
- Secondly, I love adding exciting garnishes to the top of my chili, so better to reserve lots of cheese and sour cream for that.
I can also appreciate that many of you may want to follow Dean's white chicken chili recipe to the T and so I've explained how you can do that, if you wish. Delirious food happiness will be yours no matter which version you choose.
Dean and Eddie have been work associates for many years, and over that time he and his wife Kathy have become our friends. But even as a friend, Dean was extremely generous to share his secret winning white chicken chili recipe with us and with the world (PTG's followers).
I am so appreciative! Also, how about a friend who you invite to dinner and he brings all the groceries and does all the cooking? Dean is the best! Thank you Dean!
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Dean's white chicken chili is great for a crowd and just the thing for Sunday football.
It's also perfect if you're looking for a delicious festive dish that you can make ahead. It will keep for several days in the fridge. Just remember to reheat it slowly and gently.
Exciting news flash - Eddie's award-winning pork and beef chili recipe is now on the blog!
Also, check out Eddie's other great recipes on Panning The Globe: Eddie's olive bread, Eddie's linzertorte, Eddie's Swinging Sultan Cocktail, and Eddie's Perfect Manhattan, Eddie's Basil Vodka Gimlet
Here's the recipe for Dean's award winning white chicken chili. If you make it I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment and let us know how it turned out!
PrintRecipe
Award Winning White Chicken Chili Recipe
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Yield: 8-10 1x
Description
Spicy and delicious white chicken chili!
Adapted from Dean's Award Winning Chili Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast halves
- 3 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons chile powder,*divided
- 3 tablespoons cumin, divided
- 1 teaspoon salt, divided, plus more, to taste
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste
- 3 cups chopped onion (2 medium)
- 3 tablespoons minced garlic or more if you love garlic (4-5 large cloves)
- 3 15-ounce cans white beans, drained
- 2 4-ounce cans chopped green chiles (hot or mild, depending on your preference)
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 4-6 cups low-salt chicken broth
- 6 cups shredded cheese, divided (half Monterey Jack, half cheddar)
- 2 cups sour cream, divided
- Garnish:
- Chopped scallions
- Chopped cilantro leaves
- Your favorite hot sauce
- Sour cream
- Shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
- • A note on chili powder: One of my secrets to great chili is to use two or three different chili powders for a great depth of flavor. For this chili I used New Mexican and Chipotle chile powders.
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Instructions
- Spice and Roast the Chicken: Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spread chicken out in a roasting pan. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with 2 teaspoons chili powder, 1 tablespoon cumin, ½ teaspoon salt and a pinch or two of cayenne. Roast for 30 minutes. Shred or cut into bite sized pieces. Set aside.
- Cook the Chili: In a large pot heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Sauté onion and garlic over medium heat for 5 minutes or so, until tender. Add beans, shredded chicken, chilies, oregano, 2 tablespoons chile powder, 2 tablespoons cumin, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon cayenne (or more, to taste). Add 4 cups of chicken broth, reserving the rest for thinning the chili to your desired consistency. Stir to combine and simmer gently on low for 20 minutes. (to keep the chicken tender, do not let the pot boil)
- Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes or so before proceeding. With the pot still off the heat, stir 3 cups of cheese into the pot, 1 cup at a time. Then stir in 1 cup of sour cream. (Or for Dean's richer, creamier version, add all 6 cups of cheese to the pot and 2 cups of sour cream) Bring the pot back to a gentle simmer over low heat (to keep the dairy products from separating, don't boil). Simmer the chili for 15-20 minutes, adjusting with additional chicken broth, if you like. A method I like to use for great added texture is to use a potato-masher in the pot to mash half the chicken and beans. Then stir to combine with the rest.
- Serve chili in bowls with garnishes on top or on the side.
Notes
- Nutritional information for this white chicken chili recipe is calculated assuming you're following the lighter version of the recipe.
- Nutrition Information shown is an estimate calculated by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for the advice of a professional nutritionist.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: Tex-Mex
[Originally published January 2016. Updated September 2018. Same delicious recipe with added nutritional information]
Cinnamon
The title isn’t a lie. My husband won his work chili contest with this recipe!
Lisa Goldfinger
Wonderful! Congrats to your husband.
Julie
My family loves your white chicken chili recipe. I usually make a triple batch! Have you ever made this in a slow cooker?
Lisa Goldfinger
I'm so glad you and your family are enjoying the chicken chili. No, I haven't tried making this in a slow cooker. If you try it, will you report back? I'd love to know the outcome.
Jess
I’ve made this twice and won both chili competitions! My friend moved out of state and asked for the recipe, and he won his chili cook off as well! So we call this: 3x award winning chili! It also go a bit the name The Lord’s Chili because it’s that good! So THANK YOU!!!!
Megan
This is my go to chili recipe! I've been cooking it regularly since I found it in 2018, and it's a favorite everytime. I love sharing this meal with friends!
Lisa Goldfinger
You are so welcome!!! Big congrats to you on your two wins!
Rachael
I have made this several times now for events . Every time I get rave compliments on how good it is. The only thing I do different is I add one block of cream cheese and one cup of sour cream . Turns out so good every time. I’m going to be making for the day before Thanksgiving for all my husbands family. Thanks so much for this recipe !! It is now a favorite !
David
Fantastic recipe. I always add more onion and garlic than called for and use 1 cup of sour cream vs 2 cups.
Sue
I haven’t made it yet but printed out the recipe yesterday for ‘1X’. The amount for both white beans and green chilies is incorrect. The amount of beans would totally screw up the recipe if anybody didn’t catch the mistake.
Susan
Made with the listed amount 3 cans beans and 2 cans green chilies was amazing
Rachael
Made this for a fall festival/ chili cook off tonight and everyone raved about it and asked for the recipe. I actually won the contest with eddies red chili recipe but this one still got a lot of raves as well. Both are going to be my top favorite chilis now. The only thing I did different here was add cream cheese instead of sour cream and I added fire roasted chilis and roasted garlic. Very good!! Thanks for the recipes!!
Nikki D.
I made this last night and it was a hit! I cut the recipe in half because we're just 3 people and there was STILL very little left! I tasted it even before adding the dairy and it was delicious. The cheese and sour cream just really top it off. Warmed up a fresh baguette from the store and there you have an award-winning dinner. Maybe I'll go for it in the big leagues like you! I'll share my winnings! 🙂 Thank you for this national treasure.
Deborah
I made this recipe but the cheese got stringy and the consistency seems wrong. What can I do to prevent this from happening? I see most other recipes use cream cheese to make it creamy
Lisa Goldfinger
Hi Deborah - I'm not sure why the cheese became stringy? In order to fix the consistency you can scoop out some of the broth/cheese mixture and puree it in a blender or you can use your immersion blender to do some pureeing. Even if some of the chicken and beans get pureed, it will help the consistency of the soup. I hope that works. Keep me posted.
Nikki D.
@Deborah, did you maybe wait too long and the soup cooled off too much before adding the cheese? I set the timer for 5 mins and put it all in right after that. What kind of cheese did you use? I've been buying the Kraft cheddar and Monterey jack blocks and shredding them myself because I read a while back, the cheese you buy that's already shredded has preservatives/additives and stuff which I try to stay away from. Maybe it was the type of cheese?
Raquel
I want to make this, but wondering if I can add to slow cooker?
Lisa Goldfinger
This chili doesn't cook for very long so I'm not sure the slow cooker is necessary. But if you want to give it a try, I suggest cooking the chili on low for just a couple of hours. If you try it, I'd love to know what you think.
Andrew
Lisa any idea how many “gallons” this makes? I see serving is 8-10 but wondering if we have a rough guesstimate on gallons?
Lisa Goldfinger
Yes, this recipe makes about one and a half gallons. Hope you enjoy!
Joan
This is award winning. I have been making this chili for a couple years now. I just won a chili cook off at work. My co workers voted it #1. Thank you for this recipe.
Southerner Forever
I'm going to try this recipe with a chicken that I have already prepared rotisserie-style using the crockpot, so wondering how many cups of shredded chicken I should use? I realize this is a slight variation, but it's what I have available at the moment! Thanks so very much!
Lisa Goldfinger
I'm happy to help! This recipe calls for 3 pounds of chicken which, after cooking, will be more like 2 1/2 pounds. An average rotisserie chicken contains about 2 pounds of meat, give or take, depending on the size. I suggest you pull all the meat off of your chicken, shred it and use it all in the chili. I bet it will be delicious - keep me posted!
Julie
Just an fyi, when I chose 2x the recipe it gives incorrect measurements for white beans and the green chiles!
Kimberly Hereford
I made this tonight, and it was absolutely delicious! I can’t wait to share it with my co-workers. The next time I make it I will not add the dairy to the pot because I will be freezing it for quick lunches and dinners when the cold weather hits.
Lisa Goldfinger
I'm glad you enjoyed the chili! Great idea to freeze it in batches without the dairy. Thanks for spreading the word!
Frances
Making this for the first time. Halved the recipe, as I am not feeding a crowd. May have added a tad more chicken broth than needed and I want to thicken. Best way to do that?
Lisa Goldfinger
Hi Frances. You can thicken it by mashing more of the beans with a potato masher. If you want it even thinner, you can use a more traditional thickening method using cornstarch or flour. Put about a cup of the broth into a small bowl and whisk in 2-3 tablespoons of cornstarch or white flour. Then pour the mixture back into the chili pot, stir it through, and simmer it gently to thicken the chili. I hope you enjoy the chili 🙂
KK
Does this recipe make 1 gallon or more?
Lisa Goldfinger
I have never actually measured the exact amount - I will do that next time - however I'm quite sure this makes about a gallon and maybe a bit more. I made it in my 6-quart Dutch oven and it fills up about 3/4 of the way with chili.
Tami
I just made it. Delish!! It made 4 quarts. I followed the recipe and used the 4 cups of broth, 3 cups cheese and 1 cup sour cream. I didn’t need to thin it any further.
David C
I’ve made this so many times, this is absolutely the best white chicken chili there is around. I made it at my company’s chili cook off and won! Thank you for sharing this award winning white chicken chili recipe!
Torri
Do you or any readers feel using a rotisserie chicken vs roasting the chicken breasts with seasonings makes a big difference?