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!
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
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Yield: 8-10
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.
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]
K
This was absolutely delicious! Great flavor!! I would never had thought about using 2 different chili powders; I felt that really gave a wonderful depth of chili flavoring. The sour cream addition doesn’t leave a nasty tang but truly adds to the creaminess of the pot and adds depth to the flavoring. I mashed some of the chili up as well; I mean the flavor just keeps going!!!! So good 🤤 😋 THANK YOU!
Lauren
Simply the best white chicken chili I have ever had. Family loves it too. We keep it on the rotation fall-winter!
Heather
I won our church’s chili contest with this recipe! (In Texas!) If a white chili can win in Texas, you know it’s pretty dang awesome. Making it again tonight for the family
Lisa Goldfinger
Congratulation on your win Heather! Amazing! I'm so glad you came back to leave this uplifting comment and star rating. Thank you!
Ivette
I made the recipe and even though I didn't have the cheeses recommended the ones that ate it, really liked it. Very easy and quick cooking.
Sharon
Can I do in slow cooker?
Cheryl Ulfers
Amazing recipe!!! Only thing I changed was adding some cream cheese and added some pepperjack cheese!! I won first place in my office chili cookofff!!! Thanks for the great recipe!!!
Faye
I love this recipe! I've gotten alot of compliments and even won a chili cook off contest with it.
Lisa Goldfinger
Congratulations on your win Faye! I'm glad this recipe is working out well for you 🙂
Deb
I'm curious, did you make any changes?
Lauren Dykes
Would this be ok to freeze?
Lisa Goldfinger
Yes Lauren. It would probably be best to freeze it before adding all the dairy ingredients because dairy has a tendency to separate when frozen. But either way will work. If you do freeze it with the cheese and sour cream, defrost it in the fridge overnight and then reheat it slowly, over low heat, stirring often.
margaret m storch
have not tried yet but sounds delicious. do you think you could ad fresh corn ?
Lisa Goldfinger
Yes! Great idea! I think that would be delicious. I would add it at the very end and just stir it through the hot chili.
Joan
I add corn every time. So good!
Lakeisha Mcleod
Made this dish and it’s amazing will make it again????
Cathy
This was delicious!
I will definitely make it again. The things I did differently were to (1) use a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken, (2) cut back on the amount of chili powder (as my husband said what we had was really strong) and (3) used plain, no sugar added whole milk Greek yogurt instead of the sour cream (because I had it and it tastes exactly like sour cream to me).
I used the entire chicken. I used 4 cups of chicken broth and the recommended 3 c. of cheese and 1 c. of yogurt. The consistency seemed perfect.
With the amount of chicken I used, next time I might add another can of both beans and chilis. I saw someone added a can of corn. That might be good to try, but was not needed.
This was GREAT.
Thanks. I'm going to check out more of your recipes.
Lisa Goldfinger
Thanks for sharing your process Cathy - I'm so glad you enjoyed the chili! I hope you find more recipes you like.
Melanie
Exactly what kind of white beans do you use in this recipe? Cannellini? Great Northern?
Ryan
I've won the last two company chili cook-offs with this recipe. Only change I made is I smoke my chicken on a pellet smoker after seasoning. Also I add great northwest beans to the mix. Amazing taste and texture.
Lisa Goldfinger
Congratulations on your two cook-off wins Ryan! I bet the smoked chicken was amazing in the chili!!
Janae B Robinson
It was delicious. I enjoyed making and eating this recipe.
Marla P.
This is the best white chicken chili I've ever tried and I've been through many. It's just perfect - creamy, incredible flavor, great level of spice, totally irresistible! Thank you for this amazing recipe!!!
Lisa Goldfinger
I'm so glad you enjoyed!
Amy S
I made this for a chili cookoff. I came in second but I was only 2 votes away from first. I made some tweaks based on what I had on hand- 8oz of cream cheese and 1 cup of sour cream. I added 11oz of white mild cheddar and 8oz shredded Monterey Jack cheese. I also added 1 can corn. I also added squeeze of lime at the end, day of as it seemed to need a bit of acid. I made this the day before in the crockpot- roasting chicken in the oven and using the sauté feature for the onions until cooked, then added everything else on low except the dairy for about 3 hours to let flavors meld, I added the dairy items after I turned it off and before putting away for the night.
Lisa Goldfinger
Congrats on your second place win Amy! I love the additions of corn and lime juice - thanks for sharing your process.
Kathryn
Wonder if you can freeze portions?
Lisa Goldfinger
Yes. This chili freezes well. Defrost overnight in the fridge. Add a few tablespoons of water and reheat it very slowly on the stove.