White Chicken Chili Verde
White chicken chili verde is warm, comforting and easy to make with very little hands-on time in the kitchen. Throw everything in the slow cooker or Instant Pot and dinner is done!
It's loaded with tender chicken, beans and verde sauce for a healthy, protein packed dinner! Serve over rice, with a side of sourdough tortillas or cornbread.
White chicken chili verde is a rich and satisfying soup that can be enjoyed anytime of the year.
Because the recipe utilizes dried beans, we've included slow cooker and Instant Pot instructions to reduce the hands-on time it would normally take to cook beans on the stovetop.
With either method simply toss the ingredients into the liner, press a few buttons and wait for dinner to be ready!
Just like with slow cooker white beans and ham, calico beans or chili, we like to serve this meal with homemade cornbread or sourdough dinner rolls.
What you need
- Organic chicken breasts
- Dried white beans
- Salsa verde
- Onion
- Cilantro
- Garlic
- Jalapeño
- Lime juice
- Salt
- Chicken broth
Here are a few ways to modify the recipe if needed.
- Chicken breasts - use 1 lb. of boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
- Dried beans - use 4 cans of cooked white beans such as navy beans or great northern beans that have been drained and rinsed. Reduce the amount of chicken broth to 3 cups. If using the Instant Pot method to cook the soup, reduce the cooking time to 20 minutes and the natural release to 10 minutes as canned beans do not require as much time to cook as dried beans.
- Jalapeño - the jalapeño can be omitted if you do not like spicy chicken chili verde.
- Chicken broth - Use homemade chicken bone broth for even more flavor.
You'll also need either a slow cooker (affiliate link) or a 6 quart instant pot. (affiliate link)
How to make it in a slow cooker
Rinse and sort the beans. Place all of the ingredients into the liner of your slow cooker, except for the lime juice. Stir to combine the ingredients and place the lid on.
Cook on LOW for 7-8 hours or on HIGH for 4-5 hours. The beans will be fork tender when the soup is ready.
Remove the chicken breast and use two forks to shred the meat.
If the soup is too thin for your liking, use an immersion blender or a potato masher to mash up some of the beans. This will thicken the soup.
Add the chicken back to the slow cooker, squeeze in the lime juice, stir and serve.
How to make it in the Instant Pot
Rinse and sort the beans. Place all of the ingredients, except the lime juice, into the liner of the Instant Pot. Stir to combine.
Lock the lid into place, press the MANUAL button and set the timer for 40 minutes on HIGH pressure. When the time is up, allow the pressure to naturally release for 20 minutes.
Remove the chicken and use two forks to shred it.
If the soup is too thin, mash up some of the beans with an immersion blender or a potato masher. Add the chicken and the lime juice to the soup, stir and serve.
Top Tips
When cooking dried beans, always sort through them beforehand. More times than not you will find small pebbles or stones that need to be picked out so that they do not end up in your soup.
Spread the beans out on a baking sheet, sort out any debris or bad beans and then rinse them in a colander under cold water.
This recipe does not call for the beans to be soaked before cooking them, however, they can be soaked overnight to reduce the phytic acid, making them easier to digest.
If this is something you would like to do, simply place the beans in a large bowl and cover them with fresh water. Cover the bowl and let them sit on the counter overnight. Drain and rinse the beans before cooking.
How to store it
Leftover white chicken chili verde will stay good in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Allow the frozen soup to thaw in the fridge overnight and then reheat in a saucepan on the stovetop.
More comfort food recipes
- classic pot roast (slow cooker, instant pot or dutch oven)
- chicken noodle soup
- broccoli cheese soup
- hot and sour soup
- instant pot cabbage roll soup
White Chicken Chili Verde (Slow Cooker and Instant Pot)
INGREDIENTS
- 1 lb. chicken breast
- 1 lb. dried white beans (see notes)
- 1 cup salsa verde
- 6 cups chicken broth (or chicken stock)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 jalapeño (seeds removed and diced)
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- 1 large onion (diced)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- juice of 1 lime
INSTRUCTIONS
- Spread the beans out onto a baking sheet and sort through them to make sure there are no stones or pebbles. Put the beans into a colander and rinse them well under running water.
Slow Cooker instructions
- Add all of the ingredients, except the lime juice, into the slow cooker and give it a good stir. Cook on LOW for 7-8 hours or on HIGH for 4-5 hours or until the beans are fork tender.
- Remove the chicken breast and place them into a bowl. Use two forks to shred the chicken. If the soup is too thin for your liking, use an immersion blender or a potato masher to mash some of the beans. This will thicken the soup. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup and serve.
Instant Pot instructions
- Place all of the ingredients, except the lime juice, into the liner of the Instant Pot. Stir to combine. Lock the lid into place, press the MANUAL button and set the timer for 40 minutes on HIGH pressure. When the time is up, allow the pressure to naturally release for 20 minutes.
- Remove the chicken and use two forks to shred it. If the soup is too thin, mash up some of the beans with an immersion blender or a potato masher. Add the chicken and the lime juice to the soup, stir and serve.
Looks great, making now! Does this cook time look extremely long for chicken? 7-8 hours on low? That seems longer than most slow cooked chicken, especially chicken breast. Can I get away with less time? Thanks so much! 🙂
Hi Erika, if you use canned beans instead of dried beans, then you can cook it for a shorter amount of time. Dried beans take a lot longer to cook, thus the long cook time, but the chicken is tender and delicious! 🙂
Scrumptious! Made it in the instant pot for dinner last night with a lb of dried beans and about 1 1/2 lbs chicken, and a 12oz salsa verde., kept everything else the same. Knew some of the guys would want more meat. Everyone loved it! Definitely a keeper. Thank you for another delicious recipe!
If using canned beans, When do they go in the slow cooker? Thank you
You can put them in right away!
Super good recipes lately. Thank you.