White Chicken Chili with Cream Cheese

White Chicken Chili with Cream Cheese: This easy soup recipe is perfect for a weeknight dinner or for lunch on a Sunday. Made with simple ingredients, it’s ready in only 25 minutes!

Jump to:

• What you’ll love about this recipe
• Ingredients
• How to Make White Chicken Chili
• Substitutions
• Variations
• What to Serve with this Chili:
• How to Store Leftover White Chicken Chili?
• White Chicken Chili with Cream Cheese

What you’ll love about this recipe

Not only is this chicken chili a recipe that’s perfect for those last-minute dinner ideas, but it’s also something that you can keep ingredients on hand for when you’ve forgotten to run to the store to grab something to make, after a busy day!

It has the perfect kick of flavor with using the canned tomatoes and green chilies but it’s not too spicy, so it can be something the whole family will love, and will possibly become a family favorite! (But if you love “spicy” then you’ll love this spicy soup recipe!)

Or, if you’re looking for a warm, comforting dish for game day, you may want to mix things up from a classic chili, since it tends to be a crowd pleaser!

Ingredients

What makes this an easy recipe, is the fact that it uses simple ingredients, and they can all be cooked in one pot; keeping dishes to a minimum!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2-3 chicken breasts cut up in to small pieces (or deboned rotisserie chicken)
• 8 ounces of a block of cream cheese
• 1  15-ounce can black beans rinsed and drained
• 1 15-ounce can corn undrained
• 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes with green chilis undrained
• 1 package ranch dressing mix seasoning
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 Tablespoon milk

You can jump to the recipe card to see the full recipe now or keep reading to see how easy it is to make this creamy soup!

How to Make White Chicken Chili

In a large stock pot on the stove top, cook your cubed chicken over medium heat until it’s done. (It will be done with the inside of the chicken is white, and no longer pink.)

I don’t use any oil but you’re more than welcome to if you prefer dropping a tablespoon or so of olive oil.

Once the chicken is fully cooked, add the remainder of the ingredients in to the pot.

Heat the white chili over medium heat, stirring often to evenly combine the ingredients and so it will “melt,” the cream cheese.

Don’t worry, it looks mighty thick at this stage but as the juices from the corn and Rotel, mix with the melted cream cheese and milk, it combines to make a beautiful, creamy texture.

Once heated through, and the cream cheese has fully melted, serve this warm creamy white chicken chili in a bowl and dig in! You can even reduce the heat to a simmer and let the chili simmer for a few minutes to allow the flavors to incorporate even more.

Substitutions

To make things easier or if you only have certain ingredients on hand, here are some of our favorite substitutions:

• Chicken: Feel free to make this white chili recipe using shredded chicken from a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, or even buy frozen, pre-cooked chicken to keep on hand! Or, you an even use leftover chicken!
• Tomatoes & Green Chilies: I refer to the tomatoes and green chilies as “Rotel”, some here in this recipe but any brand will do!

Variations

Looking to customize this soup a little more to your liking? Here are some topping ideas (which are very similar to the ones that we include in our traditional chili recipe) and extra ingredients that may be delicious if you’d like to experiment! (We haven’t tried these yet, only because we love the recipe just the way it is!)

• Chicken Broth: (Or chicken stock.)This is meant to be a thicker soup but feel free to add chicken broth if you’d like for it to be a little more thin, especially if you use heavy cream instead of milk.
• Bacon: I do love bacon in just about everything so I can’t imagine that adding a couple of slices of bacon to this white chicken chili would be a bad idea. To keep things simple, cook the bacon in with the chicken! To be honest, I wouldn’t even drain the bacon grease if it’s just a tablespoon or so… that may just be delicious!
• Green Onions: Although there is already onion powder in this recipe, I believe adding some chopped green onion, whether you add it in with the remaining ingredients, or you simple serve on top, it would be a delicious addition!
• Sour Cream: For you sour cream fans out there, a small dollop of sour cream on top, just befroe serving, would be a nice touch!
• Shredded Cheddar Cheese: Shredded cheddar, or even a fiest blend shredded cheese would add some wonderful additional flavor, just like it does with other chili recipes!
• Fresh Cilantro: I LOVE adding a bit of greenery to the top of soup as a garnish, and cilantro would be the fresh herb of choice for this recipe!

What to Serve with this Chili:

This peanut butter and syrup sandwich is one of our all-time favorite side dishes to serve with a bowl of this white chicken chili, along with a nice green side salad! Or, you can also serve items such as:

• tortilla chips
• saltines
• corn chips
• slices of Italian bread

How to Store Leftover White Chicken Chili?

If you happen to have leftover chili, store cooled-off chili in an airtight container and place in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Simply reheat chili in the microwave or on low heat in a sauce pan, on the stove-top.

Love Chili Recipes?

If you think this recipe was a huge hit, then make sure you also try our easy chili recipe, this Frito chili pie, and this chili mac!