It is definitely the season for soups and stews and you really can’t go wrong with a tasty, warming bowl of chili! In it’s more typical form chili con carne is made with beef and plenty of red chili peppers but it is always fun to make a white chili where the meat is chicken and no red chili peppers are used. This is my go to quick, easy and tasty white chicken chili recipe and it has a base of chicken and white beans with jalapeno chili peppers for the heat along with a few seasoning like garlic, cumin and oregano. I like to kick the flavour up a bit by replacing some of the broth with a salsa verde and the addition of quinoa makes this soup a bit heartier. As a finishing touch I like to hit the soup with fresh lime juice along with some cilantro. One of the best things about this tasty white chicken chili is that it only takes about 30 minutes to make and if you know that you aren’t even going to have that much time for dinner then you can throw everything into the slow cooker in the morning and come home to a fully cooked meal!
So light fresh and tasty!
Cool and creamy avocado make an excellent addition to this white chicken chili!
Serve with tortilla chips for scooping or for crumbling over top!
Quinoa White Chicken Chili
A healthy and hearty 30 minute white chicken chili with beans and quinoa!
ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 jalapeno peppers, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin, toasted and ground
- 3 cups chicken broth or chicken stock
- 1 cup salsa verde
- 1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- 1 (15 ounce) can white beans, drained and rinsed (or 1 1/2 cups cooked beans, from 1/2 cup dry)
- 1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1 tablespoon lime juice (~1/2 lime)
- 2 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
directions
- Heat the oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat, add the onion and jalapeno peppers and cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the broth, salsa verde, chicken, beans, quinoa and oregano, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked and the quinoa is tender, about 10-15 minutes.
- Remove the chicken, shred or dice, return to soup along with the lime juice and cilantro, season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.
Option: Add 1 cup zucchini along with the chicken.
Option: Add 1 cup corn 5 minutes before taking off the heat.
Option: Replace the jalapeno peppers with poblano peppers or 1 4.5 ounce can of diced green chilies.
Black Bean and Quinoa Chili
Beef and Black Bean Chili
Slow Braised Chili Con Carne
7 Chili Chili
Butternut Squash Chili Mole
Buffalo Chicken Chili
Chili Verde
Jalapeno Popper Chicken Soup
Chicken and Avocado Enchiladas in Creamy Avocado Sauce
Tortellini Chili
Chicken and Avocado Burritos
Chicken and Avocado Enchiladas
Chicken Enchilada Stuffed Avocados
Colombian Chicken and Corn Soup (Ajiaco)
Chicken Fajita Soup
Creamy White Chicken Chili
Easy Beef and Bean Chili
Carne Guisada (Braised Beef)
Texas Chili
This sounds wonderful! Love that quinoa in there 🙂
Ok, this is amazing!! Need to make asap!
Whoa! That looks yummy. Love the pop of color the avocado adds.
Love the avocado! Looks great!
Looking so delicious! Love the avocado!
Wow! Looks very appetizing. Stunning pictures. I will have to try it.
(Sorry for the duplicate post. But your appetizers looks great too anyway!)
This looks so hearty and tasteful! Love the avocados on it.
Totally my kind of lunch or dinner!
very nice topic
http://www.aqtranslation.com
This is just all kinds of crazy delicious and comforting!
This sounds wonderful and delicious!
Hi, this looks great! Will definitely try it out!
Ok, Mr. Kevin! Homerun!! Love love what you'd done! xo You Pal ally!
Hi Kevin, this really looks great. I really like the addition of quinoa, great idea!
That tortilla topping is pure genius! Definitely need to make this soon – I've been meaning to add more quinoa to my diet.
Looks and sounds absolutely amazing!
I am not much of a meat person. Red meat chili does not interest me. But chicken chili sounds like the perfect thing for these ice age days that we have been having. Thanks for the great idea.
A great tasteful healthy dish. Will make this very soon.
Made this tonight. Might have used extra liquid. I added hominy, lima beans, corn, and cooked avacado and it's come out really great. I couldn't find salsa so I just used fresh tomatillios and green chilie. Thanks for the recipe!
Just made it tonight and it was delicious! It was definitely on the spicy side but after the initial "shock" was really a good kind of spicy. Thanks for an amazing dish, Kevin!
this was lunch and it was delicious!! salsa verde made it. 🙂 definitely will make again.
Quick Question: should I add the beans when I add the chicken?
Sonny: I am glad that you enjoyed it! The salsa verde is what makes this chili and it is so easy!
Alex: Yes, add the beans with the chicken. Thanks for catching that! I updated the recipe!
What is the serving size?
Lisa Nemer: The serving size is about 2 cups.
I made this yesterday and it is delicious! I cooked it in the crockpot, with extra onions and jalepeno, and threw in an extra cup of broth. The quinoa soaked up the broth and made this nice and thick. Yum!
Saw this on pinterest a couple of days ago. Just made it as I had all ingredients and it is very cold outside. Perfect for the weather. I too put diced avacado on top and cilantro. OMG SO GOOD.
made this yesterday and served with diced fresh tomato and avocado. so good!!
strmywthr3: Glad you liked it! I always enjoy topping soups like this with fresh ingredients!
This was a great and easy recipe for the average college student like me! I added a lot of frozen veggies to the chili to fill it out and also well…because I am poor 🙂
I have no idea what quinoa is or where to find it. This recipe sounds so delicious; can someone enlighten me?
Sunny Blue: Quinoa is a seed/grain with a lot of nutritional value. You can find it in most grocery stores these days and it is often in the health food or gluten free section. This white chicken chili would still be amazing if you omitted the quinoa! Here is the wikipedia article with more info on quinoa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa
Amazing! Quick, Easy & Delish – putting in my regular rotation
thank you!
Never thought of using quinoa in soup, this is a great idea and a different way to serve it! Thanks for the recipe, looks delicious!
How long should this be left in the slow cooker?
alishaaa.: For 6-10 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high.
Would this freeze well?
Just want you to know how much I loved this recipe. Sharing it on my blog! jessicaraydaily.com
This was awesome! We are trying to eat healthy and we love good food. Husband ate it with a tortilla. Excellent dish
Healthy and full of flavor! Great recipe.
Love AddiNg quinoa and salsa verde! Can't wait to eat a whole bowl! The taste test was amazing!
This was delicious! I added the zucchini and corn for extra vegetables and put the avocado on as a garnish as well. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
muchas gracias por la receta quinua blanca de pollo solo quiero saber en que consiste o que contiene la salsa verde,doris
DORIS CASTILLO: The green in the sauce/broth comes from the salsa verde.
Do you drain and rinse the can of white beans? The recipe doesn’t say and I can’t find anything In the comments.
The canned beans are drained and rinsed. Enjoy!
Is salsa verde very spicy? I only tolerate a mild salsa. I love red meat chilis with regular chili powder. Could I make this with regular chili powder? If so, how much so it would be mildly spiced? It looks delicious!
Salsa verde is generally milder but not always. You can use the salsa verde and just add a little at a time until you get the level of heat that you desire. You could also use chili powder, I would also start with
a little and add a bit more until you get to the desired level of heat.
Thank you for a wonderful recipe. Felt like I was eating at a nice restaurant, but it was my kitchen table. Best thing I have made this year!
I’ve been making this since what feels like 2014 and I always google to find whenever it starts to get cold to recreate it, no matter how much my kitchen has grown since then, it’s still one of my all time faves. I’ve probably already made it twice this season and about to do it again a third time. Such a delicious warm cozy meal! The quinoa is a surprise star. I’m to lazy to make my own salsa so I use frontera’s toasted tomatillo sauce and it’s perfect. And I like it really soupy so I just add a ton more chicken broth. It’s perfect!