Chicken Chili with White Beans
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This chicken chili is a hearty, healthy dish you can feel good about eating.
If you’re looking for a lighter alternative to my classic chili recipe, this chicken chili is just the ticket. It’s made from scratch, loaded with veggies, and packed with protein-rich chicken and beans. But don’t worry—it’s still hearty and satisfying, even for the biggest football fanatics in your life. The ingredient list might look a bit long at first glance, but don’t let that scare you off. It’s mostly spices, and the active cooking time is only about 30 minutes, though it simmers on the stove for nearly two hours to develop that deep, rich flavor. And here’s a tip: be sure to use regular ground chicken, not the lean variety, for the best texture and taste. For a tasty variation, check out my favorite turkey chili recipe too!
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need To Make Chicken Chili With White Beans
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step-by-Step Instructions
To begin, heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or nonreactive soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions and red bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring to prevent garlic from burning, about two minutes more.
Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the ground chicken, chili powder, cumin, coriander, red pepper flakes, oregano, cayenne pepper, and salt.
As the chicken cooks, use a wooden spoon to break the meat into very small clumps; cook until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, chicken broth, and sugar.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, partially covered with lid ajar, for about one hour, stirring occasionally. Stir in the white beans and simmer, uncovered for about 50 minutes more, or until the meat is tender and the flavors are well combined.
For a soupier chili, you can add additional water. For a thicker chili, simmer uncovered until the desired consistency is reached. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Note that this chili is moderately spicy; feel free to adjust to your liking by increasing or decreasing the cayenne and red pepper flakes.
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Chicken Chili with White Beans
This chicken chili is a hearty, healthy dish you can feel good about eating.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 cups chopped yellow onions, from 2 medium onions
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 6 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 2 pounds ground chicken (preferably not labeled "lean")
- 3 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes (omit for milder chili)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 (26 oz.) cartons Pomi chopped tomatoes or two (28 oz.) cans chopped or diced tomatoes
- 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 (15 oz.) can Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large nonreactive pot over medium heat. Add the onions and red bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring to prevent garlic from burning, about two minutes more.
- Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the ground chicken, chili powder, cumin, coriander, red pepper flakes, oregano, cayenne pepper, and salt. As the chicken cooks, use a wooden spoon to break the meat into very small clumps; cook until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, chicken broth, and sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, partially covered with lid ajar, for about one hour, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the white beans and simmer, uncovered for about 50 minutes more, or until the meat is tender and the flavors are well combined. For a soupier chili, you can add additional water. For a thicker chili, simmer uncovered until desired consistency is reached. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
- Note: Pomi boxed tomatoes are available at some regular grocers, Whole Foods and gourmet food shops.
- Note: A nonreactive pot is made of a material that will not react negatively with acidic ingredients. Stainless steel, enamel, glass and nonstick (as long as there are no scratches in the nonstick coating) are all safe to use. Do not use cast iron or aluminum.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The chili can be frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat it on the stovetop over medium-low heat until hot. (The chili will thicken up some when frozen, so you’ll likely need to add some broth when reheating.)
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (1 3/4 - 2 cups servings)
- Calories: 374
- Fat: 17 g
- Saturated fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 29 g
- Sugar: 9 g
- Fiber: 9 g
- Protein: 31 g
- Sodium: 1110 mg
- Cholesterol: 111 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Great recipe. I divided it in 2, because it was too much, and used turkey instead of chicken. It turned out as thick chili, which was fine, because my husband wanted it over rice anyways. Thank you!
Excellent. Came together easily, halved the chicken, added a second can of beans, drained, and subbed in some salsa for one of the boxes of tomatoes. Will make again!
I halved the recipe because I am just cooking for myself to eat and freeze. I used a package of ground turkey, the one that comes in the tube that had been frozen from when finding meat was tough. It isn’t my choice of ground turkey but was inexpensive and plentiful. This was the perfect recipe for it. On its own, not the best. I also added a quinoa, chickpea and jasmine rice blend from Whole Foods to add some grains, so that I wouldn’t need to make rice separately. The taste was perfect.
Delicious, the only change I would make next time would be to add another can of beans.
I’ve made this a few times now, it’s so delicious, gets me compliments every time. I also love that it’s a healthy meal, and not bad for calories, which is a constant battle for me and my husband.
This recipe looks great! Disappointed that you don’t have the magic ‘metric’ button (see supernatural brownies for example). I would love your site even more of you offered this as a default. (I live in Belgium).
Hi Fiona, I just added them. Hope you enjoy the chili if you make it!
Hi Jenn,
Can I make this without the onions? My friend is allergic.
Hi Cherry, it may impact the flavor a little, but it should still be good. Enjoy!
This chili was delicious! I used leftover bbq chicken thighs and steak and it turned out great! Jenn, love your recipes and have never had one that I didn’t love ❤️ Thank you for sharing them😊
This recipe has been my go-to chili recipe for years. It’s great. To speed things up, tonight, I cooked it in our instant pot for the first time. Here are the modifications that worked for me:
(1) Cook the recipe as-written in the instant pot using the Saute function (we have a 6-quart with default Saute as “high,” so that is what I used), up until the chicken is finished cooking. (2) Reduce the chicken broth from 2c to 1c, and add it together with the tomatoes, sugar, and beans. (3) Pressure cook for 15 minutes on high pressure. (4) Manual release the pressure, or let it sit — I think I manually released the rest of the pressure about 15 minutes after the pressure cooking ended, and the flavor was fantastic.
Can I use only a 1 lb of chicken and add more beans and other vegetables? Or would that not work
Sure, Kaylee, that will work. I’d love to hear how it turns out!