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White Chicken Chili

White chicken chili with a creamy golden broth made by melting cream cheese into a spiced base, then simmering shredded chicken. Loaded with white beans, corn, and diced green chiles, finished with pepper jack, jalapeño, cilantro, and a lime-sour cream swirl.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Calories: 560
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Chicken breast
  • 1.5 lb chicken breast, cooked and shredded
White beans
  • 2 can (15 oz) white beans, drained
Corn
  • 1 can (15 oz) corn, drained
Diced green chiles
  • 1 can (4 oz) diced green chiles
Onion
  • 1 onion, diced
Garlic
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
Chicken broth
  • 4 cup chicken broth
Cream cheese
  • 8 oz cream cheese, cubed
Heavy cream
  • 1 cup heavy cream
Cumin
  • 2 tsp cumin
Chili powder
  • 1 tsp chili powder
Oregano
  • 1 tsp oregano
Smoked paprika
  • 0.5 tsp smoked paprika
Sour cream
  • 1 sour cream for serving
Pepper jack
  • 1 pepper jack for serving
Jalapeño
  • 1 jalapeño for serving
Cilantro
  • 1 cilantro for serving
Lime
  • 1 lime for serving
Salt and pepper
  • 0.25 tsp salt and pepper to taste

Equipment

  • 1 Dutch oven

Method
 

Cook the flavor base
  1. Heat a large pot over medium heat and sauté the diced onion for 4 minutes, until softened and slightly translucent. Stir in the minced garlic and cook with cumin, chili powder, oregano, and smoked paprika for 2 minutes, until fragrant.
Build the chili
  1. Add the chicken broth, white beans, corn, and diced green chiles, then bring the mixture to a boil. Keep stirring occasionally so the beans and corn are evenly distributed.
  2. Reduce heat to low and stir in the cubed cream cheese until fully melted and the broth looks creamy. Pause to scrape down the pot so no cream cheese pockets remain.
Finish and season
  1. Add the shredded chicken and heavy cream, then simmer for 10 minutes while the surface gently bubbles. The chili should thicken slightly and look velvety.
  2. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately with sour cream, pepper jack, jalapeño, cilantro, and lime on top.

Notes

Pro tip: soften and melt the cream cheese on low heat—if the pot is too hot, it can look grainy instead of smooth. Refrigerate leftovers in a covered container for up to 4 days. Freezing is not recommended for the creamiest texture after thawing. For a lighter option, use half-and-half instead of heavy cream while keeping the cream cheese for body.