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This Instant Pot White Chicken Chili is a fabulous change of pace from normal chili! Not every chili recipe has to be made with tomatoes and kidney beans; for chicken chili you combine cannellini beans, chilies, lime and chicken and you end up with a distinctly different chili that still amazing!
For more tasty chili recipes, why not try this Kitchen Sink Chili, my Instant Pot chili or learn how to make your own Homemade Chili Seasoning.
Instant Pot White Chicken Chili
The Instant Pot is truly a marvel; it lets you stack ingredients on top of one another, pour in some chicken broth and turn it on and end up with a delicious, finished recipe.
By adding in sour cream and cream cheese, you end up with all of the incredible richness you’d get from making it on the stovetop, but you get the massive convenience of being able to walk away and let it cook by using an Instant Pot
Instant Pot White Chicken Chili Ingredients
Be sure to take a look at the recipe card down below for the full ingredient list.
- Chicken breasts
- Onion
- Garlic
- Cans of cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- Can of kernel corn
- Can of green chilies
- Red pepper
- Cumin
- Chili powder
- Salt
- Chicken broth
- Sour cream
- Cream cheese
- Monterey jack cheese
- Avocado
- Lime
How to Make Instant Pot White Chicken Chili
- Put all of the veggies into the Instant Pot
- Place the chicken breasts on top of the veggies and then cover with the chicken broth
- Put the lid on and set the pressure vent to sealing, then press manual and set the time for 20 minutes
- Allow to naturally release for 10 minutes, and then quick release
- Remove the chicken and shred with 2 forks
- Add in the sour cream and cream cheese, stirring until everything is melted and combined
- Return everything together, stir and then serve, topping with the cheese and avocado
What Kind of Chili Spices Could I Use?
The biggest thing you can do to up your chili dishes, or any Tex-Mex dishes, really, is to try and play around with the spices.
Most supermarkets sell pretty reliable blends of spices called “chili powder” that can be used as a sort of catch-all for anything vaguely spicy. However, if you really want to make something special, try and make your own blends.
If you live somewhere with a local Mexican grocery, it should be easy to find seasonings, but if not, you might have to try and buy them online instead.
For this recipe, try swapping the regular chili powder for an equal amount of chipotle, ancho, and guajillo chili powders. This will give you a really rich, intense flavor that is a little bit chocolaty as well.
For an even more intense kick of chili flavor, try and buy the chilies whole instead. Get them dried online, and then toast them for 2 minutes in a dry pan before soaking them in hot water until soft and then blending them. Adding that chili liquid blend to the Instant Pot will give you the most intense, pure chili flavor you’ve ever had in your life.
Is This Really A Chili?
Some naysaying sticklers for definitions might try and argue that this recipe is not a real chili, whether because it contains beans, doesn’t contain the right kind of beans, has chicken and a cream cheese white sauce, or because it’s made in an Instant Pot instead of on a stovetop.
To those chili purists out there, it’s fine! It might not fit the exact, specific definition of chili that you might be used to, but I promise you, it’s going to taste incredible regardless!
Looking for more delicious Instant Pot recipes? Try these:
Happy cooking!
Love,
Karlynn
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Instant Pot White Chicken Chili
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts
- 1 small onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- two 15 oz cans cans cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- one 15 oz can kernel corn drained
- one 4 oz can green chilis drained
- 1 medium red pepper diced
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 oz cream cheese
- 1 cup Monterey jack cheese shredded topping
- 1 large avocado diced, for topping
- 1 lime sliced into wedges
Instructions
- Put the diced onions, garlic, beans, corn, green chilis, red pepper, and spices into the instant pot.
- Place the chicken breasts on top of the ingredients. Pout the chicken broth over top of the ingredients.
- Put the lid on and set the pressure vent to sealing and press Manual and set the time for 20 minutes.
- Once finished, allow to natural release for 10 minutes then release pressure using quick release.
- Remove the chicken to a plate and shred with 2 forks.
- Add the sour cream and the cream cheese to the pot and stir until the cream cheese is melted in and the sour cream has been combined.
- Return the shredded chicken to the pot and stir in.
- Serve immediately in bowls, top with Monterey Jack cheese, and avocado. Serve the limes to squeeze and drizzle the juice on the soup if desired.
Notes
- You can also top this with more green chiles, green onions or your favorite cheese instead of Monterey Jack
Jillian says
Great recipe!!!
Amanda says
I don’t have a instant pot- I have an air fryer and crock pot though!
Would either work?
Mr. Kitchen Magpie says
You can certainly do it in a crockpot, you’ll just need to adjust your temperatures and times.
Cara Chrétien says
How long would you recommend in the crockpot? I also don’t have an instant pot. I’m assuming low would be best.