This easy Instant Pot White Chicken Chili becomes a family favorite with just a few chicken breasts, pantry staples and only 20 minutes of cook time!
This creamy chili is a version of my healthy white chicken chili and crockpot white chicken chili.
If I had to pick one soup recipe to make year round, it would be this Instant Pot white chicken chili. There is literally a lineup with bowls as soon as chicken is shredded and cream cheese has melted. Here is why:
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s so delicious: It has creamy texture without too much fat, tender chicken, hearty cannellini beans, is tangy and perfectly spiced for kids and adults.
- Toppings are customizable: Then topped with diced avocado, lots of cilantro, green onion and tortilla chips.
- So easy to make: One of the easiest healthy dinner ideas for a family! Just dump and go, and this hands off hearty meal practically makes itself for you. Minimal effort and whole family is fed!
Ingredients for Instant Pot White Chicken Chili
This Instant Pot recipe is highly versatile and customizable. Not to mention all ingredients are very forgiving.
- Chicken: Boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs. You can even use separated frozen chicken breasts. Same cook time.
- White beans: Use low sodium or no salt added canned beans like cannellini beans, navy beans or great Northern beans. You could also use pinto beans in a pinch.
- Corn: Fresh, cooked, frozen (no need to thaw), or canned (drained) corn works.
- Veggies and fruit: White onion or yellow onion, fresh cilantro and fresh lime juice.
- Broth: Low sodium chicken broth, Instant Pot chicken broth, chicken stock, or vegetable broth. I like to use organic bouillon cubes or chicken bouillon paste diluted with water.
- Diced green chilies: From a 4 ounces can found in Mexican food aisle or shelf. You could use a minced jalapeno with seeds removed or salsa verde instead of canned green chilies.
- Spices: Chili powder, garlic powder, ground cumin, salt, pepper.
- Dairy: Greek yogurt or regular yogurt, and cream cheese.
How to Make White Chicken Chili in Instant Pot
For this recipe you can use 6,8 or 10 quart Instant Pot! See Tips section for 3 quart pressure cooker.
Step 1: Add fresh chicken breasts or frozen ones whole and save yourself from washing another cutting board. Also add corn, onion, green chilies, beans and spices to Instant Pot.
We will make chili creamy and add fresh herbs after it is cooked. Dairy scorches under pressure, that’s why we don’t add it before.
Step 2: Cook on high pressure for 20 minutes and allow 10 minutes of natural release. Then turn pressure cooker valve to Venting position.
If you vent right away, stew will splatter all over your counters. Shred chicken, I like to do so right in Instant Pot with 2 forks.
Step 3: Add yogurt, cream cheese and herbs. You can use all yogurt, cream cheese or heavy cream. I like my proportions for balance of health and creaminess.
Tips for Best Results
Here are a few tips for the best white chicken chili in Instant Pot experience.
- Don’t stir the ingredients: After you add them to the pressure cooker. There is no need to and helps to avoid Burn. But if you stirred by accident, more likely it should be fine.
- To double the recipe: To cook double the amount of chili in the pressure cooker, do so only in 8 quart or 10 quart pot Instant Pot. Make sure all ingredients do not exceed 2/3 max line before cooking. Pressure cooking time remains the same.
- For 3 quart Instant Pot: Cut ingredients in half and keep same cook time.
Variations
Make it less or more spicy for your crew, use different type of chicken, or use dried beans.
- Shredded chicken: If you have leftovers, for example Instant Pot shredded chicken, they would be perfect for this chili. Just cook as directed. Also Thanksgiving turkey leftovers would be great as well.
- Rotisserie chicken: Add shredded rotisserie chicken including even bones, if you wish. I recommend to add salt at the end then because store-bought cooked chicken comes pre-seasoned.
- Using frozen chicken: Truth is cooking frozen chicken breasts in Instant Pot doesn’t require much more time. Just make sure chicken pieces are separated and cook for same time.
- Ground chicken: To use it instead of whole chicken pieces, press Saute and wait until display says Hot. Then saute ground chicken, constantly stirring and breaking into pieces, until small pieces form. No need to cook through.
- Chicken thighs: Cook as per recipe, whether they are bone-in or boneless.
- Dried beans: For dried beans, use 1 cup rinsed (but unsoaked) dried white beans with 2 cups of chicken stock (total not extra), and cook chili for 35 minutes.
- Make it spicy: At the end, add desired amount of chopped or sliced jalapeno pepper right to the pot.
- Lighten it up: Omit cream cheese and mash a few white beans in a bowl, then return to the pot. It will become creamy naturally.
How To Serve White Chicken Chili
Absolutely everyone loves a hot bowl of this Instant Pot white chicken chili! Especially, kids love to add their own toppings. Ladle it over rice or a potato for a one bowl meal or serve with freshly baked cornbread with almond flour or cornbread muffins.
Our favorite easy toppings for chili recipes are:
- Diced avocado
- Jalapenos
- Tortilla chips or tortilla strips
- Cilantro, green onion
- Greek yogurt, Instant Pot yogurt or sour cream
- Shredded cheddar cheese or crumbled cotija
Storing Leftovers
Store: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days. This chicken chili is one of those recipes that tastes even better the next day!
Freeze: It also freezes extremely well as there are no tender vegetables to go mushy. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, thaw in the fridge overnight, then reheat on a stovetop covered while simmering on low.
FAQs
Yes, you can make it by following this white chicken chili in slow cooker recipe. Or use this recipe’s ingredients.
Then you will need to saute onion with spices first, then transfer to the slow cooker. Add all remaining ingredients except Greek yogurt, cream cheese, fresh cilantro and lime. Cover and cook on Low for 6 hours or on High for 3 hours. Shred chicken and return it to the crockpot along with chopped cilantro, squeeze of lime juice, cream cheese, and yogurt.
Saute onion with spices. Add all remaining ingredients except Greek yogurt, cream cheese, fresh cilantro and lime. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low-medium and simmer for 20 minutes. Shred chicken and add cilantro, lime juice, cream cheese, and yogurt.
Yes, meal prep this as a freezer meal! Add all ingredients from step 1 in the recipe card (minus the broth) to a gallon Ziploc bag, let out as much air as possible, seal and freeze for up to 3 months. Add broth and cook from frozen.
Yes, omit dairy and puree 1 cup of beans with a bit of chili liquid. Add it back and chili will be naturally creamy.
More Chili Recipes to Try
More Instant Pot Recipes to Try
- Instant Pot chicken stew
- Instant Pot chicken and potatoes
- Instant Pot chicken breast
- Instant Pot turkey chili
- Instant Pot chili
- Instant Pot vegetarian chili
- Frozen whole chicken in Instant Pot
Also make sure to browse more than 45 healthy Instant Pot recipes on our website.
Instant Pot White Chicken Chili
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 x 15 oz cans cannellini, white or great Northern beans drained and rinsed
- 2 cups corn fresh or frozen
- 1 cup chicken broth low sodium
- 4 ounces can diced green chilies
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- Ground black pepper to taste
- 1 pound or 2 large chicken breasts boneless and skinless
- Small bunch of cilantro finely chopped
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt 2%+ (or sour cream)
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 1 lime juice of
- Tortilla chips, avocado, more yogurt, limes for serving
Instructions
- In Instant Pot, add onion, beans, corn, broth, green chiles, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and lay chicken on top. No need to stir.
- Close the lid, set pressure vent to Sealing and press Pressure Cook on High or Manual for 20 minutes.
- After allow pressure to come down naturally for 10 minutes and release remaining pressure using Quick Release by turning pressure valve to Venting position, which takes 2 minutes.
- Open the lid, remove chicken and shred with 2 forks.
- Return chicken to the pot along with cilantro, Greek yogurt, cream cheese and lime juice. Stir well.
- Serve hot with your favorite toppings like tortilla chips, diced jalapenos and avocado, more yogurt or sour cream, hot sauce etc.
Video
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight, then reheat on a stovetop covered while simmering on low.
- Make ahead: Combine and refrigerate ingredients right in inner pot of Instant Pot covered for up to 2 days. Can add chicken right before cooking.
- Freezer meal: Add all ingredients from step 1 (minus the broth) to a gallon Ziploc bag, let out as much air as possible, seal and freeze for up to 3 months. Cook from frozen + broth as per recipe.
- Dried beans: Use 1 cup dried and rinsed white beans with 2 cups of stock and cook chili for 35 minutes.
- Frozen chicken breasts: You can add them right in, no need to thaw but make sure they are separated. Same cook time.
- For 3 Quart Instant Pot: Cut ingredients in half and keep same cook time.
Delicious although I couldn’t find the diced green chilies and realized I didn’t have chili spice in my cabinet so it was a little bland but that was my fault. I’m having the leftovers tonight and looking forward to it. I live in Mexico so we don’t get all of the shopping options that you do north of the border. I go to your site first when I’m looking for an instant pot recipe great job.
Thanks Blue! Too bad you weren’t able to find the diced green chilies!
Deliiiish! As soon as I have space in the freezer I’m gonna freeze prep so I can easily make this again. The only problem I had was I got the dreaded burn message, waaah! It might have been because I mashed the beans for a thicker sauce, a trick I got from when I made your healthy white chili recipe on the stovetop before I got my IP. But I was just going out of memory and mashed a whole can instead of just a cup so I think it made the liquid too thick. I kept adding more broth, scraping the bottom, letting it cool and starting again but it still kept getting burned. After 3 burn messages I just followed your tip, pressed cancel and just let it sit. It was too thick but it was amazing. I’ll do it right the next time around! Was very nice to have this hot bowl of chili after playing out in the snow. :p All of your recipes are in my current weekly meal rotations for my family of 4 with 2 kids under 5. They’ve all been so tasty and exciting (except the green bean casserole lol, that we are unfortunately not a fan of). Can’t wait for more! Thank you so much!!
So happy to hear that!!! Yes, mashing beans could cause Burn. Sensor mechanism detects even slightest lack of liquid and says Burn. It is definitely finicky. You can always add a can of mashed beans after since they are cooked anyways.
Just made it again using dried beans and not mashing this time. Still tastes great. Husband is “upset” that there is cream cheese because that means it’s not “as healthy” and he can’t eat as much as he wants 🤣 he follows a pretty strict diet. I’ll try to omit the cheese next time and see what happens.
It says “jump to video” but there is no video there. I land on this page. I will try the recipe though…it looks yummy.
A video player pops up in bottom right corner. If you have add blocker or pop up blocker installed you will not see any of my videos. Enjoy the recipe!
This recipe was super easy and so delicious! It will definitely be added to our meal rotation.
Woohoo! That’s so great to hear Lynda!
Wow—excellent! You’ve quickly become my go-to for instant pot recipes. I’ve tried several of your recipes and haven’t had a dud yet! Thank you for sharing!
Oh Debbie! You just made my day 🙂
Super easy recipe that tasted great! The spices were just the right amount for us. Not to hot but still has the mild kick in it. I love being able throw everything in my pressure cooker and have a great tasting meal in a half hour. This recipe has very little prep work which will keep me coming back for seconds 😉
Love hearing this feedback. Thanks Jessica!
Hi Olena.
If I use dried beans, is the 2 cups of stock in addition to the 1 cup of chicken broth?
Or is it 2 cups (total) of liquid with all of the other ingredients?
I can’t wait to make this!
Thanks, Marcia
Hi Marcia. 2 cups broth total. Enjoy!
Hi! Can I use ground chicken instead of chicken breasts? Thanks! Can’t wait to make!
Yes, you would have to saute ground chicken first to break into small pieces similar to Instant Pot turkey chili. Enjoy!
If I wanted to double this recipe, how would that change the cooking time?
Same cook time but you need at least 8 quart Instant Pot. I think it will fit but not 100% sure… Make sure it doesn’t exceed 2/3 max line.
Would canned corn work for this recipe instead of fresh or frozen?
Yes it would!