Name: Instant Pot White Chicken Chili
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients: 1 small onion ((See Note 1 for onion and garlic)); 2 cloves garlic, minced ((See Note 1 for onion and garlic)); 1 cup chicken broth ((Recommend using Low Sodium Chicken Broth)); 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts; 3 Tablespoons Taco Seasoning ((Recommend using my homemade version)); Salt and Pepper To Taste ((See Note Below)); 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans or Northern beans ((rinsed and drained)); 1 (16-ounce) jar salsa verde ((Green Salsa)); 1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes and chilies ((use plain diced tomatoes if can't find it)); 1 (15-ounce) can corn; 8 ounces cream cheese, cubed; 8 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese; 1 tablespoon sour cream ((per serving)); 4 slices jalapenos ((per serving)); shredded cheese; chopped avocados; chopped cilantro

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Instant Pot White Chicken Chili is creamy, cheesy, and comforting with Mexican spices, boneless chicken breasts or thighs, and cream cheese. It is the ultimate comfort food.

While I love my Crock Pot Chicken Chili with the spicy red broth, sometimes I want a chicken chili that is creamy and cheesy, and this one fits the bill. It has a slight kick from the Mexican spices, my homemade taco seasoning, and the salsa, but the Instant Pot makes it taste like it cooked all day but only took 20 minutes to pressure cook in the Instant Pot. It is so rich, creamy, cheesy, and flavorful that it is one of my favorite Instant Pot Soup recipes.

Why Make This White Chicken Chili Recipe?

With so many chicken chili recipes out there, what makes this one the best? There are so many reasons, but here are a few.

Delicious hot, creamy, cheesy comfort food that is soul soothing on a Fall or winter evening.
Has a light zesty flavor from the green salsa.
Easy to make because you just dump the ingredients in the Instant Pot and let it do the work for you. There’s no need to watch the pot, constantly stir, or babysit it while it cooks.
Cooks more quickly than making it on the stove or in a crock pot or slow cooker.

What Ingredients Do I Need For White Chicken Chili?

Many of the ingredients you need for Instant Pot Chicken Chili are likely in your pantry or refrigerator. You will need about 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or about 5 chicken tenders. You could also use chicken thighs, just make sure they are boneless and skinless.

Next you will need chicken broth, chopped onions, minced garlic, taco seasoning, Cannellini beans or Northern beans, as well as green salsa (or salsa verde), and diced tomatoes and chilies. However, you could use just regular diced tomatoes. If you like, you could add, chopped jalapeños. That would work well if you like it spicier.

The ingredients mentioned above, and shown in the photo below this paragraph are to be added to the Instant Pot BEFORE pressure cooking. There are a few more ingredients, which are detailed below, that will be added AFTER pressure cooking.

For a full ingredient list, scroll down to the bottom of this blog post to the printable recipe card. That will list all the ingredients and the specified amounts required to make the recipe.

How To Make Instant Pot White Chicken Chili?

Now that you have the ingredients, let’s make this amazing comfort food. It is really easy. The steps are listed below followed by a photo collage showing a photo of each step. For more detailed instructions, with ingredient amounts, scroll down to the bottom of this blog post for the printable recipe card.

Add chopped onions and minced garlic. You can sauté the onions and garlic in oil or butter in the Instant Pot first, if you prefer, or just skip that step, and they will pressure cook along with the other ingredients.
Add the chicken broth. I like to use a low sodium chicken broth because there is salt in other ingredients, like the Taco Seasoning.
Add two chicken breasts. You can use boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders, or boneless, skinless chicken thighs, if you prefer.
Add the taco seasoning. You can use store bought seasoning or make my homemade taco seasoning, which is what I recommend. If you don’t have all the ingredients, you could add 2 teaspoons of cumin, 1 teaspoon of chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon oregano, and salt and pepper.
Add the drained beans. Add the cannellini beans or Northern beans, or any type of white bean. This is what makes it White chicken chili.
Pour in green salsa. If you don’t have green salsa, you could use a couple of cans of chopped green chilies.
Add Diced Tomatoes and Chilies. If you can’t find this, use canned diced tomatoes instead.
Pressure Cook For 20 Minutes. Press the Pressure Cook or Manual button (depending on model) to pressure cook this Chicken Chili on High Pressure for 20 minutes. Click the + or – button to adjust the time to 20 minutes. It will take several minutes to come up to pressure, and then when it finishes pressure cooking, let it release pressure naturally (which means you do nothing) for 10 minutes, and then move the pressure valve on top from the Sealing position to the VENTING position to do a quick release. When the pressure has been fully released, and the pin on top has dropped, then you can open the lid, and continue following the recipe instructions below.

PRO TIP: Why The Order Of The Ingredients Is Important

The Instant Pot uses pressure to cook. In order to build up pressure to generate enough steam, it needs water or other type of thin liquid, like chicken broth, which needs to be at bottom of the Instant Pot in order to avoid the “burn warning.”

You can sauté the onion and garlic in oil first but then you need to add the liquid, in this case chicken broth, next. Then follow the order of the steps above and that will help prevent you from receiving a burn warning.

Ingredients To Be Added AFTER Pressure Cooking

Above I detailed the ingredients that will need to be pressure cooked. However, below are the ingredients that will NOT be pressure cooked, and are to be added only AFTER all the other ingredients have been pressure cooked in the Instant Pot. Typically, dairy and cheese ingredients are added after the other ingredients have been pressure cooked.

After the Instant Pot has finished pressure cooking, and the pressure has been released with the pin dropped, open the lid. Then stir in the corn, cream cheese, and shredded Monterey Jack cheese, and stir until the corn is evenly distributed and the cream cheese and shredded cheese are melted.

If you like, stir in chopped cilantro for added flavor and color. Then the Instant Pot White Chicken Chili is ready to serve.

Serve with sour cream, chopped cilantro, shredded cheese, sliced jalapeños, and tortilla chips. You could also add chopped avocados.

What To Serve With Instant Pot White Chicken Chili

More Instant Pot Recipes

Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup (Coming Soon)
Instant Pot Chicken And Dumplings
Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
Instant Pot Beef Stew
Instant Pot Split Pea Soup

More Soup Recipes

More Mexican Recipes

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Recipe

Comments

Polly says

November 23, 2022 at 8:25 am

This was delicious! Thank you for the recipe!

- Michele says
  
  November 23, 2022 at 9:59 am
  
  Hi Polly,
  
  I’m so happy that you liked it. Thanks for letting us know.
  
  Michele
  
Deb says

November 03, 2024 at 11:37 pm

This is yummy, and so quick and easy to make!!! Definitely a keeper recipe. Thanks!

- Michele says
  
  November 04, 2024 at 3:53 am
  
  Hi Deb,
  
  I’m so glad you liked it! Thanks for sharing.
  
  Michele