This healthy white chicken chili is a one pot dinner made with rotisserie chicken, green enchilada sauce, and a LOT of veggies… and it’s SO SO EASY. Everyone can add as much or as little of the less-skinny toppings as they like, HA! Which means even the kids are happy. So what if my three-year-old has equal parts Fritos and chili? It’s fine! And I get a giant bowl with KILLER macros. Everyone wins.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: One Pot Skinny White Chicken Chili
- Serves: 6 -8
- Calories: 240 cal
- Protein: 26g
- Fat: 5.2g
- Carbs: 20.8g
- Why You'll Love It: We LOVE a good white chicken chili over here, and making it extra light and healthy didn't change it for anyone! All of my kids even devour this. And skipping the beans just allows me to use the carbs where I value them more! Feel free to add them in if you love beans!
Growing up, my mom always made a tortilla soup with green enchilada sauce as the base. I LOVED it. As I got older, I was constantly disappointed when I ordered tortilla soup at restaurants and found my veggies and chicken swimming in a red or clear broth. Even at the authentic Mexican places. I don’t care. I LOVE THIS STUFF.
Green enchilada sauce is such a quick way to get a super flavorful chili without a million ingredients or hours of simmering. All of my kids devour this one, and it’s one of the favorites in my cookbook, ONE. If you’re a soup and chili person like me, my lighter Instant Pot chicken tortilla soup and low carb turkey cauliflower chili are good ones to try next.
Is White Chicken Chili Healthy?
It can be! A lot of white chicken chili recipes lean on heavy cream and piles of cheese. This one gets its creaminess from just ¼ cup of Greek yogurt cream cheese, uses lean rotisserie chicken breast, and is loaded with peppers, onions, and zucchini. One 400g bowl has 240 calories and 26g protein. And that’s a nice BIG bowl I’d eat for dinner, not a little cup like most soup portions.
Does White Chicken Chili Have Beans?
Most white chicken chili recipes use white beans like great northern or cannellini. I skip them so I can use my carbs where I value them more (hello, chips). Feel free to add them in if you love beans! Just know your macros won’t match the recipe card.
Important Ingredients and Substitutions
- Rotisserie chicken breast: I buy the big package of rotisserie chicken breast from Costco, but feel free to pick it off the bird or use whatever you’ve got. The macros for white meat are pretty similar across the board. Leftover Thanksgiving turkey works too!
- Green enchilada sauce: this is the flavor base. You’ll use about half of a huge can (400g). If you love green chile flavor, my creamy green chili chicken bake is another good one.
- Mild diced green chilis: two small cans (8 oz total). They add flavor without much heat, so the kids eat it too.
- Greek yogurt cream cheese: just ¼ cup makes the whole pot creamy with no heavy cream. Any reduced fat cream cheese works.
- Frozen roasted corn: I use the frozen roasted corn from Trader Joe’s. Regular frozen corn works too.
Before You Start Cooking
- Prep the chicken first. The hardest part of this recipe is picking through the rotisserie chicken to toss any gross parts you don’t want to eat, then chopping and shredding the rest into bite-size pieces. You’ll hate me for those five minutes. Just remember you didn’t even have to cook it! Then you’ll like me again.
- Grab a large pot. Everything cooks in one pot, and this makes 6 to 8 big servings.
- Plan on about 45 minutes. That’s 15 minutes of prep and 30 minutes on the stove.
- Keep the corn frozen. It goes in straight from the freezer at the very end.
- Tracking macros? Search “Lillie Eats and Tells Skinny Creamy White Chicken Chili” in MyFitnessPal and log however many grams you eat. Want to log your own version? Here’s how to create a recipe in MyFitnessPal. If you want a plan for the whole week, my macro-friendly meal plans send you a new menu and grocery list every Thursday, with the recipes already loaded into MyFitnessPal, Macros First, and Lose It.
How to Make Healthy White Chicken Chili
- Cook the veggies. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray. Add the peppers, onions, and zucchini with a hefty pinch of kosher salt and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until soft.
- Add garlic and cumin. Stir them in and sauté for a few more minutes.
- Add the rest. Pour in the green chilis, green enchilada sauce, chicken stock, and chicken. Sprinkle a little kosher salt on the chicken.
- Simmer. Turn the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until you’re ready to eat.
- Make it creamy. Stir in the Greek yogurt cream cheese and corn and simmer for 5 more minutes, just until the corn is no longer frozen.
- Top and serve. Scoop into bowls and add your favorite toppings.
Oh my gosh and the best part is a CLEAN KITCHEN. Since it’s all in one pot, I get time to tidy while it simmers. Then it’s ready to serve to the whole family! SO much better than leaving out ten cutting boards for tacos or burgers or salads like we do all summer… I LOVE FALL.
Eating hot soup, while not sweating, in a clean kitchen. Pretty much heaven.
What to Serve with White Chicken Chili
Toppings first! We love cheese, avocado, sour cream (low or non-fat), cilantro, a squeeze of lime, and CHIPS. And we’re not afraid to buy Fritos. If you think you don’t like them and can only buy some fancy blue corn tortilla chip from Whole Foods, you’re lying to yourself. Ha! But fine, get whatever you like!
Since a bowl of this is a big portion, I usually just add a salad. My corn avocado salad, light Mexican Caesar salad, or Mexican chopped kale salad all go great with it. Parmesan smashed broccoli is an easy veggie side, and if you want something like cornbread, try my lighter cornbread waffles for dipping.
How to Freeze White Chicken Chili
This one freezes great! It’s on my list of macro-friendly freezer meals.
- Let the chili cool, then portion it into quart-size ziplock bags or small containers.
- Write the date and grams on the outside (one serving is 400g).
- Freeze the chili without toppings. Add your cheese, avocado, sour cream, and chips after reheating.
- Thaw overnight in the fridge, or reheat straight from frozen in a pot on low heat, stirring often.
- Keeps up to 3 months.
Stocking up on soup for the winter? My chicken minestrone soup, veggie chicken soup with butternut squash, lemony chicken soup, creamy chicken pot pie soup, and easy lasagna soup all freeze well too. For more Tex-Mex, try my chicken enchilada casserole or skinny creamy chicken enchiladas.
White Chicken Chili Calories and Macros
One 400g serving of this healthy white chicken chili has 240 calories, 26g protein, 5.2g fat, and 20.8g carbs. That’s before toppings, so I’ll let you log your own chips and cheese. Ha! The full nutrition is in the recipe card below.
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One Pot Skinny White Chicken Chili
Ingredients
- 3 medium bell peppers diced 380 g
- 2 medium onions diced 540 g
- 2 medium zucchini chopped 355 g
- 5 cloves minced garlic or frozen dorot cubes
- 1 tbs cumin
- 8 oz 2 small cans mild diced green chilis
- 400 g green enchilada sauce half a huge can
- 550 g rotisserie chicken breast about 1.25 lb shredded and/or chopped into bite sized pieces. (I buy the big package from Costco and pick any yucky stuff out.)
- 3 cups chicken stock I use the boxed cartons from Costco.
- 1/4 cup 44 g greek yogurt cream cheese
- 128 g corn I used the frozen roasted corn from Trader Joes
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium, high heat, spray with cooking spray.
- Add peppers, onions, and zucchini, sprinkle with a hefty pinch of kosher salt and cook for 5-7 minutes till soft.
- Sir in garlic and cumin and sauté for a few more minutes, then add green chilis, green enchilada sauce, chicken stock and chicken. Sprinkle a little kosher salt on your chicken. Turn to low and simmer for about 15 minutes or until you’re ready to eat.
- Stir in greek yogurt cream cheese and corn and simmer for five more minutes just until corn is no longer frozen. All done!
- Top individual bowls with cheese, sour cream (we use low or non-fat), avocado, fresh cilantro, a squeeze of lime, and tortilla chips or fritos!
Notes
- I love to buy the big package of rotisserie chicken breast from Costco for soups in the winter. I’m not a huge fan of the texture for salads or much else, but as long as you take a minute to pick through it and remove any gross parts, then chop and shred the good stuff into manageable sized pieces, it’s PERFECT for soups! And makes it such a breeze.
- For macro-counters: Search “Lillie Eats and Tells Skinny Creamy White Chicken Chili” in My Fitness Pal to log however many grams of chili you want!
- Just reminding you this is a nice BIG portion! Not just a cup like most soup “portions”. This is actually a nice big bowl that I would eat for dinner. And the macros are so low, they leave room for toppings and a side salad if you’d like!
Nutrition
Tried this recipe?
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Delicious! Perfect batch size for weeks worth of lunches.
This was so good! I was delighted that we had plenty for leftovers. I could not find the cream cheese listed so I melted regular cream cheese. I also found GF chicken stock and GF green enchilada sauce. The flavors are amazing and I can’t wait to make it again. Perfect dinner on a cold midwest winter night!
This is the second recipe I have made from your site, and I am hooked. I made this recipe exactly as listed. I added half a lime and some chopped cilantro. Magic & chef’s kiss. Thank you for your magical meals and posting them.
Yum!
Any recommendations for dairy free in place of the Greek yogurt fat free cream cheese
This is one of my favorite go-to recipes. I’ve made it so many times! There is lots of chopping involved, but if done beforehand, the rest of the soup comes together quickly. Love this one, and so does my family, thank you!!!!
This is delicious! Everyone in my family loved it too.
This recipe was a huge hit at my house! As someone who has to forgo gluten, dairy, and soy, I am always thrilled to find meals we can all eat and that we all truly enjoy. Thank you, Lillie!
Hi! What did you use instead of the cream cheese? Thank you!
Hi! I love all your recipes and I just started my macros journey a few months ago. For your skinny chili it calls for greek yogurt cream cheese. I have been to multiple stores and can not find any. What can I use in place?
Thank you!
Wow! I have eaten this soup for lunch and dinner! Great flavor! Love her recipes❤️
One of the BEST soups I’ve ever had! Definitely will be making this on repeat all year long!!!
Enjoyed this light chili for dinner today. I’ve made many of your recipes & have yet to find one I don’t like. Thank you. You make my life much easier.
This is the *best* soup recipe out there. Easy to make, standard ingredients. This is my go-to when I want something filling for the week that keeps well in the fridge. It’s great to send home with someone if they’re sick, have a newborn, etc. It’s a jack of all trades soup and made at least once a month in my house 🙂
Delicious and great macros. Thank you for another awesome recipe!!
Hi! Has anyone tried this in the crock pot with chicken breasts? If so any tips appreciated!