Serve this creamy chicken chili with homemade dinner rolls and a quick Italian salad.
Chicken Chili
A few months ago, I hosted a bridal shower for my sister, and we served soups, salads, had a caramel apple bar, and a few desserts (the mini fruit tarts were a huge hit!).
One of the soups was Chicken Chili, inspired by my family’s favorite chicken enchilada chili from Zupas®. It was a big success—there wasn’t a drop left!
I made it again for my family, and everyone agrees it’s even better than the original. It’s warm, creamy, and bursting with flavor, plus it’s incredibly easy to make!
Ingredients
- Red enchilada sauce: Adds flavor, thickness, and spice; pick your preferred heat level. I love using Old El Paso’s mild sauce.
- Diced tomatoes: Fire-roasted tomatoes add extra flavor with no extra effort.
- Chili beans: These come with seasoning, making the chili more flavorful.
- Black beans: Rinse to remove extra starch and salt.
- Frozen corn: Use straight from the freezer, no prep needed.
- Chicken thighs or breasts: Thighs are extra tender and make the broth richer.
- Chicken stock or broth: Adds depth; choose a good-quality brand.
- Cream cheese: Softened for easy mixing, making the chili smooth and creamy.
- Seasonings: Adjust to taste; add more heat if you like!
Chicken Chili Toppings
While Chicken Chili is great on its own, toppings take it to the next level. Here are some ideas:
- Cheddar cheese: Freshly grate sharp cheese on top and let it melt into the chili.
- Sour cream: Light or fat-free works great, or substitute with plain Greek yogurt.
- Fresh lime juice: A few squeezes add brightness and enhance flavor.
- Chips: Crushed corn or tortilla chips add a nice crunch.
- Fresh cilantro: Adds freshness and a citrusy flavor. Don’t like cilantro? Use parsley!
- Avocado: Diced ripe avocado adds a nice creaminess.
How To Make Chicken Chili
- Prep: Add everything except cream cheese and toppings to the CrockPot.
- Cook: Cover and cook on high for 3-5 hours or low for 5-8 hours.
- Shred: Remove and shred the chicken, then set aside.
- Add cream cheese: Soften and whisk it into the CrockPot until smooth.
- Finish: Add the shredded chicken back, stir, and serve with toppings.
Quick Tip
Have leftover Chicken Chili? Try these ideas:
- Shepherd’s Pie: Use chili as the base and top with mashed potatoes.
- Baked Potatoes: Add chili, cheese, chives, and sour cream to a baked potato.
- Navajo Tacos: Top fry bread with chili, cheese, and sour cream.
What To Serve With Chicken Chili
- Cornbread: The classic pairing and easy to make or buy.
- Grilled cheese: Perfect for dipping into chili.
- Salad: A light garden salad adds freshness.
- Fruit: This winter fruit salad is a great option.
Storage
Leftover Chicken Chili
- Fridge: Store cooled chili in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Reheat: Warm on the stove or in the microwave over low heat, stirring occasionally. Add a splash of broth if needed to thin it out. - Freeze: Freeze in a flat airtight bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight.
More Popular Soup Recipes
- Crockpot Chili winner of dozens of chili cook-offs!
- Crockpot White Chicken Chili with fire-roasted green chiles
- Broccoli Cheddar Soup with carrots and broccoli
- Taco Chili with ground beef
- Creamy Vegetable Soup with potatoes and corn
Chicken Chili
This simple Chicken Chili is loaded with chicken, corn, and beans—the perfect hearty meal for any day of the week!
Equipment
- Crock-Pot 6-quart, or Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 (10-ounce) can red enchilada sauce see note 1
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (16-ounce) can chili beans see note 2
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1-1/2 cups frozen corn
- 1-1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, see note 3
- 1 cup chicken stock or broth
- 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese softened
Seasonings
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 3/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1-1/2 tablespoons chili powder
- Toppings as desired see note 4
Instructions
- Add everything except the cream cheese and optional toppings to the Crock-Pot. Stir well, press chicken below liquid.
- Cover and cook on high for 3–5 hours or low for 5–8 hours, until the chicken easily shreds.
- Remove chicken, shred it with two forks, and set aside.
- Soften cream cheese in microwave for 1 minute then add to CrockPot. Briskly whisk in the softened cream cheese until fully melted and smooth.
- Add shredded chicken back into the CrockPot. Stir and taste for seasoning. Optionally, add 1–2 tablespoons lime juice.
- Ladle into bowls and add your favorite toppings.
Video
Recipe Notes
Note 1: Old El Paso® mild red enchilada sauce is my favorite.
Note 2: These beans come in seasoned chili sauce. If unavailable, use pinto or ranch beans and add more seasoning. Do not drain or rinse the chili beans before adding.
Note 3: Use 2–3 large breasts or 6–7 thighs. Thighs make the chicken extra tender and the chili base richer. Trim excess fat or gristle as needed. If using breasts, cut each into 3–4 pieces.
Note 4: Add extra flavor with toppings like extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, sour cream, lime, avocado, and tortilla chips.
Storage: Store cooled chili in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. To reheat, warm it on the stove or in the microwave, stirring occasionally. Add a splash of broth if needed to thin it out. If freezing, transfer the cooled chili to a flat airtight bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Nutrition
Calories: 215kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 109mg | Sodium: 584mg | Potassium: 532mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 640IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 19mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hi Chelsea,
Look forward to trying this recipe! Do you think shredded pork could be used instead of chicken?
Are you thinking of adding it already cooked? It won’t cook in the same time as the chicken, but I think it will be okay taste wise!
This recipe is amazing I put it in the crockpot last night before bed and woke up early this morning and finished making it. It tastes delicious and I know my inlaws will love it for our christmas party today. I do have one suggestion for the cream cheese that made it really easy to mix in though I used a hand mixer and blended it before putting it into the soup and it made it much easier to mix in. Loved this soup I will definitely make it again!
I’m so happy you enjoyed this soup Andrea! 🙂 And thank you for the tip about the cream cheese! 🙂
Awesome Recipe Chelsea. I won a Chili cookoff with your recipe. Thanks for sharing. So glad I didn’t go traditional chili.
I’m so excited you won!! Congratulations! Thanks for the comments 🙂
Chelsea first off I want to thank you and also my wife for turning me on to Pinterest. Here is my story. I work for Applied Materials in Santa Clara Ca, I am part of the legal department and we did a Tommys Best Chef competition Series. I actually came in mid competition and one the Crock pot comp with my Nawlins style Red Beans and rice. In the next competition I was one of the top three so I was in the finals. We all agreed to do Chili. I knew I didn’t want to do traditional so my wife said I should try Pinterest. Thats where I found you and your wonderful recipe! Well I decided on your chili and called it Zupa’s Style Chicken Enchilada Chili. When I went to bed I was not very confident I would win against two good cooks with traditional chili. We did blind tasting and the results were announced at our holiday party. All the proceeds from the various competitions were donated to the Second Harvest food bank. Well you will be happy to know your chili (cannot call it mine) 😉 was announced as the winner!!! I was so proud. Won a nice trophy and a best Chef apron and a gift basket with a one hundred dollar GC to Sur la Table. Everyone loved the chili and so did my family! In fact when my wife woke up the morning of the comp she came in and woke me up and said,”I don’t know what the other two contestants are bringing to the tablebut this is going to be very hard to beat”. Thanks for sharing the recipe Chelsea. It was a direct HIT!
One other thing to note. I decided to use Medium Enchilada Sauce (1 10 oz can) and then added a little of the hot. About a quarter can. I chickened out on two full cans as I was doubling the recipe. Seemed soupy to me. However the next morning it did thicken a bit. In retrospect I probably should have dumped more in because during the time the servers were serving the chili people were asking for more of the broth and as we got down to what was left to take home I lost a lot of liquid. I also did not have a real issue with the cream cheese. I added it in cubes at the three hour mark when things were really cooking. I did whisk it but man that cream cheese really settles down the bark of the enchilada sauce to perfection. For a almost no prep dish I almost feel as if I cheated. LOL. I also made some jiffy cornbread but substituted Sweet cream corn for the milk (whole can) with two boxes. To Die For. Thanks again.
Ooo that cornbread sounds amazing!! Thanks for sharing!
I am seriously so happy about this comment! 🙂 It made my day! What a fun competition and CONGRATULATIONS! That’s so exciting you won!! It takes a great cook not just a recipe to win a contest like that 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing Derrick!!
Absolutely love this recipe, so easy and tastes great! I’ve probably made it 3 times in the last month. I noticed a few people were having trouble with the cream cheese, mine also wasn’t blending (softened in microwave for 10 seconds). What worked for me was using a medium sized whisk and mixing (fairly fast) for about 5 minutes or until it started to blend. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much Lauren! 🙂 I’m thrilled it’s been a hit!! And thanks for the great tip, I’ll add it to the recipe in hopes of helping out some people! Appreciate it 🙂
I soften the cream cheese until it’s spitting hot. I cover it with a paper plate so it’s not all over my microwave. But THEN I add some of the liquid soup into the cream cheese, stir it until it’s incorporated-only takes seconds. It’ll all be super smooth, THEN add to soup. It’s very easy, melted before you put it in. Make sure you melt that cream cheese until it’s melted. No need to whisk!
I added the cream cheese as directed and it didn’t mix at all. It had a curdled look to it. 🙁
Did you soften it well? I’ve made this soup dozens of times and so have a lot of readers without problems, so I’d love to help you trouble shoot…Was it full-fat? How soft was it? Did you let it sit on high heat and then stir it well?
This is my current favorite recipe, in fact it’s sitting in my crockpot for the third time in the past month. I skip the cream cheese and limit the chicken to a pound just to reduce calories. Next time I’ll try it with half the amount of cream cheese and see how it goes. I also double the corn because we love corn over here, lol.
Hubby adds low calorie, thin yellow corn tortillas to the bottom of his bowl and of course a dollop of light Daisy sour cream brings it all together. We love it, thanks again.
That is so great to hear! I’m truly thrilled you’ve enjoyed this recipe and that it’s even made the favorite 🙂 Thank you Hunter for sharing your changes and the corn tortillas sound AMAZING!
I’ve made this THREE times now and it’s always amazing. My family loves it, even my husband who swears he doesn’t like soups. This is seriously easy and one of my favorite things to eat right now! Well done!!!
This was a great recipe! Very easy, no chopping for prep, just open the cans and dump. Loved it! Shot of lime juice with the garnish really topped it off. Definitely a hit at our house.
So great to hear that! 🙂 Thank you George!
Any idea how to make this into a freezer meal to have on hand ?
I haven’t tried it, but I think it would work great to put all the ingredients except the cream cheese in a freezer bag. Freeze. Thaw when ready, cook it all, and add in fresh cream cheese at the end. 🙂
Thank you!!!