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I Make The Creamiest Keto White Chicken Chili In Under An Hour
The first time I made this keto white chicken chili, it was one of those chilly nights when I wanted something cozy but didn’t want to spend all evening in the kitchen. I always keep shredded chicken meal prepped in the fridge, so once the base was simmering, I melted in the cheeses and stirred in the chicken. My keto dinner came together fast, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Here’s why:
- Creamy comfort food – The broth turns thick and cheesy with melted cream cheese and Mexican blend cheese, and the green chiles give it just the right kick. If you’ve enjoyed my keto chicken tortilla soup, this low carb white chicken chili is a bit like it’s richer, creamier cousin.
- Very keto friendly – Regular versions of this dish use white beans, plus flours or other starches, so they’re not keto friendly. But making white chicken chili keto is actually super easy if you skip those and rely on simple low carb ingredients instead! My version has just 5.7 grams net carbs per bowl, but it’s still so hearty and satisfying!
- Simple ingredients – Like most of my keto recipes, this one uses simple staples you can find at any grocery store. I also thicken it naturally with cheese (one of my favorite soup tricks) instead of any specialty thickeners.
- Great for weeknights – I can make this start to finish in under an hour! And most of that time it’s just simmering on the stove while I prep toppings or keto cornbread on the side.
I recently tested this keto white chicken chili again to double check the ratios, and updated it to increase the chicken and garlic. Not only do I think it’s even better now, my kids had a friend over that day and she begged her mom to make it. Make it with me, and I think your family will do the same! (And then, try my classic keto chili recipe too, so you can let me know which one your family likes best.)
Reader Review
“This is a fave in our house, and in regular rotation for our lunches. I meal prep a double batch at the beginning of the week and we have it for lunches all week. My husband loves it. It was a huge hit at a church fellowship meal too!” –Teri
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Ingredients & Substitutions
Here I explain the best ingredients for my keto white chicken chili recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card.
- Shredded Chicken – I usually meal prep my easy Instant Pot shredded chicken with boneless, skinless breasts (or chicken thighs), but honestly any method works… slow cooker, stovetop, whatever you like. And if I know I’ll be in a rush, I grab a rotisserie chicken for a shortcut.
- Green Chiles – They give the chili a gentle heat without being overly spicy. You can always add more (or less) depending on how you like it.
- Cheeses – Mexican blend shredded cheese for cheesy flavor and cream cheese to make it creamy, which also acts as a natural thickener. Feel free to swap the Mexican blend with cheddar cheese if you prefer, or pepper jack if you like extra heat.
- Aromatics – Onions and garlic! I like yellow onion here, but any color works.
- Chicken Broth – I used store-bought this time, but homemade broth or bone broth gives this keto white chicken chili more depth. If bone broth feels too strong, you can cut it with a little water.
- Heavy Cream – For rich, creamy flavor. You can lighten it up with half and half, but this adds some carbs. Full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream also make good substitutes.
- Olive Oil – For sauteing the aromatics.
- Spices – Cumin adds warmth, dried oregano provides a little herby flavor, and cayenne pepper gives a gentle kick. You can also add chili powder if you like, but I find the green chilies (above) are enough without it.
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How To Make Keto White Chicken Chili
I have step-by-step photos here to help you visualize the recipe. For full instructions with amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card.
- Cook the aromatics. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven. Sauté the onion until it softens and starts to smell sweet. Then, toss in the garlic and let it cook just long enough to smell amazing.
- Build the base. Pour in the broth and cream, then stir in the green chiles and spices. I let it simmer until the flavors come together and the liquid reduces a bit.
- Melt in the cheeses. Lower the heat, add the cream cheese and shredded cheese, and stir until melty and smooth.
- Stir in the shredded chicken. Let it warm through until you’ve got a thick, comforting pot of keto white chicken chili. Don’t forget the toppings — see my serving ideas below!
My Recipe Tips
- Skip the lid. I simmer this keto white chicken chili uncovered, because this allows it to reduce and thicken as it cooks.
- It’s important for the cream cheese to be very soft at room temperature. If it’s cold, you’ll have little chunks in your soup. If I forget to soften it, I microwave it to soften before stirring in.
- This keto chicken chili is very rich, so use less cream cheese if you want less richness. I thought it was perfect as -is, but my friend, Maria, made it and told me she preferred it with half the cream cheese. A few reviewers have said the same thing. I tried this and it’s also good but not as thick.
- You can speed up blending in the cream cheese with an immersion blender. Just give it a spin before returning the chicken to the pot.
- Add the shredded chicken gradually, 1 cup at a time. The ideal amount can vary depending on how much the soup reduced during simmering. That’s why I prefer not to add it all at once, so I can check if the ratio of chicken to creamy broth seems right. If you have extra shredded chicken, you can always use it to make my chicken bacon ranch casserole or chicken florentine soup.
- Can you use raw chicken? Yes! When I don’t have any on hand, I just cook raw chicken breast right in the soup. Add 2 pounds to the pot at the same time as the broth, and remove it once cooked through, after about 20 minutes of simmering. Shred chicken and set aside until it’s time to add it back in toward the end.
- Do you need to add a thickener? I usually find the cream cheese and simmering make the low carb white chicken chili thick enough. If you like it even thicker, you can always stir in a little cornstarch substitute.
- Want to lighten it up? My favorite way to do this is to add keto vegetables. They add some carbs, but make the soup lower calorie per serving. You can saute heartier veggies, like green bell peppers or mushrooms, together with the onions, or add softer veggies, like zucchini or cauliflower rice, in the last few minutes of simmering.
- Can you make it in a Crock Pot? Yes, you can adapt this keto white chicken chili recipe for a slow cooker. I would slow cook the ingredients through step 3. It tastes better if you saute the onions and garlic on the stove first, but you can add them in raw if you really want to. Once the soup is cooked and you’ve shredded the chicken, you can stir in the cream cheese and shredded cheese.
Keto White Chicken Chili
By
My keto white chicken chili recipe is creamy, cheesy, and flavorful! No one will guess it’s low carb and this easy to make.
Instructions
[ See step photos See my tips ]Tap on the times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer.
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Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for 5-7 minutes, until soft.
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Add the garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.
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Add the chicken broth, heavy cream, green chiles, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper, sea salt, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium and simmer for about 40 minutes, until soup has reduced and thickened a bit.
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Reduce heat to low. Stir in the cream cheese and shredded cheese, until the cheese has melted and the soup is smooth.
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Stir in the shredded chicken. Simmer the keto white chicken chili for about 5 minutes, until thick and creamy. Adjust salt and pepper to your taste.
Did you make it? Leave a review or tag me @wholesomeyum on Instagram!
Maya’s Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 cup
- Tips: Check out my recipe tips above to help you get a creamier texture, the perfect chicken-to-broth ratio, and how to thicken if needed.
- Store: Keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 3–4 days. It reheats very well!
- Meal prep: I think this keto white chicken chili tastes even better the next day, so go ahead and make a big batch! You can also just prep the ingredients ahead of time, too.
- Reheat: Warm it gently on the stove over medium-low heat, or pop it in the microwave.
- Freeze: This low carb white chicken chili keeps well for about 3 months in the freezer.
I provide nutrition facts as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see my nutrition policy.
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Keto White Chicken Chili
Serving Ideas
This keto chicken chili can easily be a one-pot meal and honestly, that’s how we enjoy it most of the time! But if you want to round it out, here are a few of my favorite pairings:
- Toppings – I left them off the recipe card to keep things simple, but for me they make the bowl complete: sour cream, lime wedges, avocado, and plenty of fresh cilantro. I also like to crush in almond flour crackers for crunch. Shredded cheese or hot sauce are great extras, too.
- Salad – I like to balance low carb white chicken chili with something fresh but still seasonal, like my fall salad or brussels sprout salad.
- Bread – We usually go for keto-friendly options like keto dinner rolls, almond flour biscuits, or even a slice of keto white bread with butter. My keto cornbread is also a classic pairing that makes it feel like a true comfort meal.
262 Comments
Kate Crenshaw
0Made this tonight with chicken breast that I had boiled and shredded yesterday and also used the chicken broth. I followed the recipe and thought it turned out very well. It was delicious, but I couldn’t resist tweaking it a bit since it reminded me of my mother’s chicken tetrazzini. She always put diced pimientos in that so I added some to my chicken chili. I also added a sprinkle of smoked paprika. Since I’m eating Keto meals, I couldn’t serve this on rice or noodles, so I toasted a Keto-friendly bagel thin, cut it into quarters, which I put into a flat pasta bowl, and spooned heaps of chicken chili on top. Garnished with green onion and chopped flat-leaf parsley.
Lisa Almy
0Hi. No beans?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Lisa, No, beans are not considered keto.
Carol
0Absolutely delicious. Creamy and cheesy… Perfect.
Bev
0I just made this tonight! Delicious!! However, I’m thinking about adding broccoli. Then I guess it would no longer be considered chilli. Lol
Karen
0This was the best ever chili! No sugar spike for my husband, who LOVED this chili.
Betsy
0Thinking of adding chopped baby corn, since it is low in carbs…..any thoughts on that?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Besty, If you are trying to keep this low carb I don’t suggest adding corn.
Skyler
0I want to make this tomorrow, it looks so good after being in a dinner rut lately. I have an instapot I’ve used a couple times but I’m not familiar enough to wing it with things yet. Do you have suggestions for cooking time or instructions for that? Thank you!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Skyler, I have never made this recipe in the Instant Pot, so I don’t have a time recommendation unfortunately. If you want to try it, I recommend using the saute setting for the aromatics first, then pressure cook for the simmering step (I’d estimate 10 minutes), then add the cheeses uncovered. Don’t pressure cook with the cheeses. Hope this helps!
Meagan
0Hi, I am excited to make this next week. I was wondering what I could use instead of a dutch oven though? I (obviously) dont have one and they are crazy expensive! I have all kinds of pans and oven-safe dishes.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Meagan, You can use a regular pot if you don’t have a Dutch oven.
Tom
0Maya – thanks so much for all the wonderful recipes.
I’m not a Cream Cheese fan, so trying to figure out how to make the jump from 8oz Cream Cheese to how much Psyllium Husk. I’m open to other thickeners if you think there is a better substitute.
Micheal
0If you have a vitamix you can use sauteed mushrooms mixed with bone broth in the vitamix as an instant thickener, then reduce the end product if you still need it thicker. Sometimes I want something REALLY thick and I use sauteed mushrooms AND sauteed onions with bone broth on the highest setting in the vitamix for at least three minutes. I think you’ll be pleasantly suprised at the umami flavors it adds to the dish. If that’s still not thick enough my go to keto thickener is xantham gum; grab a pinch and mix it with a couple teaspoons of melted fat (buttter, avocado oil, whatever) and then add it to your soup/stew. This is how a traditional roux is made with flour (flour and a fat make a roux for thickening) and it works quite well.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0You’re very welcome, Tom! While I have notes about alternate thickeners and reducing the cream cheese in the post above, I don’t think it would work to omit the cream cheese from this recipe altogether. You can try half the amount and add xanthan gum or another thickener to compensate.
Diana
0Delicious & super easy to make! ❤️
Caroline
0Hi all wondering if you use jalapeno peppers and not green finger chilis – if so is there a difference in carb contents?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Caroline, There would not be a difference in carbs between the two peppers.
Michelle
0Delicious! I had a skeptical audience. how it started – my husband came for a bowl, looked in the pot and said “I thought you made chili”, he wasn’t going to eat it. 14yo son, looked at the recipe and said I’m not eating cream cheese. How it ended – “that was great, 2 thumbs up, make more next time”. 14yo took left overs for lunch next day. I have 2 teenage boys with bottomless pits, so I doubled+ the chicken (kept everything else the same). This recipe was very tasty and filling.
Susan
0I made this for dinner tonight and we enjoyed it. I was so tired that I didn’t even think about toppings. One thing I would love to see, since I don’t do a lot of cooking with cream cheese, is for the directions to tell us to cut it into half-inch cubes. I learned about that the hard way, to use next time. The other thing is that in the future, I would heat up the chicken in the microwave, divide it among the serving bowls, and then add the soup over it. I found that it was impossible to divide the chicken reasonably evenly when everything was in the pot together. This is definitely a keeper recipe.
Liz
0Absolutely DELICIOUS! Will definitely be making again!
Jen
0This was very easy and tasty. It reminds me of a soupier crack chicken recipe with a kick. I added diced jalapeños to take it up a notch. One issue I have is that the cream cheese never seems to melt completely. What am I doing wrong?
Jolene Rifenburg
0I would have taken a photo but it’s already GONE! ABSOLUTELY my new comfort food. The flavors are spot on!! If you want leftovers you better double the batch LOL. I might add some mushrooms next time! Thank You for this delicious gift!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Jen! Clumpy cream cheese can happen if you add it cold or the heat is too high. Make sure it’s very soft before adding, lower the heat on the stove, and keep stirring. An immersion blender also speeds up the process. Hope this helps!
Brenda
0Not often that I crave a dish, but I think I make this one about once a week! It is DELICIOUS! THANK YOU for posting this recipe. I encourage everyone to try this at least once…you will likely get hooked too 🙂
Dottie Bacon
0This is soooooo delicious and easy! I was able to use leftover chicken from last night. I don’t think I’ve made a single recipe that we did not like. Thanks for the fabulous recipes!! The next time I make this, I’ll consider throwing in some cauliflower! 🙂
Melinda Yeager
0Made this today and wow this really hits the spot on a cold day! I made it in the crock pot so I waited to add the cream and cream cheese til about 30 mins before serving! So Yummy!
Megan Jones
0Can I use canned chicken? That’s all we have right now in the house.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Megan, Yes, that would work.
Crista
0Easy to prepare, delicious. I used 3 cups bone broth instead of 2-1/2. Made it a tad more like soup.
Theresa
0Unfortunately, I’m in the middle of a move and didn’t have my spices so I used what I had on hand, which was a packet of chili seasoning and I had to figure out the right temp on the stove to simmer (you know gas vs electric). It was still delicious, I will definitely make this recipe again.
Liana
0This was the best! I will definitely make it again!