This flavorful, mildly spiced, and creamy slow cooker chicken chili is a favorite dinner recipe to make again and again. It freezes well, is super customizable, and leftovers keep for days! There’s no pre-cooking or complicated prep required, so it’s a true “set it and forget it” crockpot meal.
I originally published this recipe in 2016 and have since added new photos and more helpful success tips.
I know I’m not alone when I sing the praises of the slow cooker. I especially love and appreciate a tasty slow cooker dinner recipe, where you can toss everything in the pot early in the day, push a button, and dinner is ready when you are! That’s how I make creamy chicken & corn soup, slow cooker turkey meatballs, honey teriyaki chicken, and slow cooker BBQ meatballs, too.
Slow Cooker Chicken Chili: Recipe on Repeat
I can’t even tell you how many times we’ve made this easy slow cooker chicken chili in the past 9 years. Every time a family member, neighbor, or friend has a baby, I take them a batch. (Who doesn’t find comfort in home-cooked chili? Especially new parents!) Every time we have friends over to watch a football game, I make this chili. And every time I want to prep freezer meals, I make another batch. It’s on the top of my list of 30+ back to school recipes and 30 fall dinner recipes.
This easy slow cooker chicken chili makes a big batch that reheats well, making it a convenient and practical option for busy schedules.
Here’s Why You’ll Love It Too:
- Easy: No pre-cooking required, this is a “set it & forget it” one-pot slow cooker meal
- Flavorful: filled with traditional chili flavors and a little spice
- Satisfying: warm, cozy, and comforting
- Adaptable: swap out the chicken, beans, and veggies to suit your taste
- Make-ahead & freezer friendly: so convenient!
One reader, Brigette, commented: “I’ve been on the hunt for the best chicken chili recipe for years. I made this today and I’m pretty sure I’ve found it! Thank you so much for sharing! ★★★★★“
Another reader, Steve, commented: “This recipe has been in my regular rotation every couple of weeks for a long time now. Everyone in my family loves it. I tweak it a bit like most cooks do to suit personal preference, but really this recipe works great even as is… and it’s simple, too. Having it tonight, actually. ★★★★★“
Ingredients in Slow Cooker Chicken Chili
Everything goes into the slow cooker at once. No pre-cooking!
- Canned Diced Tomatoes: Use 2 standard-size cans (or 1 large 28-ounce can) of diced or petite-diced tomatoes. Drain out the liquid first.
- Tomato Sauce: Use plain tomato sauce as the base of this chili. I usually pick up two 8-ounce cans of Hunts tomato sauce, or one 15-ounce can. You can use homemade tomato sauce, too.
- Chicken: You need about 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts. To make it vegetarian, skip the chicken and add another can of beans and/or chopped sweet potato.
- Chicken Broth: Use 1 cup chicken broth. I usually use the reduced-sodium kind. If you have homemade chicken stock or broth, that works too!
- Onion & Bell Pepper: Let’s add a little freshness to the one-pot dinner with flavorful onion and diced bell pepper. I like the color contrast green pepper provides, but you can use red, yellow, or orange bell pepper here instead.
- Black Beans & Corn: I love adding these because the duo brings a southwestern vibe to the whole dish. You can use canned or frozen corn. If you don’t have black beans, swap in kidney or pinto beans. Use what you enjoy and/or have in the pantry.
- Jalapeño: 1 jalapeño adds the perfect amount of spice. Feel free to skip it if desired.
- Garlic, Salt, Dried Oregano, Chili Powder, & Cumin: Each ingredient adds key flavor. I don’t recommend cutting any of them from the recipe. In fact, I usually add a little more of each after I taste the finished chili.
- Cream Cheese: Trust me. See below!
This recipe cooks on low heat in the slow cooker for 7 hours. If you’re looking for a slow cooker and need a recommendation, I have this one and this one, and both are fantastic.
If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can cook this chili on the stove. See detailed recipe Note below.
Besides chopping some ingredients and using a can opener, the only hands-on “work” is shredding the chicken.
Remove the cooked chicken breasts, shred them with two forks (it’s easy because they’re so tender!), then stir the shredded chicken back into the crockpot and cook for 15 more minutes before serving.
Best Ingredient of All
You can make regular chicken chili or you can make the BEST CHICKEN CHILI. Which do you prefer?
Stir in a little cream cheese when you add the shredded chicken. The cream cheese melts and creates a thick and creamy base for all these flavors and textures. It slightly cuts the heat, too. I’m not kidding—everyone I’ve made this chili for has asked me what my secret is—it’s the cream cheese!!
I usually add 4 ounces of cream cheese, but you can use the whole 8-ounce brick if you like it extra creamy. You can use full-fat or reduced-fat cream cheese. Whichever you use, just make sure that you don’t use cream cheese spread. Pick up an 8-ounce brick of cream cheese, like the kind you use to make cheesecake.
After you mix in the cream cheese, the chili will be creamy and lighter in color. Taste it. At this point you can add more salt, chili powder, or additional spices if desired.
Is This Chicken Chili Spicy?
No. The recipe written below makes a mildly spicy chili that has just enough heat to bring flavor without burning your tastebuds. (The cream cheese helps cut the spice, too!)
But the heat level here is really up to you! Add more jalapeño if you like your chili with a kick, or omit it entirely for a very mild chili. The type of chili powder you use makes a difference, too. Have you heard of the Scoville scale? It’s a measurement of how hot/spicy different chili peppers are, rated in SHU (Scoville heat units). It’s a big range! Check the label of your chili powder for a heat rating. Some of the most common ones you’ll find in the spice aisle of the grocery store are ancho chili powder (mild), chipotle chili powder (medium), and cayenne pepper (hot). I typically make this slow cooker chicken chili with a mild chili powder.
You can adjust the spices in my pumpkin chili, sweet potato turkey chili, and cornbread chili casserole, too.
Adapt & Make It Your Own
This slow cooker dinner recipe is infinitely adaptable. This is a convenient base recipe where you can add/reduce pretty much anything in order to fit your family’s preferences. Leave out the corn, or add extra if you wish. If you don’t have black beans, swap in kidney or pinto beans. I’ve even turned it into slow cooker vegetarian chili by swapping the chicken for more beans and cubed sweet potato.
For serving, toppings such as shredded cheese, fresh cilantro, avocado, and/or sour cream pair beautifully with this chicken chili. I also love scooping it up with tortilla chips.
However you make it, my #1 suggestion is to serve this one-pot meal with cornbread or cornbread muffins. You won’t regret it!
Print
My Favorite Slow Cooker Chicken Chili Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 hours
- Total Time: 8 hours, 10 minutes
- Yield: serves 10
- Category: Chili
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Description
This flavorful, mildly spiced, and creamy slow cooker chicken chili is a favorite dinner recipe to make again and again. It freezes well, is super customizable, and leftovers keep for days! There’s no pre-cooking or complicated prep required, so it’s a true “set it and forget it” crockpot meal. See recipe Notes if you’d like to make it on the stove.
Ingredients
- 2 (14.5-ounce/411g) cans petite diced tomatoes, drained (or 1 28-ounce/794g can)
- 1 (15-ounce/425g) can tomato sauce
- 2 large skinless boneless chicken breasts (about 1.5 lbs/680g)
- 1 cup (240g/ml) chicken broth (I use reduced-sodium)
- 1 cup (130g) diced yellow onion*
- 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 (15-ounce/425g) can corn (rinsed and drained) or 1 package of frozen corn
- 1 (15-ounce/425g) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 jalapeño, minced (remove seeds and ribs)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano or Italian seasoning blend
- 2 teaspoons chili powder (reduce to 1 teaspoon for less spicy chili)
- 1 Tablespoon ground cumin
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 ounces (113g) full-fat or light brick-style cream cheese*, at room temperature
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients except the cream cheese to a 6-quart or larger slow cooker. Stir everything together until combined. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours or on high for 3 hours.
- Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and transfer it to a large plate or cutting board. Using 2 forks, shred the tender chicken. You could also just cut it into bite-size pieces. Return the chicken to the slow cooker and add the cream cheese. Stir everything together until the cream cheese has melted. Taste, then add more salt or seasonings if desired.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook for 10–15 more minutes.
- Serve warm topped with fresh cilantro, shredded cheese, and/or sour cream. And serve alongside cornbread or cornbread muffins. Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Freeze in a freezer-safe container or a few smaller containers for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or place the container/bag in the sink filled with warm water. Once thawed, cook in a large pot on medium heat for 30 minutes, or reheat in the microwave until warmed throughout.
- Special Tools (affiliate link): 6-quart or Larger Slow Cooker (like this one or this one)
- Substitutions: The spices like cumin, chili powder, and oregano/Italian seasoning blend are crucial to the taste. However, the following adaptions work well if needed. Homemade tomato sauce works wonderfully instead of canned. You can use ground turkey or ground beef instead of chicken. Brown on the stove first (medium-high heat for 8 minutes), then add to the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients. You can also use vegetable or beef broth instead of chicken broth. You can add more peppers, onions, or beans if you want (sometimes I do!). You can use kidney beans or white beans instead of black beans. Add more garlic or jalapeño if desired. And, finally, for vegetarian chili, you can add 1 more can of beans and swap the chicken for 3 cups uncooked diced and peeled sweet potato.
- No Slow Cooker? No Problem! Chop the raw chicken into bite-sized pieces. Heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a very large pot or Dutch oven on the stove over medium heat. Add the diced onion, chopped bell pepper, jalapeño, salt, dried oregano, chili powder, cumin, and garlic. Stir and cook until the peppers have softened and the chicken is cooked. Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the cream cheese, to the pot. Cover and cook for 30 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally. After about 30 minutes, stir in the cream cheese until melted and cook, uncovered, for an additional 5 minutes. Serve.
- Cream Cheese: I find that it’s helpful to slightly warm the cream cheese before adding to the hot chili in step 2. Unwrap it, place on a plate, and simply microwave it for 15–20 seconds before stirring into the chili. This helps it combine much easier into the hot chili.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I made this following exact recipe- my family loved it. One thing that was not so good, was the cream cheese kinda clumped and looked kinda nasty- but it tasted great. Any suggestions?
I’m so glad your family loved it, Angie! Make sure you are using a block of real cream cheese, like the kind you use for baking, and not the cream cheese spread. If you add it when the chili is hot it should melt.
I left out the cream cheese and added a can of cannellini beans and it was fantastic!
Absolutely fantastic..I left out the cream cheese..I used 1 1/2 pounds of chicken and added a can of cannellini beans…Another phenomenal recipe! The cornbread was fantastic too!!
Does this chili freeze well with the cream cheese or is it best to add once it’s thawed and being reheated?
Hi Patti, I usually mix it in and then freeze it. Enjoy!
Hi! Can I use ground chicken rather than chicken breasts? Thank you!
Definitely!
I’m an over-50 woman and have made a LOT of chili over the years – and this is the BEST! (as rated by both me and my husband). I like to keep my recipes light and considered leaving out the cream cheese but so glad I didn’t. This is the secret ingredient that makes this recipe really different. I used light cream cheese. And when you average out the total calories of the cream cheese over the number of servings, it’s not that much more and totally worth it. I left out the jalapeno and added more chili powder. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
My slow cooked chicken chili turned out more like chicken soup. I love it. I put Mexican cheese and tortilla chips on top. this is my slow cooked chicken tortilla soup. If I need to bring something to a pot luck meal, this will be my choice. IT’s a hearty and feeling meal.
Thank you for this amazing recipe, Sally! This was my first time making any sort of chili. I swapped canned diced tomatoes with my home-grown fresh tomatoes, and swapped jalapeno for my home-grown Carolina Reaper (just a tiny little piece), and also put whole dried chili peppers into the mix. I doubled on proportions because I have a 6-quart crock-pot, but didn’t think to up the cooking time at first. Cooked on high for 3 hours – it was still runny and the chicken was raw-ish, so I tore the chicken to pieces and mixed in 1 tbsp of flour, and left it to cook for 2 more hours. It came out so super delicious! The cream cheese was a great idea! I added some thin tortilla strips and shredded cheese into each bowl and my kids gobbled it up in a heartbeat.
Absolutely delicious! Are you sure you’re not from Texas?
It would have been even better if I had Gebhardt chili powder on hand. (I can only get that mail order these days.)
I’ve been making chili without a recipe for about 30 years. Usually tasting it every 30 minutes or so, and adding what I wanted. I chose to try this recipe because it’s similar to the base I’ve used for beef and a couple times deer chili.
The only notable change I made was sour cream instead of cream cheese. (was what I had on hand) From experience, ranch dressing would have worked as well, but I really wanna try again using cream cheese.
Thank you so much for posting this!
This recipe along with your cornbread has become a staple in our household! Thank you!
How do you prefer to warm it up after freezing? Anything need to be left out?
Hi Ariel! After thawing– or partially thawing– I pour the ingredients into a pot and cook on low-medium until warmed. You can also use the microwave.
I have made this twice in two weeks and my husband and visiting company all loved it. It was extremely easy to make which left me more time to relax with my company. My husband told me he didn’t like chicken chili, but now he does! Thanks again for passing on this family favorite recipe.
This is one of the best recipes I’ve come across! So delicious and just placed in my company’s chili cook-off with this recipe!
This is sooooooooo delicious! A party for my palette! I added 1 can of chickpeas for more fiber and texture. This will be added to the winter meal rotation. So glad to have found you. Thank you!
I didn’t have any jalapeno but it was fantastic even without it! Had a friend over another night and had it again as left overs and she took a copy of the recipe home with her! Will add this to my list of recipes to make again!
Do you think it would possibly work to not drain the chopped tomatoes – and then add less tomato sauce? I also love that you included the vegetarian options! This recipe looks really good!
You can, it will just be a little thinner overall. Enjoy!
Hi Sally…
I haven’t read all of the comments, so forgive me if this question has already been asked. If I use a roasted chicken from the store deli, what would the cook time be in the slow cooker?
Thanks!
Hi Tammy! You can just add everything else to the slow cooker, cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3 hours, shred or chop the cooked chicken, then add the chicken (and cream cheese) and cook for another 10-15 minutes (or up to 30 minutes) on high or low.
Wow!! I cooked this for a dinner with friends and it was a huge hit. Everyone went back for seconds (including me), the crock pot was scraped clean, and I passed this recipe on to one of my guests upon request. I even accidentally used black soy beans but no even noticed! It was my first time making this recipe and I’ll definitely make it again. Just wanted to suggest these extra steps I took even though I now wonder if I even needed to take them because it was so tasty:
I used 2lbs of grass fed, 95% lean ground beef. I noticed from attempting other internet chili recipes that it’s hard for spices to come through in the chili. Some just taste like tomato and burger (but not this one, not even a little!). Per the blog’s suggestion, I browned the meat but first I diced half of a yellow onion and cooked it in a non-stick skillet on medium heat. After 1-2 minutes, I then added the ground meat. I salted the meat and stirred the onions into it. I cooked the meat in the skillet until the onions started to look slightly transparent. I drained the meat juice from the skillet before I added the cooked meat/onions to the slow cooker because I didn’t want to dilute the broth with fatty grease. Then I added the other half of the diced onion raw to the crock pot.
Seriously, excellent chili! This recipe fed four adults/one child and made enough for the all adults to go back for seconds.
Thank you for including this with your newsletter as I may not have known about it otherwise. I made it and OMG…..It was perfect. My father is 93 and lives alone. Whenever I go stay with him, I cook for him and freeze leftovers for him to heat up until next time I come stay with him. (I’m in NY and he is in SC….I know!) Anyway, I saw this and went to the store and got the ingredients I did not have in the house and made it. We had it for dinner, and I froze the leftovers. It was very good…and best thing…not spicy which is perfect for my dad. Going to make this soon now that I am back in NY….and will spice it up for us.
I made this chili last night for my family. I’m happy to say they loved it. It’s very flavorful. I substituted cooked shredded chicken and used my stockpot. Delicious. Thank you for sharing the recipe. We’ll be adding this chili to our list of faves.
Do you think butternut squash would work instead of sweet potato? Recipe looks so good, I can’t wait to make it!
For the vegetarian option, yes, absolutely!
Hi, Sally,
This is almost as tempting as all the baked goods…one question – can I use an instant pot? Thanks.
Hi Ray Anne, I wish I could give details on making this in an instant but but I don’t own one. I’m sure you could use one, though!
Today I made this chili, your cornbread muffins, your breakfast hash, and your pumpkin spice truffles!! Every recipe I try of yours is amazing and I am learning so much from your detailed instructions and tips. Thank you so much!!
Can I make this chili leaving out the cream cheese and freeze? Then when I thaw and heat, add the cream cheese then?
You sure can. This would be great for keeping the creamy cream cheese flavor wonderfully fresh.
Made this chili for super bowl Sunday and it was a huge hit! I only added 2 tsp of cumin and it was perfect. Thanks for the recipe Sally!
Thanks for this recipe. I can’t use onions and was wondering if you can recommend a substitute. Thanks, in advance.
Hi Ellie! You can leave the onions out or replace with more bell pepper.
My husband and I are addicted to this chilli, its absolutely delicious. The only (small) modification I’ve made, was to use taco seasoning instead of chilli powder
Made this chili yesterday. Didn’t have any garlic and in addition to the black beans I added northern and pinto beans!!!! LOVE IT, THANKS FOR RECIPE
I was looking forward to this great and wonderful chicken chili recipe all day long. I decided to taste it before adding the cream cheese and it was absolutely wonderful. However adding the cream cheese basically ruined it and turned the chili into cheese tortilla soup so … not bad, but not at all what I wanted. So if you really want chicken chili leave out the cream cheese!!!
I made this tonight. It was delicious!! I definitely recommend this recipe! Thank you!