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
Ok, so I never write reviews but I just had to for this recipe. I was looking for a good chicken chili recipe and decided to go with this one ( I never made chicken chili before). It was amazing, also kids approved. Not sure why people give less than 5 stars because to me it’s 10 stars. The only thing I would change is add more jalapeños and garlic, I like a little more kick to it. Loved it.
I have made chili many times and I found this not to be that great.
I made the recipe as written and if I make it again this is what I would do differently.
Add more chili powder and cumin.
Omit the chicken broth. It made the chili too watery.
Use half the amount of corn.
Skip the cream cheese. The flavor was pretty good until I added the cream cheese. Even though I heated it in the microwave, it still curdled when I added it to the hot chili. It took away most of the flavor. Would rather topped it with a little sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese instead.
I would use boneless thicken next time.
Sorry Sally, I do like most of your recipes, but this is my honest review of this recipe.
Can I make it with ground chicken?
Definitely!
This was so great! At a glance I was hesitant about adding the cream cheese but since we had it on hand I figured why not. That she tweaking the spices at the end really brought it together! So excited to eat this over the next week!!!
The first time that I made this I was disappointed– it’s not chili, it’s soup! But I liked the flavors so I tried again and used canned crushed tomatoes instead of diced, 1/4 cup tomato paste, extra chili powder and other spices, and 2 cans of black beans. Much better, but still not a thick chili. But after 2 attempts I feel as though I owe the recipe a third attempt to make it even better, so I will try again and use half less chicken broth.
This was awesome! Perfect when working from home, put it in the slow cooker in the morning and ate some for lunch. I like options so I made cornbread, got crackers, and topped it over a salad. Thanks so much
Hello! I’m currently making this right now. What would you suggest the cool times should be for a stainless steel Dutch oven?
Hi Kevin, see the recipe note titled “No Slow Cooker? No Problem!” for details on cooking this chicken chili recipe on the stovetop!
This is amazing! Will be a new staple in our home, for sure! We had this with crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheese before heading out for Halloween festivities tonight . . . and then came home and had more! So easy and delicious!
The cream cheese trick is brilliant! Partner observed that between the tomatoes, rich dairy, and cumin, it’s a bit reminiscent of butter chicken in the best way. Considering serving this over rice just to see how far we can take it!
Thank you for this recipe, Sally! Like all the recipes I’ve tried of yours, this is true to your instructions, easy and Delisch! ❤️
I love this recipe and modify it as follows:
Heat the chicken broth to boil, rehydrate 5 or 6 dried ancho chilis in the stock and let cool
Add all spices + stock with peppers to a blender, blend
One can of black beans and one can of cannellini beans, no corn (I dont like corn)
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cubed
I’m so happy I stumbled upon this recipe. It made the perfect bowl of chili, seriously. People who didn’t even like vegetables (I also added carrots) loved it! I honestly recommend doubling the seasonings, just a personal opinion
*I cooked mine in a Instant Pot on the “Slow cook” setting*
If I use ground beef how long do I leave it on slow cooker
Hi Teresa, if using ground beef, we recommend cooking it first before adding to the chili. You can leave it on the slow cooker for the same amount of time in order to allow the vegetables to soften and the flavors to full incorporate.
We love this recipe but have made a few changes. We added Chili beans not rinsed, kidney beans rinsed and pinto beans rinsed and a small can of diced green chilis.
Can I use plain Greek yogurt instead of cream cheese?
Thank you
Hi MG, for best results, we recommend sticking with the cream cheese. You can certainly try using Greek yogurt, but it won’t thicken in the broth quite as much.
Delicious. It definitely is not spicy if one follows the recipe.
The bonus was I could make it in my 5 quart slow cooker.
Thank you!
What is the nutrition info on this dish?
Hi Julie, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
I made this with a few substitutions purely based on what I had in my pantry/fridge. It was SO DELICIOUS. I left out the jalapeno because I have two little boys and a huge pregnant belly who do not currently appreciate spiciness. This will be a staple throughout the fall and winter.
this is good, but it’s not chili imo, it’s more like tortilla soup without the tortillas. Not sure why I ended up with so much liquid, I drained tomatoes and beans. I ended up adding another can of beans.
First thing I thought too. It’s chicken
tortilla soup! I did enjoy it though .
Can I leave the cream cheese out or is there a substitute?
Hi Rebecca! You can leave it out if necessary. It will be slightly thinner.
So delicious, I used leftover chicken thighs. Also used two cans of kidney beans instead of black beans and corn. I was totally skeptical about the cream cheese but it made it so yummy. Thanks for recipe.
Can the chicken breast go in frozen?
Hi Diana, we recommend thawed, but have used frozen before with no issue.
Made this last night using boneless chicken thighs in a slow cooker. It was good but I had to do a bunch of stuff to it. It was too soupy so I had to add a cornstarch mixture. It also needed more flavor, more chicken, and more beans.
I’ll make it again using these adjustments.
Thanks for the recipe.
I make this chili about once a month we love it so much. I appreciate how flexible it is allowing you to use whatever beans you have in the pantry and how spicy you want to make it (or not). (We prefer it spicier, so add more chili powder and two chopped jalapeños.) I’ve made the vegetarian version and it is also fantastic. Sometimes I add the squash to the chicken recipe. I have been asked for the recipe when serving it to guests. One suggestion, if you are making it for a “mixed” group, is to make the veggie version and serve shredded chicken on the side to be added by the meat eaters. While the chicken won’t pick up the flavor so much, it’s a nice option to offer. I cannot thank you enough Sally for truly the BEST chicken chili recipe ever!!
So thrilled to hear how much you love this recipe, Kat! It’s a favorite of mine too. Enjoy!
It is too Watery. I used one less cup of chicken broth, one less can of tomato sauce and replaced one can of diced tomatoes with a can of fire roasted tomatoes with diced chili’s . Gave it a nice kick of flavor, not too much heat from the whole chili and much less liquid. Perfect!
I’m not much of a chili person but I like this recipe. My husband likes it also.
I don’t have a slow cooker, so I use the replacement stovetop version. This is a great recipe, with lots of good flavor, but it’s also very simple. The cream cheese tip was amazing! Never making chili any other way.
So glad you loved it!
It was just ok for me. Not enough flavor. I won’t be making this one again.
I love Sally’s 20 Minute Honey Garlic Shrimp!
Hi Sally,
Do you think I could used cooked chicken?
Hi Tamara, that should be fine — just add the fully cooked chicken in towards the end of the recipe (when you add in the cream cheese) so that it has some time to take on the flavors of the chili. Enjoy!
Highly recommend this recipe – it was super easy and delicious. This makes fantastic leftovers too! Only swaps I did was did only 1 can of diced tomatoes, not include the corn (personal preference) and used around 3oz of Neufchâtel cream cheese instead to lighten it up a bit. After cooking, I cut up the chicken into chunks vs I normally shred for crockpot meals – it turned out great. I called it Southwestern Chicken Soup for my husband who says he doesn’t like chicken chili, and he loved it!!
I am so excited to try this recipe this week! I have two quick questions before I do. Do you think this would work as well with thighs instead of breasts? We just prefer thighs but they do have a stronger flavor so not sure if they would go as well. Second, I’m wanting to half the recipe. Is it okay to exactly half everything or are there any adjustments you recommend to ensure there is enough liquid? Thanks so much and look forward to trying this!
Hi Susan! Yes, you can use thighs instead of breasts and also halve all of the ingredients for a smaller batch. But it might just be easier to make the whole batch and freeze extras.
I made this for a group of about 15 people. I cooked it on the stovetop the night before and reheated on low in a crock pot the next morning to be ready for lunch. It was a huge hit! One person in the group is gluten intolerant and this fit that requirement. (I made sure the chicken broth was gluten-free). If I were making this for more than 15 people I would suggest tripling the recipe. Thanks for a tasty dish!