Instant Pot White Bean Chicken Chili

Name: Instant Pot White Bean Chicken Chili
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Yield: 6-8 servings
Ingredients: 1 pound dried great northern beans (or navy beans), sorted; 2 cups chopped onion; 4 garlic cloves, minced; 2 tablespoons cassava flour, optional (see recipe notes); 2 teaspoons chili powder; 1 teaspoon ground cumin; 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander; 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano; 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper; 14 ounces canned diced tomatoes; 7 ounces canned diced green chilies; 4 cups chicken broth; 6 frozen boneless skinless chicken thighs; 3 tablespoons bacon fat, lard or vegetable shortening; sea salt to taste

February 15, 2016 by Megan 73 Comments

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This Instant Pot White Bean Chicken Chili recipe is so easy and filling. It’s the perfect quick meal the entire family will love, made with ingredients commonly already found in one’s pantry.

This recipe is actually the result of not having anything planned for dinner one night. I literally threw ingredients in my Instant Pot on a whim, hoping it would turn out okay. To my pleasant surprise, it was absolutely delicious! I’m so thankful I wrote the recipe down!

Instant Pot Chicken Chili ingredients:

From the pantry, I use dried navy beans (or great northern beans, either white bean will work), chicken broth, canned tomatoes, canned green chilis, and spices.
From the refrigerator: fresh garlic, and an onion
From the freezer, I use frozen boneless, skinless chicken thighs.

The Instant Pot cooks the frozen chicken thighs to perfection, so they are tender and easy to shred apart with a wooden spoon. I don’t know about you, but I find using frozen chicken thighs vs. thawed extremely convenient. I often forget to pull meat out of the freezer for dinner, so this easy white chicken chili recipe is ideal for when you don’t necessarily have a ton of time. It only takes about an hour and a half from start to finish – with minimal ingredients. Perfect for when you want to dump everything in the Instant Pot and walk away!

From reader Roger, “I just gave your recipe a try and my critique only requires one word……Outstanding! My daughter and I loved it. This will definitely be added to our list of go to recipes for the instant pot. Thank you”

Instant Pot White Chicken Chili recipe substitutions and questions:

Q: Should I use dried navy beans or great northern beans?
A: Either dried navy beans or dried great northern beans will work in this recipe. It just depends on what you have on hand in your pantry, or what you prefer. Great northern beans are bigger, and creamier, so if you tend to like a creamier chili, you might elect to use those instead.

Q: Can I substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth?
A: Absolutely.

Q: Why does the recipe call for cassava flour? Can I omit it or substitute something else?
A: Cassava flour is added as a gluten-free thickener, since I don’t use cornstarch in my cooking. In the pictures of the white bean chili you see in this post, no cassava flour or starch was added (I just didn’t have it on hand at the time), so it’s a bit more soup-like. Adding cassava flour, or another starch, like corn starch, will result in a thicker chili. You can omit the cassava flour altogether, or substitute something in its place, like cornstarch or arrowroot starch.

Q: Can I make this Instant Pot chili recipe in the crockpot or slow cooker?
A: Yes! Cooking time will vary depending on your crockpot or slow cooker, but I’d estimate 4-6 hours on high, or 5-8 hours on low.

Q: Can I soak the beans overnight first?
A: Definitely! If you do choose to soak your beans overnight, I’d reduce the amount of chicken broth used to 2.5-3 cups.

Q: Why do you add bacon fat, lard, or vegetable shortening to the chili, and can I leave it out if I want?
A: I add fat to the chili for 2 reasons – 1.) Flavor. Fat always adds flavor, especially when it’s leftover bacon fat. 😉 2.) Fat adds a creaminess or smoothness to bean recipes that I personally enjoy. If you are eating low-fat, or would rather omit the fat from the recipe, you definitely can do that.

Q: Can I substitute frozen chicken breasts for the frozen chicken thighs?
A: Yes. I prefer chicken thighs because I find them to be more tender and juicy, where chicken breasts are more dry. But again, this all comes down to personal preference. If you do want to use chicken breasts, I’d use 2 of them in this recipe.

What to serve with White Bean Chicken Chili?

My family eats this White Bean Chicken Chili over rice and/or with corn chips, cilantro, and chopped avocado.

If you’re looking for something hearty to serve along with it, try this gluten free Sweet Cornbread, or these gluten free No Corn Jalapeno Cornbread Muffins.

For freezing, I wait until the chili is completely cool, and then I portion it into gallon-size resealable bags. This way they freeze flat on the shelf in my freezer and are easily stackable. Alternately, you also could use these glass snap lock containers (I own these and love them), just make sure you you only fill them 3/4 of the way full, otherwise when the chili freezes and expands, it will break the containers.

What Instant Pot model do I buy?

I’ve owned my Instant Pots for over 3 years now, and actually have 2 of them. I have the 7-in-1 DUO 6-quart, and also the 8-quart model.

I prefer the DUO to the LUX model because the DUO has the yogurt function for making recipes like my Easy Coconut Milk Yogurt.

If you have a family of 4 or larger, I highly recommend getting the 8-quart model. The 6-quart works for my family of 4, but with friends coming over, or if you entertain for large groups of family and/or friends, the 8-quart fits so much more food.

Don’t want to pay full price? Watch for sales. Amazon will often times run sales during Black Friday, or at other spontaneous times throughout the year. I’ve heard Kohls and Fred Meyer also run good sales from time to time.

I use my Instant Pot most often to make my Refried Beans and my Paleo Pulled Pork. Both of these recipes make large amounts of food, perfect for freezing for future meals, or for parties.

Other healthy Instant Pot recipes:

Instant Pot Meatball Soup from Recipes to Nourish
Instant Pot Lamb and Squash Curry from Prepare and Nourish
Instant Pot Paleo Thai Carrot Soup from Tessa the Domestic Diva