Instant Pot White Chicken Chili

An easy Instant Pot White Chicken Chili recipe made with chicken breast, beans, and green chiles. Cooks in 8 minutes! A family-friendly soup perfect for a weeknight dinner or weekend meal!

This post contains affiliate links for products that I use and endorse. This easy Instant Pot White Chicken Chili recipe will show you how to make the soup right in your Instant Pot and how using this appliance will save you meal planning time each week and give you more time with your family.

It is spring here in Minnesota yet I find myself saying things like, “Kids go outside and play it’s 30 degrees.” It has been a wild spring, filled with snowstorms, icy roads, and temps that on most days, haven’t risen above 30 degrees. This week there’s snow in the forecast and also a day that might reach 50 degrees. I’m lost on what season it is. I have a quote sign in our house and right now it says, “No winter lasts forever, no spring skips its turn.” My daughter said to me the other day, “I think your sign might be wrong. Maybe spring really is skipping its turn this year.” I’m starting to agree.

This weather also makes meal planning challenging because I’m wanting cozy comfort food but also wanting it to feel somewhat healthy and not too heavy.

And I think this Instant Pot White Chicken Chili with all the toppings is the perfect compromise when you want a healthy soup that feels like cozy comfort food.

I like making this recipe over the weekend because it makes a big batch and that way I can make the recipe, feed it to my family for a meal, and then put some away in the freezer or in containers for lunch or dinner for the week ahead.

You know from my other Instant Pot recipes, that I love using the Instant Pot for family meals. The meals are made quicker than other methods of cooking, the flavors of the meal are so much better, and I don’t have to babysit anything on the stove which means I get to do something else with my time!

I’ve found that the more time I spend meal planning or using tools that cut cooking time, the more time I get to spend with my family.

Making this Instant Pot White Chicken Chili, allowed me to put together an awesome homecooked meal (with leftovers for future meals!) and have some extra time with my family doing something we love (I shared a pic at the end of this post of what we did while the soup cooked). And if you don’t have an Instant Pot, I’ve also included stovetop directions in the recipe too!

If you are new to using an Instant Pot, go check out my videos on my meatloaf or pot roast recipe for tips on getting started and how to do the quick pressure release.

Start the recipe by sauteeing the butter with the minced onion and garlic. I like to mince the onion because it makes it super small (undetectable to sleuthing kids) and gives the soup a yummy flavor.

One my tips for making chili is to get all of the ingredients ready before you start cooking. So open all the cans and measure out the spices. I blend up one can of beans so I get that ready too. My husband loves white hominy so I add one can to this recipe, you could also add corn too.

I chop up the chicken breast into small pieces and then season it with the spices.

Add the chicken to the Instant Pot.

Add all the other ingredients except for the lime zest and juice. Cook on manual, high pressure for eight minutes. Keep in mind, it does take time for your Instant Pot to heat up and start timing the eight minutes.

Once cooked, I add the zest and juice from one lime. Then serve the soup with your favorite toppings!

So what did we do while the Instant Pot chugged away making our meal? Yahtzee! It’s our favorite board game right now. Great for building math skills and fun for both the kids and adults. Plus by making a big batch meal, I can tuck away meals for the future. I can’t have more than 24 hours in a day, but by using my time to meal plan and not have to cook later, I can invest my time in meal planning and get more quality time with my family or even sit down and read my book.

I hope you love this Instant Pot White Chicken Chili recipe as much as our family does! I hope it also gives you an opportunity to do something you enjoy!

My Favorite Kitchen Tools for Making Instant Pot White Chicken Chili

These are my favorite tools for making this recipe. You can also visit my Amazon store to see all my kitchen gadget recommendations.

  • Instant Pot (6qt 7-in-1 Multi-use Programmable)
  • Mini Chopper/Food Processor I use this to finely chop up the onion and to blend up one of the cans of beans. I like this small processor for small jobs.
  • Microplane Zester I use this for zesting the lime.
  • Jelly Roll Pan I use this to lay my leftover soup flat to put in the freezer. Freezing soups flat is super helpful for storage.

Tips for Making Instant Pot White Chicken Chili

  • One of my favorite parts about chili is the toppings! For this Instant Pot White Chicken Chili recipe, I like to serve it with cilantro, tortilla strips (they are located by the croutons and salad dressing at my local grocery store), avocado, sour cream (add to make the soup creamy), and cheese (I like queso fresco and Mexican blend). For a heartier meal, serve it over rice.
  • If your family loves spicy foods, consider adding chopped jalapenos or ground red pepper.
  • My husband loves white hominy so I add one can to this recipe, you could also add corn too.
  • This is a great recipe to bring to a family with a new baby or to bring to someone who needs some extra kindness. Make this big batch soup, reserve some for your family and package some up for a friend or neighbor!
  • Don’t have an Instant Pot? Check out my recipe notes for the stovetop version.
  • This Instant Pot White Chicken Chili recipe makes a big batch of soup. We enjoy a meal that day from the recipe (we are a family of four) and then I like to divide up the leftovers into resealable gallon bags to put in the freezer and any remaining soup I put in Tupperware for lunch during the week. When I freeze soups, I lay them flat in resealable bags inside a jelly roll pan, place in the freezer, and then when they are frozen, I remove the jelly roll pan.


Instant Pot White Chicken Chili
 
Author:
Serves: 12-14
Ingredients
  • 2.25 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast (fat removed, cut into bite-size pieces)
  • 1 medium Sweet Onion (finely minced, makes 1 cup)
  • 2 TB minced Garlic
  • 4 TB Butter (unsalted)
  • 3 (15 oz) Cans of Great Northern Beans (Drained, Blend one can of beans)
  • 1 (15.5 oz) Can of White Hominy
  • 1 (4 oz) Can Mild Green Chiles
  • 2 tsp Cumin
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp Coriander
  • 2 tsp Italian Seasoning
  • ½ tsp Ground Pepper
  • 2 (32 oz) Boxes of Chicken Stock
  • 1 Lime (zest and juice)
  • Toppings: cilantro, tortilla strips (they are located by the croutons and salad dressing at my local grocery store), avocado, sour cream (add to make the soup creamy), and cheese (I like queso fresco and Mexican blend)
Instructions
  1. Cut the raw chicken into small-size pieces and remove fat. Set aside.
  2. Finely mince the sweet onion in a mini food processor (I like it finely minced because it is more kid-friendly). Set aside.
  3. Press the saute button on your Instant Pot.
  4. Slice the butter into pieces and add to the Instant Pot. Once the butter is melted and bubbling, add the sweet onion and minced garlic. Saute for five minutes, stirring, and being careful not to burn the garlic.
  5. While the onion and garlic saute, open the cans of beans, hominy, and green chiles. Drain the beans and hominy. Place one of the cans of beans in the mini food processor until blended smooth (you want the consistency of hummus). Set aside.
  6. Measure out the cumin, salt, coriander, Italian seasoning, and pepper in a small dish. Mix together and add to the chicken, tossing to coat and season the chicken.
  7. Once the five minutes of sauteeing for the onion and garlic has ended, add the seasoned chicken, chicken stock, two cans of Northern beans, one can of Northern beans pureed, one can of hominy, and the can of mild green chiles. Stir to combine.
  8. Lock the lid and make sure the valve is set to seal. Cook on manual high pressure for 8 minutes. Once cooking is complete do a quick pressure release to open the lid.
  9. Use your microplane to zest the lime and add the zest to the cooked soup. Slice the lime and add the lime juice to the soup.
  10. Serve with your favorite toppings.
  11. Stovetop Directions: In a large soup pot over low heat, add butter, once melted, add onion and garlic, saute until cooked. Follow the above directions for beans and seasoning chicken. Add chicken and chicken stock to the soup pot, turn heat up to medium heat and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to low heat and add the beans, hominy, and chiles. Let soup simmer on low for 20 minutes. Once cooked, add zest and juice from one lime. Serve with favorite toppings.

 

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