Slow Cooker Chicken Chili

4.84 from 6 votes

This Slow Cooker Chicken Chili is our family's go to slow cooker recipe when we want something easy to prepare, yummy and ready to eat at the end of a long work day. Topped with fresh onions, cilantro, and cheddar, there’s no pre-cooking or complicated prep required, so it’s a true “set it and forget it” slow cooker meal.

slow cooker chili

There are so many varieties of chili out there. This Slow Cooker Chicken Chili is our family’s go to slow cooker recipe when we want something easy to prepare, yummy, and ready to eat at the end of a long work day. Topped with fresh onions, cilantro, and cheddar, there’s no pre-cooking or complicated prep required, so it’s a true “set it and forget it” slow cooker meal.

Slow Cooker Chicken Chili

This easy slow cooker chicken chili is relatively light and low-calorie compared to the classic beef or pork chili. Boneless chicken breasts and a variety of canned beans make the chili super easy and convenient. We used cannellini beans for their fluffy texture and a slightly nutty, mild flavor. We added the obvious kidney beans too. These add not only fiber and protein but also a good hit of antioxidants.

Just dump everything in the slow cooker and close the lid. It literally takes about 5 minutes to prepare. Use just enough liquid to cover the ingredients, but no more than that. Liquid tends to double in a slow cooker meal. For thicker chili, add a few tablespoons of cornmeal about thirty minutes before it’s done.

What if I’m vegetarian?

We always encourage you to play with our recipes and adjust them however you feel necessary! Sometimes I will add more garlic if I’m sick, an extra jalapeño, or more beans if I’m extra hungry. This recipe serves as a convenient base recipe where you can add or reduce pretty much anything in order to fit your family’s preferences. If you’re vegetarian, feel free to swap out the chicken for more beans and cubed sweet potato. All you need is some homemade Old-Fashioned Cornbread and you’re ready to eat!

Don’t miss the Top 10 Healthy Slow Cooker Recipes on Skinny Ms. and these recipes favorites: 7 Comfort Food Entrées Under 290 Calories.

4.84 from 6 votes

Slow Cooker Chicken Chili

This slow cooker chili is full of whole ingredients that are both nutritious and tasty.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 5 minutes
Yield 10 people
Serving Size 1 cup
Course Dinner, Soup
Cuisine Universal
Author SkinnyMs.

Ingredients

  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 1/2 cup sweet onion diced
  • 1 1/2 pounds boneless and skinless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces (optional skinless, boneless thighs or a combination of breasts & thighs)
  • 14 1/2 ounce fire roasted tomatoes can - with liquid
  • 6 ounce tomato paste can
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken broth fat free, low sodium (optional vegetable broth or water)
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • kosher or sea salt to taste
  • 15 1/2 ounce cannellini or navy beans can - drained and rinsed
  • 15 1/2 ounce kidney beans can - drained and rinsed
  • 1/4 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese for garnish

Instructions

  • Combine all the above ingredients in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 8 hours in a 4-6 quart slow cooker. Spoon into bowls and garnish with a little cheddar cheese and diced onion, if desired.

Notes

The chicken used in this recipe was raw when going in the slow cooker. If you already have cooked chicken, just add it about an hour before the end of cooking time.
 

Nutrition Information

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 222kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 54mg | Sodium: 656mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 5g |
SmartPoints (Freestyle): 5
Keywords Budget-Friendly, Kid-Friendly

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90 Comments

  1. This is one of my favorite slow cooker meals! Throw it all in there in the am set it and by the time I get home I have a yummy and healthy dinner to put on the table!

  2. No, the chicken cooks while in the crock pot. I know they don't condone it, but I put frozen chicken in my crock pot, lol… I've been doing it for years and never had a problem.

  3. Maybe a silly question! But can you double recipes? I would love to make this and have extra to freeze for another time.

    1. It's hard to mess up a chili recipe. I will often not double but put in 1 1/2x the ingredients. Great heated up the next day or for several lunch meals.

    1. Yes but I could only add 2 cups of the broth instead of 3. Also I didn't add any peppers except a little ground pepper because my daughters stomach is very sensitive to spicy.

  4. The points on this recipe don't seem right. all by itself, 1.5 lbs of chicken breast is 18 points. Divide that into 6 servings and already it's over the 2pts per serving listed above. That's without considering the beans and other ingredients.
    I really like this chili. Just need to get it right.

      1. I put all the ingredients into my WW recipe builder and a 1 cup serving without any cheese garnish came out as 8 points.

  5. I am assuming that you don't put the cheese in the slow cooker? It says it's for garnish but the directions say to put all ingredients in the slow cooker. Just making sure-never put cheese in slow cooker before! Thanks!!

  6. Could you use ground chicken? I bought some extra a while back and would love to make a chili with it if I can. Thoughts? thanks!!

    1. Katie, Sure…ground chicken will work to. I would brown it slightly, drain and add with the other ingredients. 🙂

  7. I made this last night and it was delicious. I don't know why but my chili came out soupy but I added two tablespoons of flour to thicken and it seemed fine.

  8. How did you figure out the points? I just put it into my recipe builder and it is 6 points for a 1 cup serving!

  9. This is a family favorite because it combines my husband’s love of chili with something te whole family enjoys

  10. This is a family favorite because it combines my husband’s love of chili with something te whole family enjoys

  11. I doubled this recipe but did not double up on the chicken stock. On that I only put in 2 cups (instead of 3). Cooked it for 2 hours on high and then 10 on low. Also put in one each chopped red and green bell peppers. Tastes incredible. Thank you!

  12. I made this tonight except I used regular organic diced tomatoes as I am not big on spicy. It was really good but still a little spicy to me. Well I brought the crockpot to my husband's work because they all had to stay late and the few that ate it raved about it :-). One of the guys said I should have entered it in the Chili cook off as it was better than his chili.

    1. Michele, lol, that’s so cool! You should enter it, keep us posted… 🙂 We could then say, “Award Winning Chili”!!!

  13. I have it in the Crock Pot for tonights Dinner! I added 2 Jalepeno peppers and 1/2 a Green Bell pepper and I used Black beans and Kidney beans and I made a Yogurt Garlic Sauce to top the Chili and passed on the cheese!

  14. This is a delicious chili recipe and a welcome change from our typical beef chili. Thank you!! For those that have questioned… the chicken is put in the crock pot raw. I ended up shredding it before serving so it thickened up the chili nicely.

      1. I'm using ground chicken in it tonight. Just added 1 cup more chicken broth, 1/2 can more of paste….a pinch extra of all seasonings so it's the right thickness with the ground chicken.

  15. Recipe shows a yield of 10 servings & a serving size of 1 1/2 cups. That doesn't seem correct. would have to yield 15 cups.

  16. Has anyone added white wine to it or other veggies like corn? I have been using this recipe for soooo long and I loooove it! Hubby does too. We live in a cold climate state so its the perfect ending to a cold rough day of working outside for my husband!

  17. Made this tonight and it was a big hit. Do you get 10 servings out of this? I measured out the 1 3/4 cup servings as suggested and think I'd need to double it to get close to 10 servings. Will make again!

  18. When I put the nutritional information in my points calculator, as you have them listed, it is 6 points plus a serving. FYI

    1. Thanks, Sarah. There was an error in our nutritional data. The serving size should read 1 cup. It's not been updated.

  19. Have this in the slow cooker now… I can’t wait to try it!

    One person asked about a substitution for beans, so I wanted to suggest canned hominy. I use white hominy (drained) in a pork posole soup, and it has a taste and texture similar to beans or potatoes. In fact, one woman tells her husband it’s potatoes because he won’t eat hominy. lol

  20. If I double the recipe, would I then cook it for 16 hours on low or would 2 hours on high and then 4 hours on low suffice? Any help would be appreciated

  21. I would guess that you can just leave the chicken breasts whole and then shred them at the end? Works for a chicken taco recipe that I use with the same cooking time.

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