Creamy Chicken Chili (easy 30-minute dinner!)

With creamy coconut milk and just the right amount of spice, this chicken chili recipe is quick and easy enough for a weeknight meal, and makes plenty of leftovers! Use whatever you have on hand, and whatever your family loves in this versatile recipe. We love it served with our homemade bacon buttermilk skillet cornbread.

Why I Love This Recipe

• Simple – All you need is 30 minutes and you’ll have dinner on the table. This recipe is also very adaptable which makes it a great “clean out the fridge” meal. Feel free to toss in whatever you have on hand, and that includes toppings!
• Affordable – You can make this a meatless dish if you’d like, but it’s also a great use for leftover chicken. No waste in the kitchen, plus other very inexpensive ingredients like beans, homemade broth, and canned tomatoes.
• Delicious – Chicken chili is always such a flavorful dish because of the cumin, thyme, and oregano. The cayenne gives it a slight kick, so you can turn this up a notch or dial it back as you desire.
• Filling – Chili is incredibly filling on its own, but to make this meal stretch even further, we like to cook up a pot of soaked brown rice and serve the chili on top.
• Adaptable – As you’ll see below, you can adapt this chicken chili recipe in so many different ways. You can swap out the chicken for beef, or leave it out altogether, use broth or water, coconut milk or cream, a variety of spices and serve it up on rice, with cornbread, in a bread bowl, or topped with your favorite toppings.

Ingredients Needed For Chicken Chili

• Chicken – The beauty of this recipe is that it comes together quickly, mainly because we’re starting with cooked chicken. This is the perfect recipe for using up leftover chicken, or even using a rotisserie chicken!
• Beans – We call for a combination of pinto and kidney beans, but you can mix and match whatever you have in your cupboard (white beans, black beans, butter beans, etc.). We love using our own home-canned black beans … and we also recommend soaking your beans first for increased nutrition and gentler digestion! Learn how here.
• Broth – You can use either water or broth in this recipe. We like to use homemade broth because it’s nearly a free food, enhances the flavor, and adds a great boost of protein, collagen, and gelatin.
• Diced tomatoes – Plain old diced tomatoes work well, or you can spice it up by using fire-roasted tomatoes, Italian flavored tomatoes, or whatever you have in your cupboard.
• Tomato paste – With many chili recipes you can mix up the ingredients. But I’ve found tomato paste is one of those ingredients you don’t want to skip. It gives the chili a depth of flavor as though it’s been cooking away for hours! Something you can’t get quickly without using this ingredient.
• Onion – Red or white work great. Use whatever you prefer or have on hand.
• Oil – I prefer to use either avocado or olive oil, but coconut oil or even butter will work in a pinch. Use what you have!
• Seasonings – The recipe as written calls for ground cumin, ground paprika, dried thyme, dried oregano, ground cayenne pepper, sea salt, and pepper. The nice thing about chili recipes is they’re 100% adaptable to your preferences. So increase, decrease, or completely omit any of these as you see fit.
• Coconut milk – True, it seems weird for coconut milk to be listed as an ingredient for chili, but it adds a slight creaminess right at the end of cooking that makes this recipe exceptionally decadent, much like adding a dollop of sour cream and stirring it into the chili.
• Additional toppings – We recommend topping your chili with fresh onion, cilantro, olives, and sour cream.

Is This Chili Spicy?

No, this is a very mild chili. If you prefer to kick the heat up a notch, you can add more cayenne pepper, or top your chili with your favorite hot sauce.

What To Serve With Chicken Chili

We love serving chili with our skillet buttermilk cornbread (linked above) or our pressure cooker sourdough cornbread, but chili is also great served with the following:

• soaked rice (to stretch the meal or increase the servings for more people)
• homemade keto dinner rolls
• homemade artisan bread

Instructions

5. Add coconut milk and olives 5 minutes before serving, if using.

6. Top with your favorite toppings and serve.

Other Chili Recipes!

It’s great to have a variety of recipes to include in your meal rotation.

• Easy Classic 30-Minute Chili Recipe
• 30-Minute Instant Pot Green Lentil Chili (GAPS, Paleo)
• Basic Sprouted Bean Chili
• Pumpkin Chili (Stove Top, Instant Pot, or Crock Pot)
• 20 Best Chili Recipes (Instant Pot, Crock Pot, Stove Top)

Did you make this recipe? If so, please give us a rating on the recipe card below. Then snap a photo and tag us on social media so we can see your delicious chicken chili and topping variations!

4.5 from 4 votes

Print

Chicken Chili Recipe

With creamy coconut milk and just the right amount of spice, this chicken chili recipe is quick and easy enough for a weeknight meal, and makes plenty of leftovers! Use whatever you have on hand, and whatever your family loves in this versatile recipe. We love it served with our homemade bacon buttermilk skillet cornbread.

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 8 servings

Calories 439 kcal

Author Wardee Harmon

Ingredients

• 1 onion diced
• 2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• chicken cooked, meat from 1/2 to 1 whole
• 8 cups beans cooked, such as pinto or kidney, or both
• 28 ounces diced tomatoes
• 6 ounces tomato paste
• 4 cups broth or water
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• pinch ground cayenne pepper or as much as desired
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup full fat coconut milk
• 1/2 cup olives or as much as desired

Instructions

1. Saute the onions in olive oil over medium heat in a large stockpot.

2. Add shredded chicken, beans, and diced tomatoes.

3. Whisk tomato paste and broth together in a 4-cup measuring glass.

4. Add to pot along with all the spices.

5. Let all ingredients simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

6. Add coconut milk and olives 5 minutes before serving, if using.

Recipe Notes

Feel free to substitute water for broth, heavy cream for coconut milk, and adjust spices as needed.

Topping suggestions: sour cream, shredded cheese, cilantro, fresh onions and more sliced olives.

We prefer to soak beans for gentler digestion and increased nutrition. Learn how here!

Nutrition Facts

Chicken Chili Recipe

Amount Per Serving

Calories 439 Calories from Fat 153

% Daily Value*

Fat 17g26%

Saturated Fat 8g50%

Trans Fat 1g

Cholesterol 20mg7%

Sodium 1389mg60%

Potassium 1203mg34%

Carbohydrates 54g18%

Fiber 18g75%

Sugar 7g8%

Protein 23g46%

Vitamin A 1232IU25%

Vitamin C 16mg19%

Calcium 124mg12%

Iron 8mg44%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.