Queso Chicken Chili! Creamy, spicy, and so easy. Made with roasted corn, jalapeño, and creamy Pepper Jack cheese. Super easy dinner!
Queso Chicken Chili with Roasted Corn and Jalapeño
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I’ve made this several times now and each time I fall in love all over again. Absolutely delicious!! So glad I found this recipe.
Howdy hey!
We are in the midst of Deep Winter and I have a load of Queso Crockpot Chicken Chili with Roasted Corn and Jalapeño leftovers waiting for me in the fridge, brought to me by a weekend of relaxing. I think we’ve already talked about the beauty of a good Instant Pot or slow cooker meal in that it pretty much cooks itself, but in case it hasn’t been said enough: my ultimate favorite thing in life is when relaxing = flavorful, delicious, comforting, filling, warm dinner.
This soup is lots of things:
- creamy
- spicy
- full of veggies
- full of protein
- very filling
- queso-y cheesy
- only slightly trashy thanks to a little knob of cream cheese
- better as leftovers
- perfect for chip dippin’.
Some Tips For Making This Chili Awesome
- Skillet-roast the corn. With the jalapeño.
- Skillet-roast the peppers, too.
- If you don’t want to stand at a skillet – I GET IT! The whole point of this is easy-button cooking. In that case, roast the corn and peppers! Instructions for both are below, in the recipe. (The reason we aren’t adding them to the crockpot or Instant Pot is because they just kinda disappear. We want the good flavor and the non-disappearing.)
- The flavor just develops into something amazing the longer you let it hang out together in the crockpot or Instant Pot. What I’m saying is the leftovers will be amazing.
- Add or subtract whatever you want here. Like many-a-good crockpot or Instant Pot recipes, this is one where you can kind of do whatever you want. I mean, if you want it in there, just… throw it in there. You can follow the recipe and/or you can blaze your own trail.
- BLUE CORN TORTILLA CHIPS.
I love you, Mexican food. Or Tex-Mexican. Or Tex-Mex appliance cooking.
Only 27 days until spring. WE GOT THIS.
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Queso Chicken Chili with Roasted Corn and Jalapeño
- Total Time: 8 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
Queso Chicken Chili! Creamy, spicy, and so easy. Made with roasted corn, jalapeño, and creamy Pepper Jack cheese. Super easy dinner!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 3 cups salsa, divided
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 bell peppers, minced
- 1 14 ounce can corn, rinsed and drained
- 1 jalapeño pepper, minced (without ribs and seeds)
- 1 14 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 4 ounces light cream cheese
- 6 ounces Pepper Jack cheese
- cilantro for topping
- blue corn tortilla chips for yummy dippin’
Instructions
- Place the chicken breasts, 1 1/2 cups salsa, water, cumin, chili powder and salt in the bowl of a slow cooker or Instant Pot. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or low for 6-7 hours (or in the Instant Pot for 20 minutes on high pressure).
- Preheat oven to 450. Pat the peppers and corn dry with a paper towel. Place on a baking sheet with a little bit of oil. Roast for 10-15 minutes, until browned and… well, roasty-looking.
- When the chicken is done, shred the meat directly in the pot using two forks. Add the roasted peppers, roasted corn and jalapeño, black beans, remaining salsa, and cream cheese to the crockpot. Stir and replace cover, allowing the cream cheese to melt. Adjust the consistency of the soup by adding another 1/2 cup of water if needed. Let the soup simmer for another 15-30 minutes until everything is smooth and melted. Just before serving, stir in the Pepper Jack cheese.
- Spoon chicken chili into a bowl, top with avocado, scoop everything up with tortilla chips. REPEAT!
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Notes
If you’d rather cook your peppers and corn over a skillet: Place the bell peppers in a large nonstick skillet over high heat without oil. Cook for 4-5 minutes WITHOUT stirring. This creates the browned, roasted look out on the outside of the peppers. Stir once and repeat until the peppers are nice and browned. Set aside. Repeat this process with the corn and jalapeño together.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 8 hours
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Tex Mex
Keywords: chicken chili, queso chicken chili, instant pot chicken chili, crockpot chicken chili
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Other Yummy Chili Goodness
- Sunday Chili (basic chili! slow simmered and so so good)
- Rockin’ 5-Ingredient Sweet Potato Turkey Chili (little healthy boost)
- Instant Pot Pumpkin Walnut Chili (vegan!)
- 30 Minute Spicy Ancho Turkey Chili (oldie but seriously goodie)
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our flavor-packed jalapeño recipes page. Check it out!
Filed Under: All Recipes Fall Gluten-Free Healthy Jalapeño Legume Meat and Chicken Quick and Easy Slow Cooker Soups Sugar-Free Winter
February 20, 2020
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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Omg, I would like to say, thank you so much for this delicious meal. It was fire 🔥… flavor and filling but not overly heavy, just enough. This was absolutely amazing and oh so yummy! I enjoyed every bite. My husband and kids loved it too. This will be in rotation for this winter cold dinner meals. I am looking forward to the next time I make this. Thank you 🙏🏽! Blessings to you and your family!!!
This was so, so delicious! Instead of cooking everything in a slow cooker or InstantPot, I ended up combining cooked shredded chicken, salsa, water, beans, and spices, and heated it all in a pot on the stovetop while the peppers and corn roasted. Once they were roasted, I tossed them into the pot with the cream cheese and let it all combine for a few minutes, until everything was heated up. Then I grated the pepperjack into the pot and stirred until combined. This was so yummy…we just had it for dinner tonight, and I’m already looking forward to making it again. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
Sorry, forgot to post a rating! Five stars for sure.
Such a good soup! Made with salsa verde because I am pregnant and it turned out amazing. Also my jalapeño was super spicy so I added juice from a lime and a cup of chicken broth to mellow it out. Will make again! Thank you.
Hi this queso chicken chili says it serves 8. Is that 8 cups? Making this for a company chili contest and just wanted to make sure I had the correct amount for everyone to try. Thanks!
Hi, Nikki! It’s a little hard to say the serving size since we don’t typically measure that out, but yes, we’d guess roughly 6-8 cups.
Can you make this without chicken? I’m vegetarian
For sure!
This was perfection and so quick! Going in the fall and winter meal rotation for sure!
I’ve made this A LOT. It is super easy and packed with flavor. Plus I love all the things you can put on top! This last time, as I was pulling out all the ingredients, I realized I only had 1/2 lb of chicken. Welp, I improvised, adding in a can of pinto beans and a chopped onion to help bulk it up. I actually liked it better if you can believe it!
I put my chicken in frozen and shred when I add in the cream cheese which is convenient and I put the beans in at the start instead of waiting. I was thinking next time to add a tablespoon or two of chipotles in adobe or smoked paprika. Great recipe to play around with!! Thanks!
I think it’s strange to put “salsa” as an ingredient. As a non-American, I don’t know how it is made and we dont have it ready made in stores. Also, your “Jump to recipe” button is not working, but I assume you already know that.
I absolutely love this recipe. I make it all the time, but without the cream cheese. Could you tell me what the nutritional facts would be without the cream cheese? Thank you!!!
another hit! I added DIY cashew cream blended with a little nutritional yeast at the end instead of cream cheese to keep it dairy-free, and let the dairy folks sprinkle on their own cheese. Delicious, easy, fast, SO satisfying and flavorful! xo
So even though I didn’t have the bell pepper – this turned out soooooo yummy! Definitely a keeper. But definitely want to try with the bell pepper next time.
In process of making this . . . only to find I have NOOOOO bell peppers. 🙁 so bummed, but going try adding roasted onion and additional beans).
AMAZING!! We will make this again and again! We left out the cheese and just did cream cheese and it was still wonderful.
This is on the menu for this week! We are (sadly) non-bean chili people, so would you recommend adding more corn/veggies, or just doing it without? Will report back, it sounds DELICIOUS!
Up to you! If you’d like more bulk in your chili, it’d be a great idea to add more corn/veggies!
So easy, so filling, so yummy on a rainy/snowy day!
Made this tonight and the entire family (three kids included) gobbled it up! I had chicken thighs on hand and they worked great. Used mild salsa because of the kids and it was flavorful but not spicy! Have already recommended it to friends!
Love hearing this, Alisha!
I’ve made this twice for my family and we love it. So delicious!
Yum! Easy to make, and so tasty. I took this chili to a chili cook off and it won first place. Thanks for such a great chili recipe with tons of veggies.
So, you used someone else’s recipe they developed in a contest that you won, AND you came here to tell them that you did this? Hahahaha the hubris.
And gladly shared the recipe with the rest of the competition!
This is a staple in our house — seriously amazing! Adjust the spice level based on what salsa you get. We fry up store-bought tortillas and dip them. Freezes well, and flavors are even stronger the next day.
We double the chicken, but it works with the recommended amount too.
This is delicious! It is my “go to” recipe for a chicken Chile. Thank you!
We made this last week and loved it! It came out a bit thin compared to the pictures, more like soup than chili. Any ideas how we can thicken it, or where I might have gone wrong? Thanks for the great recipe!
This recipe has become our Christmas Eve tradition. It is so gooood!
That’s awesome, Amy! Thanks for the comment!
Hi! How would you adjust the cooking time in a slow cooker if using ground turkey instead of chicken?
We haven’t tested this using ground turkey in a slow cooker, but we think the cooking time would be the same.
If I make this with ground beef instead, how should I adjust the cooking time?
I’d think you could cut the cooking time in half!
This is DELICIOUS. I stumbled upon the recipe by accident, and now I crave it. It’s also infinitely malleable and can be changed up to reflect your preferences and the contents of your pantry. I don’t love corn, so I substitute an extra can of beans. I’ve also thrown in a bunch of chopped kale. I love spicy SPICY food, so I add a habanero in addition to the jalapeno and use the hottest salsa I can find. I used a ghost pepper salsa the first time I made it and it was far too spicy for everyone but me – bonus, no sharing required! 😉 My partner doesn’t like his food quite so searingly spicy, so I just add a little extra cream cheese to his to tone down the burn. Tonight, I used regular “hot” salsa, a shredded cheddar/Jack blend instead of pepper Jack, and three cans of beans (one black, one red, one white) in place of the chicken and corn. I always add a diced yellow onion and a couple of cloves of garlic.
This is excellent with or without chicken, and I bet it would be great with shredded pork, too. So filling and cozy for these first few nights of autumn and all winter long! Thank you!
Glad to hear it, Meredith!