Skillet White Chicken Chili Dip
Last updated: September 19, 2021
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It’s winter, and my instagram feed is filled with people enjoying their holiday traditions – cookie baking, tree lighting, sledding, game day parties…. I can’t help but love this time of year, even if a little hustle and bustle comes with it. Between Brian and I, we have four families to celebrate with, meaning lots of good food, fun and love.
On Christmas Eve we head to Brian’s mom’s, all 25+ of us (and growing!) for a day filled with hot toddies served in her original set of Tom & Jerry mugs from the 1970’s and the annual Shuv-unda game (more on that soon). We forgo a big meal with lots of prep and instead everyone brings their favorite appetizers, a tradition I’m totally a fan of.
This year, I’m bringing this Skillet White Chicken Chili Dip served piping hot in a skillet.
You can watch me make it, start to finish, HERE.
I don’t know about you, but I’ll take white chili over red any day. The combination of soft white beans, lots of garlic and zesty salsa verde is just so perfect. Sometimes with chicken, sometimes without. Either way, it’s just how I like to warm up on a winter day.
This cheesy dip version came about as I was looking to use up some leftover rotisserie chicken (side note: Whole Foods now roasts organic ones daily). And it was Sunday – chips and dip are required for watching football around here.
I ended up having a can of white beans and half a red pepper handy, along with a jar of my homemade salsa verde. There was only about a cup left of a mozzarella/cheddar cheese bag, so to give it a little more volume I pureed 3/4 of the white beans with a some sour cream and garlic.
I fell in love with its smooth base and surprise bites of chicken throughout. And coincidentally, the pops of color from the peppers and cilantro is quite holiday-esque. The salsa verde gives it some tang and the way the cheese bubbles and browns……. dang, so good.
And nobody will even know it’s a little lighter thanks to the bean puree.)
*updated with video (collaboration with Annie D. Souza) and photos 12/27/2016
Yield: 6 servings
SCALE:
Ingredients
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can white beans, drained
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 2 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
- juice of a half lime
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup shredded cooked chicken
- 1/2 cup sweet corn fresh or frozen
- 2 tablespoons minced cilantro
- 2 cups mozzarella/cheddar cheese combination divided
- 1/3 cup diced red pepper
- 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon salsa verde I like the jar from Trader Joe's as it's just spicy enough. If you buy a different kind, taste and see if you'd like some spice. If so, add a bit of tabasco!
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brush olive oil onto bottom and halfway up sides of a 10 inch cast iron skillet. (You could also bake in any vessel you normally use for baking dips, relatively the same size.)
- Reserve 1/4 cup of the drained beans, set aside. Add the rest of the beans, sour cream, garlic, lime juice, cumin, and salt to a food processor. Puree until smooth. Taste and add a little salt if needed. Stir in chicken, corn, cilantro and 1 cup of cheese.
- Spread onto bottom of skillet, then evenly sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup white beans, red peppers and salsa verde on top of the mixture. Cover with remaining cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, until dip is bubbling. Then broil for a few minutes to brown the top. Serve immediately. Can be rewarmed as needed.
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December 7, 2014
This is sooooo good! A must make! Perfect for watching any sport or hosting friends/family.
I’m in a Mexican dipping mood and hate to ask but I don’t do dairy- any chance I could try nutritional yeast and a non-dairy yogurt to achieve the creaminess here? Or any melty vegan cheeses you like for substitutions? I’d love to make this to enjoy with some homemade tortilla chips, and a big chunk of rustic Mexican cornbread too!!
hello! i would blend the whole can of white beans to replace the yogurt!
Wasnt sure if we would like it. Made it for fourth of July 2022..was such a hit…I clearly didn’t make enough it went so fast…A million thanks…
love to hear it, Tammy!
Good afternoon sounds like a good recipe. When you say white bean are you referring to a navy or great northern bean? What did you use as a white bean?
I’ve used them both, and they work in this recipe interchangeably!
This easy skillet appetizer everyone loved!! Healthy and so yummy!!
so glad to hear it was enjoyed!
could you make this in a crockpot?
Yes, I think that would work well!
how would do in crockpot, timing/temp or instapot? thanks!
hi! others have told me this recipe works well in a crockpot. i would set it on high for 30ish minutes, then keep it on low.
I just made this!!! It totally hit the spot, and we all loved it! By the time I got home to cook, it was too dark for me to take a photo, but I’ll be making it again for sure so maybe next time. :) I forgot to buy sour cream, so I subbed 2 tablespoon mayo + 3 tablespoon plain yogurt and it worked beautifully. SO much flavor and love the pureed white beans and cheese combo!
Love your spin on this dish –I seriously might have to make this tonight. I need some Netflix snacks!
that sounds like THE perfect plan.
I’m making it as I type for my family for new Year’s Eve. I had to substitute the white beans because of being allergic to them. I had black lentils from sprouts in a can that I used. It tasted so yummy in the blender. I also used green enchilada sauce instead of the verde didn’t have any on hand. Were so excited to try it!! It smells delish!!
This looks divine!
Oh my gosh, yum! I can’t stop thinking about how amazing this would be!
Such a wonderful combination of flavors!
Definitely trying this for New Years! Yum!
This looks so amazing!
i can’t help but say it’s our favorite dip. cheesy win!
Being a food blogger I have made it my goal to visit more pages of fellow foodies. I should not have visited this one right before lunch! lol I literally want to just dive into that dip with crackers, bread, whatever! AMAZING!
This is such a good Super Bowl option!
Just printed the recipe, going to make it for a Sunday afternoon snack around my house when no one is really hungry just need comfort snacks! Looks delish!
Great! That sounds like the perfect Sunday. Enjoy the recipe :)
Its in the oven right now and my house smells delicious! Im making thiss for my family for a lite summer dinner (lite: as in not lots of food,, not low calorie! ;-) ) my kiddos and hubby cant wait to try it! Thanks for the recipe!
Oh yes, that smell when it bakes is phenomenal! Hope your family enjoys.
Hi Amanda, I cannot wait to try this. My family loves my white chicken chili so
this is right up our alley. I’m gonna have to double this recipe since there are
about 25 of us and I’ll have to put a dish of chopped jalepenos next to it for those
of us who like it really hot. We do appetizer night on Christmas Eve. It’s so much easier and not as filling as a big meal.
We did the shovunda exchange a couple years ago but last year we were so
spread out that it didn’t happen. I’m gonna make sure we do it this year since we had sooooo much fun before. Thanks for the recipe. It’s nice to see other families
enjoying the holidays as much as our family. Families are what it’s all about.
This looks delicious. Cant contain!!! What can be substituted for salsa verde?
Hi Zay! Thanks for stopping by. You could use a red, tomato based salsa that you really enjoy instead of the salsa verde. Hope that helps!
is the 1/4 cup of reserved beans used at all? Don’t see it in the recipe steps unless I am missing it.
Hi Jen! Thanks so much for stopping by. Adding the 1/4 cup of reserved beans is listed in the directions where you sprinkle on the diced red peppers. Let me know what you think after you make it and happy holidays!
I can certainly see why the last bite was fought for! This looks delicious and like perfect party food. I’ve also played the Shuvunda game at a Christmas party – it was really funny but I attempted to discreetly “forget” my gift (someone’s old nighty.. hah). I have a big family and my sisters and I do a secret santa each year – not really a fun game, but definitely a family tradition that we all enjoy :)
Christine, so awesome to hear your family plays the Shuvunda game too! I also have “accidentally” left one of the gifts behind. I’ve also gotten a $50 surprise bill which was awesome! Thanks for stopping by :)
The holidays at your house sound like so much fun. An appetizers-only holiday meal sounds just up my alley – I prefer snacking and small bites over a big meal any day. Maybe I should try to convince my family to try that this year. So much less stress too! Last year, now that the cousins are all grown up and we don’t have any kids around yet, we implemented our first (hopefully annual) $10 white elephant exchange, which ended up with some people bringing serious gifts and others bringing As-seen-on-tv gifts (cough-mybrother-cough). I REALLY like the Shuvunda game idea! I have lots of blog swag I could bring (a bag full of branded shopping bags and aprons, perhaps?). Also, I wish I had been there to eat this – I’d also fight for the last bite. I should make a skillet of this to munch on during my hibernation week of dissertation writing (aka right now).
PS. Sorry for the novel. I just love everything about this.
OOH! I do love chili during these cold winter months, the fact that its a dip makes it the perfect snack to bring to these upcoming holiday parties.
Indeed Laura! It travels well too if you want to make it ahead, then just rewarm it in a 300 degree oven.
I am dip eating Queen. This will be added to my list of must makes. YUM!
I’m drooling just looking at this dip. It must happen soon in my kitchen.
Oooo this looks so good, and perfect for a party dish!
YUM! We always did appetizers on Christmas Eve – I love appetizer traditions! :) This recipe? DROOL!
i thought of you when i posted this – the best appetizer creator ever! hope you’re feeling great emily. xo
Beautifully caramelized, I could eat it as a meal! Delicious appetizer! ;)
maybe with some fruit to balance? hah!
the cheesier the better :) then bring on the January juice cleanse
This sounds like it packs a real flavour punch – I can see why you guys couldn’t stop eating it!
Hi Kathryn! yes, since i don’t make cheesy, gooey things all that often, brian was quite happy :)