This easy vegan white chili with vegan chicken is a cozy meal that's full of flavor! Corn, white beans, and chicken seitan make this a hearty soup packed with protein in a creamy white broth.
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❤️ Why make this recipe
This creamy dairy-free white chili is flavorful comfort food. It's delicious when served with some vegan cornbread, jalapeno cornbread, or vegan cheddar bay biscuits for a full meal.
We love spicy plant-based soups and stews at my house like vegan pozole, vegan green chile stew, and coconut curry soup, but this creamy plant-based white chili is one of our favorites.
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- Seasonings - chili powder, ground cumin, dried oregano, red pepper flakes, black pepper, and cayenne pepper
- Olive Oil - or any neutral flavored oil or vegan butter.
- Yellow Onion - you can use white onions or sweet onions too.
- Jalapeno Pepper - you can leave this out if you don't like it spicy, but it adds a lot of flavor.
- Garlic - for flavor
- All-Purpose Flour - to make a roux and thicken the chili
- Vegan Chicken Broth - or any vegetable broth.
- Oat Milk - or plain soy milk are the creamiest, but you can use any plant-based milk that you want.
- Cannellini Beans - aka white kidney beans. You can also use navy beans, pinto beans, or any beans you like.
- Hot Sauce - Frank's Red Hot or any spicy hot sauce that you like.
- Green Chilies - you can use canned or freshly roasted.
- Shredded Vegan Chicken - you can use my homemade vegan shredded chicken or frozen store-bought vegan chicken strips. You can also use Butler soy curls in place of chicken or check out all my ideas on how to replace chicken in any recipe.
- Frozen Corn - or canned corn.
- Vegan Sour Cream - you can use store-bought or my homemade tofu sour cream.
- Garnishes - lime wedges, cilantro, diced avocado, tortilla strips, Fritos, vegan pepper jack, or vegan cheddar cheese.
🔪 Helpful tools
A great thing about this soup is that you don't need any special kitchen gadgets to make it. You only need a large soup pot, a sharp knife, and a large spoon.
🥄 How to make vegan white chili
Step 1 - Combine the seasonings and set them aside.
Step 2 - Add the diced onions and jalapeno pepper to 3 tablespoons of olive oil and cook for 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Step 3 - Add 4 tablespoons flour and toss to coat. Cook the roux for 2 minutes.
Step 4 - Slowly add the vegan chicken broth about 1/2 cup at a time, stirring continuously. Then stir in 1/2 cup of oat milk. (This will become very thick a first, but then thin out.)
Step 5 - Add the seasonings, hot sauce, green chilies, white beans, and vegan chicken. Bring to a slow boil.
Step 6 - Reduce heat to low and stir in the vegan sour cream. Stir continuously until the sour cream is fully melted into the chili.
Step 8 - Add salt and pepper to taste. Add cayenne pepper until the desired spice level is reached.
Serve with vegan cornbread, easy drop biscuits, vegan focaccia, or vegan jalapeno cornbread!
👩🏻🍳 Pro Tips
- The acidity from the hot sauce gives the soup a nice balanced flavor. If you don't have hot sauce, be sure to serve it with lime wedges.
- Once you add the sour cream turn the heat to low and don't let it boil again.
- If you are using soy curls in this chili, use 1 cup of dry soy curls and add an extra cup of broth.
🌾 Make it gluten-free
To make this vegan white chili gluten-free, simply swap out the flour for a grain-based gluten-free flour mix. You can also use 2 tablespoons of cornstarch dissolved in 4 tablespoons of cold water and add it to the broth to thicken the soup instead of using the roux method.
🥡 Storage and reheating
Refrigerate: This vegan white chili will keep well in the fridge for 3 - 5 days in an airtight container.
Freeze: Leftover white chili can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Reheating: Reheat a serving of chili in the microwave for about 3 minutes or add a few tablespoons of water and reheat large portions in a saucepan on the stovetop.
🌟 More vegan soups
- Vegan Cream of Chicken Soup
- Vegan Orzo Soup
- Dairy-Free Cream of Celery Soup
- Vegan Italian Wedding Soup
- Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup
- Dairy-Free Potato Corn Chowder
- Vegan Chicken and Dumplings
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
📋 Vegan white chili recipe
Vegan White Chili
Equipment
Ingredients
Seasonings
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Chili
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 large jalapeno pepper seeded and diced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 6 cups vegan chicken broth
- 1/2 cup oat milk ( or plain soy milk or any plant-based milk)
- 2 (15.5 oz. cans) cannellini beans (navy beans or any white bean) drained
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 1 (4 oz. can) green chilies (or 1/2 cup freshly roasted)
- 2 cups shredded vegan chicken (or vegan chicken strips)
- 1 1/2 cups frozen corn
- 1 (12 oz. container) vegan sour cream
- salt and cayenne pepper to taste
Garnishes
- lime wedges, cilantro, diced avocado, tortilla strips, Fritos, or vegan pepper jack or cheddar cheese.
Instructions
- Combine the seasonings and set aside.
- Add the diced onions and jalapeno pepper to 3 tablespoons of olive oil and cook for 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add 4 tablespoons flour and toss to coat. Cook for 2 minutes, until the raw flour smell is gone.
- Slowly add the vegan chicken broth about 1/2 cup at a time, stirring continuously. Then stir in 1/2 cup of oat milk. (This will become very thick a first, but then thin out.)
- Add the seasonings, hot sauce, green chilies, white beans, and vegan chicken. Bring to a slow boil.
- Reduce heat to low and stir in the vegan sour cream. Stir continuously until the sour cream is fully melted into the chili.
- Add salt and pepper to taste. Add cayenne pepper until the desired spice level is reached. Serve with vegan cornbread or vegan jalapeno cornbread!
Notes
- The acidity from the hot sauce gives the soup a nice balanced flavor. If you don't have hot sauce, be sure to serve it with lime wedges.
- Once you add the sour cream turn the heat to low and don't let it boil again.
- If you are using soy curls in this chili, use 1 cup of dry soy curls and add an extra cup of broth.
Nutrition
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Click the stars above or leave a comment! I'd love to hear from you!
Awesome recipe! Made it for my family this evening. I did leave out anything spicy for I was making it for smaller kiddos. I used the Plant Basics strips, which is like the Butler's Soy Curls, in the same way it was suggested in the recipe. It was a big hit and will be adding it to our rotation of recipes. Topped it with some crumbled tortilla chips. YUM! Thank you for sharing!
You're welcome! I'm so glad that everyone liked it!
This is a great recipe, very filling and tasty. Also room for a lot of personal adjustments!
I'm so happy that you enjoyed it, Joanne! 🙂