This cornbread chili casserole takes a classic hearty chili to the next level by topping it with buttery, crumbly cornbread, all in one comforting dish. Chili and cornbread are each fantastic on their own, but they’re even better together… like Sunday mornings and overnight cinnamon rolls. This dish comes together easily, and if you have an oven-safe skillet, it can go from the stove to oven in 1 pan. It’s versatile, as well—use the chili as a base for your favorite add-ins and preferred spice level.
This dish is just what the doctor ordered when it’s cold outside and you’re craving something warm and nourishing. Thick, rich, and hearty, this cornbread chili casserole satisfies the taste buds and warms you from the inside out. It’s great reheated the next day, too!
I originally published this recipe in 2016, and I’ve made it several times every winter since. I now add a little chicken broth to help thin out the thick chili as it bakes, and a little more cumin and oregano. The recipe below reflects that.
You’ll Love This Cornbread Chili Casserole
- Cornbread + chili, the perfect combo, together in 1 pan. (Like biscuit vegetable pot pie!)
- Easy to make and ready in 1 hour.
- Hearty and filling chili, packed with protein, vegetables, and loads of flavor.
- Lightly sweet, crumbly cornbread topping.
- No skillet? No problem! You can bake it in a casserole dish or large dutch oven.
- Make-ahead friendly, perfect for busy weeknights.
- Makes enough to feed a hungry group, or gift yourself with leftovers (for even busier weeknights)!
- Versatile, customizable recipe. See below.
This dish has the hallmarks of traditional chili, but you can change it up to suit your preferences, desired spice/heat level, and/or dietary requirements. For example, replace the ground turkey with beef, chicken, a plant-based option, or use more beans; swap kidney beans for another type; and experiment with spices. But be sure to include the chili’s key flavor-makers: oregano, cumin, and chili powder.
I appreciate the versatility of a recipe that has so many options to suit many tastes (like this quiche, for example). Experiment a few times to discover your favorite version.
Key Chili Ingredients & Possible Substitutions
- Protein: I use lean ground turkey, but you can use ground chicken or beef instead. See recipe Note for a vegetarian option.
- Vegetables: Chopped onion, jalapeño, and green bell pepper give this chili a lot of flavor, and work together as the base of the dish. Feel free to use another color bell pepper and/or leave out the jalapeño. You can also add 1 peeled and chopped sweet potato, about 1 cup, when you cook these vegetables.
- Tomato Sauce & Canned Diced Tomatoes: You can use canned or homemade tomato sauce—if using canned, you need 2 8-ounce cans. You also need a can of diced tomatoes.
- Beans: I use classic red kidney beans in this recipe, but black beans, pinto beans, or cannellini beans work as well.
- Chicken Broth: Just 1/2 cup of broth keeps the chili from becoming too dry as it bakes in the oven. Feel free to use vegetable broth instead, and if you don’t have either, water works (but you’ll lose a little flavor).
- Herbs and Spices: Equal amounts of dried oregano, chili powder, and cumin create that classic chili flavor; I don’t recommend leaving any out. This recipe is perfect for those of us who enjoy a teeny kick of fire in chili. But if you like super-spicy chili, a little more jalapeño and chili powder will do the trick. Taste as you go and adjust if desired.
- Brown Sugar: This ingredient is a MUST. You don’t need much, but the small amount balances out the salty, spicy, savory flavors everywhere else.
This Is a 1-Pan Meal
You’ll cook the chili on the stove before topping with your cornbread batter and baking. An oven-safe skillet is ideal, because you can cook the chili, top it with cornbread batter, and transfer it to the oven. (Though you do need a mixing bowl to prep the cornbread topping.)
A 12-inch ovenproof skillet that holds about 3.5–4 quarts is the perfect size for this recipe. Here is the one I own and love. It’s solid, hefty, and has lasted years with regular use. If you don’t have a skillet this size, don’t worry. Simply cook the chili on the stove in a large pot or saucepan, and then transfer it to a lightly greased casserole dish that holds at least 3.5–4 quarts, such as a 9×13-inch baking dish.
You could also cook the chili on the stove in a large dutch oven, spread the cornbread topping on, and bake right in the dutch oven.
Start your chili on the stove. The full instructions are below, but here are some photos to guide you along. The chili takes only about 25 minutes on the stove.
Mix the Cornbread Topping Together in 1 Bowl
After cooking the chili on the stove (or while it’s simmering), whisk the ingredients for the cornbread topping together. Here’s what you need:
- Cornmeal & Flour: Just like in this cornbread recipe, equal parts fine cornmeal and flour makes the BEST cornbread—lots of flavor and a crunchy edge.
- Baking Powder: This gives the batter a little lift in the oven, so the cornbread bakes up nice and tender.
- Butter: Melted butter gives this cornbread topping the best flavor. While oil makes a tender cornbread, it can lack flavor. Since butter doesn’t make cornbread as moist as oil, I pair it with buttermilk.
- Salt & Brown Sugar: Flavor enhancers. I like a hint of sweetness in my cornbread—without turning it into cake.
- Egg: 1 egg binds the topping together.
- Buttermilk: You can just use whole milk if that’s what you have, but buttermilk makes cakes, muffins, and breads extra moist.
- Corn: Including corn in the topping is optional, but adds superb flavor and texture.
Bake until the cornbread is golden brown, about 30–35 minutes.
Reader Wendy commented: “This recipe is amazing and my family loves it! Before I bake it, I dot the cornbread mix with some chopped jalapeños and red peppers. It makes it look so pretty and gives the cornbread a slight bite. ★★★★★”
Reader Hannah commented: “Just wanted to comment and say I’ve successfully made this twice with gluten-free flour (cup4cup once and a homemade blend once) and both times it came out great! It’s such a good chili and cornbread recipe. ★★★★★”
This cornbread chili casserole is delicious served warm with your favorite chili toppings, such as shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado, and/or chopped green onions. I usually serve it with a crunchy green salad on the side, and dinner is done!
Cornbread Chili Casserole
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: serves 8
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
In this hearty and satisfying dinner recipe, you can enjoy 2 in 1: cornbread served on top of turkey (or beef) chili. Everything is cooked in the same pan.
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) olive oil
- 1 lb ground turkey (or ground chicken or beef)
- 1 cup (130g) chopped yellow onion (1 medium onion)
- 1 cup (130g) chopped bell pepper
- 1/2 of a jalapeño, finely chopped (seeds and ribs removed)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 (8-ounce/227g) cans tomato sauce (or use homemade)
- 1/2 cup (120ml) chicken broth (or vegetable or beef broth)
- 1 (14.5-ounce/411g) can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 (15.5-ounce/439g) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 Tablespoon (12g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Cornbread Topping
- 1 cup (120g) fine cornmeal
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1/4 cup (50g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk or whole milk, at room temperature
- optional: 1 cup (170g) corn (fresh, frozen, or canned & drained)
- optional toppings: shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, sliced jalapeños
Instructions
- In a large ovenproof skillet that holds 3.5–4 quarts, such as this 12-inch skillet, heat the oil over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the ground turkey, onion, bell pepper, jalapeño, and garlic. Sauté until meat has cooked through, breaking up with a spoon as it cooks, about 10 minutes. Stir in the rest of the chili ingredients, and then reduce to medium-low heat. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°F (191°C).
- Whisk all of the cornbread ingredients together in a large bowl, including the optional corn. Remove the chili from heat and spread the cornbread batter on top.
- Bake, uncovered, for 30–35 minutes or until the cornbread is golden on top and cooked through.
- Spoon into bowls or onto plates and serve warm with optional toppings.
- Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. I usually spoon it all into a reusable container. Reheat in a skillet over medium heat, or in the microwave as desired.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: If you want to get started ahead of time, prepare the chili up to 24 hours in advance, cover, and refrigerate. Then, set it out at room temperature as you preheat the oven and prepare the cornbread batter. Spread cornbread batter on top and bake as directed. Baked and cooled casserole freezes well up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature, then cover and bake at 300°F (149°C) for 15-20 minutes or until warmed through.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 12-inch Skillet | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk
- Other Pan to Use: A 12-inch ovenproof skillet that holds about 3.5–4 quarts is the perfect size for this recipe. Here is the one I own and love. If you don’t have a skillet this size, simply cook the chili on the stove in a large pot or saucepan, and then transfer it to a lightly greased casserole dish that holds at least 3.5–4 quarts, such as a 9×13-inch baking dish. You could also cook the chili on the stove in a large dutch oven, spread the cornbread topping on, and bake right in the dutch oven.
- To Make Vegetarian: For a vegetarian option, replace the meat with a plant-based ground meat alternative, or skip this and add an extra can or two of beans when you add the kidney beans. And/or add 1 peeled and chopped sweet potato (about 1 cup) in step 1 when you add the bell pepper.
- Beans: I use red kidney beans in this recipe, but black beans, pinto beans, or cannellini beans work as well.
- Chicken Broth: Just 1/2 cup of broth keeps the chili from becoming too dry as it bakes in the oven. Feel free to use beef or vegetable broth instead, and if you don’t have either, water works (but you’ll lose a little flavor).
- Is This Spicy? Mildly spicy. But if you like super-spicy chili, a little more jalapeño and chili powder will do the trick. Taste as you go and adjust if desired.
- Inspired by Food Network
Keywords: cornbread chili casserole
I made this for a community chili cook-off, and it won! Great recipe!
★★★★★
This recipe is DELICIOUS. The flavor of the chili was spot on and the corn bread also very yummy. We are looking forward to the leftovers. What I really liked is there was corn bread in every bite. Thank you and your team for another “keeper”. Actually I have a simpler, not as tasty, but similar Cowboy Skillet recipe and this will replace that one. I can’t go back!
★★★★★
Hi Sally,
We love chili & cornbread. Your recipe is very intriguing. I’d like to make this in individual casseroles so my son could take to work & reheat in a microwave. Do you think this would work? What size casserole would you suggest?
I have a tip about adding water if needed……don’t! I keep a bottle of Apple Cider in my frig & use it for many recipes calling for water…..even my pot roast! Try it. Thanks again for your great recipes. My best, Nancy
Hi Nancy, you could absolutely use this recipe and divide between smaller pans. It wouldn’t be an individual serving, but 6-inch round or similar size rectangle or square pans would work, and you’d get about 3 of them, depending how deep they are. I’m unsure of the bake time when using smaller pans; it will be quite similar for the cornbread to cook through.
This is fabulous. Best cornbread ever – elevates chili to a new level.
Is it possible to halve this in any way? Or freeze?
Hi Ashleu, you can certainly try halving the recipe and using a smaller baking dish, or the baked and cooled casserole freezes well for up to three months. See recipe Notes for details and reheating information.
I helped my husband make this for a Saturday afternoon football game. Huge success and everyone loved it. We made it with ground chicken and cannellini beans as suggested. Baking the cornbread on top of the chili was a brilliant idea. Will definitely make it again.
★★★★★
I would like to use my recipe for Mexican Cornbread for the topping (it calls for 1.5 C. corn meal). Do you think this will work?
Hi Linda, we can’t say for sure, but let us know if you give it a try!
Any suggestion on preventing the cornbread from absorbing the liquid from the chili casserole? Should we double the chili?
Hi Linda, it shouldn’t be a problem!
This was delicious but as many have said in other comments, cornbread soaked up much of the chili, leaving chili kinda dry. I spread cornbread on top of chili like the picture but cornbread was very thick in some areas of chili. Next time, I will either cut cornbread recipe in half or spread all the way to the edge of my skillet.
Made the Cornbread Chili Casserole for dinner tonight and it is a wonderful recipe !
★★★★★
I made this recipe today. It was a big hit. My 93 YO old granny liked it and she’s very hard to please!!! I love all your recipes so much!
★★★★★
This recipe was absolutely amazing. The ratio of chili to cornbread was perfect. Just follow the directions–we made it in a 12″ cast iron skillet, and we didn’t have any problems at all. It was wonderful.
Very good recipe and I loved the cornbread. That being said, I’d cut the cornbread recipe in half probably for next time because it was a very thick layer and soaked up a lot of the chili.
Delicious! The corn is a must imo.
★★★★★
I was going to take a picture but it was gone before I had a chance. I used a 19oz can of fire roasted tomatoes instead of diced tomatoes and no tomato sauce since that’s what I had in the house. My new favourite winter meal
★★★★★
Really liked this, except that all the liquid absorbed into the cornbread. Think next time I will double the chili recipe but not the cornbread and see what happens. My husband went back for seconds and was anticipating leftovers,
This is fabulous.
Baked in a Dutch oven so it took about an hour not 30 minutes but worth the wait. Spices give a lot of heat initially but during the baking they mellowed. I altered amounts of liquid slightly but worked really well. Used lean ground beef. Thank you.
Maybe I should read a lil better, I did not rinse my beans , i used chili beans in sauce (2 cans) no wonder why my chili wasn’t so thick. I didn’t have alot of chili powder, I use alot in my chili, I only used 1/2 t of cumin as it’s not a favorite of ours. I hope it turns out, in the oven right now, my cornbread just like clumped, so I had to scoop it around. Man, I hope it’s still good
★★★★★
Would I be able to use a “gasp” box mix of cornbread on top instead? We have a couple in the pantry to use up.
Hi Laura, Definitely. Make sure it’s just a thin layer of batter on top of the chili.
I made this tonight, and it was divine! My new fave!
I only have a 10′ cast iron skillet. How should I proceed with the recipe?
Please advise.
Hi Patricia, that is too small for this dish; the chili will overflow. Make the chili in a regular large pot, then transfer to a lightly greased 9×13-inch pan as instructed in the Notes.
My mom made this when we were kids and it was a favorite so of course it’s been a staple in my home. A bit different though. I make my chili then top it with Jiffy cornbread from the box. 1 box works perfectly for a topping on 1 batch of chili. Top that with cheese & stick it under the broiler for about a minute then top with snips of green onion & you have a glorious meal.
★★★★★
Brilliant idea. Going to do this one.
The ingredients state that the beans are to be drained & rinsed; but yet, in one of your comments, you state:”Hi Sarah, we’re so glad you enjoyed this one! We do not drain the can of beans before adding to the chili. ” Please clarify. Thanks. So looking forward to trying it!
Hi Linda, thank you for catching that. We do drain the beans before using in this recipe. Hope you enjoy it!
Could you use a small can of Jalapeno’s instead of fresh Jalapeno?
Also could you bake the cornbread in a separate casserole dish?
Hi Tamara, you can bake the cornbread separately. The baking instructions will be similar to this cornbread recipe. You wouldn’t need to bake the chili then. Simmer it for 5-10 extra minutes.
What do you do with leftovers? Will it reheat well? Or freeze in portions?
Hi Kathy, cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. I usually spoon it all into a reusable container. Reheat in a skillet over medium heat, or in the microwave as desired. The freezing instructions didn’t transfer over but they are there now in the notes. You could freeze in portions if you wanted to, yes. Baked and cooled casserole freezes well up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature, then cover and bake at 300°F (149°C) for 15-20 minutes or until warmed through.
Hi! If I wanted to use a box mix of cornbread spread on top instead (just to save myself a few steps in this season of life I’m in!), do you think that could work? Thanks!
Absolutely! Make sure it’s just a thin layer of batter on top of the chili.
Cornbread chili recipe what’s the sodium content
Hi Sue, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
nevermind about my earlier review, brown sugar is in both, saved, lol
★★★★★
What do I do now, wow, am I a dummy, I put the brown sugar in the cornbread mix, now what?
★★★★★
Tried just the chili part before it went in the oven and it was awesome already!
Two questions… Should the can of beans be drained? Is the chili powder you used, just chili or is it a combination of spices? My chili powder was a combination so I didn’t add the extra oregano and cumin.
Thanks so much for all that you share!!
★★★★★
Hi Sarah, we’re so glad you enjoyed this one! We do drain the can of beans before adding to the chili. We use regular chili powder, but if you have a combination feel free to use that instead (and increase the amount if you’d like to cover the additional spices, too).