Chili Pie with a buttery Cornbread Crust

This Chili Pie is the ultimate winter comfort food! Make a classic bean and beef chili recipe in a skillet and then top it with a layer of cornbread batter. Bake everything together in an oven for a truly perfect one pan meal.

I love to serve this on chilly fall evenings during football season. It is the perfect way to serve beef chili with a buttery hunk of cornbread, but I only need to dirty one pan!!

Make an easy one-dish weekday dinner

As the days get shorter and the nights get colder, it is understandable to want to spend less time cooking and more time relaxing. This chili pie is a homey, comforting dish that is sure to warm you right up.

It is made with classic chili ingredients that will cook quickly on the stovetop. Then, you add the cornbread on top and bake in the oven.

The cornbread layer may seem thin but it will puff up quickly while it bakes. Let it cool slightly and then you will have the perfect comfort food meal ready to eat. Serve it plain or top it with your favorite chili toppings.

Serving Suggestions

There are so many ways to enjoy this chili pie. Some of my favorite toppings are sour cream, guacamole, salsa, pickled jalapeños, cilantro, and green onions.

You can also put out a bowl of corn chips like fritos alongside when serving. Everyone loves to dip some corn chips in their favorite chili!

If you want to add some extra veggies, serve it alongside a simple salad. I like to make salads with homemade dressings like this Greek Yogurt Salad Dressing for extra flavor!

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Olive oil — just enough to soften the vegetables and keep them from sticking before the beef goes in. Avocado oil or any neutral oil works. If you’re using a fattier ground beef, you can start the beef first and skip the oil entirely.
• Diced onion and bell pepper — the flavor base for the whole skillet. A yellow onion gives you the most classic chili flavor; red onion is a little sweeter. Any color bell pepper works, and red or orange will be sweeter than green. Dice everything small and even so it’s fully tender by the time the cornbread goes on top. A bag of frozen diced pepper-and-onion blend is a fine shortcut on a busy night.
• Ground beef — 85/15 is the sweet spot here: enough fat to carry the spices, not so much that the chili turns greasy under the cornbread. Drain off the excess fat after browning, because that layer of grease is what makes a cornbread topping gummy on the bottom. Ground turkey or chicken works too; add an extra drizzle of oil since they’re leaner.
• Chili powder, cumin, salt and smoked paprika — chili powder is a blend, not straight cayenne, so it brings the flavor without much heat. Cumin adds the earthy, savory backbone. Smoked paprika is the shortcut to that all-day-simmered flavor and it’s what makes this taste like more than a 30-minute chili. Stir the spices into the beef and vegetables for about a minute before adding anything liquid — blooming them in the fat wakes them up. Salt as you go, then taste again at the end. If you like heat, a pinch of cayenne or chipotle powder goes here.
• Black beans and kidney beans — two kinds gives you two textures: creamy black beans and firmer kidney beans that hold their shape. Rinse and drain both, otherwise the canning liquid makes the chili cloudy and salty. Pinto beans swap in for either one. If you only have one kind on hand, use two cans of it.
• Fire roasted diced tomatoes and tomato paste — the fire roasted kind brings a subtle char that regular diced tomatoes don’t have, and it’s the easiest upgrade in the recipe. Don’t drain them; that liquid becomes the sauce. The tomato paste is what gives the chili body so it’s thick enough to hold a cornbread topping instead of soaking into it. Let the paste cook for a minute with the spices to deepen the flavor. Regular diced tomatoes will work — just add an extra pinch of smoked paprika.
• Frozen corn — no need to thaw, it goes straight in. The little bursts of sweetness cut the spice and echo the cornbread on top. Canned corn (drained) or fresh kernels cut off the cob both work.
• Vinegar — the ingredient people skip and shouldn’t. A splash stirred in at the end brightens everything and keeps the chili from tasting flat and heavy. Apple cider vinegar is my favorite here; red wine vinegar works too, as does a squeeze of lime. Add it off the heat so the flavor stays sharp.
• Cornbread muffin mix, eggs, milk and cheddar cheese — the topping. A boxed mix (Jiffy or similar) keeps this a one-bowl, weeknight job. Mix it according to the package with the eggs and milk, then fold the shredded cheddar right into the batter so you get melty pockets throughout instead of a layer on top. Buttermilk in place of the milk makes it a little richer. Shred your own cheddar if you can — pre-shredded is coated in starch and doesn’t melt as smoothly. Sharp cheddar stands up best against the chili. Spread the batter over the hot chili so it starts baking from below and cooks through in the center.

Ingredient substitutions

To make this cornbread chili pie you can replace ground beef with ground chicken, or ground turkey. If you would like to make this chili pie vegetarian, you can also use a meatless crumble.

To make this dish gluten free, use a gluten free corn muffin mix in place of a standard one. All of the other ingredients are dairy free.

To make this dish dairy free just swap the milk and cheddar cheese out for a dairy free alternative. There are so many ways to make this chili and cornbread dish according to your preferences!

This dish also works well with additional veggies if you want to add any to the chili portion. You could add things like a finely diced zucchini or a big handful of spinach.

How to make a Chili Pie

Step 1: Make the Chili in the skillet

To start, preheat the oven to 400F. While the oven is preheating, heat oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium heat.

Then, saute onions and peppers for 5 minutes and push to the side of the pan. Add in the ground beef and cook on the stove until the meat is browned.

Season beef generously with the seasoning mixture while you finish cooking it. Then, pour the rest of the chili ingredients into the skillet and stir to combine everything together.

Bring to a simmer and let it simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 2: Prepare Cornbread Filling

Now it is time to prepare the cornbread topping. Then, mix the cornbread according to the package instructions.

I usually use the Jiffy corn muffin mix and add extra milk and mix in 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.

Step 3: Bake, Cool, and Serve

Next, turn the heat off the chili and spread the cornbread batter evenly over the top. The cornbread will seem like a thin layer, but it will puff up in the oven as it bakes.

Lastly, bake for 20 minutes, until the cornbread is cooked through. Let it cool some, serve, and enjoy!

Storage and Reheating

Allow this chili pie recipe to cool completely. Then, transfer it to the fridge in an airtight container.

Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. Reheat in the oven at 400 for 10 minutes, until warmed through.

Check out these other Chili recipes

• Sweet Potato Chili
• Healthy Pumpkin Chicken Chili
• Vegetarian White Bean Chili
• No Bean Turkey Chili

If you loved this recipe, try this Crockpot White Chicken Chili next!