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Home » Main Dish » Casseroles » Chili Cornbread Bake

Chili Cornbread Bake

By Valerie · February 2, 2012 · Updated May 27, 2020 76 Comments

H Holidays MD Main Dish
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Lean, flavorful chili baked over a layer of cornbread and topped with lots of melted cheese. This Chili Cornbread Bake is the perfect casserole to serve at your next game day gathering or makes for a delicious meal any night of the week.

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Chili Cornbread Bake in a blue serving dish.

Many, many years ago, when my big grown boys were just little itty bitty cutie pies, people started figuring out maybe we should back off the red meat now and then. Recipes calling for ground turkey began to circulate like crazy. This Chili Cornbread Bake is one of the very first recipes I made using ground turkey and it has stood the test of time.

What goes together better than chili and cornbread? Red wine and chocolate, okay, maybe that, but chili and cornbread is mui delicioso. We are going to make it real easy by using a packaged mix for our cornbread layer and we’ll bake it together with the chili in the same pan, casserole style. Yes, there is cheese involved, but we get to feel a little less guilty because we are using lean ground turkey.

Ready? Let’s get cookin’!

The ingredients for the recipe on a kitchen counter.

For the grocery list – Lean ground turkey, onion, celery, garlic (pretend it’s there), chili powder, cumin, fresh ground black pepper, crushed red pepper, tomato sauce, chili beans with chili gravy, cannellini beans, 2 packages Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix, shredded cheddar and Monterey jack cheese blend, light sour cream (optional). You will also need some milk and eggs to prepare the cornbread. See the package for instructions specific to the brand you have. I highly recommend that you have some tortilla chips on hand. 

The gound turkey, onion, and celery in a skillet on the stove.

Spray a large pan with cooking spray and place over medium heat. Add the ground turkey, celery, and onion. Cook, breaking up the turkey with the spoon, until meat is thoroughly cooked.

Garlic and spices are added to the meat mixture in the skillet.

Add chili powder, cumin, black pepper, crushed red pepper, and garlic. Ground turkey is quite bland on it’s own so it really needs a lot of spice to wake it up. Wake up!!!

Tomato sauce and beans are added to the skillet.

Add the tomato sauce, chili beans with chili gravy (undrained), and cannellini beans (drained).

The chili mixture simmers in the skillet.

Let the mixture simmer while you prepare the cornbread.

The cornbread being mixed together in a large mixing bowl.

Prepare cornbread according to the package directions.

The cornbread layer is spread on to the bottom of a baking dish.

Now grab a deep baking dish. I have this nice, deep 13 x 9 pan. If your 13 x 9 pan is not deep like this one, I recommend using a slightly larger pan. A lasagna pan would work nicely. Coat your pan of choice with some cooking spray and spread the cornbread mixture into the pan.

The chili is spooned over the top of the cornbread mixture in the baking dish.

Now grab that chili you just made and spoon it over the unbaked cornbread layer.

The Chili Cornbread Bake is ready for the oven.

Ready for the oven. Bake it at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, or till it appears set in the center and the edges of the cornbread are golden brown.

After the initial baking time, the Chili Cornbread Bake is topped with plenty of shredded cheese.

Remove the dish from the oven and sprinkle with cheese. Return the pan to the oven and bake for another 5 minutes, just till cheese is melted.

Chili Cornbread Bake just after it is pulled out of the oven.

Hot from the oven. Top it with a little light sour cream and serve it with tortilla chips for scooping up the chili.

Chili Cornbread Bake on a small white plate with a dollop of sour cream.
Perfection.

CHILI CORNBREAD BAKE

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A two image vertical collage of Chili Cornbread Bake in a serving dish and on a small white plate.

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A dish of chili cornbread bake.

Chili Cornbread Bake

Lean, flavorful chili baked over a layer of cornbread and topped with lots of melted cheese. This Chili Cornbread Bake is the perfect casserole to serve at your next game day gathering or makes for a delicious meal any night of the week.

3.7 from 52 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Mexican
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
0 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 636kcal
Author: Valerie Brunmeier

Ingredients

  • 1 pound lean ground turkey
  • 1/2 cup onion chopped
  • 1/2 cup celery chopped
  • 1 teaspoon garlic minced
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper or to taste
  • 15 ounce can tomato sauce
  • 16 ounce can chili beans with chili gravy
  • 15 ounce can cannellini beans or small white beans, drained
  • 2 (8.5) ounce packages Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
  • 2 eggs (see corn muffin mix for amounts suggested)
  • 2/3 cup milk (see corn muffin mix for amounts suggested)
  • 2 cups shredded cheddar and Monterey jack cheese blend
  • light sour cream, optional

Instructions

  • Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat. Cook turkey, celery and onion until turkey, breaking up the turkey with a spoon. Cook till turkey is no longer pink. Add garlic, chili powder, black pepper, cumin, and crushed red pepper. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce and beans. Turn heat down to low and allow to simmer while preparing cornbread.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a deep 13 x 9 casserole dish with cooking spray. Prepare corn muffin mix with eggs and milk according to package directions and pour batter into prepared baking dish. Remove chili mixture from heat and spoon over the batter. Bake, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes. Edges of cornbread should be nicely browned and center should appear to be set. Carefully remove dish from oven and sprinkle with cheese. Return to oven and bake 5-10 minutes more, until cheese is melted.
  • Serve with tortilla chips and top with sour cream if desired.

Nutrition

Calories: 636kcal | Carbohydrates: 67g | Protein: 43g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 139mg | Sodium: 1837mg | Potassium: 1047mg | Fiber: 12g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 1753IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 435mg | Iron: 7mg
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  1. Peppa says

    September 28, 2020 at 1:52 pm

    3 stars
    I tried this yesterday . Next time I will not use Jiffy cornbread mix, it made the dish entirely too sweet. The sugar in the cornbread, the spicy chili ingredients and cheese topping didn’t taste well together. After the dish came out of the oven the cornbread was to much and overwhelming. I made my own homemade chili and used that, I also substituted the 15 ounce can cannellini beans or small white beans, with black beans.

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