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.
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’!
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 in mild sauce, 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.
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.
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!!!
Add the tomato sauce, chili beans with chili gravy (undrained), and cannellini beans (drained).
Let the mixture simmer while you prepare the cornbread.
Prepare cornbread according to the package directions.
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.
Now grab that chili you just made and spoon it over the unbaked cornbread layer.
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.
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.
Hot from the oven. Top it with a little light sour cream and serve it with tortilla chips for scooping up the chili.
Perfection.
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Chili Cornbread Bake
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground turkey
- ½ cup onion, diced
- ½ cup celery, diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
- 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- 16 ounce can chili beans in mild sauce, (like Bush's Chili Beans (Pinto Beans) in Mild Sauce) undrained
- 15 ounce can cannellini beans or small white beans, drained
- 2 (8.5) ounce packages Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
- 2 large eggs, (see corn muffin mix for amounts suggested)
- ⅔ cup milk, (see corn muffin mix for amounts suggested)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
- sour cream, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a deep 13 x 9 casserole dish with cooking spray.
For the Chili Mixture
- Coat a large skillet with nonstick cooking spray and place it over MEDIUM heat. Add the turkey, onion, and celery, and cook, breaking up the turkey with a spoon, until it is cooked through. Drain off any excess grease and return the skillet to the heat. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato sauce, undrained chili beans with sauce and drained cannellini beans. Turn the heat down to LOW and let it simmer while preparing the cornbread.
Prepare the Cornbread Batter
- Prepare the corn muffin mix in a large bowl with eggs and milk according to the package directions.
Assemble the Casserole
- Pour the cornbread batter into the prepared baking dish and spoon the chili mixture evenly over the top.
Bake
- Bake, uncovered, for 30 to 35 minutes until the edges of the cornbread are nicely browned and the center appears to be set. Remove the dish from the oven and sprinkle with the cheese. Return to the oven and bake 5 to10 minutes more, until the cheese is melted.
Serve
- Serve with tortilla chips and top with sour cream if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
My husband isn’t a fan of ground turkey anything, so I’m always looking for ways that I can sneak it into his food! He LOVES corn bread, so I totally think this will work!
I can see why it has stood the test of time. It looks delicious and I am sure my family would love it too!
How yummy does this look?! I can’t believe I’ve never thouht of this before. 🙂 I’ll be making this very soon!
Thanks Alicia. Check back and let me know how you liked it.
So delicious! I love a good chili cornbread and the one looks especially good! Love the way you put the cornbread on the bottom.
This is fantastic. So creative and perfect for this weekend. Or any weekend for that matter. Love the casserole dish you prepared it in.
Oooooh, I don’t like cornbread because it’s too dry, but in this set-up, it sounds delicious! What a treat 🙂
Cornbread never has to be dry. Look around for other recipes. Make sure the recipe has sugar as part of the ingredients. I was born and bred in the South and you always hear that cornbread in the South never uses sugar. WRONG. Most good cooks in the South now use sugar. It will turn your concept of cornbread around 180 degrees.
I agree! For a sweet and moist cornbread recipe check out my Rustic Sweet Cornbread.
For a moister cornbread prepare 2 boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix according to directions. Then add 1 can of cream corn to the mix. Stir till combined. Either make muffins or pour into a 9X13 pan and bake according to Jiffy directions. Check with a toothpick to see if done.
great combo 🙂 Funny thing about ground turkey is it needs more flavor and more fat; I might try this tho ’cause it does look good. thx!
You’re right about that Dana. You need to be sure to add plenty of seasoning to ground turkey to make up for the fact that it is so lean.
This sounds so yummy!! Great idea for sure!
Two of my favorites in one! This looks so hearty, comforting and absolutely delicious!
I have always wanted to try a chili cornbread bake like this! Looks so good Valerie!
This looks like such a comforting dish–I love it! I really like how the cornbread is on the bottom instead of on top of the chili. My husband has been asking for chili all week, so thank you for sharing this 🙂
Wow wow wow, I would totally prepare chips on my hand! The chili itself looks already yummy, but you combine with corn bread? I’ve never heard of it and looks soo good! Must be very popular among boys. My kids haven’t had enough spicy food yet (well, me too actually) but I love not so spicy chili a lot! This looks so yummy. One bag of chips may not be enough!
We have always eaten chili with cornbread instead of crackers. There have been times when I add a little spaghetti too. I always add sour cream to only mine cause my husband doesn’t like sour cream. We eat with tortilla chips too.