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May 17
72

Chili Cornbread Bake

Chili Cornbread Bake

This Chili Cornbread Bake is just the right amount of slightly sweet and spicy, and it’s sure to hit the spot for your comfort food cravings. Chili and cornbread are such a great combination, and with this dish you can bake them both together and serve them up as one! The bottom layer is a lightly sweet, super moist seasoned cornbread and it’s topped with layer of hearty chili and finished off with some melted cheese. YUM, right? If you’ve ever made the Chicken Tamale Bake on my blog from a few years back, I used the same cornbread layer for this recipe. As an added bonus, this Chili Cornbread Bake is super easy to make and doesn’t take long at all – perfect for a weeknight meal! To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!

Chili Cornbread Bake

Looking for more lightened up comfort food casseroles like this Chili Cornbread Bake? Check out my Bubble Up Chicken Pot Pie Casserole, Teriyaki Chicken and Rice Casserole, Eggplant Parmesan Casserole, Beef Enchilada Quinoa Bake, Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta Bake, Bubble Up Pizza Casserole, Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli and Rice Casserole, Deep Dish Sloppy Joe Casserole and many more in the Casseroles category of my Recipe Index!

Chili Cornbread Bake
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5 from 8 votes
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Chili Cornbread Bake

This Chili Cornbread Bake is just the right amount of slightly sweet and spicy, sure to hit the spot for your comfort food cravings!

Ingredients

  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 1/3 cup skim milk
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin, divided
  • 1/8 teaspoon + ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, divided
  • 1 (14.5 oz) can cream-style corn
  • 1 (4 oz) can diced green chiles, drained
  • 1 (8.5 oz) box Jiffy corn muffin mix (or similar brand)
  • ¾ lb 95% lean ground beef
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • ¾ cup canned kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 3 oz 50% reduced fat Sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (such as Cabot)

Instructions

  • Pre-heat the oven to 400. Lightly mist a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg, milk, 1 teaspoon of the cumin, 1/8 teaspoon of the cayenne, creamed corn, diced chilies and corn muffin mix. Stir together until fully mixed and pour into the prepared baking dish. Spread into an even layer and bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out smooth. Keep oven at 400.
  • While the cornbread layer is cooking, bring a large saute pan or medium pot to medium heat and add the ground beef. Use a wooden spoon to break it up into small pieces as it cooks. When the meat is breaking up and almost browned, add the onions and the garlic and stir together. Continue to cook another few minutes until the meat is browned and onions are softened.
  • Add the kidney beans, diced tomatoes, chili powder, salt, and remaining 1 teaspoon of cumin and ¼ teaspoon of cayenne to the meat mixture and stir together until well combined. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for about 5 minutes.
  • Use a fork to poke holes all over the prepared cornbread layer. When the chili is done, spoon it over the top of the cornbread layer to form another even layer. Sprinkle the shredded cheddar cheese over the chili and return it to the oven for another 15 minutes.

Notes

To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
Nutrition Information:
293 calories, 38 g carbs, 11 g sugars, 8 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 18 g protein, 5 g fiber (from myfitnesspal.com)
MyWW SmartPoints per (1/8th of the recipe) serving: (SP calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)
Green: 9 SmartPoints/ Blue: 8 SmartPoints/ Purple: 8 SmartPoints
Weight Watchers PointsPlus:
7 per serving (PP calculated using a Weight Watchers PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition info below)

72 comments on “Chili Cornbread Bake”

  1. I made this last night. It was a huge hit!!! Thank you Emily for your yummy recipes!!!! Subbed ground turkey. It was delicious!

  2. What do you think about using black beans instead of the kidney beans? Just not a kidney bean fan. thanks

  3. Emily I love anything with cornbread, as does my family, chili rates HIGH on that list! And I love black beans!

  4. OK so pretty much every meal I cook now is one of yours. This looks amazing, I can’t wait to try it!

  5. How many servings does this make and what is each serving size? Thanks! Looks like a great recipe and I will try it!

  6. Sorry, I saw that it makes 8 servings, after I posted my comment! Ha!

  7. How did you know I had all of the ingredients to make tamale bake except chicken and I was contemplating using ground turkey? You are so amazing!!! I am making this on Saturday. Will report back! 🙂

  8. This might be my new favorite! Perfect amount of spice. And I’m a sucker for cornbread so this was just the ultimate dinner for me. Thanks, Emily!

  9. OMG it was so good! I added a can of rotel to the chili mixture and used ground turkey instead of beef, but otherwise kept it the same. YUM YUM YUM. I would eat anything on top of that cornbread!

  10. This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try — definitely adding it to my meal plan for next week. Do you happen to know if it freezes well? Either pre- or post-baking? Thanks in advance, and thank you for all your wonderful + delicious recipes!

    • Hi Tessla, I don’t freeze anything so I am the worst at answering this question! If you try it out let me know!

  11. Another phenomenal recipe! Was a huge hit with my family. Thanks for helping us eat healthier without getting bored. 🙂

  12. This is a great recipe Emily! I doubled the recipe since friends were coming over and everyone loved it! Since I was doubling it I used half ground turkey and half hamburger and it was so delicious. This recipe is a keeper!

  13. This recipe is great! My husband and I both love it! 🙂

  14. Emily, I’m in love with this dish!! I meal prepped it for my husband and I and we bother love it! Thank you thank you!

  15. Literally eating this right now for lunch (and for the next 3 days). Came on to double check the points value, and decided to leave a message saying how delicious it is! Plus easy to make, doesn’t required a ton of expensive ingredients, and great to prep ahead for lunches for the week. Basically, this will be a new staple.

  16. I work nights and found this while researching interesting casserole ideas (my family got sick of tuna noodle very quickly). This was so easy. I made it ahead of time and my husband popped it in the oven. My family loved it and said it needs to be on the regular rotation now

  17. I really dislike corn, have never used cream corn. Do you think it would be okay if I ran it through a stick blender to make it super smooth before I add to the recipe?

  18. OMG! I have made many of your recipes and they are all great so far. This one is the BEST! It was wonderful! Thanks for sharing 🙂

  19. I made this tonight. I upped the meat amount with a mix of lean ground beef and ground chicken breast and since I’m a boymom with a military husband, I added extra spice too. This was perfect. Very filling and liked by all. Even with my tweaks, it was only 10 points a serving. Husband asked for the leftovers to be added to his lunchbox tomorrow. As my hubby said, this recipe could be changed around just by changing the chili. Thank you for a great recipe. I’ll be making it again.

  20. I have made this before and LOVE this recipe! My company is having a chili cookoff & I want to make this (bc I know I’ll win 😉 ) but it has to be made in a crock pot for the competition. I’m going to try to play around with it tomorrow, but do you have any ideas/suggestions for crock pot cooking this??

    Thanks!

  21. We loooooved this! Thank you so much!

  22. Looks great, but I don’t eat meat. What do you think of adding more beans and regular peppers?
    Thanks.

  23. I’m pretty much addicted to this chili cornbread bake. Hubby and I LOVE it!!

  24. Made 2 of these tonight one made with hamburger and another made with Trader Joe’s Beefless ground beef, for my vegetarian daughter. Actually the vegetarian looked better. But thanks for a great recipe! Oh my daughters name is Emily, too.

  25. I loved this, but it was wayyyyyyy too spicy!
    Next time I’m leaving out the cayenne

  26. Wow! We just had this for dinner! So flavorful!

  27. I made an account just to comment on this recipe. I made it tonight and it is amaaaazing. The only swap I did was ground chicken since I had it on hand, and I upped the spice because I like my chili to buuuurn. The cornbread base is to die for. It’s recipes like this that really make me feel like I can succeed on my weight loss journey 🙂 thanks so much!

  28. I made this tonite and my husband and I loved it. Thank you Emily for you wonderful recipes.

  29. I have tried many of your recipes. My husband and I both love them. They are helping me with my Weight watchers journey. Thank you so much. I am sure my weight watchers group is tired of hearing about your web site. I’m making your ham and cheese quiche for a bridal shower brunch in a couple of weeks. Keep up the great work. Thank you again.

  30. This is insanely spicy. 2 tablespoons of chili powder is way too much. I think you meant to type 2 teaspoons. Other than that, it’s delicious.

    • Nope, I meant 2 tablespoons! We actually just made this again tonight for dinner :). Feel free to adjust to your tastes. My family loves it this way!

  31. Hey! I’m not a fan of creamed corn. Would I be able to swap with regular corn?

    • I haven’t tried it that way but I really encourage you to try it with the creamed corn because you will never know it’s there, I promise. I also do not eat creamed corn, this will not taste like it!

  32. Tried it tonight and went with the creamed corn… You were right! I didn’t even notice it. Turned out delicious and the boyfriend gobbled it down!

  33. I loved this! What a great recipe! You know it is good when you go to work the next day and you can’t wait to get home to eat some leftovers. LOL. My boyfriend loved it just as much. Thanks for sharing.

  34. Made this tonight and was soooo good! Ultimate comfort food for fall! My guy even liked it even though he new it was one of my “healthy” recipes

  35. I loved this recipe, but the spouse did not. I’m not sure what happened, but my cornbread was very soggy. I cooked it 22 minutes to start then another 15 with the chili and cheese. I am presently freezing half a pan of it into individual portions because I refuse to let it go to waste. (Sigh)

    • I had the same problem.  Not sure why, but had to throw out cornbread and make again without the creamed corn.  I came in here to see if anyone else had the same problem ‍♀️. I love all of Emily’s recipes, so not sure why this happened.

  36. Hi. I can’t find corn muffin/bread mix! Augh! Do you have some suggestions how to make this using regular cornmeal. Thank you!

    • I came to the comments looking for alternatives to the cornbread mix as I can’t find it, either!

  37. This sounds delicious.   Ok so how do you decide this into eight 8 servings though.  Is it 1 cup    1:2 cup.     What    

  38. Substitute for Jiffy Mix:
    2/3 cup all-purpose flour
    1/2 cup yellow corn meal
    3 tablespoons granulated sugar
    1 tablespoon baking powder
    1/4 teaspoon salt
    2 tablespoons vegetable oil
    directions
    Combine flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix well with whisk. Whisk in vegetable oil and mix until dry mixture is smooth and lumps are gone.

    To make corn muffins: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine above mixture with 1 egg and 1/3 cup milk. Fill muffin tins 1/2 full. Bake 15-20 minutes Makes 6 muffins.

    • Thank you!! I was hoping to make the cornbread portion lightened up a bit since the jiffy box is so many pts. I will play around with this.

  39. I love this SO MUCH. I would like to lighten it up even more. Turkey meat, maybe less cheese, or no cheese (and add greek yogurt on top), fake sugar in the corn bread from scratch. LMK if anyone has tried anything else to further lighten it.

  40. I made this yesterday and it was a big success with my family! We all LOVED it and agreed this will go in our regular rotation. We did a couple slight changes: We used hot diced green chiles, diced tomatoes with jalapenos and just 1 tsp of the chili powder and it had plenty of spice. THANK YOU for another wonderful recipe!!

  41. Emily, I am a new fan of your website. Over the past few weeks, I have made the Korean inspired turkey, the chicken and dumplings casserole, the sausage-stuffed portabella mushrooms, and now this. I have been cooking healthy food for years, and with most of these things, my husband has said “are you sure this is healthy?? How can this possibly be healthy??” We have been just raving about all of these recipes–looking forward to dinner every night!–and I told my husband today that they all come from you. He said, “Emily must be some sort of genius.” Thank you for helping us change up our routine during this monotonous time. I look forward to trying many more of your recipes! 🙂

  42. Made this for dinner tonite. My husband and sons raved about it! I ran out of cumin and chili powder and substituted Paprika. Also, I chickened out at te last minute and drained and rinsed a can of Bush’s baked beans. Worked great and the boys want to know when I’m making it again!!! 🙂

  43. Is the egg a necessity for this recipe? We have an egg allergy and wondering how I could swap it out.

  44. Just made it last night and it is great! I used pinto beans and Monterrey Jack cheese. And it was so easy!5 stars

  45. Hi!  Just wondering if you drain the diced tomatoes?  Thanks!  Can’t wait to try this recipe!

  46. I had some leftover turkey chili from a previous dinner and decided to use it in this! It turned out great! I’ll have to try it as written now!5 stars

  47. Still in the oven but I’m giving it 5 stars anyway. I tasted the chili. Delicious. I tasted the cornbread. Delicious. I didn’t use beans ( hubs doesn’t care for them so I swapped in chopped red bell peppers), I added a large jalapeño with seeds to the chili, and no cheese on top (will add individually because I don’t like how light cheese melts.) It smells awesome. Thanks for ANOTHER great meal!!5 stars

  48. I absolutely love this recipe! By far my favorite healthier recipe from any website! My question though, do you know if this freezes well? I’m only one person so I can’t eat all 8 servings before this goes bad and I really hate waisting the leftovers that I can’t get to!

  49. how much sodium per serving?

  50. Rarely does my husband like WW recipes – he loved this one – and so did I.  I will definitely make this over and over. I made it on a very chilly Minnesota night – hit the spot!5 stars

  51. One of my many favorites. It’s delicious!

  52. One of my many favorites from Emily Bites. It is delicious!5 stars

  53. Do you think I could 1/2 this for an 8×8 pan?

  54. I don’t like kidney beans, or most other kinds of beans. Would this recipe be good if I just omitted them?

  55. I’ve made this many times, my husband and I both love it! Wondering if it is freezable after it’s made? I hate throwing away leftovers and this would make a great weekday lunch!5 stars

  56. I’ve made this recipe many times. It’s fun to watch my husband’s eyes light up when he sees we’re having chili cornbread for dinner. It’s definitely his favorite! Thank you for all the work you do to give us WW friendly meals.5 stars

  57. Can this be frozen? My whole family loves this recipe! The only change I made was cutting the chili powder in half. This is definitely a favorite! 5 stars

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