• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Pinch My Salt

Food, Recipes, and Photography

  • About
  • Contact
  • Recipe List
  • The BBA Challenge

Vegetarian Chili Pie with Cheddar Cornbread Crust

November 21, 2007 by Nicole 9 Comments

Chili Cornbread Pie

The vegetarian three bean chili from the other night turned out really great! As I had mentioned, I decided to try topping the chili with cornbread batter and baking it. I’ve never done this before but several of you talked about it during our weekend cornbread discussion and it sounded like a pretty good idea to me!

I decided to use an extra large pie plate for my creation but any kind of baking dish would work fine. First, I filled it about halfway with the chili beans.

Vegetarian Chili

Next I mixed up the cornbread batter. I used the Marie Callender’s mix that they sell at Costco. I’ve never used a cornbread mix before but my sister happens to have a huge bag of it that needs to be used up. So, I used two cups of cornbread mix and one cup of water. Then I folded in some shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Finally, I spooned the cornmeal batter over the top of the chili and smoothed it with a spatula.

Veggie Chili with Cornbread Batter

I baked the chili pie for about 25 minutes in a 375 degree oven until the cornbread was golden brown and cooked all the way through (I checked it with a toothpick in the center).

Chili Cornbread Pie

My sister really loved this dish but I thought the Marie Callender’s cornbread was way too sweet. It tasted more like cake than cornbread. And my chili beans were fairly sweet already since I had used an entire can of tomato paste. So the corn cake on top was just a little too much! I think this would have been much better with a homemade cornbread batter with less sugar.

After finding out how sweet the Marie Callender’s mix was, I decided it would make better muffins than traditional cornbread. I experimented last night and made some pumpkin corn mini muffins that turned out really great! I mixed 1 1/2 cups of corn bread mix with a teaspoon of cinnamon, added 3/4 cup pumpkin puree, 1/2 cup of water and one teaspoon of vanilla and stirred together to make a batter. That amount filled 18 mini muffin cups. I baked them at 375 degrees for about 12 minutes. They really were tasty! I didn’t take photos this time but I’m sure I’ll be making them again soon!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow! I’ll be eating with my sister’s in-laws and I’m planning on making a butternut squash casserole in the morning to take with us. I’ve also been thinking about some goat cheese and cranberry tartlets but since it’s just an idea in my head rather than an actual recipe, I’m not sure if they’ll get made or not. Tune in tomorrow to find out!

Filed Under: Adventures in Baking, Herbs and Spices, Main Courses, NaBloPoMo, Vegetarian

Previous Post: « Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins with Cranberries and Walnuts
Next Post: Happy Thanksgiving! »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Terry B says

    November 21, 2007 at 9:54 pm

    So you're back in America just in time for that most American of holidays. Have a lovely Thanksgiving, Nicole! The cornbread chili looks beautiful, but I know what you mean about mixes being too sweet. Sometimes when I make cornbread, I'll add some finely chopped jalapeño. I bet that would be great here too.
    Reply
  2. Nicole says

    November 22, 2007 at 8:51 am

    Terry: I'm very happy to be back for Turkey Day! Unfortunately I'm not able to spend the day with my entire family but it's very nice to be here with my sister and I'll soon be up in central California with the rest of my family to celebrate Christmas. I think jalapeño and cheddar in a savory cornbread topping would be perfect for this chili! I hope you and Marion have a wonderful day filled with good food, good company, good wine and, of course, good music!
    Reply
  3. John says

    November 22, 2007 at 4:46 pm

    Hi Nicole, just stumbled to your site, and what a great blog you have. I'm a pro chef and very part time blogger. I get very excited finding all this home talent on the web. Keep up your fantastic work, I will return. Regards John
    Reply
  4. Kevin says

    November 22, 2007 at 5:55 pm

    I really like the sound of chili baked with a cheddar cornbread topping!
    Reply
  5. Nicole says

    November 22, 2007 at 8:03 pm

    John: Thanks so much! Looking forward to checking out your blog! Kevin: Yes, it was good and I'll definitely be trying it again sometime with a different type of cornbread on top!
    Reply
  6. Teah says

    November 22, 2007 at 11:22 pm

    Hey! I just wanted to tell you, I've been following your blog for the past week, and I'm flattered that you used my cornbread and chili recipe. ;-) (I wasn't your only source of inspiration, but...I like being flattered, so I take every opportunity I can get!) The cheese in the cornbread sounds delicious - I'll have to try that. Happy Thanksgiving!
    Reply
  7. Lydia says

    November 23, 2007 at 8:24 pm

    I love the idea of the cornbread topping. I have some organic cornbread mix that also has to be used up, so I'm going to try this.
    Reply
  8. mahek says

    November 27, 2007 at 6:23 am

    great pictures!!! such yummy food , i so wish i could come there and eat it... corn bread is not available in india and so i will have to make part of this dish...
    Reply
  9. Caroline says

    November 28, 2007 at 7:48 pm

    I looooove chili with cornbread - don't know why I never considered putting it right on top!
    Reply

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Posts by Category

Copyright © 2025 · Privacy · Terms and Conditions