Chilli Topped with Cornbread, Red Onion, Red Pepper, Red Chilli and Garlic

Jump to Recipe

A thick layer of delicious, spicy Chilli Con Carne or Vegetarian Chilli with Black Beans, Sweetcorn and Chickpeas all topped with light and fluffy cornbread which is preloaded and bursting with the flavours from red onions, red pepper, red chilli and garlic. When you cook the cornbread on top of the chilli, you get a lovely gooey layer where the chilli infuses with the under layer of the cornbread – this is absolutely the best bit!

How to make Chilli Topped with Cornbread, Red Onion, Red Pepper, Red Chilli and Garlic

Don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients! I tend to make this dish when I have batch cooked some chilli and therefore on nights I make this, I only need to make the cornbread and prepare the suggested accompaniments. You need roughly half the chilli in either the Chilli Con Carne or the Vegetarian Chilli recipe on this blog.

Collect all your ingredients together:

For the cornbread –

• Wet ingredients:
• red onion, peeled and chopped
• red pepper/capsicum, stalk removed, deseeded and chopped
• cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• unsalted butter
• milk
• white wine vinegar
• large eggs, beaten
• creamed corn from a tin
• sweetcorn kernels
• maple syrup or honey

• Dry ingredients:
• plain/all-purpose flour
• cornmeal/polenta
• baking powder
• bicarbonate of/baking soda
• chilli flakes
• fine salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chilli Con Carne or Vegetarian Chilli:

• pre-prepared Chilli Con Carne or Vegetarian Chilli

Serving suggestions:

• chopped coriander
• guacamole or slices of avocado
• salsa or chopped tomatoes
• sour cream
• grated cheese – I use mature cheddar

Prepare the wet ingredients for the cornbread:

1. Roughly chop the onion, pepper and garlic and then pulse in the food processor until chopped to your liking. We like ours chopped quite finely.
2. Melt the butter, either in a large saucepan or frying pan and add the onion, pepper, garlic and chilli. Cook over a moderate heat, stirring from time to time, until soft and slightly caramelised. this will take around 5 – 7 minutes. Set aside.
3. As soon as you start cooking the vegetables make the buttermilk by mixing the milk and vinegar together. Set aside for 3-4 minutes – it will curdle. This is what it is meant to do!
4. Mix the buttermilk with the eggs and add to the cooling fried vegetables in the pan.
5. Now add the sweetcorn, creamed corn and maple syrup or honey and stir to mix well.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Get the dry ingredients together:

1. Weigh all the ingredients into a good sized mixing bowl.
2. Stir well to mix.

• 

• 

• 

Mix the wet and dry ingredients together and cover the chilli:

1. Pour the wet ingredients onto the dry ingredients.
2. Stir to mix thoroughly.
3. Spread out your chilli into the base of a cast iron pan or a baking dish.
4. Top with the cornbread.
5. Spread it evenly over the chilli, ensuring you spread it right up to the edges of the dish.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Cook!

Bake on the centre shelf of a pre-heated oven for about 40 – 50 minutes or until cooked. (Closer to 50 minutes in my oven but check after 40 minutes.) It is cooked when:

• the centre feels springy when lightly touched with your finger and no imprint remains, or
• a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cornbread comes out clean.

• 

• 

Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.