smoky chicken chili with sweet cornbread crust
i love this time of year. when i make chili, while it's snowing or just very cold outside, it makes the chili taste even better. usually when i make chili, i make my cheddar scallion corncake recipe as my topper or just make a pan of my homemade buttermilk cornbread. as good as those corncakes are, i thought let's put everything together as one. it was so good! as i expected, the corn bread decided to sop up some of the goodness from the chili as it cooked alongside of it. i mean, who could blame it... wouldn't you? 🙂 so the cornbread had this added smokiness and flavor that we loved, which quickly made this meal one of our favorites.
ingredients:
- 3 chicken breasts - cubed
- 1/2 onion - chopped
- 1/2 bell pepper - chopped
- 3 cloves garlic - minced
- 2 tablespoons chili powder -
- 2 teaspoons paprika -
- 2 teaspoons cumin -
- 1 and 1/2 cup chicken broth -
- 1 cup corn -
- 1 can black beans - rinsed in a collander, drained well
- 1 tomato - chopped
- 1 batch of buttermilk corn bread recipe - link below
instructions:
- preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- heat the oil in a large pan over medium high heat. once hot, add in the chicken. season with salt/pepper to taste. allow the chicken to sear by not tossing for a couple minutes.
- toss and saute until cooked through. add in the onion, bell pepper and garlic. saute until softened slightly. add in the chili powder, paprika and cumin. saute for a couple minutes allowing the seasoning to toast. gradually add in the chicken broth, scraping the bits off the bottom of the pan. stir in the black beans, corn and chopped tomato. taste, season with salt/pepper (if needed).
- bring to a boil and reduce to simmer. cook for about 10 minutes until flavors marry. pour the mixture into a 12x13 baking dish. set aside.
- meanwhile, prepare this batter recipe for buttermilk cornbread, excluding the butter and oil. if you do not have buttermilk for this recipe, feel free to use milk. pour the cornbread batter evenly over top of the chili mixture. gently smooth into an even layer, if necessary.
- place in the preheated oven for about 35 - 40 minutes until the cornbread a toothpick inserted in the cornbread comes out clean.
frugal tips -
- i added green bell pepper in lieu of canned green chilies. a can of green chilies at my grocery store is at least $2.99, which would have increased the cost of this recipe $3! the green bell pepper gave it that 'pepper' taste i was looking for without the added cost.
- cumin is one of the most expensive spices. paprika in my grocery store costs much less than cumin. since they both bring a smokiness that is key in chili, i added a smaller amount of cumin and then added paprika to make up the difference.
- i opted not to add my usual can of tomato sauce to the chili. the fresh tomatoes cooked into the sauce and worked out well.
like it spicy? add jalapeno or red pepper flake.
more po' man favorites:
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