Vegetarian Chili With Corn Bread Topping Recipe (2024)

Many thanks to those who left notes before me. I added about 1 1/2 tsp salt, and used 1 Tbsp ground cumin instead of 1 tsp, and 1 Tbsp pepper flakes instead of 2 tsps., but made no other changes, and the spice worked out to my liking. The family loved it. One thing tho. My Pyrex 9 x 13" pan is only 2" high, and it looked as if it might overflow when the cornbread rose, so I switched the chili to a roasting pan, which was a bit wider and deeper. It came out fine.

Followed some of the suggestions below, including increasing the cumin to 1 Tablespoon, adding some chipotles with adobo, using only 1 cardamom pod in a spice ball,and omitting the cinnamon from the cornbread.
The flavor and texture of the chili itself was reasonably good, but the cornbread sucked much of the liquid out of the chili while it baked. The final product was drier than I would have preferred. Were I to make this again (questionable!), I would serve the cornbread on the side.

I don't agree with the bulk of the reviews for this recipe. The final product was excellent and fairly easy, with the cornbread crust being a highlight. And I used a full tsp of cinnamon!
One tip: I would add the lentils, then water, then cook to desired tenderness, then add the tomatoes, et cetera. And then salt (I used a tsp). Otherwise, the acid and salt will leave the lentils crunchy after the recommended cooking time.

Added salt to the chili, which helped bring up the flavors. Also added a little worcestershire sauce and red wine. In the cornbread, followed recommendation and reduced cinnamon to 1/8 tsp. which yielded a much subtler flavor. Next time would add more heat--chiles, tabasco, or the like.

Made my own chili, but adopted the cornbread crust-it was a hit!

Surprisingly bland.

This freezes beautifully!

The first time we liked it, the second time it was horrible. The cornbread tastes like cardboard. I was hoping for nice fluffy cornbread. Agree that it's best to serve on the side. The cornbread makes the chili very dry. The first time I used a larger pan and cornbread layer was not so overwhelming. If you decide to serve half at a time, find another cornbread recipe.

Totally agree about cinnamon--a travesty! But I want to try using cornbread as a topping.

Much like the Tamale Pie recipe from Joy of Cooking, which is not vegetarian but easier.
http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12015-corn-bread-tamale-pie

The cornbread adds nothing to the dish. It's a bad idea. Don't make it.

Made this for dinner and it was delish. The cornbread topping was really thick and overpowered the dish. Next time I’ll half that part and make it a bit thinner. The Chili base was a winner with the whole family.

I agree with so many others that the spices need to be increased. I increased them all including the coca powder. It produced a lovely nuanced chili. I used coarse ground corn meal which created a very dry, gritty texture in the cornbread.Next time I'll use a medium or fine grind. I made it as a separate entity and ate it with the chili as a side element. I loved the cinnamon flavor which others did not, so I would absolutely keep the same spicing. The honey was just enough.

Extremely disappointed. The chili was dry and the cornbread was dry and tasteless with a dried out crust of cheese. The cheese should have been added at the very end. I'll go back to my own chili recipes which are cooked on the stovetop and not baked in the oven and bake cornbread separately.

As written the bean and lentil base is incredibly bland. It needs salt and more spice. 1 1/2 cups of red lentils would normally call for 1 1/2 tsp of salt and there are beans. I added salt, cumin, and dried pepper. The cornbread recipe just looked off and when I got to that I realized this was a problem recipe, so I substituted a recipe I had knew. It was fine in the end but next time I'll start from some other recipe. This one needs a lot of work.

Have made this many times since it first appeared. a great recipe. I generally always increase the cumin and other seasonings in recipes. I think the cocoa and cinnamon are crucial, but would not increase those. After making it a couple of times I switched to Jiffy cornbread recipe, one or two boxes depending on how big a batch of chili I am making, or no cornbread at all. Was about to make it again and thought I would see what 'tweaks' other made.

I loved this recipe but agree it needs more spice - I used 1/2 a jalapeno and the red pepper, and the and while it was flavorful it had no kick. I made the topping by the recipe and it was tasty and not at all dry. Will definitely make again just amp it up. Family really enjoyed it.

Great stuff. Nice addition to my chili bag of tricks

For those who measure by the can, like me: two 14-oz cans of kidney beans and one 28-oz can of diced tomatoes worked beautifully. I did reduce the water to 1.5 cups, though.I loved the addition of cocoa powder, but could have used some guidance for using the spices out of a jar.

I echo others—I really liked the chili, but the cornbread wasn’t very good (and I cooked it separately). I will make chili again and bake another cornbread recipe as a side next time.

I made it, used 1/2 a tsp of cinnamon. It was very good. The cornbread topping makes it.

Not sure what happened to the cornbread. I only had masa harina. But gosh it was awful and like above as cardboard. IN the future I would make the NYT corn bread cheddar biscuits on the side. Mostly my experience with NYT recipes is excellent. Every thing comes out tip top and tasting great. This was awful as a topping to vegatarian chili and I would not make it again. I wasted my time cooking and I really only one day week to cook ;(

Are the lentils cooked ahead of time? Thanks in advance!

Made almost exactly as written (used a larger roasting pan because my 13x9 pan isn’t deep enough, used chipotles in adobe instead of red pepper flakes because I was trying to use them up) and I loved it. And....side note, I put the leftovers IN the pan in my refrigerator, no covering on it, and dig into it for lunch for the next 7 days: still delicious.

Made this almost exactly as written and we were very happy with it. I always make skillet cornbread to go with chili anyway so making it all in one pan was just that much easier!

I agree that extra cumin and coriander are in order, yummy recipe!

Love this. Cornbread tasted so good with the cinnamon.Thanks to Don Jaime for explaining the tomato acid/lentils cooking thing. It did take a long time for my lentils to cook. Now I can follow his tip.