Here is everything you need to know about what to eat with chili! Chili is a filling meal on its own, but many people like to serve it with breads, side dishes, and finger foods when they are tailgating, watching the big game, having a party, or having a chili cook-off.
Most of the time, when we think of a warm bowl of homemade chili, we picture beans and beef mixed with a spicy tomato sauce. The wonderful thing about a chili recipe, though, is just how versatile it is!.
Texas-style chili is made with chuck roast, pulled pork chili, or even healthy turkey chili. Ground beef is always a good choice.
Not only can you change out the proteins, but also vary the cooking method. Some people like to cook it on the stove, but a slow cooker works great on busy weeknights, and an instant pot makes it easy to make a meal quickly!
There are also more unconventional flavors and ingredients, which always seems to do well at chili-cook offs. Award-winning buffalo chicken chili has had many blue ribbons, along with chicken chorizo chili. If you really want to wow your guests, try cincinnati chili with Mediterranean-inspired spices.
A piping hot bowl of chili beans is the ultimate comfort food. With their rich smoky flavor and meaty texture, chili beans hit the spot on a chilly night. But what should you serve alongside this hearty dish to round out the meal?
As a chili bean enthusiast I’ve experimented with countless sides to find the best complements. In this article I’ll share 26 of my favorite side dishes and toppings to serve with chili beans. From crispy cornbread to cooling salads, you’ll find plenty of delicious ideas to make your chili bean meal complete.
Savory Baked Potatoes
Baked potatoes are a no-fuss side that soak up the bold flavors of chili beans beautifully. Simply pierce russet or sweet potatoes with a fork, rub with oil, and bake until tender. Top with butter, cheese, sour cream, or chili beans spooned right over the potato.
Cornbread with a Twist
While classic cornbread is always a hit, switch it up with jalapeño corn muffins, cheese and onion drop biscuits, or crispy cornbread crostini. The variety adds excitement to your chili bean meal.
Fresh, Colorful Salads
Cool, crunchy salads balance the heartiness of chili beans. Spinach, kale, or lettuce topped with veggies, cheese, nuts, and a light dressing provides texture and brightness.
Tex-Mex Rice or Quinoa
Grain bowls are the perfect vehicle for chili beans. Cook rice or quinoa with tomato sauce, onions, garlic, and cumin for a Southwestern twist. Top with beans for a protein punch.
Oven-Baked Fries
Comfort foods pair well with chili beans. Oven-baked fries made from russet or sweet potatoes, or even zucchini, are easy to make. Season with chili powder and serve piping hot.
Roasted Vegetables
Roasting sturdy veggies like cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, or root vegetables caramelizes their natural sweetness. Toss with oil, chili powder, cumin, and garlic for a perfect match with chili beans.
Cheesy Nachos
No Tex-Mex meal is complete without nachos! Layer tortilla chips with beans, cheese, jalapeños, salsa, guacamole, and all your favorite toppings for chili bean perfection.
Coleslaw with a Kick
A fresh, crunchy coleslaw complements the richness of chili beans. For a flavor boost, dress shredded cabbage with lime, chili powder, cilantro, and a tangy vinaigrette.
Fajita Veggies
Sautéed bell peppers, onions, and corn are fantastic in fajitas, but also shine as a chili bean side. Bring some Southwestern flair with smoked paprika, cumin, and a squeeze of lime.
Fresh Guacamole
Cool and creamy guacamole balances the spice and heartiness of chili beans. Mash ripe avocados with onion, garlic, lime, cilantro, and jalapeño for an easy and tasty dip.
Cheesy Pull-Apart Rolls
Warm, soft rolls are made for dipping into chili beans. Make it cheesy by filling yeast rolls with melted cheese before baking until golden brown and delicious.
Chili Bean Toppings
No chili bean dish is complete without delicious toppings! Have fun with shredded cheese, minced onion, pickled jalapeños, sour cream, avocado, cilantro, and hot sauce.
Taco Salad
For a lighter option, build a hearty taco salad with mixed greens, tomatoes, corn, black beans, shredded cheese, crunchy tortilla strips, and a tangy chili-lime vinaigrette.
Sweet Potato Fries
These oven-baked fries are a crowd-pleasing accompaniment with their crispy outside and fluffy inside. Season with a smoky spice blend to complement the chili beans.
Grilled Corn on the Cob
The natural sweetness of grilled corn balances the spice of chili beans. Brush shucked corn with oil and grill until slightly charred for unbeatable texture and flavor.
Fresh Pico de Gallo
This quick Mexican salsa adds freshness and a flavor boost. Mix diced tomatoes, onions, cilantro, lime juice, and jalapeño for a zesty chili bean topper.
Cheesy Corn Casserole
Warm, comforting and easy to make ahead, a corn casserole is a hearty side for chili beans. Combine corn, cream, eggs, cheese and bake until set and golden on top.
Batch of Cornbread
Few side dishes satisfy like tender cornbread. Bake up a batch to crumble over chili beans or serve warm on the side with honey butter. The uses are endless.
Zesty Jicama Slaw
For crunch without the cabbage, try an easy jicama slaw. Toss julienned jicama with red onion, cilantro, lime juice and chili powder for a sweet, salty, and spicy crunch.
Skillet Brussel Sprouts
Brussels sprouts caramelize beautifully in a hot skillet with oil, garlic, and spices. The charred edges have wonderful flavor that stands up to chili beans.
Spicy Bloody Mary Mix
For sipping alongside chili beans, whip up a batch of zesty Bloody Mary mix. Combine tomato juice, lemon juice, hot sauce, Worcestershire, horseradish, and celery salt.
Mexican Street Corn
Grilled corn slathered in a creamy, spicy sauce makes an incredible side for chili beans. Mix mayo, cotija cheese, cilantro, lime, cayenne, and chili powder to slather on charred corn.
Quick Pickled Red Onions
These easy quick-pickled red onions add tangy crunch and vibrant color as a chili bean topping. Soak thinly sliced red onions in vinegar with salt and sugar.
Cheesy Chili Quesadillas
Warm, toasty quesadillas are simple to prepare and pair perfectly with chili beans. Fill tortillas with beans, cheese and spices. Grill until crispy and melty.
Crunchy Jicama Sticks
Jicama cut into sticks makes a refreshing change from chips when scooping chili beans. Crisp and slightly sweet, jicama is a lower carb option.
With its versatility, chili beans pair well with so many sides. Try out some of these fun, fresh ideas to complement the flavors of your chili beans. From Tex-Mex classics to lighter options, you’ll take your chili bean meals from boring to extraordinary.
Best Side dishes and finger foods to serve with chili
You came here to find a chili recipe. Now it’s time to decide what to eat with chili! Depending on the event and your guests’ tastes, you may want to keep things simple with cornbread or breadsticks, or you may want to make the menu heartier with sandwiches and lots of finger foods.
You can’t go wrong with a classic, so this is usually served with chili. The slightly sweet corn goes well with the warmth of the chili. Plus, it is heavenly crumbled on top to scoop up with the beef and kidney beans.
However, there are many different cornbread recipes to choose from. If you are serving a mixed-diet crowd, gluten-free cornbread or gluten-free corn casserole pleases all guests!.
To make it taste like chili, mix in some diced jalapenos or chilies and sprinkle cheese on top before baking. You can also add everyone’s favorite accompaniment, bacon, by making a bacon cornbread!.
It’s always potato skins night for me, and this is a great one! These are great to make ahead of time, and you can warm them up in the oven when you’re ready to serve them.
Also, many of the toppings you use on potato skins, like sour cream, cheese, bacon, and green onions, are also used on chili. This is a meal kids and adults can rally behind to fix up any style!.
As we said before, baked potatoes are a great side dish because all of the chili toppings can also be used on potatoes. They also hold well if made ahead of time for party prep. Wrap the potatoes in foil and keep in a cooler or bread warming drawer for a few hours.
If you want the baked potato to be the main dish, you could make chili stuffed potatoes, which are like buffalo chicken baked potatoes. Season the flesh with butter, salt, and pepper, then top with chili, cheese, and sour cream.
Something you can dunk is a good rule of thumb when choosing what to eat with chili. For a classic soup, salad, and bread combination, use breadsticks. Alternatively, make a sliceable bread to smother with golden melted butter.
Sausage muffins is an easy mix and bake recipe and the cheddar flavor goes hand-and-hand with chili. Sweet Irish soda bread is a great way to make something sweet that tastes like a sweet and spicy union.
Just like potato skins, you can repurpose some of those chili toppings and serve tacos along it. If you want to change up the protein or flavor, consider buffalo chicken tacos or blackened fish tacos.
It can also be simple with a walking taco casserole recipe or stay true to the original with sweet and spicy tacos. With the crossover of ingredients, this is great for saving money when preparing for parties.
Don’t say anything bad about it until you’ve tried it! This is a chili side dish I just learned about, and everyone always says the same thing: what?!
This combination is actually pretty common, going back to midwestern school lunches in the 60’s. Then it made its way to chili cook-off contests and community fundraisers.
There are many ways to enjoy a cinnamon roll with chili. You can save it for dessert after the meal, tear it up into pieces to spoon up with the chili, or choose between sweet and spicy bites. You can also put the cinnamon roll at the bottom of the bowl and pour the chili on top of it.
Try mix-and-bake gluten-free cinnamon bread instead of making cinnamon rolls from scratch if you want to save some time.
Fresh greens are great for a lighter, crisp side dish to pair with a filling meal, like chili. It can be as easy as a fresh green salad, a chickpea avocado salad that you can make ahead of time, or something like the Harvest Salad with apples, blue cheese, and candied pecans that goes well with chili season.
You can never have too much gooey, creamy cheese! This family favorite recipe can be made with any kind of melting cheese, like colby jack, cheddar, pepper jack, or havarti.
Since the chili might be very spicy, you might want to use a milder cheese like cheddar. However, if ultimate spice is what you are after, kick it up with pepper jack!.
The sky is really the limit with what kind of nachos to make. Make vegetarian nachos with beans to compliment the chili without competing with the flavors. However, if you made beef chili, you could add chicken or pork nachos instead of beef for variety.
If planning for a crowd, assemble the nacho platters ahead of time on baking sheets. To serve, just put the trays in the oven when you’re ready and have everything ready to go.
I like to serve hot dogs with chili as a kid-friendly meal so that guests can choose a milder dish. Adults enjoy them either as a side dish or make popular chili dogs, like these Mexican Hot Dogs.
Like grilled cheese sandwiches, quesadillas go well with chili and cheese. If you like spicy food, you can choose from cheeses like habanero cheddar, sriracha cheese, or pepper jack.
Mix any extra chili ingredients, like beans, peppers, onions, or meat, between the tortillas to make a hearty meal!
Jalapeño poppers and chili are the perfect food for a game day! Fresh jalapenos are sliced and hollowed out, and the seeds are taken out. This takes away some of the spice and makes the perfect shell for a cream cheese and cheddar filling.
To make this finger food even better, coat the poppers in bread crumbs or bacon before baking.
Another dish that goes well with chili is loaded fries, which are made by putting chili, cheese, and other toppings on top of fries, like Irish nachos. Or if you like to dip, use the chili as a hearty dunking sauce. Don’t forget the side dish of sour cream.
Classic french fries are made best with russet potatoes, but if you love sweet potatoes, give sweet potato fries a try. It makes an ideal flavor unison of sweet and spicy!
With a bowl of chili and a cold beer, you can tailgate, watch a game, or hang out with friends at a chili cook-off. However, there are many other libations to be enjoyed!.
Personally, I love a nice spicy jalapeno margarita with a salted rim. The spice isn’t overwhelming and is perfectly balanced with the sweetness of the drink. If you are looking to save on calories, give these light and fresh skinny margaritas a try!.
If you are making margaritas for a crowd, it can’t get any easier than limeade margaritas. They can easily be adapted into a spicy version, made in a pitcher, or transformed into frozen margaritas!.
Best chili toppings
Along with choosing the best sides to go with chili, it’s important to have a lot of different toppings on hand. This is how you bring a bowl of chili to the next level. Plus, party guests can put their on unique spin on every serving!.
- Try tortilla chips, saltine crackers, Fritos, or oyster crackers if you want something crunchy.
- Sour cream
- Crispy bacon
- Avocado or guacamole
- Green onions
- Cilantro
- Shredded cheese
- Sliced jalapenos
- Hot sauce or chili pepper flakes
The SHOCKING SECRET to great chili
FAQ
How do you dress up chili beans?
How do you eat chili beans?
What goes with chili?
Here’s the best side to go with chili: cheddar cornbread! This tender, moist easy cornbread recipe will become your new go-to. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9″ x 9″ baking dish. In a medium bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt.
What can I substitute for chili pepper?
There are many varieties of chili peppers that have varying levels of heat. Typically, the larger the pepper, the milder the heat. If you don’t have chili peppers for the spicy kick needed in a dish you can substitute cayenne pepper or hot paprika. Start with small amounts to taste, then add more if the dish is not spicy enough. For individuals who don’t like spicy food, a mild sweet paprika works as a replacement, or simply use less chili pepper than the recipe calls for. You can also try bell peppers if you are looking to replace nutrients lost by removing chili pepper. For those who are allergic to peppers in general, the appropriate substitution will depend on the specific recipe. Many times chili pepper can be left out of a recipe. Experimentation is best way to find out what works.
What to eat with black bean chili?
This Southern home cooking staple makes a popular side dish for chili, and tastes great smothered with butter for breakfast, too. Lean into the Tex-Mex vibes of black bean chili by pairing it with these easy, cheesy quesadillas. Together, they make a hearty vegetarian lunch or dinner idea.
What Sandwich goes well with chili?
Hands down, grilled cheese is the best sandwich to accompany chili. Many people serve chili with some shredded cheese and some bread of some sort. Why not get it all in one go? What Bread Goes Well with Chili? Cornbread is the classic chili accompanying bread, however, a good dinner roll or biscuit is a close second.