Money Saving Mom®

This chili with cornbread dinner is a family-friendly, budget-conscious meal that’s easy to prepare and packed with flavor. It’s the perfect go-to recipe for busy weeknights or simple weekend meals.

This post is part of our $10 Dinner Ideas series, brought to you by Brigette on our team! Each week, she will be sharing easy, delicious, and affordable family-friendly dinner ideas that cost less than $10 to make, use everyday ingredients, and are super quick meals.

Three-Bean Chili and Cornbread

This is the perfect meal for a chilly fall evening! And anytime I can make a large pot of chili and an entire pan of cornbread that my entire family likes for less than $10 – that’s a win in my book!

The soup recipe is SO flexible. I threw in an extra half can of garbanzo beans that was sitting in my fridge and an extra cup of chicken broth to stretch it a little further.

Another easy addition would be corn. The topping possibilities are pretty much endless… think shredded cheese, corn chips, sour cream, chopped cilantro, green onions, black olives, etc.

In fact, if you’re really short on time, you could skip making the cornbread and serve this with a bag of tortilla/corn chips instead. It’s about the same price comparison. But I recommend the cornbread if you have five extra minutes to stir a few things together. 🙂

Three-Bean Chili Chowder and Cornbread Dinner Menu:

• Three-Bean Chili Chowder
• World’s Easiest Cornbread
• Shredded Cheese for topping

Ingredients for Dinner with Three Bean Chili Chowder and Cornbread

Three Bean Chili Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked, diced chicken (this is equivalent to 3/4-lb uncooked chicken) (Aldi — $2.49/lb) – $2
• 1 large onion (or two small) (Aldi) – $0.30
• 2 Tablespoons oil (Aldi – $2.89 for 48oz) – $0.06
• 2 cans of diced tomatoes (Aldi – $0.75 per can) – $1.50
• 1 cup chicken broth (Aldi – $1.79 for 25 bouillon cubes. I used 2 cubes and 2 cups water) – $0.14
• 3/4 cup salsa (Aldi – $1.99 for 2.5 cups) – $0.60
• 3 cans beans (Aldi – $0.77 per can) – $2.31
• Shredded cheese (Publix – $1.99 for 8oz) – $1.49
• Salt, pepper, garlic, cumin, and other spices, as desired

Total for Chili: $8.40 (serves 6)

Cornbread Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour (Harris Teeter — $1.97 for 5lbs) – $0.15
• 1 1/4 cups cornmeal (Aldi – $2.85 for 15 cups) – $0.24
• 1/2 cup oil (Aldi – $2.89 for 48oz) – $0.25
• 2/3 cup sugar (Aldi – $2.86 for 4lbs) – $0.20
• 2 eggs (Aldi – $2.68 per dozen) – $0.44
• 1 3/4 cups milk (Aldi – $3.05 for 16 cups) – $0.33
• baking powder
• salt

Total for Cornbread: $1.61 (serves 8-10)

Grand Total for Dinner: $10.01 (serves 6+)

How to Make Three Bean Chili Chowder and Cornbread

1. Follow the directions here to make World’s Easiest Cornbread in a 9×13 ceramic pan.

2. While cornbread is baking, follow the directions here for cooking the Three Bean Chili recipe in a large soup pot.

(Oh, and be sure to add the extra step of blending the salsa and diced tomatoes together with a stick blender before putting them into the pot if your family is like mine and hates chunks of tomatoes and other vegetables in their chili. Haha!)

3. Shred the cheese.