Chicken & Cornbread with veggies and cheese; sign me up. And, the fact the cornbread bakes with the chicken filling; another win-win. Cornbread is one of our very favorite quick bread to feast. However, a lot of recipes require the cornbread to be baked separately. This is a turn off for me because at times I can be a lazy cook. Therefore I strive for creating one-dish meals, especially savory dinner pies.
Yum! Look at that! Chicken, cheese, veggies and cornbread in every single bite. Seriously good stuff.
You can tweak the vegetables any way you want, except I don’t know of a good substitute for corn. Also, if you have veggie texture sensitive folks, don’t tell them about the zucchini in there. The zucchini simply “bakes away” like a secret vegetable; I never found a single recognizable piece. So, no one needs to know.
The frozen corn, onions, and garlic are sauteed just until there are bits of brown/charred pieces (not burnt). Toss in the chopped peppers, or other veggies of choice and heat for another couple of minutes.
Now, in a very large bowl, stir together the cornbread mixture, toss in the sauteed veggies, zucchini, shredded chicken and cheese.
I took this pic so you can see the filling before it’s blanketed in cheese.
Oh My Gosh, activate smell-a-vision. Is this just the most beautiful dinner pie you’ve seen on a very hungry day?
I pounded down more than a few “slices” than I am willing to admit. We started with dinner, then second dinner, pre-lunch the next day, lunch and I can’t remember after that. It was like chicken & cornbread crack; there’s no other explanation that fits. Another savory pie that has this same “garden crack” effect is Tomato Bacon Zucchini. The combinations of both are dangerously delicious!
I want to say the pie is probably good for a week in your fridge, but I can’t be sure. Our pie only last 2 days.
Southwest Chicken & Cornbread Pie
Ingredients
Veggie Filling
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup diced onion
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
- 3 cups frozen corn
- 2 boneless 6-7 oz. skinless chicken breasts, roasted, shredded (about 3 cups)
- 1 cup grated zucchini
- One 4-ounce can green chilies or Hatch green chilies, chopped (Hatch chilies are spicy-hot)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Cornbread Batter
- 2/3 cup cornmeal
- 1/3 cup masa harina ( you can substitute all-purpose flour if you don't have masa)
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour (or gluten free flour)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup milk
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
Topping
- 2-1/2 cups grated cheddar, Colby or Monterey Jack cheese (divided)
Instructions
Veggie Filling
- Heat oven to 375 F
- In a large skillet, heat vegetable oil at medium-high heat to saute onion,garlic and frozen corn until corn starts to char a bit, about 5 to 7 minutes depending on heat.
- Add the diced chilies, and bell peppers and cook another 3-4 minutes.
- Remove from heat, stir in zucchini, cumin, paprika and salt & pepper; set aside to prepare batter.
Cornbread Batter & Assembly
- With nonstick spray, coat a 10-inch pie plate or cast iron skillet.
- In a large bowl, add all of the dry ingredients and stir until very well combined, set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and sour cream,and milk. Carefully stir in melted butter.
- Add the egg mixture, plus half of the grated cheese, shredded chicken, vegetables to the dry ingredients, stir well to combine.
- Spread the filling into the prepared baking dish. Scatter the remaining cheese on top.
- Bake uncovered for 30 to 35 minutes at 375.
Notes
Without fail, Saturday night is homemade pizza night at our house, but I was begged to make this dish. Does this count as “pizza pie”???
Welll, it has nearly all the same ingredients as pizza (without pepperoni), so I would say yes! It counts! SW Chicken “Pizza” – ha, ha, ha!
We took this dish to my in-law’s the other day, and it was a huge hit! I had to leave my printed recipe there, leaving me to print another! We will definitely be making this again for a future “Taco” night.
YAY! Joni for the WIN!