Chili Potatoes are baked potatoes filled with chili and topped with sour cream and cheddar cheese. It’s a simple way to serve leftover chili that makes it feel like a whole new meal.
It’s that time of year when there is a crisp chill in the air and the streets are filled with people wearing Bears jerseys or shirts repping their Big 10 college teams. Fall is here and it is time to make a big pot of chili; it’s one of those foods that makes me think of fall.
I don’t know if it is possible to make a small batch of chili, it seems like when people make it they make a big batch. You get your largest pot and make enough to eat or days, or maybe you freeze some leftovers. Since chili is a food made in large batches, I am always looking for creative ways to turn it into different meals.
One lazy Saturday morning, when fall was just starting to arrive, I asked Charles what he wanted to have for dinner and he made an oddly specific request. He wanted baked potatoes filled with chili. Sure, it’s a little odd, but not nearly as strange as serving chili on top of spaghetti (I am looking at you, Ohio). Also, when you take into consideration that Charles is British, and baked potatoes and beans are a common food in England, his request makes a bit more sense.
This recipe works because chili toppings and baked potato toppings are basically the same. And adding chili to a potato creates a meal filling enough to serve for dinner.
I made a batch of steak chili and while it was simmering on the stove I baked some potatoes. When I bake potatoes I always generously coat the outside of the potatoes in butter and salt. This lets the skins get nice and crispy. Once the potatoes were ready I sliced them open, added a big ladle of chili and topped it with cheddar cheese and sour cream. I must admit, this recipe was one of Charles’ better recipe ideas.
Here’s the thing. You can use any chili to make chili potatoes. I used my steak chili recipe which has chunks of sirloin steak instead of ground beef. But you can use any chili you want, use chicken chili, vegetarian chili, homemade chili, or if you are super short on time you can even use chili from a can.
How to Make Chili Potatoes:
Chili Potatoes
Turn leftover chili into a new meal by scooping hot chili into a baked potato and topping with cheese and sour cream. Chili potatoes are an easy weeknight meal and a fun way to dress up leftovers.
Ingredients
- 2 cups Chili, such as Steak Chili
- 4 large Russet Potatoes
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- Salt
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 1/2 cup Sour Cream
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 450 degrees.
- Throughly rinse any dirt off the potatoes. Dry the potatoes.
- Poke a couple holes in the potatoes to prevent the unlikely event that they explode in the oven while roasting.
- Generously coat the potatoes in butter. And sprinkle with salt.
- Bake the potatoes for 45 minutes to an hour, until soft on the inside.
- Heat up your chili in a small pot.
- Slice the potatoes in half, smush the middle with a fork, and then add a ladle of chili to the center of each potato.
- Stop with cheese and sour cream and serve.
Notes
You can use any chili recipe to make this meal.