Cornbread Pancakes with Chili | The Best Comfort Food

Cornbread pancakes with chili are the perfect comfort food for a winter day. If ever there was a meal that feels like a hug, this is it. Perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

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Johnny Cakes are Cornbread Pancakes

Mostly. From what I can tell, Johnny cakes use only cornmeal. This recipe calls for half all-purpose flour and half cornmeal because using only cornmeal makes is more dense than I like.

But it’s fun to call things old-timey names.

Remember that awesome, old musical “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers“?

It’s one of the best movies. It’s one of my favorites and I highly recommend it. You can rent it HERE.

There’s a scene where all the brothers are crawling over the table and grabbing handfuls of food, stuffing their faces and filling their plates.

The oldest brother slaps what looks like a cornbread pancake onto his plate and digs in.

As the 8th child of out 10 kids, I’ve got some experience with wolfing down food like it’s about to run away.

The brothers in the movie look like wild animals but they also make the food look SO GOOD!

Assuming they are cornbread pancakes in the movie, I can tell you they ARE really good!

I can make them and so can you!

Quick Chili Tip: Use Up Those Veggies!

Chili can be as useful as a garbage disposal.

If you’ve got some wilting veggies in the fridge, dice them up really small and get them out of your life!

Mushrooms, yellow squash, zucchini, potatoes, sweet potatoes, apples, carrots.

Just cut them up small and sauté them first. They will totally take on the chili flavor and make the whole thing healthier!

And you’ll feel so frugal and capable and homemaker-y.

Nothing makes you feel quite the same as a head of cabbage that takes a whole month to rot in the fridge.

Let’s Make Awesome Chili

This makes a big pot of chili. Great for leftovers!

Over medium-high heat cook 1 pound of ground beef, 1 diced medium onion, 1 diced green bell pepper, plus any other veggies you want to add.

Sauté these until the veggies are softened and a little browned and the beef is thoroughly cooked.

Add 1-15 ounce can of stewed, diced tomatoes, 1-16 ounce can of baked beans, 1-16 ounce can of refried beans, 1-15.5 ounce can of kidney beans (you can use navy beans, or black beans), 1-15 ounce can of Wolf chili, and 1/4 cup of butter.

Yes, you add a can of chili to the chili. This way you get the right chili flavors without messing with all the spices.

Let’s not make this too complicated.

Heat all of this until bubbling and then add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. This brightens the flavor.

You can also dump all of this into a crockpot and cook for 4 hours. Just add the lemon juice right before you eat.

Serve the chili with a handful of cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of chopped chives for color.

Tear off pieces of warm, buttery cornbread pancakes and dip in the chili for the best dinner EVER!

It makes me want to cry just thinking about it.

Let’s Make Cornbread Pancakes!

This recipe makes between 10-15 pancakes depending on how thin you make the batter and how big you make the pancakes.

Combine 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of corn meal, 1/3 cup of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Dump all the rest ingredients in and then mix once they’re all in the bowl.

Add these altogether: 1 egg, a 14 ounce can of creamed corn, 1/4 cup of sour cream, 2 cups of milk, and 1/4 cup of melted butter.

Mix it all up until it’s just barely combined.

The consistency should be like a big bowl of creamed corn.

If it seems a little thick, add a little more milk.

Use some baking spray to oil a pan over low heat on the stove.

Drop 1/3 cup of the batter at a time on the pan and cook for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Then, flip and cook for another 30 seconds.

Spread a little butter across the top of each while still warm.

These pancakes are hearty, moist, and flavorful.

You could eat these with chili, syrup, jam, or just plain. So GOOD!

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