My Chili days are not yet over! Today I want to share with you another way of how I enjoy my Mexican Chili. Chili is a very filling and comforting food to eat especially when the weather is cold. By just pairing it with a nice Cornbread Muffin or toasted Homemade Bagel, it could be a meal on its own. I don’t usually make big batch of meals, the most will be something that serves 3-4 people, I think is pretty manageable for a single person to consume (not in one sitting of course) when spread over several days. Chili is one good candidate for freezing, so regardless if you make small batch or a big batch that feeds 2 families, you can always have a security that it will last longer than the usual food, assuming that your family will not finish all of it one time.

I have also used my Mexican Chili recipe for my Chili Zoodles, and that was really great! A “healti-ish” option by just replacing regular pasta with zucchini and really fun to make too. It’s very light and a good way to incorporate vegetable in a meal. Check out that post and you will know why I am crazy about it.

Since Chili always and forever goes well with bread and more cheese, I thought I’d make it to something like a Bruschetta, although I used a larger bread for this one. You can use bread that you like but make sure to use the crusty bread like Baguette, French Bread, Sour Dough etc. as they hold well during baking. If you use a regular white bread, it could get mushy because it will absorb easily the sauce of the Chili. So choose the right bread and I guarantee you, your family will appreciate it too.

How I made this Chili Bruschetta Baked Bread

Nothing tricky or special about the process,as you can see from the photo, it’s just about layering the bread with Chili and cheese. As I mentioned above, right bread is a key to this good bruschetta, and of course a nice Chili, the superstar of the dish. I baked the bread in a cast iron pan because I want the bread to have a crusty and crunchy texture and cast iron pan can do that because of the heat that it could absorb and retain. If you don’t have a cast iron pan, you can bake it in a baking dish instead or a cookie sheet. Then I spread a little pasta sauce, a little something to avoid the bread getting too dry. Its optional, you can skip it but if you have pasta sauce in your fridge then use it anyway. Then I layered the Chili and cheese on the bread, you can be as creative here. You can even had a slice of ham in between, the more meat the merrier. After all that, I pop it in the oven to bake, and once the cheese is melted and bubbling, time to take it out and be patient for it to cool down a bit. Easy breezy, right? Let’s get started!

Ingredients:

• Chili
• Bread – baguette, french bread, cibiatta or any bread with thick crust
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 200 grams cheese – shredded or slice (Do not use the cheese singles, they tend to be too runny when baked. Use a block cheese and thinly slice it). You can add more cheese if you want to.
• 1/2 cup marinara sauce or canned diced tomato

Instructions:

1. Make the Chili. This can be made ahead of time and store in the refrigerator or freezer. If coming from freezer, thaw before using.
2. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
3. Slice the bread into desired size then drizzle top with olive oil.
4. Layer with cheese, chili and cheese again. You can add more cheese as desired.
5. Pour marinara sauce or diced tomato (include the juice) into a pan. I used a skillet but a regular square or rectangle pan can be used. If you don’t want to use marinara sauce, you can directly arrange the bread in sheet pan.
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese starts to melt.

Serve while hot and bread is still crispy. Enjoy!

Featured Posts:

• Chili Zoodles
• Chili Cheese Stuffed Zucchini Boat
• Meat Free Monday: White Beans with Spinach and Tomato
• Small Batch Mexican Chili
• Meat Free Monday: Small Batch Vegetarian Mix Beans Chili

Enjoy! If you make this, share and tag me in Instagram #SweetNSpicyLiving. I would like to see your creations too.

My Latest Video

Thank You for visiting my website. Please don’t forget to click the “Like” button below if you like this recipe. Lastly, did you know that I have a YouTube Channel? Please support my channel by clicking on the “Subscribe” button in my video and the “Bell” icon to get notification of new videos.

FOLLOW SweetNSpicyLiving on Social Media Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter