10 Easy Leftover Chili Recipes

Repurpose your chili leftovers with these easy leftover chili recipes! With one big batch of chili, you can have a whole week of satisfying dinners.

crockpot chili served in a white round bowl topped with cheese, sour cream and slived green onions

Chili is one of the best year-round foods. It’s versatile and delicious and it can be made pretty much any which way your family desires. Whether you go with all beef, or with beans, vegetarian, Texas chili, crock pot chili, white bean chicken chili, or 5-alarm, it’s a great way to feed a crowd.

The only thing is, it’s one of those home-style recipes that’s hard to make just a small amount of; and sometimes that means your crew doesn’t polish everything off. This gives you leftovers that you can freeze or use right away. It’s a dream for anyone cooking on a budget.

The good news is, it improves with age, but even with that, you may find you want to spruce things up, stretch things into another full meal, or give it a fresh new twist.

Here are 10 leftover chili recipes for inspiration when you’re ready to up your chili game.

Our Favorite Leftover Chili Recipes

The easiest ideas are the best, and with leftovers you really don’t want to be going out and buying additional ingredients. Look through these 10 ideas, see what you already have on hand, and jump in.

Potato Skins

Coat a few russet potatoes with a bit of oil, bake in the oven directly on the rack until soft, which takes anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and 15. Scoop out the center, fill with chili, top with cheese, and either air fry or bake again. Use the scooped-out potato as a mash on the side. Serve the potato skins with green onion and you’ve got a winning dish.

Nachos

Just go ahead and layer tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and chili on a platter or in a rectangular baking dish. Warm that under the broiler until the cheese is melted. Top with an assortment of diced tomato, Jalapeño chiles, chopped onion, sour cream, black olives, green onion, or whatever sounds good to you. Guacamole is a good choice.

Spaghetti

Toss any kind of chili with some hot spaghetti, top with chopped onion and cheese and go. To make this leftover chili recipe Cincinnati style, try adding a dash of cinnamon to the dish.

Breakfast Chili and Eggs

Thin out the chili with a bit of tomato sauce. Simmer in a sauté pan until warm. Make wells in the sauce with the back of a spoon and add a few eggs. Cover and simmer until the eggs whites are set. Serve with toast.

1980’s Taco Salad

Use chili in place of the taco meat in our Easy Taco Salad, or make it more upscale. Prepare a salad with shredded romaine, chopped pickled red onions, pumpkin seeds, and some crumbled cotija or goat cheese. Dress it with a simple olive oil and lime dressing. Top with a scoop of room temperature chili and garnish with pumpkin seeds.

Chili Grain Bowl

This is the InstaFood ready way to go. Fill the bottom 1/3 of individual bowls with whatever cooked grains you have. Rice, quinoa, barley, farro, whatever you like. Add the chili and a few other components like diced bell pepper, shredded kale, corn, sweet potato, cilantro, or whatever strikes you. Serve with lime wedges.

Chili Dogs

Cook up hot dogs, put those beauties into buns and top with warm chili. When it comes to leftover chili recipes, it doesn’t get any easier!

Cornbread and Chili Casserole

You can make our Chili Cornbread Casserole with leftover chili instead of making it fresh. Oil a baking dish and layer in chili and then creamed corn. Top with dollops of cornbread batter. Bake until the cornbread is ready, let cool slightly, and serve. You can also make this in individual ramekins.

Zucchini Boats

Slice zucchini lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Season with salt and some additional chili powder. Arrange in a baking dish and fill with chili. Top with sliced provolone, cover, and bake. Finish under the broiler and serve.

Kitchen Sink Frittata

In a bowl, stir together eggs, shredded cheese, chili powder, and chili flakes. Fold in diced vegetables such as bell pepper, carrots, onion, celery, mushrooms or whatever you have on hand. Then line an oiled baking dish with tater tots, pour in the egg mixture, add spoonfuls of chili all around, top with more cheese, and bake until set.

Now that you have plenty of leftover chili recipes, you’re ready to go make something chili-riffic!