All You Need Are Mashed Potatoes And One Canned Staple For A Cheap, Hearty Meal In Minutes

Mashed potatoes are the ultimate comfort food. Salty and buttery with the ability to warm you to your bones, the only thing that can make them better is pairing them with, well, another comfort food. Enter: chili. Adding chili to your mashed potatoes takes them from a delightful side dish to a bonafide meal that's loaded with protein. The best part is it's totally fine to use store-bought canned chili, making this a super easy weeknight dinner.

It really is as easy as it sounds, and the taste isn't too far off from the more familiar idea of a baked potato topped with chili. Thick, buttery mashed potatoes are a great canvas for spicy chili, and the dish leaves plenty of room for your favorite toppings. You can serve the potatoes and canned chili side by side in a plate. However, if you'd like to make a family-sized portion, place a layer of mashed potatoes on the bottom of a casserole dish, top with chili, and stick it into the oven until it's warmed through. Either way, sprinkle some sharp cheddar cheese on top to complete the meal. If you're feeling fancy, add a generous sprinkle of chopped green scallions (not white, they have different purposes in cooking) to give your bowl a bit of a bite. Crushed-up tortilla chips on top are optional, but they certainly don't hurt.

If you're ready to give mashed potatoes and chili a try, you've got a couple of different options to further amp the meal up, starting with your spuds. Absolutely any type of mashed potatoes can work (even prepared flakes from a box — there are plenty of great instant mashed potato brands, after all). Different varieties of mashed potatoes (homemade or otherwise) can also add a nice twist. For example, cheddar or garlic mashed potatoes can play nicely with the flavors in the chili. Additionally, if you happen to have leftover homemade chili sitting in your fridge or freezer as opposed to a canned version, feel free to use that instead. 

One more thing: If you're using your microwave to heat up your mashed potatoes or your chili, it's smart to heat them separately then combine the two dishes once they're both warm. Mashed potatoes and chili are both notoriously slow to heat up because they're so thick, so warming them separately can help reduce the likelihood of getting some bites that burn your mouth and others that are ice cold. No matter how you heat them, enjoying mashed potatoes and chili together is a seriously filling, stick-to-your-ribs combo.