Skillet Cornbread Chili Bake

One skillet, one oven, one very happy table. This is the lazy-genius cousin of the cornbread-topped casserole: you brown the chili right in a cast-iron skillet, pour cornbread batter straight over the top, and slide the whole thing into the oven. As it bakes, steam from the bubbling chili rises up into the batter and gives the cornbread an almost impossibly light, fluffy lift, while the underside soaks up just enough chili to go tender. You get crisp cheddar-crusted cornbread, a soft middle layer, and a hearty beef-and-bean base — a complete dinner with a single pan to wash. It's weeknight cooking at its most satisfying and least fussy.

Let it rest 5 minutes before scooping so it holds together. A dollop of sour cream and pickled jalapeños on top are excellent.

Ground turkey subs for beef; from-scratch cornbread batter works if you'd rather skip the box. The corner pieces, where the cornbread crisps against the hot skillet, get fought over.