Chili as Main Meal, Sides?

Cornbread, guacamole, chopped tomato salsa, corn (not in season but frozen is pretty good if you spice it up with a little cilantro).

Crackers
Relish tray, include pickles.
Hot dogs and buns to make Coney Islands, toppings with cheese, chopped onions.
Apple (Waldorf) salad

Those form Iowa would say cinnamon rolls--guess its a staple over there with chili. That's a new one for me...But I'd have to go with everyone else cornbread, a salad or something along those lines

corn bread!! and a salad...YUMMY!!!

I usually have small bowls (like the small plastic toddler bowls) with these
toppings:
chopped onions
shredded cheese (medium cheddar and Monterey Jack or Colby Jack)
sour cream (not the lite or less fat kind!!)
sliced black olives (yep - some people like that on their chili!!!)
salsa
chopped tomatoes
guacamole
sliced avocado
chopped bacon

corn bread, assorted crackers and cheese, mabey salad?

Definitely cornbread and maybe a salad with some avocado or a guacamole.

Baked potatoes, (with shredded cheese, butter, chopped fresh chives, sour cream/plain yogurt, bacon bits), cornbread, crackers and a salad.

I'm hungry now!

cornbread, cole slaw or salad, crackers or chips for dipping, sour cream and cheese

I like corn bread as a side. We also have saltines and/or tortilla chips to eat with it or crumble up into it for those who choose. Sour cream, grated cheese, grated onion, and hot sauce on the table to add to the chili. We don't usually, but you could have a salad if you think you want to have some more dishes.

We always have Fritos. :)
Growing up we had saltines and/or cornbread.
You could also have white tortilla chips with shredded cheese, diced green onion, black olives, roma tomatoes, and sour cream. Nachos and chili. Yum.
:)

Usually I serve the chili over rice or hash browns, and serve salad and cornbread o the side. I also like to put out sour cream, shredded cheddar, guacamole and sliced scallions as toppings.

FRITO PIE!!!! FRITO PIE!!!!

goodness..... has NO ONE been to Pennsylvania!!!!

You take a small bag of Fritos - like the $0.50 bag.... not the $0.99 bag - which I think is now $1.49 with inflation :-(

You leave the Fritos in the bottom and spoon in the chili. Then you add cheese, onion, sour cream.

If you want to be southern and call it a "walking taco" instead of Frito Pie, then you add lettuce and diced tomatoes on top!!!!!!!!

Then you just eat it right out of the bag with a spoon!!!!!!

You can also make it in a pan, but really truly eating it out of the bag is way better!

BUT - if you are going to be all hoity-toity for like an actual dinner.... one year we did mini-grilled cheese sandwiches with a big pot of chili. With the little square sandwich bread. You can do 'em all fancy - like we did some with Brie and apple, some with cheddar and bacon, some with swiss and 'shrooms. You can make them ahead of time and just throw them on the griddle when it's time to eat.

Yummy - I just decided what's for dinner tomorrow!!!!!

You could make a big cheese ball, and have veggies and dip too.

Here in Texas it would be a Fresh Crunchy Salad and Cornbread or Tortillas..

I agree to have chopped white onions, Shredded sharp Cheddar Cheese,
Sour cream and some sliced Jalapenos for people to dress up their chili.

I had chili for lunch today along with a peanut butter sandwich. When I was in grade school, a peanut butter sandwich was always served when they served chili.

salad and corn bread

You don't NEED anything, (chilli by itself always leaves me STUFFED) but you can put out a selection of toppings (cheeses, onions, Fritos, crackers) and maybe a raw veggie platter. And maybe some cornbread. You could also offer baked potatoes and hot dogs that people could top with the chilli.

Some people eat chili over spaghetti noodles. You can serve a salad (though the chili has plenty of veg), offer people beans, onions and cheese on the side for those that want them. MMM... avocado and sour cream, too. Usually we stuff our chili full of veg (everything from mushrooms to peppers) and then just have hot from oven cornbread with butter as a side.

Chili is great over white rice. We love chili, rice and cornbread!

We always had grilled cheese with chili growing up - it was delicious! I think salad and cornbread also sound good. So good I'm going to switch my plan for dinner tonight. :)

Great to have something fresh like a green salad, corn bread of course, and spaghetti is great for cincinnati style chili

At my house we like to pour chili over some rice, top it with cheese and sour cream and have cornbread on the side, and maybe a salad too! Yummy!

When I make chili, I always serve it with this jalapeno cheddar cornbread - really good, super easy. You can make it into muffins or bake it in a pan & cut into squares:

http://www.food.com/recipe/jalapeno-cheddar-cornbread-284...

I also put out little serving bowls with sour cream, shredded cheese, chopped onion, avocado & oyster crackers so everyone can "doctor" it up to their tastes.

When I make a homemade chili, we always have a pan of plain brown rice for my sons and husband, and shredded sharp cheese. We also do jalepeno cheddar cornbread (I just do one box of Jiffy mix as the directions say, and add a pinch of sugar, a couple handfuls of shredded cheese, and a handful or two of jalepenos, chopped, then just mix it all and bake). We don't really have anything for the 4 of us except for cheese because I make it exactly the way we like it as far as onions and stuff go....but if I were having guests, I'd have out a relish bar with chopped onions, green onions, fritos and/or crackers, shredded cheese, maybe salsa and sour cream.
I've never even thought of it, but I liked wickerparkgirls idea for grilled cheese sandwiches. The hot dogs would work too though. We never have enough chili the day after our first meal for everyone to have "enough", so we use our leftovers the next day for chili dogs and love them. But honestly, a good cornbread and chili are a meal in itself to me!

We love cornbread with chili. Scrumptious!

Have the fixings to make chili dogs.
Bake some potatoes and let people stuff them with chili and cheese.
We also love cottage cheese with chili.
I definitely agree with having Fritos. They are so good to dip in the chili or crumble over the top.
Have chopped onions for those who love them along with some fresh cubed tomatoes and grated cheese.
You can also have some cream cheese and warmed flour tortillas for people who might want to make a burrito.

I'm sure you'll get lots of great ideas.

Have fun!

Yes - Cornbread. I also put out crackers and tortilla chips, a bowl of shredded cheese, bowl of chopped fresh green onion, maybe some diced hot peppers too.