Leftover Chilli Dough Balls (with Garlic Butter!)

Turn leftover chilli into these easy cheesy dough balls, baked until golden and brushed with garlic butter. No yeast, no fuss.

If you’re anything like me, you make a batch of chilli that feeds about 40 people, so there is always leftovers. Sure, you could throw it in the freezer, but given how simple these dough balls are to make, this is a MUCH more delicious option! Follow me…

Ingredient Notes

If you’ve been here for a while, you’ll know I’m no baker. As such, I’ve developed a dough that is literally fool-proof. No yeast, no proving, no fancy ingredients. The full quantities are down in the recipe card, but I’ll just quickly go over each one:

• The dough – this is essentially my No Yeast Flatbread dough, but turned into baked dough balls. It’s just flour, baking powder and salt mixed with plain yogurt. That’s it!
• The chilli – I use this recipe frequently with my Chilli Con Carne, but any sort of leftover chilli will work (even Turkey Chili). Just make sure it’s fridge cold so it’s easy to work with. A chilli with a thicker consistency will work best so it doesn’t leak out of the balls.
• The cheese – Cheddar and Red Leicester work great! Mozzarella will give you a nice cheese pull, but less flavour.
• The garlic butter – technically this is optional, but brushing the dough balls with a combo of butter, parsley and garlic really takes them to new heights.

No Yeast Dough Balls

Process shots: add flour, baking powder and salt to bowl (photo 1), whisk then add yogurt (photo 2), form a ball (photo 3), knead for a few minutes (photo 4).

Chilli Dough Balls

Making the dough balls is as simple as stuffing them and rolling into balls. I do have a few tips for success along the way:

• Don’t overstuff – it’s tempting to cram in as much chilli as possible, but too much makes the dough harder to seal and more likely to burst in the oven.
• Use fridge-cold chilli – cold chilli is thicker and much easier to wrap inside the dough. Warm chilli will make things much messier.
• Seal them well – pinch the dough firmly around the filling, then roll into a smooth ball with the seam underneath.

Process shots: slice dough in half (photo 1), slice into smaller portions (photo 2), stuff with chilli and cheese (photo 3), roll into balls, add to dish and brush with oil (photo 4), bake (photo 5), brush with garlic butter (photo 6).

Serving Suggestions

If you sealed the balls properly, you shouldn’t notice any leakage. If you do notice them starting to leak, remove them ASAP if the dough is golden and cooked through. These are perfect as they are, but even better with a pot of sour cream for dunking!

Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for these chilli dough balls shall we?!

How to make Leftover Chilli Dough Balls (Full Recipe & Video)

5 from 4 votes

Leftover Chilli Dough Balls (with Garlic Butter!)

By: Chris Collins

Turn leftover chilli into these easy cheesy dough balls, baked until golden and brushed with garlic butter. No yeast, no fuss.

Prep: 25 minutes mins

Cook: 20 minutes mins

Total: 55 minutes mins

Servings: 16 balls

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Equipment

• Large Mixing bowl & Whisk
• Spatula
• Rolling Pin
• Large Baking Dish (mine was 9×13")
• Microplane (for garlic – optional)
• Small Pot & Brush (for garlic butter)

Ingredients 

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Dough Balls

• ▢ 7oz / 200g / 1 packed cup Plain/All Purpose Flour
• ▢ 2 tsp Baking Powder
• ▢ 1/2 tsp Salt
• ▢ 6.3oz / 180g / 3/4 cup Plain Natural Yogurt (see notes)
• ▢ 1 packed cup fridge-cold Chilli (see notes)
• ▢ 2.6oz / 75g Cheese, sliced into small cubes approx 1-1.5" (see notes)
• ▢ Olive Oil, as needed
• ▢ Sour Cream, to serve (optional)

Garlic Butter

• ▢ 2 tbsp / 30g Butter, melted
• ▢ 1 clove of Garlic, very finely grated (see notes)
• ▢ 1-2 tsp very finely diced Fresh Parsley

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions 

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the centre then add the yogurt. Use a spatula to roughly combine everything until it starts to come together, then use your hands to form a ball. The texture should be very slightly tacky, but not so much it sticks to your fingers (work in a little more flour if needed).
• Dust some flour on a clean surface and knead for a few minutes until nice and smooth/lump-free, adding more flour as you go. At this point, I recommend covering the dough and leaving it to rest for 10–15 minutes. This helps relax the dough and makes it easier to shape. If you are pushed for time just continue with the recipe.
• Divide the dough into 16 even pieces, then one by one roll them out into circles approx 3.5-4" wide. Add ~1 heaped tsp of chilli in the centre, gently press in a chunk of cheese, then fold the dough into a ball. It's crucial you pinch the seam shut to prevent the chilli from leaking out.
• Once all the balls are formed, lightly oil a large baking dish and space out the balls. Keep in mind they'll expand slightly as they bake (not a huge deal, you can pull them apart when serving). Lightly brush with oil, the place in the oven for 18-20 minutes, or until light golden. You might get some small leakage, but just keep an eye on them to catch any excessive leakage.
• Meanwhile, combine the melted butter with garlic and parsley. Once fresh out of the oven, brush the balls with garlic butter, then serve and enjoy!

Video

Notes

a) Chilli – If you want to make fresh chilli just for these dough balls then firstly check out my Classic Chilli Recipe, or even my Turkey Chili. This recipe works best with a chilli with a thick consistency; watery chilli recipes will likely leak out as the dough balls bake. Also, just make sure the chilli is fridge cold. For reference, I found 1 packed cup of chilli to be ~270g/9.5oz

b) Yogurt – You can use any plain yogurt. You can also use Greek Yogurt, so long as it’s unflavoured. 

c) Cheese – I use Red Leicester for this recipe, but Cheddar works just as well. For an epic cheese pull, you could use Mozzarella, but it does lack in flavour in comparison.

d) Garlic – It will very likely ‘cook’ in the melted butter when it’s hot and when brushed on the hot dough balls, which will take a little bite out of it. However, it’s still essentially raw, which is why 1 clove is typically plenty. Just make sure it’s very finely grated so you don’t get chunks of garlic (I recommend a microplane).

e) Calories – Per ball.

Your Private Notes:

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Nutrition

Serving: 1Ball | Calories: 108kcal | Carbohydrates: 11.33g | Protein: 4.77g | Fat: 4.7g | Saturated Fat: 2.55g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.24g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1.53g | Trans Fat: 0.15g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 170mg | Potassium: 83mg | Fiber: 0.6g | Sugar: 0.85g | Vitamin A: 267IU | Vitamin C: 2.5mg | Calcium: 83mg | Iron: 0.52mg

Looking for more?

You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’