The striker's perfect cross was met by Loic Remy who scored with a diving header after 19 minutes to open the scoring for the home side.
Nicolas Cordova equalised against the run of play 14 minutes from time with a superb strike but it was hard on Laurent Blanc's side, who top Euro 2012 qualifying Group D and next visit Albania in a qualifier on September 2.
Chile were knocked out by Venezuela in the Copa America quarter-finals last month and produced few chances compared to the hosts on Wednesday.
"We had good intentions, even if we didn't manage to pull everything off. In terms of spirit, motivation, preparation, I think we are on the right path," Blanc told a news conference.
"We scored a nice goal, overall I am satisfied."
The game in the packed 30,000 capacity Montpellier stadium started in sunny conditions and the hosts quickly warmed to the task.
Benzema was a menace all night and beautifully set up the opener while Chile perked up with the second half introduction of talisman Alexis Sanchez.
France hit the bar and missed out on two goals because of the offside flag after the hour mark before the were left to rue their profligacy when Cordova finished with aplomb.
