This Cornbread Casserole takes just 20-25 minutes of prep before baking in the oven. When it comes out, it’s puffed and golden with the most delicious aroma. Cozy and warming, this is total comfort food! Serve it with Mexican Slaw and dinner is ready! Vegetarian, easy and a video!
Today I’m going to show you how easy it is to make Cornbread Casserole. Growing up in the 70’s, casseroles were the thing everyone made and brought to potlucks. For most of my life, I’ve shunned them, not because they tasted bad, but that’s what we do when younger I suppose, rebel against the familiar.
It’s funny how we often circle back around in the second part of our lives!
For the record, I can never circle back around to Campbells Mushroom Soup – the base of so many of those casseroles! But lately, I’ve been warming up to the idea of “casseroles” in general.
They are so easy -just assemble, and bake. And they make for several meals, keeping and heating up well, which is always a bonus. Plus, they are sooooo cozy, perfect for these colder months.
Cornbread Casserole! | 60-second video
Loaded up with healthy veggies this vegetarian dinner recipe is pretty adaptable! Today I’ve used corn and bell peppers, but free to add zucchini, spinach or mushrooms or most any saute-able veggie.
How to Make Cornbread Casserole:
- Saute veggies and season.
- Mix dry ingredients together.
- Mix wet ingredients together.
- Combine all in a large bowl.
- Add cheese, pour into a greased baking dish and bake in a 375-degree oven.
- Bake until golden and puffed, about 25-30 minutes.
Mix the dry ingredients (cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and sugar) with the wet ingredients and add the sauteed veggies.
I love how easy this corn casserole is, giving you time to do other things while it bakes in the oven.
To bump up the flavor I’ve added some Mexican spices, jalapeno, cilantro and a little smoked paprika.
Spread it out in a greased baking dish, sprinkle with cheese, and place in a 375F oven to bake uncovered, until puffed and golden!
Open the oven and inhale all the goodness- this cornbread casserole smells amazing!
Serve it up with a delicious green salad or try it with this Everyday Kale Slaw, or Mexican Slaw, and dinner is ready. Save any leftovers for lunch the next day- this heats up well!
More recipes you may enjoy:
- Enchilada Casserole with Sweet Potato, Corn and Black beans
- Tamale Pie!
- Zucchini Cornbread
- Sweet Corn Soup with Charred Jalapeño
- Cornbread Stuffing with Cranberries and Pecans
- 30 Fresh & Tasty Mexican Recipes!
- Easy Baked Tacos
- Farmers Market Veggie Enchiladas
- 35 Easy Delicious Potluck Ideas
Give this Cornbread Casserole a try over the weekend, serve it with the mexican slaw– I promise you’ll love it.
xoxo
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Cornbread Casserole
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 35
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 8 cups 1x
- Category: main, vegetarian
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Cornbread Casserole takes just 20 minutes of prep before baking in the oven. When it comes out, it smells amazing and is beautifully golden. A simple tasty weeknight dinner.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 4 cups corn (frozen or fresh) see notes
- 4-ounce can diced green chilies ( or use 1/2 cup diced poblano pepper or one chopped jalapeno, and saute it with the onion )
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (or scallions)
Batter:
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- —–
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup melted butter, slightly cooled.
- —
- 1 1/2 cups grated cheese- cheddar, jack or mozzarella
Serve with Mexican Slaw!
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375F
Saute the filling: In a large skillet, saute onion in olive oil over medium heat until fragrant and golden, about 3-4 minutes. If using fresh chilies, saute with the onion. Add the bell pepper and cook 3-4 minutes. Add the fresh or frozen corn, saute 3-4 minutes. If using canned chilies, add along with spices and salt, saute 2 minutes, then turn heat off. Stir in fresh cilantro.
Make the batter. In a large bowl, add cornmeal, flour, salt, sugar and baking powder, and whisk. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs and sour cream. Gradually whisk in the melted butter.
Combine. Add the sauteed corn/pepper mixture to the dry ingredients along with the egg mixture and stir to combine all. Add 3/4 cup grated cheese. Pour the batter into a 2-quart greased baking dish, ( 8×9, 11 x 7) or you can bake it in a 10-inch cast ioron skillet) and top with the remaining 3/4 cup cheese. Batter should ideally not be over 2 inches high.
Bake uncovered, for 25-35 minutes, or until puffed (it will dome) and golden!
Sprinkle with cilantro and/ or scallions! Serve warm.
Notes
Can be baked ahead and reheated.
Feel free to add or sub other veggies (for the corn) to the saute- diced zucchini, spinach, mushrooms, etc.
Serve with. Mexican Slaw!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 383
- Sugar: 6.2 g
- Sodium: 674.3 mg
- Fat: 21.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 10.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 39.6 g
- Fiber: 4.1 g
- Protein: 12.1 g
- Cholesterol: 92.8 mg
Hi Sylvia, thanks for the recipe.
It was just perfect! I made the mexican salad as a side – a really good match.
Kind regards, Angela
Perfect Angela~!
Love this recipe!
I cut it into squares and froze individually for an easy snack whatever one is doing; hiking, golfing etc! I’ve eaten it cold, room temp and hot! Always yummmm!
Thanks Jeanette! Great idea…freezing in squares!
Can you add cans of corn instead of frozen?
Yes Vai, just drain it well first. 🙂
Fantastically Yummy. This was soooo good. I did sub 1 Zucchini and 1 Summer Squash instead of the 4 cups corn. Also a Green Pepper for a Red Pepper. Sauteed veggies in 10″ cast iron skillet and baked right back in the same skillet after mixing. Actually came out perfect and it is not as bready as I thought it would be and is instead almost like a cornbread souffle. My wife and I greatly enjoyed this dish. Thanx!!!
Perfect- and that is what I was going for … “souffle”. Glad you enjoyed this Dale!
Used 2 cups corn and a rinsed/drained can of organic black beans. I also used her suggestion of poblano pepper instead of the canned green chilies. It was delicious. My husband and I would probably prefer even spicier, but this is perfect for the whole family and you can add spice on top or salsa for the heat-lovers.
Thanks so much-great to hear!
Just wanted to add that this is even better the second day. For those who felt it was “too moist”, it firms up in the fridge and rewarms to a cornbread texture. The seasonings seemed to incorporate more with time, too. We’ve enjoyed it for three days now and I think we’ve about devoured it all. Again, I had exchanged 2 cups of the corn for rinsed/drained black beans – otherwise used her exact version. It did take longer to cook than 35 minutes (about 10 extra) but that is just oven differences. I love the versatility of swapping out peppers or veggies to create variety or suit individual tastes.
Thanks Cheryl! Appreciate you sharing your adaptions!
Easy to make and tastes great! My family loved it.
Great to hear!
I would like to try your casserole recipe, but I am trying to stay away from eggs and dairy. Do you think it could be made vegan?
Hi Dagmar- I feel like I tried to make this vegan in the beginning and had no luck- it just felt overly dense and heavy. You are welcome to try and if you have success, will you share your technique?
I feel like I want to stuff some poblano peppers with this and bake it all with a little sauce in the baking dish.
Yummmm… I like your style!
Hi, can I use cornflour instead of cornmeal? As I live in Spain and do not have cornmeal!
I’m not sure? Sorry Jasmine, I haven’t tried it with cornflour, but perhaps give it a try?
Hi Jasmine
I used cornflour for this recipe many times (in UK) and this works very well!
Can I freeze the battered cornbread casserole and cook it at a later date or freeze it completely baked? It sounds wonderful. I have a niece that is vegetarian and am looking for recipes I can freeze, then take on vacation for her to eat.
Hey Pam, I’m sorry haven’t tried freezing this but if I were going to do it I think I would bake it first, then reheat? Has anyone else tried freezing this? Any input is helpful. 🙂
I replaced corn with spinach, frozen pea and sweet potatoes. Used yogurt instead of sour cream, replaced eggs with Linseed flour as i am vegan. turned out pretty good.
Interesting Saranjit- haven’t tried linseed flour!
Delicious!!
Even though I made the mistake of using baking soda instead of baking power.
This meal will be added to our rotation!
Thank you for the recipe!
This is amazing! I used 1 cup corn, 1 cup frozen peas and 2 cups spinach instead of 4 cups corn but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. We loved it and it pairs perfectly with chil. This is a KEEPER!
Made this for dinner and it was delicious. Easy to make. Would highly recommend. I used Jalepeno Pepper.
I did 2 cups of corn and 2 cups of spinach and kept everything else the same and this was delicious!!!!! I also made the Mexican slaw and they complimented each other beautiful. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe.
I have egg substitutes, but what can I use instead of sour cream to make this a vegan recipe?
Hi Jena, I’m sorry I havent tried making this vegan so dont want to lead you astray here. You could tried vegan sourcream?
Is it possible to sub out almond flour for the all purpose flour?
Hey Nikki- great question. I haven’t tried it. It may become quite dense, but perhaps worth a shot??
Loved this dish. I used 2 cups of corn plus baby spinach and some frozen peas and added a finely chopped jalapeno pepper for a bit of a bite. Also made the Mexican slaw. So delicious!
Loved this dish. Instead of 4 cups of corn I used 2 cups plus baby spinach and some frozen peas. Also added a finely chopped jalapeno pepper for a bit of a bite. Also made the Mexican slaw. So delicious!
This was amazing! I paired it with the Cilantro Lime Mexican Slaw and everyone loved it!
This recipe needs a lot more seasoning. I felt the cornbread casserole was pretty bland. Next time I will definitely be doubling the spices called for in the recipe, and adding black pepper, chili powder, maybe some oregano, and more salt.
Yumalicious!!!
Loved it, but is seemed at bit moist. Not sure if it was my oven or is that supposed to be the internal texture?
Yes, it has a moist texture- did it puff up in the center, indicating it was cooked all the way through?
Can I substitute the cornmeal to polenta
I’m not sure Ben- haven’t tried with polenta. Is it a fairly coarse grain? Or fine?
do we cover the top of the baking dish
No- leave it uncovered. 😉