Cornbread Casserole Bake – the perfect side dish for a BBQ

This cornbread casserole bake is the perfect side dish for a barbeque or cookout. This cornbread is made with cream for extra taste and packed full of juicy corn kernels that pop in your mouth with every bite.

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Homemade cornbread casserole bake

In my opinion a barbeque just wouldn’t be complete without a dish of this easy cornbread casserole. When I lived in South Africa there was always a friendly rivalry between different families as to who could make the best cornbread. There was no ‘official’ winner of course, and I don’t want to be accused of blowing my own trumpet, but I think this recipe is one of the best I’ve tasted.

I love corn, especially the way the sweet, juicy kernels ‘pop’, releasing their flavour, as you bite into them. And this recipe is absolutely packed with corn, having both whole kernel and creamed sweetcorn as ingredients. It also contains cream which adds an extra depth of flavour. If you enjoy corn as much as I do, you might like to try these sweetcorn fritters too.

Served hot, fresh from the oven, the texture is very soft, and you can serve it by the spoonful. But as it cools it sets and becomes firmer, so once cold you can serve it by the slice. Either way, a slice of this cornbread casserole, alongside a freshly grilled sausage or piece of steak, covered with a spoonful of chilli tomato sauce makes a delicious meal.

This cornbread casserole is also perfect to serve alongside a roast.

How to make cornbread casserole bake

You can get the detailed recipe from the printable recipe card at the end of this post.

This recipe will serve 4 people as a side dish. To make a larger cornbread casserole, just double the ingredients.

This recipe for cornbread casserole is very simple. It’s made in the same the way that muffins are normally mixed, ie by mixing the dry ingredients and then adding the wet, and it only takes 5 minutes to mix together. Then you just put it in the oven for 50 minutes and forget about it.

What you will need

To make a cornbread casserole you will obviously need corn. I used a 198g (7oz) can of creamed sweetcorn and a 198g (7 oz) can of whole kernel corn (including the liquid).

If you don’t have (or can’t find) creamed sweetcorn you can make your own by just whizzing a can of whole kernel corn with about 3 tablespoons of the liquid and 1 tablespoon of flour. Don’t over process though. You want to whizz it around until the corn has broken up and the flour has been incorporated, but there should still be pieces of corn in it. In other words, don’t puree it.

You will also need flour. Self-raising flour is fine, but if you don’t have any you could use plain all purpose flour and add 1 teaspoon baking powder. If you want even more corn flavour (and a thicker texture) you can use half yellow maize meal (corn meal) in place of half the flour. If you use maize meal / corn meal, add another 1/2 teaspoon baking powder.

The other ingredients you will need are sour cream, an egg, some melted butter, sugar and salt. The sugar adds a little sweetness to the dish, but you can leave this out if you prefer. And as always, salt is optional.

What to do

The first thing is to put all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl (flour/corn meal, baking powder, sugar, salt). Give them a quick mix to combine. Melt the butter (either in a saucepan or in the microwave) but don’t let it get too hot. Add the butter and the rest of the ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well to combine.

Pour it into a baking dish and bake at 165C/325F for about 50 minutes until the top has browned and the casserole has set and feels firm to the touch with no ‘jiggle’.

For 4 people I used a 7″ x 8″ (18cm x 20cm) baking dish.

Variations

I’ve just given you the basic recipe, but there are lots of variations you can try:

• Sprinkle the top with grated cheese before putting into the oven.
• Add a few tablespoons of chopped crispy-fried bacon along with the wet ingredients.
• For a spicy version mix in some chopped jalapeno peppers.
• To add a bit of colour to the finished dish, arrange a layers of halved baby tomatoes (cut side up) on top of the casserole before baking

Make ahead

You can mix the cornbread casserole ahead of time and leave it, covered with a layer of plastic clingwrap, in the refrigerator for up to a day, before baking. When you are ready to bake it, just take it straight from the fridge and put it into the pre-heated oven. You may find that it needs an extra minute or two of baking, to compensate for the batter being very cold.

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Additional resources

Don’t forget to check out my handy Cookery Conversion Calculator if you want to convert any of your recipe measurements from grams to cups, ounces, tablespoons or millilitres and vice versa. You can also use the calculator for converting oven temperatures between Fahrenheit, Celsius and Gas marks.

If you live at a high altitude you may find you need to adjust your baking recipes to compensate for this. You can read all about it in this post on baking at high altitudes.

Recipe – Homemade cornbread casserole bake

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