Loaded Cornbread Casserole Recipe

While many casseroles are main dishes complete with a starchy base, vegetables, and protein, others are instead side dishes, which is the case with this kicked-up cornbread. While it does have a little bit of meat in the form of bacon and vegetables in the form of canned corn, it's not really something you'd eat as a main dish but instead makes a hearty side that would go great with chili or barbecue. Recipe developer Jessica Morone does note, though, that "You would want to eat this with a fork rather than just cutting a slice out and eating it with your hands."

Morone calls this cornbread casserole "simple, moist, and full of flavor." She admits there may be a little more effort involved than with cornbread casseroles that start off with a packaged mix, she feels that this scratch-made dish is "still a very easy recipe" and goes on to say that "it tastes much better" than anything made with a mix.

Before you get started on this casserole, check your pantry for cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and pepper, as all of these are needed for the batter. You'll also be using milk, sour cream, butter, and cheddar cheese, along with a can of corn, a can of creamed corn, and some bacon bits.

"You can use frozen corn instead of canned corn if you want," Morone explains, but adds that "You still want to use canned cream corn, though." She also says it's okay to cook and crumble your own bacon (you'll want it nice and crispy) rather than using prepackaged bacon bits as she does here. In this case, she notes, you'll want about ½ cup, which would be eight slices.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. As it heats up, mix up the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and pepper. Stir in the creamed corn, corn kernels, milk, sour cream and melted butter, then finish off the batter by adding the bacon bits and 1 cup of the cheese.

Spread the batter into a greased 9x13-inch pan, then sprinkle what remains of the cheddar evenly over the top. Bake the cornbread for 40 to 45 minutes. Once the casserole is done, the center should be set, not jiggly, and the color should be golden brown.

While Morone feels that this cornbread casserole tastes best when warm, this doesn't mean you have to finish the entire thing in a single sitting. She tells us it should be good in the refrigerator for up to five days and says, " I like to cut out individual slices and microwave them for about 30 seconds." If you want to reheat a number of pieces at a time, though, she suggests baking them at 350 F for 10 to 15 minutes.