Mexican Cornbread Casserole
This Mexican cornbread casserole recipe takes a tasty taco-flavored ground beef casserole and adds a fluffy cornbread topping.
I don’t know what y’all had for supper last night but this easy-to-make Mexican cornbread casserole (known around these parts as canyon casserole) is what we had. I barely had to wash the dish when we were done because my brood scraped it clean! Usually, an 8×8 casserole is enough for the four of us. But I’m going to have to double this casserole recipe next time because while my husband and son ate their fill at supper, they both asked me later in the evening if any was left.
I love suppers like that, don’t you? The beauty of this recipe is that it is pretty economical, a meal in one, and packed with a wonderful southwestern flavor. Our casserole includes ground beef, taco seasoning, chopped tomatoes, and corn. We cook those ingredients together before adding them to the casserole dish. Then we mix our cornbread batter with cheese and add that on top. The only thing left to do is bake the casserole for 30 minutes.
Easy casserole recipes like this taco cornbread casserole are the best weeknight supper ideas. I just can’t get enough of the combination of taco-flavored ground beef with the fluffy and flavorful cornbread topping. As you can see, neither can my family! But this casserole is so quick and easy to make that I’m happy to prepare it every week!
Alright, let’s get cookin’ our casserole!
Recipe Ingredients
- Milk
- Taco seasoning
- Vegetable oil (just a little bit)
- Egg
- Self-rising cornmeal mix
- Diced tomatoes
- Whole kernel corn
- Ground beef
- Shredded cheddar cheese
How to Make Mexican Cornbread Casserole
Cook ground beef until well done then drain.
Stir in tomatoes in juice, drained corn, taco seasoning, and water.
Stir up really well and cook it over medium-high heat just until nice and bubbly.
Grease an 8×8 baking dish.
Pour meat filling into the dish.
Mix up self-rising cornmeal, egg, milk, oil, and cheese.
Stir until well blended.
Drop by spoonfuls over the top of the meat mixture.
Bake at 400 for 30 to35 minutes.
While this was in the oven, my teenage son came into the kitchen twice to declare:
“Something smells good, when is that going to be done?”
“Is it done yet?”
Dig in and enjoy your canyon casserole!
Storage
- Store leftover casserole in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can quickly reheat leftovers in the microwave, oven, or air fryer.
- Alternatively, freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating as above.
Recipe Notes
- Here are some variations to make this Mexican cornbread casserole recipe work for you:
- Use any type of cornbread, including Jiffy cornbread mix.
- Substitute the diced tomatoes for Rotel tomatoes with green chiles for added spice and flavor.
- Another way to add spice is to add a dash of cayenne pepper, paprika, chili powder, or crushed red pepper flakes.
- Use a Mexican cheese blend instead of shredded cheddar cheese.
- You can also stir some extra shredded cheese into the beef mixture.
- Substitute the ground beef for sausage, shredded chicken, ground turkey, ground chicken, or ground pork.
- Add 1 can of cream-style corn to enhance the corn flavor.
- Add 1 can of beans, whether that’s black beans, pinto beans, or kidney beans.
- Toss in some chopped red bell pepper.
- Use fresh corn, frozen corn, or canned corn.
Recipe FAQs
How do you serve Mexican cornbread casserole?
You can easily serve this taco cornbread casserole as is. But another option is to serve it with your favorite taco toppings, like salsa, guacamole, freshly chopped tomatoes, jalapenos, shredded lettuce, sour cream, sliced green onion, and sliced black olives.
Check out these other easy casserole recipes:
Taco Tater Tot Casserole Recipe
Stuffed Pepper Casserole Recipe (Easy and Delicious)
Cheesy Chicken and Corn Casserole
Cornbread Casserole With Ham and Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 1-ounce packet taco seasoning
- 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 14.5-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup Martha White self-rising white buttermilk cornmeal mix can use yellow self-rising corn meal mix
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400. Spray an 8-inch casserole dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Brown ground beef in a large skillet until fully cooked. Drain off any grease. Add in taco seasoning, water, tomatoes, and corn. Stir and bring just to a boil. Pour into baking dish.1 pound ground beef, 1 1-ounce packet taco seasoning, 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained, 1 14.5-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained, 1/2 cup water
- In a small bowl, stir together cornmeal mix, milk, egg, oil, and cheese until well blended. Drop by spoonfuls onto the top of the meat mixture in the baking dish.1 large egg, 1 cup Martha White self-rising white buttermilk cornmeal mix, 1/2 cup milk, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown on top. Enjoy!
Nutrition
“The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
That looks delicious! I’m definitely going to try it, but since my family prefers their corn on the side. I’ll use a can of drained pinto beans instead.
Have been making this for years…you can add black beans or pinto beans to the casserole too! I call it “Mexican Casserole”.
I also serve it with sour cream and black olives to add on as toppings. My family loves it.
Hey Christy,
I add a can of red beans or pinto beans or kidney beans to this recipe. We call it Granny’s Hamburger Pie and my children will take you down for it and even Mr. Picky (better known as my wonderful husband!) loves this.
Just curious if you always use organic milk?
I usually do, not because its organic, but because it has such a long shelf life. We don’t really drink milk but use it in baking and coffee so it takes a long time for us to use it up and regular milk expires before I can 🙂
Why drain the corn, I would use the juice from it instead of the water called for. Other than that I would not make any changes.
It’s what’s for dinner!!
I make this but call it Mexican Cornbread Pie. I make it in a cast iron skillet and pour half of the cornbread mixture in the heated skillet to make a bottom crust, pour the other ingredients on top of that and then top off with the rest of the cornbread mix and bake 45-50 minutes. It’s delicious !!