Mexican Cornbread recipe filled with ground beef, cheddar cheese, onion and jalapeños. This is my grandma's signature dish and a tried and true family favorite. An easy dinner for any night of the week!
Mexican Cornbread
Mexican Cornbread is the perfect weeknight dinner and a delicious ground beef recipe. Amazing comfort food that is a family favorite and perfect for company. Made with pantry staples, no box mix needed!
How to Make Mexican Cornbread:
- Brown ground beef and drain any excess grease. Combine with seasonings, chopped onion and shredded cheddar cheese.
- In a mixing bowl, combine cornmeal, all purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. Add milk, eggs, creamed corn, bacon grease and chopped jalapeños. Mix well.
- Grease an iron skillet, add half of cornbread mixture.
- Top with ground beef, cheese and onion.
- Then top with remaining cornbread mixture.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes at 350°.
Recipe Variations:
Cheese: I used medium cheddar. Colby-Jack, Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack would all be great.
Peppers: I used fresh jalapeños, canned will work fine too. If you aren't a fan of spicy foods, you can cut down on the jalapeños or leave them out.
My husband and I were discussing dishes that our grandma's made when we were growing up and it got me to thinking about my grandma's Mexican Cornbread Recipe.
When I was growing up my grandma always made Mexican Cornbread when we went to her house for dinner. I think I spent the entire trip from our house to her house praying that she also made a box of mac and cheese because I did not like Mexican Cornbread. Guess who was the pickiest brat on the planet?
What was wrong with me? I love cornbread, I love all things Mexican food. Actually I thought the jalapeños were bell peppers all this time and I'm pretty sure that I just had my mind made up that I didn't like it.
A few weeks ago, I gave my grandma a call and asked her for the recipe and if it was alright if I shared it here. She said she thought she got it from a friend in California, before my grandpa retired from the Air Force. It's been her go-to dinner recipe as long as I can remember.
I've outgrown most of my pickiness and now love Mexican Cornbread. It was a big hit with my family, well all except my picky eater, but I am sure it will grow on him just like it did me.
Delicious Dishes to Complete Your Meal:
My grandma always served a green salad and on occasion mac and cheese just for me! My Skillet Mexican Street Corn would be a great side or a Cucumber Onion Salad for something light.
More Mexican Dishes to Try:
Zesty Taco Pasta Bake is made with salsa verde and a great casserole for any night of the week. Brisket Tacos are my absolute favorite and the best idea for leftover smoked brisket! Grilled Chicken Tostadas are super quick and easy or Cheesy Ground Beef Taquitos are great for game day.
Great Drinks to Pair with Mexican Dishes:
I love fruit punch and my Easy Party Punch is perfect for the whole family. Of course a batch Pineapple Margaritas or a Pineapple Paloma would be great cocktails to finish out your Mexican feast.
If you love this Recipe as much as I do, please leave a comment and a five star review, and be sure to help me share on Pinterest!
Mexican Cornbread
Mexican Cornbread recipe filled with ground beef, cheddar cheese, onion and jalapeños. This is my grandma's signature dish and a tried and true family favorite. An easy dinner for any night of the week!
Ingredients
For the Filling:
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 large onion, diced
- 8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
For the Cornbread:
- 1 ¼ cups cornmeal
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 can 14.75 ounce creamed corn
- 1 cup milk
- ¼ cup bacon drippings or vegetable oil plus more for greasing the skillet
- 3 jalapeño peppers
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Place a 12 inch cast iron skillet in the oven to get hot.
- Brown ground beef in a skillet and drain any excess grease.
- Combine ground beef with diced onion, cheese, garlic, chili powder, cumin and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add cornmeal, flour, soda and salt. Whisk to combine.
- Add eggs, creamed corn, milk, bacon grease and jalapeños, mixing to combine.
- Carefully remove skillet from oven and grease well with bacon drippings or oil.
- Pour half of cornbread mixture into bottom of the skillet.
- Top with ground beef and cheese mixture, spreading evenly.
- Top with remainder of cornbread mixture.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until well browned.
- Slice and serve.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 502Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 135mgSodium: 951mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 3gSugar: 3gProtein: 32g
Nutritional information is estimated and may not be accurate.
Ed
I’m from SEast Texas, over 72 years old, and I have never seen or heard of anyone making Mexican cornbread this way. Cream corn, whole kernel corn drained, jalapeño pepper, a little pimento for color but nothing like you fixed up here. Mexican’s like good sausage with some heat btw.
Milisa
Hi Ed,
I was just thinking this would be good with sausage! I've never known anyone else to make this besides my grandma. It's really delicious, I hope you give it a try.
~Milisa
Keena
Im from southeast texas and this is the way we have eaten and cooked mexican cornbread since we were kids and im 43 yrs old
Sandy Newsom
I’m from Southeast Texas also! We’ve been eating this Mexican Cornbread recipe since I was very small. It’s delicious!
Dolores Vinson
This is a wonderful meal pair with salad and my homemade ranch dressing, but as many times as I have made this I never thought to put it together like you,very good Missy.
Mrs. Pamplin
This sounds a lot like the recipe my Momma fixed us growing up and that was vintage, too! I'm glad to see this because it will be gracing the table tonight! Thank you.
Milisa
Mrs. Pamplin,
You have made my day!
~Milisa
Annette
I make this sometimes without the ground beef and serve it with a pot of pinto beans.
Milisa
Hi Annette,
That sounds so good! Thanks for stopping by.
~Milisa
Lin Collins
That sounds like a great idea. I grew up with beans and cornbread for dinner on Saturday nights but it was just plain cornbread.
wilhelmina
This stuff is so good! My family loves is always happy to see Mexican Cornbread on the menu board!
David Tillman
Your recipe Is about the most frustrating recipe I’ve ever read. You mentioned beef you don’t say how much. Is it a pound of beef, maybe 2? You don’t say how much onions how much anything. At least I can’t find them. Those are obviously essential in a recipe and they’re not included at least I cannot find them. A big waste of my time....
Milisa
Hi David,
The recipe card with ingredients and instructions are at the very bottom of the post. The link to the printable card is here:
https://www.missinthekitchen.com/wp-json/mv-create/v1/creations/642/print I hope that helps.
~ Milisa
Lin Collins
Honey, if you can't look at a recipe as simple as this and figure it out then you need to go back to square one. I had no problems and couldn't tell you what the recipe called for. I just looked at it and then simply cooked it. Not everything is rocket science. Good luck in the future.
Kelly Wilson
If i'm using self rising cornmeal mix how much would i use?
Milisa
Hi Kelly,
I had to google cornmeal mix, so I haven't actually tried this recipe with it. I'm thinking you can use 2 1/4 cups of the cornmeal mix in place of the cornmeal and flour and skip the baking powder and salt since you are using self-rising mix. I hope this helps.
~ Milisa
Sandy Newsom
I’m from Southeast Texas, this is my Momma’s exact recipe! Always so good! She also served with a lettuce tomato and cucumber salad!
Milisa
Hi Sandy,
That's amazing and my grandma always served it with the same salad! Thanks for stopping by.
~ Milisa
Doodle
I always enjoyed this cornbread meal! When your Grandma would tell me she would have it ready when I arrived at her home, well I would step on the pedal! Glad to see it.
Milisa
Hi Doodle,
So glad to have her recipe to share! Such great memories.
~ Milisa
Teresa
If you don't like spicy but want the pepper flavour, try bell peppers!
Milisa
Hi Teresa,
Great idea!
~ Milisa
Sofia
Creamed corn is hard for me to come by. Can I simply omit it? Will I need to add more or less of the cornbread ingredients (cornmeal, flour, or milk) to make up for it?
Ed Matthews
I've eaten it with whole kernel corn and it was good.........
Nan
From West Texas and have always eaten it this way, except with green chilis instead of jalapenos. Can use regular can of corn and add 3 oz cream cheese. Serve with sour cream and cholula.
Milisa
Hi Nan,
That sounds so good and I love the idea of adding regular corn and cream cheese. I always forget to buy cream corn because this is the only thing I use it for.
~ Milisa
Tammy H
I love Mexican cornbread, I’m actually making it tonight for my mother. She’s never had it before so I thought I would introduce her to it. Your recipe is the same I’ve used for many years. Have a blessed day!
Milisa
Hi Tammy,
One of our favorites! Glad you got the chance to make it for your mother. Thanks for stopping by.
~ Milisa
Donna
I really don't understand hateful people! If you have a question just ask it nicely. If this recipe isn't how you, your mama or grandma makes it then don't cook it. This is a recipe that someone has taken the time to shop for the ingredients, cooked it, posted the recipe, took pictures of it and answered peoples questions afterward.She isn't forcing anyone to read it, agree with it or make it. Seriously life is too short. BTW I do not know Missy, have never met her, messaged her or anything I just looked at her recipe and some of the comments got under my skin. Thank you for the effort you put into sharing your recipe with me.
Milisa
Hi Donna,
Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I so appreciate readers like you!
~ Milisa
Janice Rabenaldt
I came up with a similar recipe after trying one like this one from a friend. To me it was just kind of blah so I substituted cooked ground sausage for the ground beef. I too used cream style corn and grated cheddar or Mexican blend cheese. To speed up the process frozen cooked pork or turkey sausage (or half and half) and Jiffy cornbread mix can be used. I also substitute chopped green cities for the jalapeños and cream style corn. It's one of my family's favorite dishes!
Jeff
Why not use chorizo instead of ground beef....?
Milisa
Hi Jeff,
I am sure chorizo would be amazing. I use ground beef because that is the way my grandma always made it. Also we are cattle ranchers and tend to have lots of ground beef in the freezer.
~ Milisa
Kandis T Swinford
Mine is in the oven now! The only thing I did differently is I used the whole kernel and substituted buttermilk for the milk. I added a little more buttermilk due to losing the moisture from cream corn and regular milk. We'll see how it turns out. Thank you for the recipe! and for the jerk that was so nasty.. smh... go to FB if you want to be dramatic.
Tracy P
My Momma lost her cookbook from the auxiliary club. It was a dramatic loss, seriously. When I came across your recipe on Pinterest I immediately went to your blog to see what you and everyone else was saying about this recipe. I made it and it was just like the one in Momma's beloved cookbook. My husband and I (we met later in life) said he has eaten a lot of these but none have came close to the ones he had back in the 80's but this, this recipe, is a keeper. It may not have the fame of Julia Child's beef bourginon, but the feelings off of this recipe when we have it are priceless. We're foodies if you can't tell. Thank you for this recipe. I hope you have more recipes from your grandma posted down the road.
Milisa
Hi Tracy,
I'm so glad you found the recipe that you remembered from the lost cookbook. I do have a few of my grandma's recipes shared here. Her strawberry slab pie and best ever sugar cookies are my favorites. Thanks for taking the time to leave the kind comments, you have made my day!
~ Milisa
Dana
This recipe is pretty much the same one as has been passed around in my family since the 70’s, except in our version the ground beef is added into the entire cornbread mixture instead of layered. It’s SO good!!
Milisa
Hi Dana,
Great idea mixing the ground beef into the cornbread, I bet that is delicious!
~ Milisa
Ron Woodall
I've made this recipe several times, but lately added a few things. First I add a well drained can of ROTEL tomatoes to the meat for a little more heat. I also add a chile relleno for more pepper flavor and lastly a bunch of chopped cilantro. I'm making it tonight with ground turkey and a can of black beans for extra protein and fiber.
Milisa
Sounds absolutely delicious Ron!