Mexican Cornbread
Mexican Cornbread casserole 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 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, jiffy mix needed!
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Ingredients For Mexican Cornbread Casserole Recipe
Ground Beef Filling:
- Ground Beef
- Onion
- Cheddar Cheese
- Garlic Powder
- Chili Powder
- Ground Cumin
- Kosher Salt
Cornbread:
- Cornmeal
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Kosher Salt
- Eggs
- Milk
- Canned Cream-Style Corn
- Bacon Drippings or Vegetable Oil
- Jalapeños
Step-by-Step Directions for Mexican Cornbread
- Brown ground beef and drain any excess grease. Combine with seasonings, chopped onion and shredded cheddar cheese.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine cornmeal, all purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. Add milk, eggs, cream style corn, bacon grease and chopped jalapeños. Mix well.

- Grease a cast iron skillet with bacon drippings or vegetable oil, add half of cornbread batter.

- Top with ground beef, cheese and onion.

- Then top with remaining cornbread mixture.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes at 350° until golden brown.
Recipe Notes and Variations
- Crunchy Crust: Grease the cast iron skillet and place it in the oven while it preheats. A hot skillet will make the crunchiest cornbread crust.
- Cheese: I used medium cheddar. Colby-Jack cheese , Monterey Jack cheese, Pepper Jack cheese or any Mexican cheese blend would all be great.
- Peppers: I used fresh jalapeños, pickled jalapenos, candied jalapenos or a can of green chiles will work fine too. If you aren’t a fan of spicy foods, you can cut down on the jalapeños or leave them out.
- Cornbread Mix: Homemade cornbread is so easy to make from scratch but if you are a fan of jiffy cornbread mix, it will work just fine.
- Baking Dish: Use a 9 x 13 X 2 inch baking dish if you don’t have a cast iron skillet.
- Serving: Garnish with sliced green onions and serve with sour cream if desired.
- Storage: Store leftover Mexican cornbread casserole in an airtight container or on a plate covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator up to 3 days.
- Reheat: Place cornbread slices on a baking sheet or in a cast iron skillet. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350° for 15- 20 minutes or until heated through.
Why You Will Love this Easy Mexican Cornbread Recipe
- Delicious Dinner: This casserole takes regular cornbread to the next level of deliciousness with simple ingredients and hearty ground beef for a wonderful recipe that the entire family will love.
- One Dish Meal: Make this a one-dish meal by using the same cast iron skillet to brown the ground beef and make the Mexican cornbread casserole.
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Delicious Dishes and Drinks 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 the perfect side dish or add Cucumber Onion Salad for something light.
- 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.
More Mexican Recipes to Try
Brisket Tacos are my absolute favorite and the best idea for leftover smoked brisket and we can’t get enough of these Creamy Chicken Enchiladas.
If you love Mexican inspired cuisine, you will love this Taco Spaghetti and check out our Mexican Fiesta Menu that is perfect for feed a crowd.
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 homemade Mexican Cornbread Recipe.
This Mexican Cornbread casserole has become one of our favorite dinners to make with ground beef, Mexican flavors and classic southern cornbread. Add it to your list if you are looking for new recipes to try this week.
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
Equipment
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.















I just made this for my family and we loved this recipe. The only thing we would change is to add a little more heat such as hatch chili’s. We live in Maryland and love to add Mexican food to our list of dinners. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Jenne,
I am so glad your family enjoyed it. I bet it would be so delicious with hatch chilis. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.
~ Milisa
Have you tried mixing all together? Instead of a pie like?
Hi Kim,
I haven’t ever tried it that way but I really don’t know why it wouldn’t work. Let me know if you try it that way.
~ Milisa
I loved this cornbread casserole. It had so much flavor and was over-the-top delicious. Definitely going into my regular dinner rotation.
Thanks so much, I am so glad you enjoyed it.
~ Milisa
We had this, and it was fantastic. The ground beef and cheese are so comforting. The kids loved it with the bacon drippings!
I liked this but thought it was a bit too dry. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Denise,
I am sorry it turned out a bit dry for you, thanks for stopping by.
~ Milisa
I really appreciate you sharing this recipe BUT it was like clay. I made two different batches (one spicy and one mild) and they both were the same. I think 1/2 tsp of soda is not enough. I will not make it again but I do thank you.
Hi Evelyn,
I have made it so many times and never had any issue with it. I appreciate your feedback. I have also made it using my regular cornbread recipe and it always turns out.
~ Milisa
I tried to click on the broccoli cheese soup and got the Mexican corn bread. Then I tried clicking on the Mexican Corn bread, thinking that you’d mixed them up, but I got the cornbread recipe again. Would you please fix this?
Thanks,
Judy
This is an excellent recipe. I do however make a few additions, I add a can of drained black beans. a can of drained Rotel tomatoes a chopped poblano pepper and some cilantro to the ground beef. The tomatoes give
Hi Ron,
I am so glad you enjoyed it. I have made it with chicken and added black beans to that version, the rotel tomatoes are a great idea too.
Thanks for stopping by with your ideas,
Milisa
it the extra kick I’m looking for.
Thank you for memories. I’m 63 years old and it’s just like my mom it. Yummy
Thank You for the memories. I’m 63 years old and it’s just like my mom made it. Yummy
Hi Sherry,
I am so glad you found this. It always brings great memories for me too.
~ Milisa