Homemade or Jiffy Taco Cornbread Casserole

Taco cornbread casserole with ground beef and layered with cheddar cheese on top is comfort food baked in the oven. Cheap family friendly meal. Make homemade from scratch or use boxed muffin mix like our Jiffy Cowboy Casserole recipe.

Jiffy Cornbread Taco Bake

We didn’t add pasta inside the meat layer this time like we did with our Instant Pot Taco Casserole. You could boil some elbow macaroni to al dente beforehand and mix those in, about 1/2 cup uncooked, too if you wanted to. That is more Italian in nature though, instead I opted for corn kernels and diced tomatoes.

This sort of Hamburger HotDish is always a huge hit with everyone and a great way to use up leftovers too. If you had hamburgers the night before and looking for a way to use it up this would be a great second meal solution. You would never know it started off as precooked out of the fridge cooked the day before.

When it comes to the meat you could use half spicy ground sausage and half beef if you wanted to add a bit of heat. I have done this with our Chili Cornbread Casserole before and it has always been a hit.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef or spicy Jimmy Dean sausage
• 1 tbsp olive oil to cook meat
• A small onion diced
• Minced garlic is great
• Corn canned, drained or frozen
• Tomato puree or tomato sauce
• 1 can diced chiles 4 oz. we love mild or medium heat
• 1/2 tsp salt is just a bit
• Taco seasoning adds a ton of flavor
• 3 tbsp sour cream or dairy free alternative
• 1/2 c cheddar cheese or other type
• Jiffy corn muffin mix + ingredients to make batter

Then below is what I used for the cornbread layer. This one is rather basic but you could add a bit of heat like with our Jiffy Mexican Cornbread with diced chiles in it. Semi-homemade or from scratch works, just enough for a square baking dish, but a thin layer so you can layer the taco meat mixture over the top with cheese.

Homemade cornbread option

• 1 egg
• Cornmeal
• 2 tbsp butter melted
• Salt
• Milk
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

If you wanted quick easy peasy you could make your favorite taco meat, throw in some diced tomatoes and sour cream with boxed batter instead of from scratch for a Mexican Cornbread Casserole.

The combinations of these main two ingredients are really endless. This is always a winner but we have created Jiffy Tamale Pie too. I like to add a bit of spicy to that one and typically I will use a boxed mix instead of homemade for the breading. Also this time I poured the batter on top vs. the bottom here. Either way works really.

How to Make Ground Beef Cornbread Casserole

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• In a pan on the stovetop add olive oil until hot and then add diced onions with ground meat. Cook 2 minutes, then add garlic and cook until meat is no longer pink.
• Then add chiles, tomato sauce, corn, salt and spices. Mix together.
• Cook covered for 10 minutes on low heat.
• Add sour cream and stir in, remove pan from heat. In a bowl combine ingredients for cornbread.
• Spray 8×8″ pan and pour in batter. Bake for 20 minutes.
• Take out of oven, pour seasoned ground beef taco meat mixture over the top and bake for 15 minutes, then remove and sprinkle grated cheese over the top and bake for another 5-10 minutes until melted and lightly browned.
• Serve scooped out topped with sour cream and chives.

Now if I have made Instant Pot tacos the night before I may have leftover proteins, I hate to waste so use that. Whether it was shredded beef or ground meats you would just want about 1 pound left to make it as directed below. Won’t need any browning in that case.

Can you use ground turkey instead of ground beef?

Now let’s go over some variations you could make to this, tweaks I like to say. Let’s start with the meat. Ground turkey is fine and will be lower in fat, but with less flavor. Ground chicken works with the same outcome.

Variations

Optional toppings or items you could include into the mix might be diced green onions, sliced olives or diced jalapenos for heat. Your cornbread mixture is best to use measurements below to only fill half of your pan, Jiffy cornbread mix is about the same amount vs. Krusteauz which I love but will fill the whole thing with no room for meat.

Cheeses are many. I love Mexican cheese blend that has some taco seasoning tossed in there with many of our Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix Recipes. Sharp cheddar shredded cheese is my second choice. You can find dairy free varieties out there too. We love a lot and could add some into the middle as well as on the top, or remove all together if you’d rather.