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Sweet and Spicy Mexican Cornbread Recipe

Mexican Cornbread is a fluffy, sweet and spicy cornbread made with green chilis, pepper jack cheese, creamed corn and organic stone ground cornmeal. This soft cornbread is the perfect side to chilis, carne asada, taco stuffed peppers and so many other delicious Mexican style meals.

Cornbread is a staple for many households and while we enjoy a traditional cornbread with butter and honey; we love the twist of this recipe with it’s creamy texture and mellow heat. You can even use it in cornbread skillet dinners and casseroles much like a shepherds pie!

Let’s dive into this delicious homemade Mexican cornbread recipe and see what makes it such a scrumptious addition to your family menu.

Mexican Cornbread

What do you eat with Mexican Cornbread?

This cornbread can be enjoyed with a large variety of main dishes. It’s versatile and adds beautiful flavor and heat that we love with meals like chili, taco and tortilla soups, carne asada, even breakfast style burritos with eggs, bacon and salsa.

We even make it to go along with our hamburger soup dinner on occasion. You can also add it to a brunch table alongside quiche.

Watch Me  Make it!

Our homemade cornbread recipe can easily be made into Mexican cornbread muffins if you prefer. Simply use a muffin tin in place of a skillet or baking dish for easily servable muffins.

Cornbread can be enjoyed without any additional toppings but it’s elevated even more when it’s fresh out of the oven, still warm and topped with melted butter. This recipe will replace the standard jiffy mexican cornbread with cream style corn, and can hold it’s own against mexican cornbread with cream-style corn for it’s moist, and tender texture.

Mexican Cornbread Single Slice

Adding cheese, chopped green or red peppers, and creamed corn to cornbread makes it a huge favorite. Cheesy Mexican cornbread is a favorite for nearly everyone, and makes a tasty side to an array of dishes like chicken chilis, enchiladas, and verde chili meats.

Is corn pone the same as cornbread?

Corn pone may not be familiar to many of you, but it is basically the southern, more simple version of a cornbread. Corn pone is a much heavier and thicker consistency and is made from cornmeal, water, salt and oil or bacon drippings. The cornbreads that most of us are familiar with are more bread like, hence the name.

Cornbreads are made using eggs, sugar, butter, milk, flour and baking powder to give it a lighter, fluffy more break like texture. Corn pone is said to have been a favorite of President Abraham Lincoln, and is traditionally prepared in a cast iron skillet.

How do I make my cornbread moist?

Cornbreads can easily become dry when over mixed, over baked, or when ingredients such as the cornmeal or prepared mix are old and low quality. To get the absolute best cornbread with a soft, fluffy texture it is important to use fresh ingredients; and making it from scratch is always well worth the effort.

There are ingredients you can add that will bring the moisture level up and keep the cornbread soft and more cake like. Adding in things like sour cream, creamed corn, cheese and buttermilk will all keep your cornbread soft, while adding some tanginess and extra flavor too.

Storing your cornbread properly will also aid in keeping a soft, moist texture. Once your cornbread is baked and cooled be sure to cover it tightly with an airtight wrap or keep it in an airtight containers. If you are reheating a slice in the microwave, cover it with a paper towel and top with a wedge of butter. This will add extra moisture into your freshly heated slice.

Recipe notes on this sweet Mexican cornbread recipe

This recipe is prepared like many other bread like baked goods. Mix the dry ingredients, mix the wet ingredients and then combine them until they are a smooth consistency being careful not to over stir. Bake 40 minutes in a lightly greased baking dish until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool and serve.

You need to shred a bit of cheese and chop a couple of tablespoons of peppers for color and flavor. Well worth the effort for the flavor that they give.

Here is an optional final baking step

We enjoy letting the cornbread bake 40 minutes until it sizzles along the sides. Remove from oven, and add another cup of shredded cheese to the top of the cornbread.

Return the pan to the oven for 5 minutes or so until the cheese is lightly browned.

This is another layer of flavor and texture your family may enjoy.

Mexican Cornbread Single Bite On A Fork

Ingredient Notes

Choose your cooking oils carefully

  • We use coconut oil because adds great flavor and is a healthy fat.
  • Use avocado oil if you prefer a flavorless oil, just be sure it’s a reputable brand of good quality.
  • The good fats of these oils help the sugar and carbs digest better.

You may use whatever color and heat pepper you wish

  • We used our garden red sweet peppers instead of green chilis. You can use whatever you like.
  • If you enjoy an extra kick in the taste buds choose peppers with a higher heat factor than we used.

Our favorite cheese for this bread is Pepper Jack

  • Pepper Jack brings a delicious depth of flavor to the bread
  • Use your favorite Mexican style melting cheese if you prefer, but Pepper Jack is our personal favorite.

The cornmeal grind will affect the texture and results you get

  • If you want a lighter bread choose the finer grind.
  • The heavier grinds will add more texture and make a denser bread.

We are using an 11 inch cast iron skillet to bake this recipe today. As you can see this recipe filled the pan to the very top, so we recommend a 12 inch skillet.

Our Mexican style cornbread also bakes well in whatever lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish or equivalent you choose to use. You can consider this one of the easy mexican cornbread recipes that you will find. Straightforward, simple, and easy to customize to suite your preferences.

Mexican Cornbread
Mexican Cornbread
Yield: 16 pieces of cornbread

Mexican Cornbread

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes

Mexican cornbread is a moist, slightly sweet cornbread flavored with a tiny pepper kick to keep it interesting. A delicious cornbread with a hint of Mexico.

Ingredients

  • 1 Cup coconut oil
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 15 oz. can cream-style corn
  • 2 Tablespoon chopped green chilis (OR 1 red sweet pepper minced)
  • 1 Cup shredded Pepper Jack cheese (I'm generous with my cheese)
  • 1 Cup organic all-purpose flour
  • 1 Cup yellow organic stone ground cornmeal
  • 1/3 Cup flax (optional)
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp. salt

Instructions

  1. preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. oil a 9 x 13 pan
  3. In a large bowl beat together, melted coconut oil and sugar, add in eggs, one at a time and mix well after each one.
  4. Add in the creamed corn, chili( or sweet) pepper and cheese. Mix well
  5. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, flax meal, cornmeal, baking powder and salt.
  6. Combine the dry and wet ingredients and mix until smooth.Pour into oiled casserole and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick, inserted in the middle, comes out clean.
  7. OPTIONAL STEP: Shred an additional cup of cheese and spread it evenly over the hot cornbread. Return to oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese is lightly browned.

Notes

Feel free to use a higher heat pepper if you prefer. This cornbread is great with jalapeno or Thai peppers or any roasting pepper.

Nutrition Information

Yield

16

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 313Total Fat 19gSaturated Fat 13gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 53mgSodium 235mgCarbohydrates 31gFiber 2gSugar 14gProtein 6g

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Mexican Cornbread is a fluffy, sweet and spicy cornbread made with green chilis, pepper jack cheese, creamed corn and organic stone ground cornmeal.

Recipe Source: Allrecipes.com

This recipe was originally published December 8, 2016. It has been updated and republished.

Anne

Monday 10th of January 2022

Love the sound of this recipe. Wonder if I can't get flax meal what else you would recommend? Haven't tried to find yet so looking for alternatives :)

Anne

Monday 10th of January 2022

@Anne, Just minutes after I posted this I opened the next email and found it was from Ceres Organic (suppliers of lots of organic product here in New Zealand), on the first page of an ebook for smoothies is a packet of Flaxseed Meal/flour :) Perfect

Diane

Monday 10th of January 2022

Hi Anne, The flax adds fiber and helps with digestion but you can leave it out. The cornbread is good either way. Hope this helps. Please let us know how you like this cornbread. One of my very favorites! :)

Gail L

Wednesday 8th of March 2017

I made this Mexican Cornbread last night to accompany my brother in law's smoked brisket for a big family dinner and this cornbread was a hit! It went so well with the meat, my mouth is watering again just thinking about our meal. The coconut oil in the cornbread makes it so fragrant and adds a nice subtle flavour.

I hadn't seen any reviews on your recipe yet so I was a bit apprehensive to try it, but I did anyways...I'm so glad I did. I made a couple of ingredient changes, but kept the measurements the same. I used Old Cheddar Cheese rather than the Pepper Jack and I also used a jalapeno pepper (I made sure that the I removed all the seeds and the membranes as I understand that's where the heat is) and it was fantastic...not spicy at all. Oh, also, the creamed corn I used was only a 14oz can.

Next time I think I'll keep a bit of the heat from the jalapeno and perhaps cut down a bit on the sugar.

Thanks for this recipe, it's a keeper for sure!

Diane

Wednesday 8th of March 2017

Hi Gail, Thank you so much for taking the time to review this recipe! It's one of our old family favorites. It's wonderful of you to come back and share your experience for us. I'm thrilled you love Mexican cornbread. You just made my day.

Crock Pot Taco soup | Homemade Food Junkie

Tuesday 9th of February 2016

[…] the very best results. Canned or frozen corn and veggies works fine for winter though. Add a pan of Mexican cornbread for an outstanding easy […]

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