Cornbread Taco Bake
Cornbread Taco Bake is a cornbread base topped with seasoned ground beef, a creamy filling and topped with melted cheese! So good!
A TACO-INSPIRED CORNBREAD CASSEROLE
Earlier this week I tried my hand at making my own Homemade Taco Seasoning. I had played around with a few recipes and finally found a mix of flavors that my family really loved. The whole reason I did that was because I was working on this recipe. It’s basically a layered taco-style casserole. The cornbread base holds up really well with the other layers on top.
My wife and kids really loved this. Thank you for the recipe. We didn’t change a thing. Great as is written.
– Jason
CAN I USE CHICKEN INSTEAD OF BEEF?
- Of course! You can substitute ground chicken or even ground turkey in this meal. I’m super thrilled to share this recipe with y’all. It comes together super fast and it’s a recipe your whole family will love it. You can set out different toppings for everyone to make this to their liking!
- Also, try using my Crock Pot Taco Meat in this recipe to really elevate the flavors!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- cornbread mix
- milk
- egg
- ground beef
- taco seasoning
- water
- Mexicorn
- Rotel
- sour cream
- Mexican cheese blend
- green onions
HOW TO MAKE CORNBREAD TACO BAKE:
Preheat oven to 350f degrees. Spray a 9×9-inch (or 2 1/2 quart) baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Combine cornbread mix with milk and egg. Stir well.
Pour batter into prepared baking dish and bake for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, make sure you got your Mexicorn and Rotel drained.
Cook ground beef until no longer pink, drain excess grease. Then add in taco seasoning and 1/3 cup water.
Then add in Mexicorn and Rotel. Stir well and simmer for a couple of minutes.
Once cornbread is cooked, take out of oven, then cover with ground beef mixture.
Next, combine sour cream, ONE cup of shredded cheese and green onion in a bowl.
Gently spread the sour cream mixture on top of the ground beef mixture.
Sprinkle the top with the remaining cup of shredded cheese. Bake for about 25 minutes until heated through and cheese is melted.
Allow to cool for a few minutes. Then slice and serve. Top with shredded lettuce, sliced olives, diced tomatoes and a drizzle of taco sauce.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
- Taco Rice
- Taco Bake
- Mexican Cornbread
- Tamale Pie
- Skillet Cornbread Pizza
- Easy Cornbread Chicken Casserole
- Cornbread Waffles with Chili & Fixins’
- Sloppy Joe Cornbread Casserole
- Cornbread Muffin Sausage Bites
- Mexican Lasagna
- Crock Pot Refried Beans
- Taco Bell Mexican Pizza
- Taco Bell Chili Cheese Burritos
- White Chicken Enchiladas
Originally published: June 2015
Updated photos & republished: February 2021
Cornbread Taco Bake
Ingredients
- 7 ounce packet cornbread mix
- ½ cup milk
- 1 large egg
- 1 pound ground beef
- 3 Tablespoons taco seasoning (or 1 packet)
- ⅓ cup water
- 11 ounce can Mexicorn, drained
- 10 ounce can Rotel, drained
- 2 cups sour cream (see my notes below)
- 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend (divided use)
- ½ cup chopped green onions
optional toppings:
- shredded lettuce, sliced olives, diced tomatoes, taco sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350f degrees. Spray a 9×9-inch (or 2 1/2 quart) baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a bowl, combine 7 ounce packet cornbread mix, ½ cup milk and 1 large egg. Stir well.
- Pour batter into prepared baking dish and bake for about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook and crumble 1 pound ground beef until no longer pink, drain excess grease.
- Then add in 3 Tablespoons taco seasoning and 1/3 cup water and stir to combine.
- Then add in 11 ounce can Mexicorn, drained and 10 ounce can Rotel, drained. Stir well and simmer for a couple of minutes.
- Once cornbread is cooked, take out of oven, then cover with ground beef mixture.
- Next, combine 2 cups sour cream with ONE cup shredded Mexican cheese blend and1/2 cup chopped green onions in a bowl.
- Gently spread the sour cream mixture on top of the ground beef mixture.
- Sprinkle the top with the remaining one cup Mexican shredded cheese blend.
- Bake uncovered for about 25 minutes until heated through and cheese is melted.
- Allow to cool for a few minutes. Slice and serve with optional toppings of: shredded lettuce, sliced olives, diced tomatoes, taco sauce.
Video
Notes
- If someone in your family doesn’t like sour cream, just don’t add it. Layer the cheese and green onion without the sour cream. You can always add a bit of sour cream on top of individual servings as well for those who like sour cream.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Delicious!! Curious if you think this would freeze well?
So happy you liked it! I wouldn’t recommend freezing unless you skipped the sour cream. Sour cream can get weird when you try to reheat it from frozen. But having said all that, I have not personally tried it.
Looks delicious! I’m in Canada. What is Rotel please?
Hi Linda, they sell it in Canada. What part are you in & I’ll tell you where to find it. Half of my readers are Canadian & I’m there quite a bit to visit so I’m very familiar. It is diced tomatoes and chiles. There is a photo of it above if it helps to see what it looks like.
Sounds delicious! Do you think a gluten free cornbread mix would hold up and work in this recipe?
Thanks!
Just wanted to take the time to say thank you. I have been making this since you first shared it years ago. It has been in our regular family dinner rotation since. Thank you for all your hard work on these recipes. Your pictures and instructions are absolutely perfect and I know it must take a lot of work for you to do all of this. I can always depend on your site for solid recipes and I never have to wonder if they will turn out good because they always do. Thanks again!!
Hi Brandie!
Just had to tell you how much we enjoyed the Cornbread Taco Bake! Made it for dinner and it was a total hit. The combination of flavors was spot on, and that cornbread topping was a game-changer. Will be making again!~
Connie
Thanks so very much Connie!! I really appreciate you taking time to come back and review!!
This was really good. I made regular
cornbread I didn’t have jiffy cornbread mix. Also I didn’t add sour cream. Love it.
This is delicious! I added a can of black bean and used a red pepper and frozen corn because I didn’t have mexi corn!!! I will definitely add to the dinner rotation.
I loved it! Not a single one in my family likes cream cheese! Surprised I didn’t know this. Guess it’s gonna be my dish only.
The recipe calls for SOUR cream, not cream cheese. Then maybe your family will like it. 🙂
I made this tonight & all I can say is OMG this was so good!
Thank you fro sharing
This looks good and easy to make. I don’t like to change recipes up any first time. I know people use yoghurt at times instead of sour cream. Can you do that?
Yes I think you could. I haven’t personally done it but I can’t see why it wouldn’t work
I don’t see cream cheese in your list of ingredients, but you mention it in the comments after the recipe.
I honestly have no idea how that got on there. Must’ve been a typo or autocorrect for another word. Anyways, I fixed it. There is no cream cheese and there never was cream cheese in the recipe – sorry!
I served this for a choir party at church, everyone loved it!
Dear Country Cook: I have used this recipe for 2 years whenever serving a casual crowd and it is loved without exception! I always get multiple requests for the recipe and may have single-handedly increased your subscriber-ship. Thanks for this – my only alteration is using the mild version of taco seasoning. Love your recipes!
My family really liked this. My son told me not to make anything else for dinner the next night because he wanted this again!
Easy to make and delicious. I’ll be making a vegetarian version next!
Please let me know how it turns out for you!
Made this for my sons family – they loved it!
This was quite tasty, and my family enjoyed it very much!
We love tacos, but my MIL is having dental issues so I needed something soft that she could eat, and this proved tailor-made for my needs. I served the Mexicorn on the side for that reason, but that worked well. Otherwise followed as written. Loved the flavors and the layering of the casserole!
This is absolutely delicious! I didn’t add corn but added a couple of roasted green chiles. We are going to have this for Christmas!
That’s funny. For us it’s a toss-up between this or a pot roast. There’s just 2 of us.
Made this last night 11/15/23 and it was a huge hit! The only thing I added was a little ranch seasoning to the sour cream and cheese mix. Delicious!
Sounds delicious!
Absolutely loved this – what a great, easy dinner that my entire family really enjoyed! Going into the meal rotation!
Our teen son ate double helpings then came back and polished off the leftovers. Delicious, easy meal- I used low-fat ingredients where I could and used ground turkey. This recipe is a keeper!
Thanks so very much Tracey!
I made this exactly as shown and we really enjoyed it. I was a little worried about the sweet cornbread but the sweetness really didn’t come thru. We topped it with onions, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and taco sauce
Delicious. I will make again and maybe next time use mexican cornbread.
Can this be made ahead and frozen? Made it once and it is delicious!
Made this using ground turkey, instead of rotel used salsa but drained it. Used jiffy corn bread in the box. Omg amazing, loved it!
So easy! Takes minimal effort and always turns out amazing a staple in my dinner lineup
Thank you so very much Ciara!! So happy you love this one!
Question: The video shows you using a 9×9 inch pan BUT the white baking dish in the photos looks like a 9×13 inch baking dish. Would this work in a 9×13 or would I need to double the recipe?
It is a 9×9 – you’d have to double for a larger baking and probably adjust the cooking time (but I haven’t tested doubling it) 🙂
Thank you for answering! I used the pinto beans instead of the corn and followed the recipe exactly with this exception including the taco seasoning and it was absolutely delicious!! My husband loved it and asked if I printed out the recipe! Thank you so much for this awesome recipe!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that Dori – thank you!
Absolutely delicious
Thank you Auggy!
This is so good!!! 9 by 13 dish works better.
Do you have a tamale pie recipe?
I don’t I’m sorry 🙁
I made this for the first time last night and the ONLY difference with mine was the type of cornbread used. I couldn’t find the regular cornbread mix in a 7 oz pouch so I purchased the southwestern flavor instead. This meal was an absolute hit and I will now have another ground beef recipe to serve my family! It was so full of flavor, colorful and just the right amount of spice. Will without a doubt make this again and will double the recipe!
Hey Jenn! I actually love the idea of using the southwestern cornbread, I’m going to try that myself next time! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment – I am so happy you enjoyed this one!
We love it! Turned out so great. Just wondering how well it does reheating. Any tips?
As long as you don’t have all the toppings you can reheat. It gets a little tricky trying to reheat with toppings. Lol Just reheat slowly. Too quick and that sour cream layer will curdle on ya
Super easy and as always amazingly tasty. The whole fam loved it
Thanks so very much Leslie! I appreciate you taking the time to come back and comment!
Can I use pinto beans instead of corn? My husband cannot have corn. I am making this tomorrow, it looks delicious!
Yes definitely! This is easily tailored to your tastes, etc. 🙂
We love it!
This was really tasty and easy to make on a weeknight. Next time I’ll probably add more taco seasoning and use less sour cream on top.
Thanks so very much Ashley – I appreciate you taking the time to come back and comment!
At the top of the recipe, it says cook time is 25 minutes. According to the directions, the total cook time is 45 minutes. It says to cook the cornbread part for 20 minutes, then cook the whole thing for 25 minutes. That’s 45 minutes of cook time. Hubby and I had a debate on this; he was insisting the second 25 minute time was a typo. Please confirm. Thanks!
Hubby wins – ha! It was a typo! Thanks so much for catching that – sorry for any confusion!
HAHA So it’s just an additional 5 minutes when it’s all together, right?
Once it’s all together, it’s about 25 minutes. Obviously, oven times can vary depending on your type of oven and what rack you cook it on, etc. 🙂
How long do I cook it after putting the sour cream mixture on top? 25 minutes seems long. Plan to make this this week.
Can you use homemade corn bread?
I don’t see why not. Cornbread is cornbread.
If I use jiffy, the directions say to bake for 15 minutes at 400. Do I still do that or do 350? Is the goal to bake the cornbread only partially?
I’ve not tried it with jiffy but I think it would still work the same way. Just follow the recipe instructions I have here & keep an eye on your cornbread layer. It should firm up and be lightly golden.
This was excellent!!! Everyone loved it. I doubled the recipe and made it for a family dinner. Very easy to make. Will be making it again!
Yay!! Thanks so very much Lisa!
Can this be put in the freezer? My sister just had a baby and this is one of our favorites… I thought I could make it with the other freezer meals I’m making her!
Hi Sarah! Yes – it sure can! Wrap VERY well Perhaps prepare it in a disposable pan so she won’t have to worry about dishes. Just spray the inside well with nonstick spray. Cook then allow to cool then wrap well with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil. I haven’t cooked it from frozen so she may have to guess on the exact cooking time but really she would just be warming it up since it will already be cooked. Hope that helps!
Black olives and a can of green chili’s would go good..
This looks yummy. Can’t wait to try it.
Could you use Jiffy, and if so, how many boxes? I’ve got a couple of boxes of that, but no Martha White.
Yes you could. Just one box.
making this now, but put creamed corn in the cornbread, and salsa in the meat. will be back for results
This was outstanding.here we are in the Pandemic and this was just delicious and feeds a lot of people, plus ingredients are cheap. I made this recipe in two bread pans and shared it with another family. Yum!
Excellent and easy!
Made this last week and it was delicious. So easy and tasty. Will make again. Have already shared with daughter-in-law and best friend
A Keeper !
That makes me so happy to hear Chris! Thank you!!
I made this for Sunday lunch, and it was scrumptious! My husband and I love jalapeño peppers, so I added some. Thanks for the recipe!
I made this tonight and it was absolutely delicious!! It satisfied my craving for cheesy, meaty tacos in a casserole!! My family loved it and there was none left! I will be making this often!!!
This was delicious! I made two with your recipe in a bread pan. Anyway this can be frozen? I hope so!!
So, so good!!
This recipe sounds fabulous. I think the green onions will be a great touch!