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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.

Easy Cornbread Mexican Casserole - two slices shown on two plates with forks

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!
Easy Cornbread Taco Bake recipe from The Country Cook, slice shown on a plate with a bunch of parsley in the background.

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
Cornbread Taco Bake ingredients: ground beef, cornbread mix, Mexican shredded cheese, Rotel, Mexicorn, sour cream, egg, taco seasoning, milk, green onion.

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.

cornbread batter in a bowl with a fork.

Pour batter into prepared baking dish and bake for about 15 minutes.

Cornbread batter in a square white baking dish.

Meanwhile, make sure you got your Mexicorn and Rotel drained.

draining extra liquid from Mexican.

Cook ground beef until no longer pink, drain excess grease. Then add in taco seasoning and 1/3 cup water.

ground beef and taco seasoning in a skillet.

Then add in Mexicorn and Rotel. Stir well and simmer for a couple of minutes.

mexicorn and Rotel brand tomatoes added cooked ground beef mixture in large skillet.

Once cornbread is cooked, take out of oven, then cover with ground beef mixture.

cooked ground beef mixture spread out on top of cornbread in a white baking dish.

Next, combine sour cream, ONE cup of shredded cheese and green onion in a bowl.

sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, sliced green onion mixed together in a clear bowl.

Gently spread the sour cream mixture on top of the ground beef mixture.

sour cream mixture layered on top of ground beef later in baking dish.

Sprinkle the top with the remaining cup of shredded cheese. Bake for about 25 minutes until heated through and cheese is melted.

melted cheese on top of baked cornbread taco bake casserole.

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.

slice of cornbread taco casserole shown on a square white plate

CRAVING MORE RECIPES?

Originally published: June 2015
Updated photos & republished: February 2021

Easy Cornbread Taco Bake recipe

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!
244 Reviews
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 8

Ingredients

  • 7 ounce packet cornbread mix
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 3 Tablespoons taco seasoning (or 1 packet)
  • 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

YouTube 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. 
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American

Nutrition

Calories: 377kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 32g | Sodium: 372mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g

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.

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Recipe Rating




134 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Great recipe! I had originally seen a recipe with the cornbread mix on top, but when I searched yours came up and I’m glad it did. Didn’t have the mexicorn on hand, but I did add hatch green chilis to the mix and it was delicious! Next time I’ll be sure to get the corn for this! Definitely on my list of regular meals from now on!

  2. 5 stars
    This was the fourth or fifth of your recipes I’ve made and, once again, it was great. Besides making my own cornbread and using sweet onion instead of green onion, I followed the recipe exactly. My only issue was that my pan overflowed while cooking and made a huge mess. I used a 9×9 pan so I’m not sure what I did wrong. I’ve tried several taco bake recipes before and the ratio of the cornbread and meat mixture was always off. This recipe is perfect. My husband, who doesn’t even like cornbread, loved it.

    1. So happy you loved it – yay!! Thanks so much for coming back to comment! It could’ve just been your recipe for homemade cornbread. It probably just rises higher than the smaller pack of cornbread mix used in this recipe so it kinda pushed everything up higher. Usually homemade cornbread is made to rise and fill up to the top of the pan where this little packet of Martha White only goes halfway (at best lol) 🙂

  3. 5 stars
    This was so delicious! I have made so many of your recipes, and they have become my go to recipes. This one adds to the list! I doubled the recipe and made in 13×9. The leftovers reheat great! Almost better the next day. My husband loved it too and he was afraid to try it at first because it’s “different”

  4. 5 stars
    Amazing recipe! My 16 year old loved it. I did mod and added green onion, cheese, and melted butter to the corn bread, and subbed milk for heavy whipping cream to keep it moist and almost “corn cake”ish. Next time ill add in jalepenos too. Added a layer of Isadora refried beans on top of the meat.

  5. 5 stars
    I’ve been making your recipe for years. My 36-year-old son requests it whenever he’s home. It’s delicious!

  6. 5 stars
    I just made this and it is excellent! Super simple recipe and fantastic flavor, I really love the sour cream/cheese layer. I will definitely make this again!

  7. 5 stars
    This was delicious exactly as written. My entire family loved it and asked for it to go into the regular rotation.

  8. 5 stars
    Great tasting meal. Ony two of us now so I cut the recipe way down. Had to leave off the lettuce as neither of us can take it anymore, guess thats what happens as one ages. Did add in extra olives though. Thank you!

  9. 5 stars
    My wife and kids really loved this. Thank you for the recipe. We didn’t change a thing. Great as is written.

  10. 5 stars
    I made this a long time ago, but misplaced the recipe. Just found it and will be making it for our grandson and his wife. She is celiac, so I am careful when doing everything. I know it’s delicious, and they will agree. Ari loves cornbread, and I make my own. Thank you a super delicious recipe !!! I will update when it is made and eaten.

  11. 5 stars
    Just made this! So easy and perfect for a fall day watching football! Only addition I made was to add some diced jalapeños to the sour cream layer (we like spice). Thank you!

  12. 5 stars
    Absolutely amazing!! We all loved this so much and my whole family said this one MUST go into regular dinner rotation! Thank you! By the way, saw the recipe on Tik Tok from someone else and she totally stole your recipe and didn’t give you credit. I googled the recipe and yours was the first to come up and saw you posted this recipe YEARS ago. I prefer to cook from a website, not Tik Tok lol.

  13. 5 stars
    I had to comment because I have been making your recipe for YEARS and never commented but I saw some popular Tik Toker make this exact recipe and she tried to claim she invented it and I know for a fact yours was first out there. So I commented and told her she was a big fat copycat and she blocked me! LOL. All she does is copy others recipes and claim she invented them. I’m sorry people can’t just simply give credit. How hard is that?! Anyways, you are the inventor and I wanted you to get credit. I love this and my whole family devours it every time I make it. Thank you!!

    1. Awww thank you so much for that! Sadly, there are people who create and people who copy. Tik Tok is filled with the copiers. Like you said, how hard is it to say that you got a great recipe from someone? I don’t know but I put in a lot of work (and money) into creating and testing recipes. It takes a lot of time and effort (and dirty dishes LOL) to get things just right so it is disheartening but what can you do? I am thankful for folks like you who know the importance of recipe creation. You are so sweet and thank you for following along with me all these years!!

  14. 5 stars
    This was delicious! I added a bit of cream cheese as I didn’t have enough sour cream and it made it taste wonderful. I also added a smidge of black beans and didn’t add the toppings and it was soooo good. Thanks for the receipe!!

  15. Brandie, I don’t ever use Jiffy mix (too sweet) but do make my own cornbread from scratch. I assume I can do that with this recipe?

    1. Hi Janice, you sure can. I don’t use Jiffy either for this. You’ll see above in my ingredient photo, I use Martha White. There is a version you a buy called “Cotton Picking Cornbread” – it has zero sweetness and works really well for this too. It just depends on your preference. You can certainly make from scratch as well. 🙂

      1. 5 stars
        Made this for dinner & everyone loves it! Best recipe! My friend said she’d been making your recipe for years & shared it with me & im glad she did. It’ll be in our recipe rotation for sure!

  16. 5 stars
    This was so good! I used chicken instead of ground beef and omitted the water. I’ll be making this again!

  17. 5 stars
    love this..I don’t add lettuce and stuff on top but hubby love it without. I want to know if it can be frozen and later reheated in oven since there is only 2 of us

    1. That is so fantastic Deb! I’m so happy you enjoyed this! As for freezing it and reheating it later – that part can be a bit tricky. The sour cream layer doesn’t always like to cooperate when being reheated. If it heats up too quick, that layer will separate and it won’t be good at all so I’m not sure this is the best freezer meal to be honest. But having said that, I haven’t personally tried it so maybe someone else who has will hopefully comment on here for us and let us know how it turned out!

      1. 5 stars
        I’ve been making this recipe since you first created and shared it. I realized I never commented. It has been our family favorite for many years now and is on regular rotation. Thank you!

  18. 5 stars
    Really good! Like a taco salad over cornbread instead of taco chips or taco shells. It’s fairly labor intensive, but worth the effort. Will def make again.

  19. 5 stars
    l made this last week, it was delicious! It was so good that we ate it for three days leftover, that’s saying something, my husband never eats leftovers!!!

    1. was it hard to reheat? there was a post earlier saying it’s tricky to reheat because of the dairy mixture.

  20. 5 stars
    We really enjoyed this casserole! I used frozen corn in place of Mexicorn. Served with lettuce and salsa. Will definitely be making again!

  21. 5 stars
    This was so good. I have found very few recipes on Pinterest that are good, let alone want to make again. This one was good and I will definitely make again. I even went and bought a 9×9 pan since my 8×8 pan looked like it was going to overflow. Thanks for a great recipe.

      1. 5 stars
        We loved this casserole so much my son asking for it to be his bday party dinner for a crowd. I’ll be making 3 casseroles haha. My question is can I make this in the morning or day before? Will the cornbread get soggy with hamburger mixture? Also warming up the casserole will the cornbread be okay? Thank you so much!