Most families I know make a version of this deliciously moist and decadent cornbread known to us as Mama’s Mexican Cornbread recipe. Studded with sweet corn, cheddar cheese, and spicy bits of jalapeño peppers it’s sure to be a favorite.
Whenever I make Mexican Cornbread, I can happily eat two pieces of it, hot from the oven, and nothing else . Even my husband, who really doesn’t care for cornbread unless it’s sweet, comes running whenever I make this. My son’s only complaint is that I don’t cut the pieces bigger so he doesn’t have to keep coming back. Needless to say, when I make this Mexican Cornbread recipe by Mama for supper, usually, there isn’t any left.
Recipe Ingredients:
- Cream style corn
- Vegetable oil
- Egg
- Self rising cornmeal flour
- Sugar
- Chopped onion
- Shredded cheese
- Diced jalapeno
- Milk (I buy organic milk because it stays good for twice as long as regular milk 🙂
- Salt
To everyone who wasn’t raised on sweet cornbread:
Oh I know putting sugar in there feels so wrong. Cornbread isn’t supposed to be sweet. T’ain’t fittin’ and I know that. But, this is my Mama’s Mexican Cornbread recipe and the sugar is just a scant amount and it really works well with the heat of the jalapeños. It won’t end up tasting sweet in this particular recipe so just bite the bullet and do what Mama tells you to do 🙂
In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients.
Stir all of that up pretty good with a spoon or whisk.
- Now this is a cast iron skillet that I’ve had heating in the oven while it preheats. Preheat the oven as well.
- Pour about a tablespoon or so of vegetable oil in it and swirl it around a good bit.
- Pour in your batter in the prepared pan and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, or until all golden and prettified 🙂
Here it is all baked up.
Turn that cornbread over onto a large plate.
Stand aside because when the family catches a whiff it might spark a stampede!Variations To Recipe
- diced green onions
- chopped green bell peppers
- green chilis
- pepper jack cheese in replace of other cheese
Here is another one with some variations
Recipe FAQs
How do I make my cornbread crust crispy?
How do I make my cornbread crust crispy?Get your pan nice and hot, this is going to be key, then pour the batter into the hot pan. This will help to create that crispy crust you are looking for.
The extra yolk in the egg helps to make it more moist. If you want to add another egg, I recommend doing yolk only for the second cornbread.
Overcooking cornbread can cause it to fall apart. Every oven cooks different, so keep an eye on it if you made it before and it fell apart. To tell if it’s done you it should be crispy brown on top and when you insert a toothpick it comes out clean.
Note about baking Mexican Cornbread in an alternative to Cast Iron:
You can make this in an 8 or 9 inch cake pan if you prefer. It’s traditionally made in cast iron but it will turn out just fine if you make it in a cake pan or even an 8×8 square baking dish. Just go with whatever cranks yer tractor 🙂
Ingredients
- 1 + 1/2 cups self rising corn meal mix white or yellow
- 1 + 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese mild, medium, or sharp
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon diced jalapeño seeds removed
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup canned cream style corn*
Instructions
- Place a seasoned cast iron skillet (or 8 inch round cake pan) in the oven and preheat to 350.
- In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients.
- Pour 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil into skillet and swirl a bit to cover the bottom (This skillet is hot so hold it with a potholder).
- Pour batter in skillet and bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown on top. Turn out onto a plate, cut, and serve.
*Mama and I take the remaining cream corn and put it in a zipper seal bag to freeze. Next time you make corn bread just lay it out for about half an hour before you need it to thaw.
Nutrition
Try serving this with:
And here are some other cornbread recipes you may enjoy:
- Keto Cornbread Recipe Southern Plate
- Grandmama’s Crock Pot Cornbread Dressing
- All Star Cornbread Recipe Potluck!
- 2 Ingredient Hot Water Cornbread
How to become a positive person in three easy steps:
1. Think about the next thing you say before you say it.
2. Make it positive.
3. Repeat. 🙂~Christy Jordan
This recipe is very very close to the one MY mama made. No sugar, and she added a tablespoon of minced garlic. Also, she made the most amazing regular cornbread in iron skillets, but she always made her Mexican corn bread in a cookie pan. She baked hers thin, like 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. It was always very tender and moist. Seriously, just try it. It is very good that way. Plus, you get a lot more of it than if you make only a skillet of thick bread.
Thanks for the suggestion Donna, sounds good!
Yum and my mom had those same pattern of dishes when we were small.
Hi Mary, thanks so much for the lovely comment and those dishes do bring back memories, don’t they?! Thank you also for your rating. Really appreciate you.
Girl! Don’t you know us Southerners do not add sugar to our cornbread
I haven’t used this recipe yet but it really caught my eye and I will try it. I just wanted to comment. Many years ago, and I won’t tell you how many, someone here in Texas came up with a recipe by the same name. The only difference is there is a layer of ground meat in the dish. The meat is sautéed just like you are going to make spaghetti sauce and I season it with some diced onion and garlic powder and maybe a little salt and black pepper. Whatever your taste buds want. I usually put a thin layer of the cornbread batter on the bottom then the beef and top with the rest of the batter. You can just put the meat on the bottom of the pan but some of it may be loose and we like ours to be wrapped in the cornbread. We also like ours spicy so I don’t remove all of the seeds and membranes from the jalapenos. Removing them gives you a good jalapeno flavor but no heat.
I always like to read the reviews to see what others do or add to the recipe and I enjoyed reading the comments here. I’m also interested in the hot water cornbread recipe. My mother had one that disappeared and we were sad. It was given to her by an elderly neighbor and it was really good. Unfortunately she had already passed away so we couldn’t get another copy.
I want to make the Mexican cornbread. I have a couple questions…Can I use a can of green chilies instead of jalapeños and can I use sharp shredded cheddar instead of mild?? I don’t have the others on hand. Thanks!
That would work!
This is the best cornbread I have ever had. It’s delicious. I’m not much of a cornbread fan, but I ate this all by itself.
I have found if I don’t mix and coat the hot pepper in the meal mix before adding any dairy it won’t hold any heat at all. Also I heat the skillet on top of the stove as the oven is preheating ’cause its quicker. just before adding mixture pour in the oil to heating skillet, swirl around then add most into the mixture. Skillet should be hot enough the batter sizzles for the best crust.