Easy Spoon Bread Casserole

Featuring sweet cornbread mix plus creamed and whole-kernel corn, Spoon Bread Casserole is an economical and simple dish to bring to your Thanksgiving gathering.

Easy Spoon Bread Casserole

If you received a late invitation to Thanksgiving dinner and are now scrambling to come up with a dish to bring, breathe easy my friend because this super simple and ridiculously delicious Spoon Bread Casserole is a winner. It’s a classic Southern recipe for several reasons: it presents beautifully (like a souffle); hits all the comfort food buttons; is affordable; and is simple to make. You may have all the ingredients in your pantry, thus saving you a hectic last-minute trip to the grocery store and avoiding that madness.

Sometimes called corn pudding, a recipe for Spoon Bread Casserole first appeared in Mary Randolph’s 1824 cookbook, The Virginia Housewife, which is considered to be the first Southern cookbook by many culinary historians. Some historians say she used recipes from James Hemings, who was enslaved by Thomas Jefferson and was the chef at Monticello.

My family for Thanksgiving often had another Southern favorite, fried corn, at Thanksgiving, but I’m loving this Spoon Bread Casserole recipe.Sweet "JIFFY" cornbread mix, creamed corn and milk create a silky, super moist cornbread. When you spoon up a serving still warm from the dish (hence the name spoon bread), it’s almost like wrapping yourself in a warm afghan that Grandma crocheted for you. It’s hard to believe that such a delicious and well-loved casserole will cost you under $5 to make. That’s right; less than five Washingtons. Let’s get cooking.

You probably have all the ingredients in your pantry to make Spoon Bread Casserole.

To make Spoon Bread Casserole, which yields six to eight servings, you’ll need these ingredients:

• 1 package “JIFFY” Corn Muffin Mix

• ½ cup butter (1 stick), melted

• 1 (8¾-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained

• 1 (8¾-ounce) can cream style corn

• 1 cup milk

• 2 eggs

• 1 tablespoon hot sauce

• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

First, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 1½-quart casserole dish.

In a large mixing bowl, pour melted butter, milk, hot sauce, pepper, and both cans of corn into dish. Stir to incorporate.

In a separate small bowl, beat the eggs. Stir into large bowl, add muffin mix and blend thoroughly using a spatula, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Pour into greased casserole dish. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool about 10 minutes before serving.

Spoon Bread can also be baked in individual ramekins.

I baked my spoon bread in a round casserole to create a beautifully brown dome. However, after sitting on my counter for a couple of hours, the center sunk, so I advise that you serve this right away. If you're taking it to a dinner, prep it at home and ask if you can bake the casserole at the host's home. This spoon bread also can be baked in individual ramekins, which makes a nice table presentation.

Buttermilk or even sour cream could be substituted for milk. The pepper and hot sauce aren’t overwhelming at all but lend just enough spice at the end. This really is a fool-proof casserole that everyone is going to gobble up.

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Here's another casserole similar to a spoon bread

Although my family usually made this dish for Easter, my mom’s Carrot Caper is a little like spoon bread (only with carrots) in that the casserole bakes like a souffle and has a hint of sweetness from the carrots.

About the blog

Three Women in the Kitchen is an award-winning food blog offering today’s home cooks comforting, hearty recipes with a personal touch. The website also pays tribute to Deborah’s mother, Katie Reinhardt, and paternal grandmother, Dorothy Reinhardt (the “three women” in the kitchen). Whether you’re an experienced or a novice cook, you’ll find inspiration here to feed your families and warm your heart. Subscribe today so you won’t miss a single delicious detail.

Cranberry and Wild Rice Salad

Nutty wild rice, dried cranberries and apricots are combined with a maple vinaigrette to create a healthy salad for your holiday table.

Cranberry and Wild Rice Salad

If you’re looking for a lighter yet delicious side dish to serve alongside your turkey this year, home cook Marcy Watson has just the thing: Cranberry and Wild Rice Salad. Easy to prepare but complex in textures and flavor, this cold salad also features crisp, tart apple; dried apricots; toasted walnuts; and a delightful maple vinaigrette.

“It looks good on a plate next to other traditional Thanksgiving Day foods, and it’s a lighter dish that’s sort of healthy,” she said.

Marcy, who lives in Chesterfield, Missouri with husband, Scott, discovered this recipe about 15 years ago. She acknowledges it’s not a familiar dish for Thanksgiving, and remembers a potluck held at her church several years ago. Marcy and Scott were behind an older couple in line, and when the elder gentleman came to Marcy’s wild rice salad, she overheard him say, “What is this? I’m not going to eat that.” She chuckled to herself and thought, “no problem; more for me.”

Wild rice certainly is a healthier option over mashed potatoes or stuffing. There are 101 calories in a 3½-ounce serving of cooked wild rice compared to 140 calories in a 4-ounce serving of traditional stuffing. Wild rice also contains vitamin B6, iron, zinc, and magnesium.

However, wild rice really isn’t rice. It’s an aquatic grass native to North America that grows abundantly in our Great Lakes region. The seeds from the grass are harvested, and the black rice that’s part of this pantry staple is referred to as “paddy rice” by the Ojibwe people.

To make Cranberry and Wild Rice Salad, which yields eight servings, you’ll need these ingredients:

• 4 cups cooked wild rice

• ½ cup dried cranberries

• ½ cup dried apricots

• ½ cup chopped walnuts, toasted

• 1 apple (recommended Granny Smith), peeled, cored and diced

• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

• ¼ cup olive oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

Marcy said she uses two (4-ounce) pouches of Reese Minnesota Wild Rice for the recipe. Just mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to serve. For the holidays, this dish easily could be made a day or two in advance.

The holidays hold strong comfort food memories for her—turkey and gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cookies, and fudge. She’ll often make her four-ingredient “desperately easy” fudge recipe as a seasonal treat.

This home cook started in high school to help her mother who sometimes worked in the evenings. Over the years, she learned to appreciate the various textures and flavors created in the kitchen.

“I never developed a hardcore fondness for cooking, but if I was going to go through the trouble, I wanted it to be pleasing to my palate,” she said. Her advice for novice cooks is to allow time to learn the recipe. “Don’t get in a hurry. I’ve made plenty of mistakes being in a hurry,” she said.

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Looking for another recipe that incorporates wild rice?

My Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup is a satisfying dish for a chilly day. If you have leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, substitute that for the chicken breasts.

About the blog

To make Cranberry and Wild Ric e, which yields eight servings, you’ll need these ingredients:nts:ts:s::forting, hearty recipes with a personal touch. The website also pays tribute to Deborah’s mother, Katie Reinhardt, and paternal grandmother, Dorothy Reinhardt (the “three women” in the kitchen). Whether you’re an experienced or a novice cook, you’ll find inspiration here to feed your families and warm your heart. Subscribe today so you won’t miss a single delicious detail.and

Easy Butternut Squash Panzanella Salad

Roasted squash, homemade croutons, delicate greens, and blue cheese make a perfect salad for Thanksgiving.

Easy Butternut Squash Panzanella Salad

This goes against most experts’ advice, but I like breaking the rules for Thanksgiving, including the cardinal command: Thou shalt not try anything new for the big feast day. I understand the logic behind this, but this can lead to boring holiday spreads. Especially when it comes to the side dishes, what’s wrong with mixing things up?

There’s space in the kitchen for experimentation; I once cooked a full Thanksgiving dinner from new recipes taken out of a magazine. Mom, who was in camp traditional for Thanksgiving, supported my efforts, and stayed close should I need some help. In the end, I stretched my family’s comfort zone (along with their pants) and we had a lovely Thanksgiving.

However, many cooks might grow anxious with change on the biggest feasting day of the year, so let’s take a baby step together. Let’s start with a new salad.

The queen of Thanksgiving, Martha Stewart, says only 1 percent of Americans serve salad on Thanksgiving, so the fact you’d consider such a thing marks you as a culinary rebel. Why not make something special? Butternut Squash Panzanella Salad, I think, would make an ideal first course (or a side) to your Thanksgiving. Each bite says “autumn” to me, plus it’s a cinch to make. You could even start it the day before to save some of that precious oven real estate on the big day.

Now, I’m not hating on sweet potatoes—65 percent of you serve these spuds on Thanksgiving—but roasted butternut squash has a similarly sweet and tender bite that’s comforting but just different enough to wake up your table mates. The salad is perfectly balanced; soft squash, roasted mushrooms, and blue cheese are offset with the chew of giant homemade croutons, fresh mixed greens, and crisp sliced almonds.

Traditional Panzanella is an ancient Italian dish that first surfaced in the 16th century. It uses the best from our summer gardens—tomato, cucumber, basil—plus stale bread. The rustic dish works because of its versatility, and we're bringing a mix of autumn flavors into its story.

To make Butternut Squash Panzanella Salad, which yields eight servings, you’ll need these ingredients:

Croutons

• 4 cups day-old French bread cut into large cubes

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• ½ teaspoon chili powder

• ¼ teaspoon salt

Salad and dressing

• 4 cups peeled and cubed (1½-inch size) butternut squash

• 1½ cups fresh sliced white button mushrooms

• ½ cup olive oil, divided

• ½ teaspoon salt, divided

• 6 cups mixed salad greens of your choice, washed and dried

• 6 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

• 3 shallots, thinly sliced

• ½ cup sliced almonds

• 6 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese

Let toasted croutons rest in a pan while the squash and mushrooms roast. Bring the vegetables out to cool before adding to delicate salad greens.

Directions to make Butternut Squash Panzanella Salad

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Toss the bread cubes with oil, chili powder and salt. Spread evenly on a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake 5 minutes or until golden. Transfer to another pan or bowl to cool. (I didn't have chili powder in the pantry—guess I used the last in my chili last month—so I substituted with classic Tajin, a spice blend of chili peppers, salt and lime.

2. In a large bowl, combine cubed squash and sliced mushrooms; don’t go too thin on the mushrooms or they'll shrivel to nothing. Add 2 tablespoons oil, ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Roast until tender, about 25 minutes, at 400 degrees F. Cool on a plate and set aside.

3. Add salad greens, squash, mushrooms, and croutons in large serving dish.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, shallots, and remaining olive oil, salt, and pepper. If you don’t have shallots, finely slice half a small yellow onion. Drizzle over salad and toss gently. Top with almonds and blue cheese and serve immediately.

If you prefer another cheese (goat cheese works) or different nuts, substitute per your taste. It's an easy and versatile recipe for a winner of a salad.

This is a large salad. Can it be eaten the next day?

I don’t recommend it. The greens in my leftovers were soggy and kind of gross the next day, probably due to the moisture in the mushrooms. If you think it’s more salad than you or your family can eat at one meal, I suggest not tossing everything together, but keep the ingredients separate until you’re ready to enjoy the salad.

Comment below if you’d try this for your Thanksgiving meal. It would also brighten up those turkey sandwiches for the next day.

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Looking for more recipes to compliment your Thanksgiving table?

Jalapeño and Cheddar Cornbread Dressing was one of the dishes I made years ago when I shook up my family's Thanksgiving menu. I've gone back to it a number of times since. Want a slight twist for your cranberries? Try Spiced Cranberry Poached Apples for Thanksgiving. The leftovers are wonderful the next morning on French toast or oatmeal, too.

About the blog

Three Women in the Kitchen is an award-winning food blog offering today’s home cooks comforting, hearty recipes with a personal touch. The website also pays tribute to Deborah’s mother, Katie Reinhardt, and paternal grandmother, Dorothy Reinhardt (the “three women” in the kitchen). Whether you’re an experienced or a novice cook, you’ll find inspiration here to feed your families and warm your heart. Subscribe today so you won’t miss a single delicious detail.