Spoon Bread
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Spoon bread—a creamy, comforting twist on cornbread packed with fresh corn flavor. This easy homemade spoon bread combines fresh ingredients for a rich, buttery side dish that’s perfect any time of year—from summer cookouts to holiday dinners.
Spoon bread, also known as corn casserole or corn pudding, is a creamier version of cornbread that you eat with a spoon. The most well-known recipe is from Jiffy and is typically made from Jiffy corn muffin mix, butter, sour cream, eggs, canned corn, and canned creamed corn. This from-scratch version barely takes any longer to make, yet it’s so much more delicious. Making your own cornbread mix — with flour, sugar, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder — and using fresh corn makes all the difference.
This is a wonderful summer dish to make when fresh corn is in season (check out my favorite corn recipes for more ideas). During the cooler months, it’s delicious as a Thanksgiving side dish or paired with roasted chicken or steak. (When fresh corn is not available, opt for frozen corn over canned.)
“Being from NH, I’d never heard of spoon bread. Lucky for me, my son-in-law is from the south. He encouraged me to try it and I’m hooked. We’ve had it once a week for the past month. He told me it tastes just like his Grams!”
What You’ll Need To Make Spoon Bread
- All-Purpose Flour: Adds structure and helps create the soft, tender texture of the spoon bread, balancing the cornmeal’s natural grit. To ensure accuracy, measure the flour by spooning it into the measuring cup and leveling it off.
- Yellow Cornmeal: Provides the classic corn flavor and a slight grit, giving the dish its signature texture and traditional cornbread taste.
- Sugar: Adds a touch of sweetness that balances the savory elements, enhancing the corn’s natural sweetness.
- Baking Powder: Acts as a leavening agent, helping the spoon bread rise and achieve its light, fluffy texture.
- Butter: Adds rich flavor and moisture, ensuring each bite is tender and melt-in-your-mouth.
- Creamed Corn: Contributes moisture, creaminess, and a concentrated corn flavor, and makes the spoon bread richer and softer.
- Fresh Corn Kernels: Provide bursts of fresh, sweet corn flavor and texture, adding a nice contrast to the creaminess. (This is best with fresh corn but when it’s not in season, opt for frozen corn over canned.)
- Sour Cream: Adds tanginess, creaminess, and moisture, creating a rich, velvety consistency.
- Eggs: Bind the ingredients together, giving structure to the spoon bread and ensuring it sets properly with a custard-like center.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Use a serrated knife to cut the kernels off the cobs. Placing a kitchen towel on top of the cutting board prevents the corn kernels from bouncing all over the place.
Add the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder to a medium bowl.
Whisk together.
In another bowl, melt the butter.
Add the creamed corn and fresh corn kernels.
Add the sour cream and beaten eggs.
Fold in the sour cream and stir the mixture until evenly combined.
Add the dry ingredients.
Mix until the batter is uniform.
Pour batter into the prepared 2-quart baking dish.
Bake until the top is golden brown and the center is set, 40 to 45 minutes (a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the spoon bread should come out clean).
Serve warm or room temperature.
Make-Ahead Instructions
Spoon bread can be made up to 2 days ahead of time. To reheat, cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and warm in a 300°F-oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until warmed through.
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Spoon Bread
Spoon bread—a creamy, comforting twist on cornbread packed with fresh corn flavor. This easy homemade spoon bread combines fresh ingredients for a rich, buttery side dish that’s perfect any time of year—from summer cookouts to holiday dinners.
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- ½ cup yellow cornmeal
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the baking dish
- 1 (8.5 oz) can creamed corn
- 1⅓ cups raw fresh corn kernels, cut from 2 ears of corn (frozen kernels may be substituted)
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 large eggs, beaten
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Grease a 2-quart or 8-inch baking dish with butter.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
- In a large bowl, mix the melted butter, creamed corn, and fresh corn kernels. Add the sour cream and beaten eggs and mix until evenly combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is uniform. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking dish and bake until the top is golden brown and the center is set, 40 to 45 minutes (a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of the spoon bread should come out clean). Serve warm or room temperature.
- Make-Ahead Instructions: Spoon bread can be made up to 2 days ahead of time. To reheat, cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and warm in a 300°F-oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until warmed through.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (8 servings)
- Calories: 370
- Fat: 19 g
- Saturated fat: 11 g
- Carbohydrates: 45 g
- Sugar: 15 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Sodium: 363 mg
- Cholesterol: 92 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Your spoon bread recipe is outstanding! We served it with chili this week, and it quickly became the main attraction.
Your recipes give me such confidence. Thank you, thank you!
I followed your recipe and baked it in the the size casserole that you recommend. It turned out perfect. Not too sweet, not too salty and perfectly cooked. I recommend that you follow Jenn’s instructions. Thank you for the recipe.
Delicious! It works perfectly with gluten free flour too. I prefer it with half the amount of sugar. If you don’t have sour cream, or just want a lower fat option, try plain greek style yogurt in place of the sour cream.
We prefer a less sweet cornbread.
Can I cut the sugar in half?
Hi Cathy, I actually tried it that way, and while technically the recipe will work with half the sugar, I found that the taste fell a little flat. Feel free to give it a try though. Please let me know what you think if you make it that way!
I’m from southern Virginia, and around here, spoonbread and corn pudding are two different dishes. Spoonbread is made with cornmeal and is a cornbread that you serve with a spoon and eat with a fork. Corn pudding has whole corn kernels or a mixture of creamed corn and whole kernels in a custard base. Both are baked in casserole dishes.
Can this ‘spoonbread’ be made ahead and frozen for 2-3 months?
i.e. made now with fresh corn, but served for Thanksgiving ?!! Thank you so much….love your recipes, especially Challah and pizza!
I do think that would work, Nancy. You could also make it with frozen corn kernels around Thanksgiving.
I have fresh corned and canned corn, but not canned cream corn. What can I add to the canned corn to make it like creamed can corn. Thank you!
Hi Beth, In a blender or food processor, I would blend your canned corn with a little water and sugar to get the consistency of canned cream-style corn.
Looks yummy.
I’m going to try a gf version and will let you know how it turns out.
I used to love the corn pudding at at a Mexican restaurant before they closed. I hope this is as creamy.
I’m almost halfway through a detox but I’m looking forward to trying this. I didn’t know it was also called Spoon Bread. 😊
Hope you enjoy when you’re able to make it!
Tasty, easy, great side dish. Thanks Jen
Hi,
Do you think I could substitute Stevia for the sugar? It’s so hard to find diabetic-friendly recipes. I guess I have the same question for most of your recipes, especially the breads.
Thank you.
Hi Judy, I wish I could help but I’ve never worked with sugar substitutes so I can’t say how it would impact the recipe. (If it helps at all, I have read plenty of comments from readers who’ve said they’ve replaced some or all of the sugar in a recipe with a substitute like Stevia and have had good results.) Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
I cut the sugar by over half, and I think it would have tasted great with no sugar due to the corn in it.
I have baked many times using half sugaring half Splenda and recipes have turned out well. Friends who normally use all sugar say they don’t taste the difference.