This southwestern corn casserole without Jiffy Mix strikes the perfect balance between a creamy and soufflé-like consistency. And it's laced with cheese and has a little kick of roasted poblano heat.
Use it as a perfect side dish for your Thanksgiving dinner this year, or add some cooked black beans and serve it as a vegetarian main dish with a salad anytime of year.
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A corn dish that's a hit year round at our house is this southwestern corn casserole. It reminds me of tomalito, but it's not sweet like tomalito is. It's soufflé fluffy with little kick from roasted poblano pepper and is super flexible.
Although I make this all through the year, this side dish is the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving holiday meal along with this green bean casserole. Or make it for your Christmas dinner or Cinco de Mayo.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- This recipe doesn't use Jiffy Mix, so it's easy to keep this dish vegetarian. (Regular Jiffy Mix has lard as one of it's ingredients. There is a vegetarian version, but it can be difficult to find.
- Super flexible dish that accommodates very well to adding additional veggies or beans.
- Great vegetarian main dish when you add cooked black beans to the casserole.
- Comfort food is always a win with the whole family.
- Make it year round with fresh corn in the summer and frozen corn at other times of the year.
- No fancy ingredients requiring a scavenger hunt. Yay!
🧅 Ingredients + Notes
The secret to faster and easier meals often lies in the ingredients. For example, store-bought items and ingredients you make ahead and store in the refrigerator (or freezer) can turn a 60-minute recipe into a 30-minutes meal or less.
For the all of the ingredients, measurements and directions for this great side dish, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Corn - both fresh, frozen and canned whole kernel corn work great in this dish.
- Poblano pepper - or jalapeño peppers for less heat.
- Yellow onion - white onion is fine too, if that's what you have.
- Garlic
- Eggs
- Buttermilk - don't substitute regular milk. See below section for acceptable substitutes.
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder - be sure it's double-acting and aluminum-free. This ingredient gives the casserole its signature soufflé texture.
- Monterey Jack cheese - or Pepper Jack cheese for a little additional kick, or a mild cheddar cheese.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.
🔪 Recommended Equipment
- Chef's knife
- Cast iron skillet, or other oven-safe skillet
- Food processor
- Large bowl
- Whisk or immersion blender with the whisk attachment
- Silicone spatula
- Casserole dish (11" X 8"), if you prefer, for baking the casserole.
📝 Instructions Overview
Detailed instructions for making this corn casserole without Jiffy Mix are in the recipe card below, but here's an overview!
Step 1
Prep. Roast the peppers, and peel off the skins and remove the seeds.
Dice the onion, mince the garlic, and if using fresh corn, slice the whole corn kernels from the cob and set aside.
Step 2
Purée. Place the roasted peppers and half of the whole corn kernels into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade. Purée and set aside.
Step 3
Sauté. Sauté the onions and garlic. Add the puréed corn and poblano pepper, and continue to cook for a few minutes.
Remove from the heat to cool as close to room temperature as possible.
Step 4
Whisk and fold. Whisk together the remaining ingredients, except the cheese and remaining corn, until a smooth batter forms. I recommend using the whisk attachment to an immersion blender. It does a fantastic job when whisking a lot of eggs with minimal effort.
Fold in the cheese and the remaining whole corn kernels.
Step 5
Combine and bake. Either return the batter to the cooled skillet or combine everything in an oven-safe casserole dish.
Place on a baking sheet, and slide into the oven to bake.
🎯 Why This Recipe Works
- Without the poblano chile, this corn pudding casserole can be a little bland, IMO. Even with the cheese. But I'll admit, we like chilies in a lot of dishes.
- Combining baking powder with buttermilk contributes to this pudding's soufflé-like texture. And the cheese makes it creamy. So the finished texture of this dish is a fantastic combination that everyone will rave about. Seriously.
👩🍳 Preparation Tips
- Cool the batter in the skillet to close to room temperature before pouring in the egg mixture. Otherwise, if it's too hot, the eggs may start to scramble.
- Alternatively, pour it all into an oven-safe casserole dish, and bake.
⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
- Use frozen corn, thawed, instead of cutting kernels of corn from the cob.
- Make this recipe up through Step 5 and cool completely. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days before continuing with the recipe.
👩🍳 Great Substitutions for Buttermilk
When buttermilk is combined with baking soda, you get a little lift from the sodium bicarbonate in the baking soda, but it also adds a distinctive tang to the finished dish. This tang flavor is fantastic with the corn, cheese and roasted pobanos. If you don't have any buttermilk on hand, here are some substitutions for 1 cup of buttermilk that work well with this recipe.
- 1 cup full-fat or low-fat plain yogurt.
- ¾ cup full-fat or low-fat sour cream + ¼ cup full-fat or low-fat milk.
- 1 cup of water + ¼ cup buttermilk powder.
💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- Add cooked black beans to turn it into a main dish.
- Swap out the poblano chile for jalapeño pepper for less heat, or red bell pepper for no heat at all.
- Substitute cheddar cheese for the Jack cheese for a cheesier flavor.
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Southwestern Corn Casserole without Jiffy Mix
Equipment
- baking sheet
- Food Processor
- Whisk or immersion blender with whisk attachment
- box grater
Ingredients
- 4 cups frozen or fresh whole corn kernels divided (about 4 ears of corn)
- 1 poblano pepper roasted, peeled and seeded
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup diced yellow onion
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
- 5 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt or ¾ teaspoons sea salt
- 1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese or mild cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the poblano pepper on the baking sheet and roast until blackened in most places. Turn the pepper a couple of times to get an even blackening. Transfer the pepper to a container with a lid, or wrap it in foil. After 10 minutes, you should be able to easily remove most of the skin. Slice off the top, and slice down one side of the roasted pepper to open it up. Remove the seeds and pith. The seeds and pith are the biggest sources of heat in peppers.
- Remove the kernels from the cob, if using fresh corn. To do this, lay a shucked ear of corn on a cutting board, and slice down one of its sides with a sharp knife. Turning the cob 90 degrees, and slice again. Repeat until all of the corn kernels are removed. Repeat with the remaining ears of corn.If using frozen corn, thaw before using. Alternatively, use canned corn that's drained.
- Place 2 cups of the whole corn kernels and the roasted poblano pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Purée and set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a cast iron skillet, or other oven-proof skillet. Add the onion and sauté until fragrant and translucent, approximately 5 - 10 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 2 more minutes. Stir in the puréed corn and poblano pepper, and cook for another 3 - 4 minutes.Set aside and allow to cool.
- Whisk the eggs in a large bowl using either a hand-held whisk, or an immersion blender with the whisk attachment.Add the buttermilk, flour, baking powder, and salt and continue to whisk just until a smooth batter forms.
- Using a silicone spatula, fold in the remaining 2 cups corn and the grated cheese. Either stir the batter into the cooled onion and garlic mixture, mixing well with a spatula to blend all of the ingredients, or combine everything in an oven-safe casserole dish. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 18 - 20 minutes, or until the top of the pudding is golden brown and feel set when you press on it with your fingertips.
- Serve warm.
Karen
I love southwestern food and would love to try the options in this cookbook!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
It's genuinely a great cookbook. I've enjoyed every recipe I've tried so far!
bunkie
Never heard of corn 'pudding'?! Looks yummy!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
It's so good, and lighter than you'd think. It has a bit of a soufflé texture. I expected something a little heavier, and was pleasantly surprised. Obviously, since I've made it three times now LOL.
Cindy Shanks
Corn and cheese feed the soul, apparently. Thank you for alerting me to this beautiful book!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Yes is does - or certainly feeds mine. It's really a beautiful book 🙂
apuginthekitchen
Southwestern food is wonderful, the book looks beautiful and full of great recipes. The corn casserole looks amazing!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
When I graduated from cooking school, even though I was pretty done with the rigor of school, I signed up for a one-week class in southwestern cooking class in Albuquerque. Culinary school was traditional French foundation, and wasn't about to do anything trendy like Southwestern. I loved the week in New Mexico and the class. So fun. And the corn pudding and book are both superb!
Amy Kim (@kimchi_mom)
I would love to add this cookbook to my library!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
You would love it Amy! It's such a beautiful book!!
Barbara
Love southwest cooking. I grew up with it.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I didn't grow up with it, but I've been making up for lost time 🙂
Anita at Hungry Couple
Love it, want it, pinning it and making it ASAP. That cookbook would be cool!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
LOL, Anita!! That really sums it all up nicely. The cookbook is just beautiful - just like Meagan's blog 🙂
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I do too, especially now that warmer weather is here. I've found SW cooking to be so amenable to vegetarian meals 🙂
SeattleDee
I live in the PNW but my foodie heart remains true to my SW roots. Thanks for the heads up on this cookbook, I can't wait to taste my way through some of the recipes, might even begin with the skillet corn pudding, perfect for today's 56 degree weather.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Indeed, this would be perfect for your weather today! It's around 70 here, but cool as the fog's not far away today, and it was a wonderful lunch to tuck into 🙂
cheri
Hi Susan, I just found Meagan's blog back in February and I absolutely love it, she lives in Phoenix. Love this skillet corn casserole!
Melissa
That corn casserole looks right up my alley. I'd love to see more of this book!
Karen D
I enjoy southwestern cooking. Sounds like a great cookbook, full of information. Might help me sort out my pepper confusion!
Cathy
i especially love the southwest chili thing!
Rita
Susan, did you roast the jalapenos whole?
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Funny! For some reason, on some people's comments some pretty surprising links show up :-). As for the jalapeños, as I state in the ingredient list, I substituted poblano and yes I roasted it whole. In fact, I roasted it over the stove top instead of in the oven, and it worked great. Then I peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped before putting into the bowl of the food processor with the corn.
jacquie
i don't know anything about southwest cooking but would love to learn more
laurasmess
This looks so delicious Susan! I've never had a corn pudding... but the 'souffle-like' comparison is making me drool! Sounds so delicious. Love the Mexican flavours 🙂
Choc Chip Uru
I need to try this delicious pudding casserole, love the creamy fluffiness 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Erika
Oh my gosh Susan, this look absolutely AMAZING!!! Have you ever tried Smitten Kitchen's sweet corn spoonbread? It's been on my list to try for ages, but I still haven't gotten around to it! This looks like a creamier, slightly heartier version of it.
The cookbook sounds like such a winner! I'm curious--what is the recipe pictured on the front? I just flipped through the preview on Amazon and the recipes sound so great--guac with roasted garlic? Sign me up!!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I'm going to have to check out SK's spoon bread now - I love the stuff!! The recipe on the cover of this cookbook giveaway is for Black Bean and Corn Quesaditas. They're on my long list of things I want to try from this book !!!
Monica K
I'm a vegetarian in an omnivore household. My omnivores are pretty open minded about veg food (especially if they're not on the hook to cook). This recipe sounds sooooo good. May have to put it on the menu this week. Thanks! 🙂
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I wish my omnivore was more open to veg food, but it might not happen. But I gotta say he was a huge fan of this corn pudding! Glad you entered the sweepstakes!!
Meghan
This looks SO good, I pinned it!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thanks soooo much!!
Norma Chang
Like the idea of pureeing 1/2 of the corn and leaving 1/2 whole giving the finished dish a lovely contrast in texture.
Oui, Chef
Sausage and bacon are always obvious options in my book regardless of what kind of dish we're talking about! Corn and pudding...two of my favorite words and they go SO well together.
Becky (central oregon)
I frequently use the poblano pepper instead of jalapeño because of milder heat. I think it actually has deeper flavor when you don't have so much burn.
Annette
I've never had a corn pudding casserole, but that recipe looks delicious. I think I know what I'll be making tonight (or tomorrow).
Jenny
Made this tonight for delayed Thanksgiving in SE England. As the Brits would say ‘bloody sensational’ and will be in our repertoire forever more. Thanks for sharing - so easy too.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Yay!!!! I'm so glad this dish worked so well for you!! Thank you soooo much for letting me know. A very Happy Belated Thanksgiving to you!