Mexican Cornbread Casserole Recipe

I am a lazy cook. Or maybe I am a smart cook.

I don't want to stand in the kitchen for an hour assembling a meal. I love to take shortcuts and make meals quickly so I can move on with my evening. I prefer to spend time with my kids and husband, writing, reading, staring out my back window at my country landscape, walking in the outdoors, playing with our new kittens.

I was worried my kids and their friends (they always have friends over) would not like the taste of the cornbread or maybe it would be too spicy for them, but they all loved it. Enjoy! And scroll to the bottom for hacks, tips and other information about the meal.

Ingredients for the filling:

2 pounds ground beef

1 10-ounce can Rotel-style tomatoes

1 15-ounce can of whole kernel corn (if you prefer, you can put the corn in the topping instead) (updated to add that I didn't have any of this recently and popped in a bag of microwave corn that you can steam in the bag … then dumped it into the baking dish and it was lovely!)

3 large eggs (recipe called for whisking or food-processing them but I did neither ... I just tossed them in)

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1 package taco seasoning (or you can make your own)

1 box of Jiffy cornbread mix

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Brown ground beef in a large skillet until it's not pink anymore. Drain fat.

3. Spray 9 x 13 baking pan with cooking spray and spoon ground beef into it.

4. Stir in drained can of corn, Rotel tomatoes (not drained), 3 eggs, taco seasoning and cheese until mixed well. (I have forgotten the cheese in the filling and then just put it on top toward the end of the baking time)

5. Prepare Jiffy cornbread mix according to package directions and spoon over the top of the casserole. Don't worry if it doesn't cover it completely.**

6. Bake for 20 minutes.

You can make a gluten-free version of this by making your own taco seasoning (they sneak gluten into packaged taco seasoning sometimes) and your own topping:

Ingredients for the cornbread topping, which I have made, and my family also enjoyed this version:

3 eggs (original recipe called for 3/4 cup egg whites)

3/4 cup Trim Healthy Mama baking blend (or you can make your own here)

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons melted butter (I doubled that)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

A pinch of salt

I did not add any of the following, but if you are a non-lazy cook, you should do it: 1/3 teaspoon mineral salt, 1/4 teaspoon paprika, "scant" 1/4 teaspoon turmeric

**I have tried this recipe with two boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix and it was too much. It might seem like one box is not enough, but it works. Or you could always use 1.5 boxes and just make a few corn muffins on the side as well with the rest of the batter.

Check out my cookbook, The Tater Tot Casserole Cookbook! Only $6.15 in print.