An old fashioned favorite, this cornbread and ground beef casserole is an easy dinner that the whole family will love! Hamburger is mixed with tomato soup, corn, and zesty chili seasoning, and then topped with a golden brown Jiffy cornbread crust.
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If you love easy ground beef casserole recipes with few ingredients, be sure to try this 4-ingredient ground beef casserole, a dump-and-bake ground beef casserole with rice, and this hamburger casserole with noodles, too!
Found this recipe this evening and gave it a try. I was so delicious. I’m definitely making this again!
– Jackie
How to Make Ground Beef Casserole with Cornbread | 1-Minute Video
A Simple Cornbread Casserole with Ground Beef
This is the simple ground beef casserole recipe that I grew up with, and I’m still making it for my own family. My mom gave me the recipe in a little handwritten notebook when I moved into my first apartment as a 21-year-old, and the comfort food classic has stood the test of time! It tastes like a bowl of chili topped with sweet cornbread, it’s easy to mix together quickly, and it’s made with just a handful of simple ingredients.
Ingredients
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that you’ll need for a ground beef cornbread casserole. As always, specific measurements and complete cooking instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- Ground beef: the hearty base of the casserole. You can use any type of ground beef that you prefer in a casserole. I typically use 85% lean beef (or “ground round”). If you like a leaner meat for a healthier dish, that’s fine. If you like a less-expensive ground beef with a higher fat content, that will work, too — you’ll strain off any extra grease from the pan.
- Onion and garlic: for savory flavor.
- Corn: I use a can of corn, but you can substitute with frozen corn.
- Condensed tomato soup: this thick, sweet condensed soup forms the base of the sauce that brings the casserole filling together.
- Water: to thin the sauce.
- Chili powder: for zesty flavor.
- Salt: to enhance the other flavors in the dish.
- Jiffy corn muffin mix: for the cornbread topping.
- Egg and milk: for the cornbread batter.
How to Make Ground Beef Cornbread Casserole
This easy dinner can be prepared in advance or baked right away, and you only need a handful of pantry staples. I’ve included the detailed directions in the recipe card below, but here’s the overview:
- Cook the ground beef and onion in a large skillet. Cooking the beef in a skillet before adding it to the casserole dish serves two main purposes. First, it ensures that the meat is cooked through by the time the topping is done. Second, precooking the meat allows you to drain off the excess fat from the pan so that your casserole filling isn’t too greasy.
- Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, then drain off the fat.
- Stir in the corn, tomato soup, water, chili powder, and salt.
- Simmer the mixture for about 15 minutes, which gives it time to thicken.
- Transfer the ground beef mixture to a 2-quart casserole dish; set aside.
- Stir together the Jiffy cornbread mix to make the cornbread crust.
- Spread the cornbread mixture on top of the beef filling.
- Bake the casserole in a 425°F oven for 18-20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and cooked through.
Serving Suggestions
We always offer a variety of toppings for this dish, which the kids can use to garnish their own plates. Good options include grated cheddar cheese, diced red onion or sliced green onion, salsa, sour cream, chopped fresh parsley or cilantro, and guacamole.
On the side, pair the hamburger cornbread bake with a simple green salad with red wine vinegar salad dressing, roasted broccoli, Southern-style green beans, Arkansas green beans, roasted yellow squash, easy fruit salad, and this traditional coleslaw.
Preparation and Storage Tips
- Make Ahead: To prepare the casserole in advance, make the filling as instructed and place it in the baking dish. Cover and refrigerate until ready to bake. Before baking, allow the filling to sit on the counter at room temperature for about 30-60 minutes. Then stir together the topping and bake as instructed.
- Storage: A casserole with ground beef will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. The casserole can be frozen after baking. Wrap any leftovers in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
- How to Reheat: Thaw frozen casserole in the refrigerator overnight. Place the casserole in a 325°F oven and heat just until warm — about 20 minutes. If the topping starts to get too brown before the filling is heated through, cover loosely with foil. You can also reheat individual portions in the microwave.
Tips for the Best Cornbread and Ground Beef Casserole Recipe
- Adjust the seasoning to suit your taste preferences. For instance, you might like to add cayenne to make it spicy, or a dash of cumin for a smoky flavor.
- Garnish the casserole with your favorite fresh toppings. Good options include fresh cilantro or parsley, chopped green onions or minced red onion, grated cheese, sour cream, diced avocado, halved cherry tomatoes, or sliced black olives.
- Insert a toothpick in the center of your casserole to make sure that the cornbread crust is completely cooked through before removing the dish from the oven. You shouldn’t see any wet batter on the toothpick.
- If the top of your casserole starts to get too dark before the cornbread is cooked through, tent the top of the dish loosely with aluminum foil for the remaining baking time.
So delicious! And we will definitely keep it in the rotation! We realized we didn’t have corn so used black beans instead and it was yummy!
– Amber
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Watch How to Make It
Ground Beef Casserole with Cornbread
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 small cloves garlic, minced or pressed (about 1 teaspoon total)
- 1 (11 ounce) can corn kernels, drained
- 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup, not diluted
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Cornbread Topping (see alternative made-from-scratch topping below)
- 1 (8.5 ounce) box Jiffy corn muffin mix
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup milk
- Optional garnish: grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, parsley or cilantro, chopped red onion, sliced green onion
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish; set aside.
Prepare Ground Beef Filling
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef and onion until the meat is no longer pink and the onions are translucent (about 7-10 minutes). Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds longer. Drain off the fat.
- Stir in the corn, tomato soup, water, chili powder and salt. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes. Transfer the beef mixture to the prepared baking dish.
Prepare Cornbread Topping
- In a medium bowl, stir together the cornbread mix, egg, and milk.
- Spread the batter over the beef mixture.
Bake the Casserole
- Bake at 425°F for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown and the topping is cooked through. Let stand for about 5-10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- ¾ cup cornmeal
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup milk
- 1 tablespoon canola oil (or other mild oil of choice)
- 1 teaspoon sugar (optional, if you like a slightly sweet cornbread crust)
Nutrition
Recipe Variations
- Substitute ground turkey or ground chicken for the ground beef called for in this recipe.
- Rather than corn, use a can of drained, rinsed beans.
- Add grated cheese to the filling and to the cornbread crust for a cheesy casserole.
- Include extra vegetables in the filling, such as diced zucchini or diced sweet bell peppers. You might also like to stir in a can of drained diced tomatoes or Rotel tomatoes with green chilies.
- Mexican: add taco seasoning to the beef filling instead of chili powder.
- To make the cornbread crust from scratch, see my mom’s recipe instructions in the box below.
- Instead of a can of condensed tomato soup, substitute with an equal amount of tomato sauce, combined with about 2 teaspoons of cornstarch (a thickening agent), 1 tablespoon of sugar, and ½ teaspoon of salt.
- Cooking for a larger family? Double all of the ingredients and bake the casserole in a 9 x 13-inch dish. You’ll need to increase the total baking time by a few minutes.
More Easy Ground Beef Casserole Recipes with Few Ingredients
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Tater Tot Casserole with Green Beans
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Easy Beef Enchilada Casserole
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This recipe was originally published in October, 2019. It was updated in January, 2025.
I appreciate all of your delicious recipes. I often try some with success. Thank you!
That’s awesome, Gayle! Thank you!
Hi, Diana! Yep — that’s correct. The bulk of the topping comes from the cornmeal. It’s still a relatively thin batter (as you can see in the photo of the batter in the bowl), but it won’t be a sloppy mess. The thin batter kind of sinks down a bit as it bakes and mixes with some of the filling. Works perfectly!
If you prefer a more traditional, sweeter, puffier cornbread topping, you can also substitute with a small box of Jiffy corn muffin mix (prepared according to package instructions and then added to the top of the casserole in the same way). Hope that helps, and enjoy!
Blair, can this recipe be made in a slow cooker?
Hi, Leslie! I think so; however, the topping will definitely be more soggy since the slow cooker holds in so much liquid and condensation. You can try putting a couple of layers of paper towels under the lid to catch some of that moisture before it drops back down onto the crust, but just know that the texture won’t quite be the same. If you give it a shot, let us know how long you put it in the Crock Pot! 🙂
What a great combination.
Highly recommend if you like cornbread and a chili style thickend soup. Delicious.
Thank you, Harry!
I make something similar to this. It,’d called “Hamburger Upside Down.” Cooked in a cast iron skillet. 1 lb lean hamburger. 1/2 Cup of catsup,( I uße BBQ sauce for a lil more kick.,) 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/4 cup of chopped onions. 1 14.5 oz can of kernel corn., 1 box of Jiffy cornbread mix, 1 egg and 1/4 cup milk for the Jiffy cornbread mix.m
Place meat, chili powder, catsup and onions into cast iron skillet? Brown meat. Once browned drain off excess grease. Move meat/onion mixture towards the sides of the bottom of skillet. Forming a ring. Pour undrained can of kernel corn into center of skillet. Mix up the Jiffy cornbread mix following the directions on the box. Pour the cornbread mixture all over the meat and corn. Bake at the temperature cited on the box of Jiffy for the time specified. Once time has expired remove skillet from oven and allow to cool run the tip of a butter knife between the cornbread and the side of the skillet. Place a large plate on top of the skillet. With pot holders hold the plate on top of the skillet as you flip both upside down. Allow the casserole to ease out of the skillet then remove skillet. Slice as you would a pie/cake. Once a slice is on your plate/bowl be sure to mix up the meat. Corn & cornbread so you get a bite of each with each bite. Enjoy? Let me know how you like it!? Thank you
That sounds delicious, Vincent! I definitely want to try it! Thank you for taking the time to share the recipe. 🙂
This recipe is almost exactly like one I grew up with, making it from my first stepmom. I don’t add onion or garlic (but I might next time), and I add the corn, but also green beans & peas. I don’t add water. I use the leanest ground beef I can get, for healthier reasons. I also make the regular cornbread recipe & pour on top. We called it Indian Casserole. So funny to see basically the same recipe which I love! Thank you for posting this!
It’s one of my favorites from childhood, too! 🙂 Your version sounds equally delish.
Found this recipe this evening and gave it a try. I was so delicious. I’m definitely making this again
Thank you so much, Jackie!
Made a variation of this recipe tonight. Didn’t have any tomato soup so used a can of red enchilada sauce & some tomato sauce to tame it down a bit. Still added the onions & garlic but didn’t add the water. Turned out pretty good, spicy but sour cream helped cool it down. Thanks for the inspiration with the rest of the ingredients & cook time.
Your adjustments sound delicious, Marcia! Thank you for trying the recipe. We’re so glad you enjoyed it!
I substituted light kidney beans. How do you reheat it?
Hi Karen! Place the casserole in a 325°F oven and heat just until warm — about 20 minutes. If the topping starts to get too brown before the filling is heated through, cover loosely with foil. You can also reheat individual portions in the microwave.
We hope you enjoyed it!
So delicious! And we will definitely keep it in the rotation! We realized we didn’t have corn so used black beans instead and it was yummy!
Thank you, Amber! We’re so glad you enjoyed it!
I made the dish according to the recipe, except I used frozen onions instead of fresh, I added some frozen green bell peppers, and a little garlic salt instead of garlic cloves. Very easy to make. It tasted good, but it was a little dry. My wife spread butter on her cornbread, and I put a little ketchup on my meat part to moisten it. Next time we make it we’re going to have some sour cream on hand to top it.
Thank you for trying it out and taking the time to leave a review! We’re sorry to hear it turned out a bit try but are glad you enjoyed it overall. We would love to know how it goes with the sour cream!
I wanted to thank you for this recipe. I had to change it up just a tad because I did not have a can of tomato soup… used diced tomatoes instead. It turned out wonderful. Have saved to my favorites!
We’re so glad you enjoyed it and were able to make it work for you, Marsha!
Great, easy and so filling. Thank you
Saving this recipe to my archives!! It was the perfect recipe on a rainy day.
Next time I may add a chopped jalapeño to pick it up a notch.
Wonderful! Thank you for letting me know, Caroline! The jalapeno is a great idea for a spicy kick. 🙂
I grew up with a dish like this as a child, and when my mom couldn’t recall the recipe, I searched the web for a recipe similar to what I remembered went in. This one came up, and I tried it! It was SUCH A hit with my family, along with my MIL. I grind my cornmeal fresh and top with our family cornbread recipe. It’s SO so good, thank you for the recipe!!
We’re so happy to hear this, Kristin! Thank you for trying it out and taking the time to leave a review.