Make Jiffy cornbread mix (or gluten-free corn muffin mix) at home with this easy copycat recipe. Plus 9 variation of the classic Jiffy corn casserole recipe! It’s classic comfort food without unneeded ingredients.
Are there a few recipes that ALWAYS show up on your Thanksgiving table? My family has a few traditional holiday recipes we make over and over again.
Sweet corn casserole is one of those dishes. I first learned the recipe from my Aunt Linda in Grove City, Ohio more than 20 years ago. Thanks, Aunt Linda!
Is it Corn Pudding, Corn Casserole, or Corn Spoon Bread?
Our family has always called this side dish corn casserole, but other families call it corn pudding, corn souffle, creamed corn casserole, or corn spoon bread.
Whatever it’s called, corn casserole is a delicious addition to any feast from Thanksgiving to Christmas and Easter. It’s the perfect side dish to turkey, chicken or ham, though my son would eat it as his entire holiday meal, if allowed. (It’s the perfect comfort food!)
Easy Pour and Stir Recipe
I’ve heard corn casserole called “5 ingredient corn dump” because it can be made by pouring 1 can of corn, 1 can of creamed corn, 1 cup of sour cream, 1 stick of butter, and 1 box of Jiffy cornbread mix into a dish and stirring.
It’s not a catchy name or super precise recipe, but easy to remember!
How to Make Corn Casserole without Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
Corn casserole is a holiday staple in the Southern and Midwestern United States, but it is less common dish in the rest of the world.
When we lived outside the US I had to learn how to make corn casserole without Jiffy Corn Muffin mix through lots of trial and error. (Jiffy and other “instant” corn muffin or cornbread mixes are common in most American grocery stores but are not available to purchase in Asia or Europe.)
I also learned how to make homemade fried onions, but that’s a whole other story!
How do you make Jiffy cornbread mix?
You can substitute a mixture of flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, and vegetable oil for a box of Jiffy corn muffin mix. Full instructions and measurements below.
Copycat Jiffy Cornbread Mix
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 7 minutes
- Yield: 6 corn muffins 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: American
Description
This recipe makes the equivalent of one 8.5 ounces of corn muffin or cornbread mix (equal to 1-box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix).
Ingredients
- ½ c + ½ tbsp unbleached white flour (2.8 ounces)
- ½ c yellow cornmeal (3.2 ounces)
- 2 Tbsp white sugar (1.1 ounces)
- 1 Tbsp baking powder (0.6 ounces)
- ½ tsp table salt (0.1 ounce)
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil (1.1 ounces)
Instructions
- Whisk together flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Slowly whisk in vegetable oil. Mix until dry mixture is smooth with no lumps.
- If a recipe uses a box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix: add the above mix to that recipe.
- How to make corn muffins: Preheat oven to 400F. Combine above mix with 1 egg and 1/3 c. milk. Mix well. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake 15-20 minutes. (Makes 6 muffins.)
- How to make corn bread: Preheat oven to 400F. Combine above mix with 1 egg and 1/3 c. milk. Mix well. Pour batter into greased 8-inch square pan. Bake 20 – 25 minutes.
Notes
Store homemade cornbread mix in a plastic bag or lightly closed jar for several weeks at room temperature. You can also freeze the mix for up to 3 months.
The Jiffy corn muffin copycat mix is vegetarian, it uses vegetable oil in place of lard.
How to make Gluten free corn muffin mix: Use gluten free baking mix in place of the flour (try Bob’s Red Mill’s gluten-free 1-to1 baking flour). *Cornmeal is naturally gluten-free but it is often produced by manufacturers who also process wheat on their machinery, read the label carefully.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6 of mix
- Calories: 105
- Sugar: 4.2 g
- Sodium: 155.1 mg
- Fat: 0.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 23.3 g
- Protein: 1.8 g
Eliminating Unnecessary Ingredients
I stopped purchasing pre-made corn muffin mix once I learned to make my own copycat. The homemade cornbread mix is easy to whip up and uses just 6 basic ingredients: flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, and vegetable oil.
The prepackages mix contains more than 18 ingredients: wheat flour, degerminated yellow corn meal, sugar, animal shortening (lard, hydrogenated lard, tocopherols preservative, bht preservative, citric acid preservative), contains less than 2% of each of the following: baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, monocalcium phosphate, salt, wheat starch, niacin, reduced iron, tricalcium phosphate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, silicon dioxide.
I’ll stick with the homemade mix!
(Psst… I also love to make homemade cheese crackers to eliminate unnecessary ingredients.)
How to Make Corn Casserole
There are two common recipes for corn casserole in the United States.
- The most basic recipe is also called the 5-ingredient pour and stir version: 1 can of corn, 1 can of creamed corn, 1 cup of sour cream, 1 stick of butter, and 1 box of Jiffy Cornbread mix.
- Ingredients:
- 1 box Jiffy cornbread mix (8.5 ounces)
- 1 can whole kernel corn (14-15 ounces, drained or 1.5 cups frozen corn, thawed – about 9.8 ounces after draining)
- 1 can creamed corn, (14-15 ounces, do not drain)
- 1 cup sour cream (8 ounces)
- 1/2 cup butter, melted (1 stick, 4 ounces)
- Directions:
-
Preheat the oven to 375° and lightly grease a 1 ½ – 2 quart casserole dish with butter.
-
Pour butter, both kinds of corn, and sour cream into a large bowl. Stir until well combined.
-
Add muffin mix. Blend thoroughly.
-
Pour the mixture evenly into the casserole dish.
-
Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until the casserole is golden brown and set.
-
- Notes:
- The casserole with be a spoon-able corn pudding, not firm enough to slice like cornbread.
- Ingredients:
- The second most common corn casserole recipe adds eggs which makes a the dish a bit lighter: 1 can of corn, 1 can of creamed corn, 1 cup of sour cream, 1 stick of butter, 2 eggs, and 1 box of Jiffy Cornbread mix.
- Ingredients:
- 1 box Jiffy cornbread mix (8.5 ounces)
- 1 can whole kernel corn (14-15 ounces, drained or 1.5 cups frozen corn, thawed – about 9.8 ounces after draining)
- 1 can creamed corn, (14-15 ounces, do not drain)
- 1 cup sour cream (8 ounces)
- 1/2 cup butter, melted (1 stick, 4 ounces)
- 2 eggs (large)
- Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 375° and lightly grease a 1 ½ – 2 quart casserole dish with butter.
- Pour butter, both kinds of corn, sour cream and eggs into a large bowl. Stir until well combined.
- Add muffin mix. Blend thoroughly.
- Pour the mixture evenly into the casserole dish.
- Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until the casserole is golden brown and set.
- Notes:
- The casserole with be spoonable, not firm enough to slice like cornbread
- Ingredients:
Popular Corn Casserole Variations
There are many different variations to the basic corn casserole recipe. Some add a half teaspoon of salt, some swear the recipe need a bit of black pepper. Our family loves the 5-ingredient corn casserole, but there are many add-ins that give corn casserole a tasty twist.
Here are a few popular corn casserole additions (these can be added to the basic or egg recipes):
- Cheesy Corn Casserole – Add a 1 -1 ½ cups of grated cheddar cheese (4 to 6 ounces) to the batter before baking.
- Green Chili Corn Casserole – Add a 4-ounce can of diced green chilies to the mix (hot or mild).
- Corn Casserole with Onions – Add a small diced onion or diced green onions to the mix, about 4 ounces.
- Sweet Corn Casserole – Add ¼ – ½ cup (2-4 ounces) white or brown sugar to the mix. (Adding sugar to the egg version makes it taset like corn cake!)
- Pimento Corn Casserole – Add a 4-ounce jar of pimentos, drained
- Jalapeno Corn Casserole – Add 1-2 fresh jalapenos, finely chopped.
- Cheesy Jalapeno Corn Casserole – Add both jalapenos and cheese.
How to Make Gluten Free Corn Casserole
Substitute gluten free baking mix in place of the flour (try Bob’s Red Mill’s gluten-free 1-to1 baking flour) and gluten free corn meal (try Bob’s Red Mill’s gluten-free cornmeal) in the baking mix.
Note: Cornmeal is naturally gluten-free but it is often produced by manufacturers who also process wheat on their machinery, read the label carefully.
How to Make Vegetarian Corn Casserole
Substitute the copycat baking mix (which uses vegetable oil) for Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix (which uses lard).
I hope this recipe makes your holiday cooking a bit easier… and, if you live outside the United States, I hope you enjoy your first corn casserole!
Pat Ellis
Hi! This is my first Thanksgiving in Italy, having just moved here from WA 4 months ago. Every year I would make cornbread stuffing. I found some farina di mais (cornmeal) at the store and made your Jiffy copycat recipe. It is perfect! I followed your cornbread recipe, and just added 42g of butter, just cause I like butter lol. It came out delicious. Thanks to you it will be perfect for my cornbread stuffing! Thank you so much, and Happy Thanksgiving! Ciao!
Diamond
I really enjoyed reading the other comments on this recipe because it helped me troubleshoot a little when my first try didn’t go so well :/ TLDR: My alterations to the recipe were 2/3 cup milk and 3tbsp sugar – really tasty.
I love the flavor and texture of your recipe. I think it’s a pretty darn close replacement that actually has a better flavor & more hearty texture than Jiffy. And once pre-mixed, it’s just as easy to whip up so brava 🙂 This is my new favorite quick & in a hurry recipe.
Where I made an adjustment: the first time I made this, I used my scale to measure ingredients and as a previous commenter mentioned, it didn’t turn out like I thought it would at all. It was very lumpy and thick/dry almost. It didn’t spread well in the pan and fluffed up a lot from the baking powder. So I tried it again but this time I used dry measure cups instead of weighing everything and mixed the oil in with the milk and egg since I was making it right away. Initially, this seemed to fix it but then it did the same thing where it bubbled up a lot and was thick but I didn’t pour it into my pan yet since I learned my lesson 🙂 I added an additional 1/3 cup of milk for a total of 2/3 cup and that created a much more manageable and pourable texture. It baked up really well! I might go a little less than 2/3 cup milk next time just to test it out but the extra milk did the trick.
Who knows why – different humidity levels and ingredient brands may play a part but once I tweaked it for my climate I guess, it turned out very tasty! I did add 3 tbsp of sugar instead of 2, as someone above mentioned this recipe wasn’t as sweet as Jiffy with just 2 tbsp, and I agree. I might even add 4 tbsp total if I want it how I’m used to eating it but my grandma who is a true Southerner would like it less sweet so I like that your recipe is adjustable in that way. Thank you Bren!
Bren
Thanks for the review, Diamond! I’m so glad the recipe worked well for you!
Barbara Calhoun
Bren,
Thank you so much for publishing the Jiffy Corn Bread Mix Recipe. I haven’t tried it yet but it sounds spot on. I’ve been longing for my favorite broccoli cornbread but can’t use Jiffy because of the phosphate additives which are poison to me due to health issues. (Actually, no one should be eating phosphate additives.) I found a recipe for baking powder which does not contain any additives, so with your Jiffy recipe I’m good to go! Thanks again!
Bren
Thanks, Barbara!
Claude
Hi, do you have a recipe for yellow cake or butter cake mix? I want to make the Boston Market copycat cornbread recipe found online? And thank you for the Jiffy cornbread mix.
Thank you
Bren
I do not have a cake mix recipe! I should work on one! Thanks for the idea.
Mary Wilson
Thank you, Bren for the copycat recipe for the muffin mix. I live on an island that typically stocks this, but currently all stores are out. So, I bought self-rising corn meal mix (white-enriched). Your copycat calls for corn meal. How do I make this work? Add the sugar, white flour and oil?
My southern roots are a hit when I bring corn pudding to the ex-pat holiday gatherings! Would appreciate you help!
Thank you,
Mary
Bren
Mary, self-rising flour is flour that has baking powder and salt added to it (usually 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, and
1/4 teaspoon salt). This recipe uses more salt and baking powder so you would have to add a bit more:
½ c + ½ tbsp self-rising flour
½ c yellow cornmeal
2 Tbsp white sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
3/8 tsp table salt
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Please note, I have not tested this substitution, I just did the math to give you the correct ratio. Please let me know if it works well for you.
Barbara Saavedra
About making up the batter a day ahead…
Friends were invited to mutual friends home for a wonderful clam chowder meal.
She mixed her Jiffy batter that morning and left it sitting in the muffin tins till dinner…Put them in the over and baked them.
One of the fellows remarked on how nice the “HOCKY PUCKS” looked. The muffins were impossible to eat!
My husband and I have enjoyed many of your recipes….in fact it is the go to page on the net when I am in need of a tasty version of just about any ethnic food we get hungry for…. GOOD JOB!!!
Diane
Hi Bren! Thank you so much for this recipe! I have not made it yet, but I am sure it’s worth 5 stars just for the work you did to figure out how to make the corn muffin mix homemade.
I didn’t read all the comments so I don’t know if you’ve addressed this already, but creamed corn is also something you can’t find outside of the US (or maybe Canada too?). What do you do for that? I usually just whiz a can but what do you do?
Bren
Diane, if I can’t get creamed corn I use my old Better Homes and Gardens “starter” cookbook to make my grandma’s versions of creamed corn! It’s very simple, it just takes a little time.
Donna sharp
Can you double this recipe
Bren
Yes, you can double.
Bob Bruce
Can you use corn flour instead of regular flour
Bren
Sorry, I have never made the mix with only corn flour. Let me know if you try!
Lori Kurochkina
Hi Bren! I also live overseas in Russia and I was thinking of trying to make some traditional food that we miss, like Corn Casserole, for Thanksgiving coming up. We do not have Jiffy corn muffin mix here or canned creamed corn. I’m so glad that I found your website and copycat recipe! We have a finely ground type of corn meal here, hopefully that texture is ok. Did you ever find a copycat recipe for canned creamed corn? Lol or cream of chicken soup? (I’m really missing that one!!!)
Bren
I’m happy to help, Lori. I used my old Better Homes and Gardens “starter” cookbook to make my grandma’s versions of creamed corn and cream of chicken! It’s not too hard,,. it just takes a little time.
Valerie
Can you use something besides vegetable oil? Not a fan!
Bren
You can add coconut oil, but it will change the taste a bit or use melted butter when making the muffins. The butter version cannot be stored as a mix.
Terrie
If making the 5-ingredient corn casserole with the copy cat recipe, do you add the oil? And have you ever used sodium-free baking powder instead of regular? How did that turn out?
Bren
Yes, you still use the oil. I have never tried sodium-free baking powder, sorry!
Sharon Day
First let me say that when I finally got the wet to dry ingredient fixed, these corn muffins turned out absolutely delicious. However, I thought when I first looked at the recipe that 1/3 Cup of milk and one egg was not going to be enough wet ingredient compared to 3+ Cups of dry ingredients. I was right. Either I read the recipe wrong or it’s printed wrong. I put the 1/3 Cup of milk, the one egg and the oil in with the dry ingredients and attempted to mix them . . . .. impossible. There wasn’t even enough liquid to slightly moisten a third of the dry ingredients. After adding another egg and almost a full cup of milk, it finally looked like corn muffin batter. I melted butter in the muffin tins in the oven and spooned the batter in. The muffins turned out perfect . . . . crispy and crunchy on the outside, tender and delicious on the inside. This recipe is definitely a keeper once I made the adjustments.
Bren
Sharon, the dry ingredients listed should equal around a cup. I am not sure what happened to get you to 3+ Cups of dry ingredients but I am very glad you were able to save the recipe!
Laurelle
G’day Bren,
I live in Australia and often times I find a recipe online and would love to make it only to find one or more of the ingredients are not available where I live, so it was a nice surprise to find your copycat recipe for the Jiffy Cornbread mix.
I am also going to try your Ham, Egg & Cheese Breakfast Muffins, they sound great
Thanks for posting the recipes and I look forward to trying more of your recipes in the future.
michele
does the above recipe make more than one batch of jiffy
Bren
The recipe makes the equivalent of one box of mix.
AU
Jiffy is a sweeter than the recipe, but good general cornbread recipe.
I used self-rising flour so I omitted the baking soda and salt
Erma
Taste better than Jiffy. You hit it on the head.
Karen
This recipe is wonderful. I wanted to make my cousin’s corn casserole recipe for Christmas, but I didn’t have any Jiffy mix on hand. I found the copycat recipe online and decided to try it. I made the mix using 2 tablespoons of XyloSweet instead of the sugar. The casserole recipe came out perfect. The recipe uses 4 eggs and 1/2 cup of milk. This is the best results I ever had. It was light and fluffy and i was able to cut it in squares. My husband loved it. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Bren
Thanks, Karen!
alilduckling
Good recipe. I made it sugar free by replacing the sugar with Stevia. It may not be quite as sweet as the original and a different sweetner or part sugar/part sweetner might make all the difference. This worked well for me, though, as I was making a cornbread dressing. I, too, dislike all the “extra” ingredients in the boxed Jiffy mix.
Bren
I’m glad the substitution worked well for you!
Katherine
This recipe is fabulous! I also live overseas and have been looking for some time to replicate Jiffy cornbread and this recipe knocked it out of the park. The only thing I did was add an extra 1/2 TB sugar and it was perfect for my family. Thank you Bren! I’m happy I found your website.
Bren
Thanks, Katherine! I’m so glad the recipe worked well for you. Happy Holidays!
Jessi
Do you still add the soda and salt if using self rising flour?
Bren
I’ve never made the mix with self rising flour so I am not sure the adjustment you would need to make to the soda and salt. There would need to be an adjustment because self rising flour is a combination of all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.
Mario
The copycat Jiffy Corn Bread mix was right on !!!
Great Job, Bren !!
Bren
Thanks, Mario! There was a lot of cornbread around here while I was testing the recipe! 🙂
ELIZABETH
Does this recipe double ok with making it in a 9×13 pan?
Bren
Yes, you can double the recipe.
Lori Hartman
I am looking for this to be sliceable rather than spoonable, any thoughts in how to alter your wonderful recipe? Will the sugar and 2 egg recipe make it more corn bread ish? I am planning on making it for a crowd and don’t have time for individual cupcakes
Bren
The eggs make the casserole more dense so it can be sliced.
Fee
Is it truly a tbsp of baking powder? Not sure if the bicarbonate of soda in the UK is different but the batter tasted ok and the bread was super sour. Was thinking maybe 1 tbsp was a misprint.
Bren
The recipe uses a tablespoon of baking powder (Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent, a mixture of bicarbonate and a weak acid) not baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). A tablespoon of pure bicarbonate would make it taste terrible. Sorry you had this result!
chris jaques
We call this ‘HILLBILLY CORN”. Not sure why but that is the name we call it. My grandson called me several times for my recipe and he has made it, he’s going to be 23 soon, the three different ways I make it (his favorite is no bacon bits or diced green peppers).
As a matter of fact I am making some for supper tonight. Am using the actual corn meal and couldn’t remember how much to use to match a box.
Bren
Hope the recipe was helpful, Chris!
Doris
Can the ingredients be put together the day before and refrigerate overnight?
Bren
The cornbread mix can be made ahead, I have not tried making the entire corn casserole ahead. Baking powder is fast acting so I am afraid it would loose its “umph” overnight and you would have a flat corn casserole.
Walter
Instead of mixing in the 2 Tb. of oil and then storing the mix, can I add the oil when adding the egg and milk, then mix all together?
Bren
Yes, you can add the oil when you make the mix. Hope you enjoy!
Pam
Love this substitution. Worked perfectly!
Mary
I use 8 oz cream cheese in the place of the sour cream. Also some freshly ground black pepper and a couple of dashes of tobasco sauce. Not so much to have a hot flavor, just to make it different. The cream cheese makes it slightly sweeter w/out more sugar. I get this food request often for family get togethers. I have to make this only when I’m taking it somewhere. I love this stuff, but my husband doesn’t, so since I don’t need to eat a whole batch on my own I only take it to go.
Bren
Mary, your versions sounds great. I know my husband would love the Tabasco!