This Lightened Up Corn Casserole Recipe has the spirit of cornbread with the soul of a creamy autumn casserole. Ready in 40 minutes from start to finish!
Lightened Up Corn Casserole
I love it when a holiday gathering can be both a warm, homey experience – and epic night out all rolled into one. Last Thanksgiving started off with close friends, eating a delicious home-cooked meal that everyone had a hand in preparing. The wine and bourbon flowed – and soon enough, we were listening to great music, playing a few spirited rounds of Cards Against Humanity and headed up to the roof for a 4AM gaze out over glowing New York. It was a night to remember. For the feast, my friend Andrea prepared a jalapeño cornbread that had chunks of spicy pepper and corn baked right in. In fact, it was so out of this world that I thought about it all year, and used it as the inspiration for this lightened up corn casserole recipe.
The Spirit of Cornbread. The Soul of a Casserole.
This corn casserole isn’t cornbread. Well… not quite. Even though it calls for a box of corn-muffin mix, it’s much more casserole than bread. The muffin mix imparts the flavor of cornbread, while the moist, fluffy casserole center remains creamy. There is an element of slow heat from the canned green chilis, but it’s not forcefully spicy like jalapeños or Thai chilis would be. However, if you like your Thanksgiving side dishes loaded with heat, you can definitely substitute a spicier pepper in your own corn casserole recipe at home.
Butter: Yes. All the Butter: No.
I used both canned sweet yellow corn and creamed corn in this lightened up corn casserole recipe. The sweetness from the creamed corn is tempered by the Greek yogurt. Whole corn kernels and red bell pepper add a crunchy texture that is so out of this world! Even though jacket weather is upon us, it’s still important that my fall/winter/holiday diet doesn’t weigh me down – so, while you’ll find butter in this corn casserole recipe, you won’t find all the butter. To even things out I used olive oil, which is loaded with healthy fats. Healthier can still taste great. Just ask Ben (who ate about a quarter of this corn casserole as a midnight snack last night)!
Autumn Calls for Casseroles
Casseroles just scream holidays to me. Therefore, it’s not a massive shock that as soon as the leaves started to change here in Brooklyn, I broke-out the baking dishes and got to work preparing fall inspired mash ups. And the best part is, there are no hard and fast rules about making casseroles. I mean, I turned my friend’s cornbread into a casserole. Yep – and now it’s a thing! Guess I know what side dish I’ll be making this Thanksgiving! What’s your favorite autumn casserole? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Other simple, healthier recipes:
- Healthier No Bake Oatmeal Cookies
- Healthier Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
- Sweet Potato Croquettes
- Healthier Southern Cornbread Recipe
- Cauliflower Pizza Crust Alla Margherita
Did you like this Lightened Up Corn Casserole Recipe? Are there changes you made that you would like to share? Share your tips and recommendations in the comments section below!
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Lightened Up Corn Casserole
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 people 1x
- Category: Side dish
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Lightened Up Corn Casserole Recipe has the spirit of cornbread with the soul of a creamy autumn casserole. Ready in 40 minutes from start to finish!
Ingredients
- 15.25 ounces can sweet yellow corn (drained)
- 14.75 ounces can sweet corn cream style
- 1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
- 1 red bell pepper (cored and diced)
- 4 ounces can diced green chilies (drained)
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil + extra for brushing
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 large eggs (lightly beaten)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 8.5 ounces corn muffin mix (such as Jiffy)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, add all the ingredients except the corn muffin mix and stir well.
- Then, slowly whisk in corn muffin mix until well blended.
- Brush a 9×13” pan with olive oil and add mixture. Bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and mixture has set (it’s okay if it’s still a little soft inside).
- Serve.
Notes
This Lightened Up Corn Casserole Recipe is:
Very high in vitamin B6
High in vitamin C
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 294
- Sugar: 4.9 g
- Sodium: 692.1 mg
- Fat: 13.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 37.8 g
- Fiber: 3.7 g
- Protein: 7.7 g
- Cholesterol: 55.8 mg
Hi! Just wondering if you have a version of the recipe that doesn’t use a boxed corn muffin mix? I usually use the Purity Corn meal Muffn reciped from the side of the bag, and don’t even know if we have boxed mix in Canada (and usually boxed mixes are more costly than cooking from scratch!).
Or, I could do some experimenting! How many of what sized muffins or baking pan size does the Jiffy package make?
Thanks!
Hi Christine, I found this recipe for homemade Jiffy mix: http://www.food.com/recipe/jiffy-corn-muffin-mix-copycat-345502
I don’t know if Jiffy exists in Canada either, I never looked for it when I lived there! I hope this helps 🙂