Cornbread salad is a unique and flavorful dish that layers crumbled cornbread with a variety of fresh vegetables, creamy dressing, and crispy bacon. It’s a popular Southern dish that is perfect for potlucks, picnics, or as a side dish for BBQs.
To make cornbread salad, you start by baking a batch of cornbread and letting it cool. Then, you crumble the cornbread into bite-sized pieces and place it in a large bowl. Next, you add a layer of chopped tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, and celery on top of the cornbread.
In a separate bowl, mix together mayonnaise, sour cream, and ranch seasoning to create a creamy dressing. Pour the dressing over the vegetables and cornbread, and gently toss everything together until well combined.
To add extra flavor and texture, sprinkle crispy crumbled bacon, shredded cheddar cheese, and chopped green onions on top of the salad. Refrigerate the salad for at least an hour before serving to allow the flavors to meld together.
Cornbread salad is a delicious and satisfying dish that combines the sweet and savory flavors of cornbread with the freshness of vegetables and the creaminess of the dressing. It’s sure to be a hit at your next gathering!
Ingredients :
1 pan Cornbread
cup red onions diced or sliced thin in rings or half rings
green pepper deseeded and diced
cup diced tomato
15 ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
pound bacon chopped and cooked
cup sour cream
cup mayonnaise
1 ounce packet dry ranch dip mix (Hidden Valley)
cup shredded cheese
2 fresh jalapenos deseeded and sliced
can black beans drained and rinsed
cup sliced pickles
— Preparation :
LAYERED VERSION:
Chop up the raw bacon into 1 inch pieces and cook in a frying pan until crispy. *This may need done in batches. Remove crisp bacon pieces with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper towel to soak up the extra grease.
Crumble the cornbread.
Chop up red onion, green pepper, and tomato. Slice and de-seed the fresh jalapenos. **slice a few red onion rings, and tomato slices for the topping and set aside.
In a small bowl mix the sour cream, mayo and ranch dip mix together.
In a large salad bowl start by layering half the crumbled cornbread in the bottom
Next sprinkle half the onion, green peppers, tomatoes, beans, corn, bacon, and jalapenos over the cornbread.
Spoon half of the dressing over the vegetables and smooth out. And sprinkle with half the cheese.
Repeat this order of the layers with the other half of the ingredients, and then decorate the top with a few sliced red onion rings and jalapeno slices. Serve fresh
MIXED VERSION:
Chop up the raw bacon into 1 inch pieces and cook in a frying pan until crispy. *This may need done in batches.
Remove crisp bacon pieces with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper towel to soak up the extra grease.
Crumble the cornbread in the pan and set aside.
Chop up all the vegetables: red onion, tomatoes, green peppers. Slice and de-seed the fresh jalapenos. **optional ingredient of diced pickles is delicious
Reserve ¼ cup of shredded cheese, 9 tomato slices, 5-7 pickle slices and set aside for topping.
In a small bowl mix the sour cream, mayo and ranch dip mix together.
In a large salad bowl, toss all the ingredients together, including the drained cans of corn and beans.
Decorate the top by sprinkling the reserved shredded cheese, tomato slices, and pickle slices.
Serve fresh
— Notes and Variations:
If you don’t have time to make homemade cornbread, you can use store-bought cornbread mix or even crumbled cornbread from a cornbread stuffing mix.
This recipe can be made vegetarian by omitting the bacon and adding more vegetables or a vegetarian protein source, such as tofu or tempeh.
You can customize the salad to your liking by adding different vegetables or toppings. Some popular additions include diced tomatoes, avocado, or jalapeños.
If you prefer a sweeter dressing, you can add more sugar or use a honey mustard dressing instead.