I grew up eating Cornbread Pie, although my mom called it Shepherd’s Pie. It’s so simple and quick to make. When I’m running short on time and don’t have a lot of meat available or thawed, I’ll often whip up a couple skillets of this delicious dish.
The base is delicious homemade cornbread that is covered with seasoned ground beef that’s been browned with a diced onion. Fresh grated cheddar cheese is sprinkled over the top and twenty minutes later you have comfort food on the table.
I use my basic Skillet Cornbread recipe but adjust the measurements to make two 8 inch skillets of Cornbread Pie. Of course if you aren’t feeding a big family like I am feel free to half this recipe.
Cornbread Pie Recipe
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 Tablespoon baking powder (1 Tablespoon and 1 1/2 teaspoons)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 onion, diced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 14 ounce can of whole kernel corn
- 2 cups grated cheddar cheese
Cornbread Mix
Stir together all-purpose flour, cornmeal, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat the eggs, milk, and olive oil together in a small bowl or glass measuring cup. Set aside while you make the ground beef topping.
Ground Beef Topping
In two 8 inch or medium size skillets, brown the ground beef with the onion. Often I do this in only one skillet but both skillets need to be hot for the cornbread so you can cook in one and heat the other in the oven as it preheats.
Season the beef to taste with salt and pepper. I let my ground beef cook until it browns and cooks off all the water. You will hear the meat start to fry when all the water is gone. That’s the stage where you can get some browning and good flavor on the beef.
Spoon the nicely browned meat into a bowl so you can pour the cornbread batter into the hot skillet. Now is the time to add the whole kernel corn to the meat and onion mix. Stir to combine and set aside.
Assembling the Cornbread Pie
Divide the tablespoon of butter between the two hot skillets and swirl it around to coat the pans. Stir the egg milk mixture into the dry cornbread ingredients and mix quickly. Pour the batter into the pans. Make sure you divide the batter fairly evenly so they will bake in the same amount of time.
Sprinkle the meat and corn mix over the cornbread. Try to distribute it as evenly as you can so the surface of the cornbread batter is covered.
Now top each dish with a cup of grated cheese. Freshly grated is cheaper and better tasting but pre-shredded will do in a pinch. As soon as you finish adding the cheese, put the skillets in a preheated 400 degree oven to bake for 20 minutes.
When they are golden and the cornbread is cooked through, serve the pie cut into wedges. Be careful with the cast iron skillets, nothing is as hot as an iron skillet! Enjoy!
