Southern Cornbread Salad Recipe

This easy layered salad is one of my favorite recipes for summer potluck meals and church dinners. Other yummy make ahead recipes are Frito Corn Salad and Creamy Pea Salad.

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you'll love it
• 🧾 Ingredients
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🥄 Equipment
• 🎥 Video
• 🥫 Storage
• 💭 Tips
• 👩‍🍳 FAQs
• 📚 Related recipes
• 📞 The last word
• Cornbread Salad Recipe
• 💬 Comments

❤️ Why you'll love it

• So easy to make
• Make it up to 24 hours ahead of time
• Feeds a crowd

I could eat this yummy salad all summer long - and I have! I even like it for Thanksgiving!

It's so unbelievably easy to make, absolutely fool proof, and it feeds a crowd of hungry people. It's always a big hit with everyone.

You can't beat that with a big old stick!

🧾 Ingredients

• You can substitute black beans or kidney beans for the pinto beans.
• Greek yogurt can be substituted for the sour cream.
• Miracle Whip can be substituted for mayonnaise.
• I prefer plum tomatoes for this recipe because they are meatier and have fewer seeds.
• If you like green bell pepper add more!
• A few chopped jalapeno peppers are delicious in this!
• Sharp Cheddar cheese works well in this recipe but mild, medium, or Pepper Jack are great, too.

Clickable Grocery List

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• homemade corn bread (Jiffy mix is fine, or purchased from the bakery)
• red onion
• cilantro
• green pepper
• green onion
• tomato
• Cheddar cheese
• corn
• chiles
• Ranch seasoning
• pinto beans
• bacon
• mayonnaise
• sour cream

🔪 Instructions

Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.

Step one

1. Put the mayonnaise, sour cream, and Ranch seasoning in a small bowl.
2. Whisk until smooth.
3. Set aside.

Step two

4. Mix the tomatoes, peppers, chiles, red onions, and half the green onions in a medium mixing bowl.
5. Set aside.

Step three

6. Dice the cornbread up in small cubes.
7. Place cornbread cubes on the bottom of a large glass bowl.
8. Top with half the pinto beans.
9. Top with half the bell pepper mix.
10. Top with a layer of cheese, then a layer of cilantro.
11. Top with a layer of corn then a layer of bacon.
12. Top with half the mayonnaise mixture.
13. Repeat layers, ending with the mayonnaise mixture. Sprinkle with green onion.

Step four

14. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
15. Serve by pushing the serving spoon to the bottom of the bowl and getting some of each layer.
16. Refrigerate leftovers promptly.

🥄 Equipment

You'll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.

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• Clear bowl, large mixing bowl, or trifle dish
• Cutting board
• Sharp knife
• Whisk
• Large serving spoon

🎥 Video

Click on the image to watch me make this recipe from start to finish with extra tips! (Video opens in a new tab).

🥫 Storage

Cover the finished cornbread salad tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

Put leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate promptly. This recipe does not freeze well.

💭 Tips

Expert Tip: Remember that dishes with mayonnaise based dressings should not sit at room temperature for more than an hour or two. Refrigerate promptly to guard against food borne illness.

• You can make southern cornbread salad layered or mix it all up in a large bowl. Layered is prettier.
• Sweet cornbread or southern style without sugar will work just fine. It depends on your personal tastes.
• If you're going to layer it you can use a trifle bowl or just a large glass dish like I did. Use clear glass because you want people to be able to see the layers.
• A box of Jiffy cornbread mix will make enough for this salad.
• You can save time by purchasing an 8x8-inch square of cornbread from the store.
• Make Mexican cornbread salad by adding chopped jalapenos to the cornbread batter.
• Some people prefer to crumble the cornbread rather than cube it. I prefer the cubes because crumbled cornbread gets soggier faster.
• If you like a lot of dressing (I do) double the amounts of Ranch, sour cream, and mayonnaise.
• Add an extra layer of green onion for more zip.
• Make this a main dish salad by adding seasoned, cooked chicken.

👩‍🍳 FAQs

📚 Related recipes

In the summer the side dishes make the meal. If you're anything like me you want them to be quick and easy. Here are some of my favorites.

📞 The last word

This my favorite way to use up leftover cornbread when I have it on hand - but it's SO good that I've been known to stir up a batch of cornbread just to make this recipe.

Every Texas cook has their own versions of cornbread salad. Some add beans while others do not. The only similarity is the cornbread and the fact they're delicious!

The first time I had it was at a church picnic and I was more than a little suspicious. After my first bite, however, I was hooked and I haven't looked back.

It's one of my favorite dishes to take to summer potlucks because it's such a beautiful presentation.

If you've never had it - it's kind of the southern version of Italian panzanella.

If you happened to have some grilled corn or blackened corn it is SUPER delicious in this recipe!!

For best results make it the night before you plan to serve it.

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!

If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

First published May 17, 2021. Last updated June 22, 2021 to add clickable grocery list and fix typos.