Showing posts with label Thanksgiving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thanksgiving. Show all posts

11/21/21

Stewed Squash

A simple recipe for country-style fresh yellow squash stewed then pan-fried in a large skillet with onion and lots of black pepper.

JUMP TO RECIPE

A few things are set in stone when you have a summer garden in the South:

  • The child that gets into the most trouble when he’s bored does the weeding. 
  • You’ll wish you hadn’t planted so many butterbeans when it’s time to pick them.
  • Before summer’s over you’ll get good with the .22 again.
  • You’ll swear the corn’s taking longer this year.
  • You will plant more bell peppers and squash than your family could ever possibly eat.
Stewed Squash! A simple recipe for country-style fresh yellow squash stewed then pan-fried in a large skillet with onion and lots of black pepper.

If you grew up with fresh yellow squash in your garden, you’ve eaten your weight in stewed squash and then some. When I was a kid I didn’t want anything to do with it. Especially not when the alternative was fried squash.

I should stop here and explain this bit of vernacular because it will get confusing if you aren’t familiar.

The two most common ways to prepare fresh yellow squash around here are to fry it and to fry it. Confused yet?

“Fried” squash can mean when it’s cooked like this OR when it’s breaded it in a cornmeal breader and deep fried. More often fried means breaded but not always, so you have to ask. 

Stewed Squash! A simple recipe for country-style fresh yellow squash stewed then pan-fried in a large skillet with onion and lots of black pepper.

Making it this way is a two-part process. First you let it ‘stew’ to cook the majority of the moisture out, then you crank up the heat so the liquid cooks out and the squash starts to sizzle and fry in the grease or oil. 

Maybe we should call this “stew-fried” squash. Heeeeeeeeyyy, that’s catchy! I wonder if we could make that a thing if we all started saying it?? Anybody else just hear Regina George say, "Stop trying to make fetch happen."?

Stewed Squash is usually cooked with a LOT of black pepper. I spent the first half of my life thinking yellow squash was spicy because of the amount of pepper used to prepare it this way. Ha! It wasn’t until I started cooking for my own family that I realized it isn’t.

Stewed Squash! A simple recipe for country-style fresh yellow squash stewed then pan-fried in a large skillet with onion and lots of black pepper.

NOTES ABOUT COOKING STEWED SQUASH

  • You’ll need a verrrrry large skillet to cook this like I’ve written. If you don’t have anything oversized, simply pour most of the liquid out after the 5-minute covered cook time, add another tablespoon of bacon grease, then skip to Step 4.
  • 4-5 average-sized squash weigh about 4 pounds.
  • Use vegetable oil if you don’t have any bacon grease then have a stern conversation with whoever’s throwing out the bacon grease. 
  • Zucchini can be prepared the exact same way (or use a combo of the two).

Be sure to check out my recipe for SQUASH CASSEROLE too! It’s my all-time favorite side-dish at Thanksgiving!! Even more so than the Mac & Cheese and Cornbread Dressing! 

Recipe for Stewed Squash

Stewed Squash! A simple recipe for country-style fresh yellow squash stewed then pan-fried in a large skillet with onion and lots of black pepper.
squash, summer, yellow, southern, fresh, stewed, fried, stir-fried, pan fried, cooked, cast iron, traditional, basic, best, how to, how many, old school, rustic, pepper, onions, onion, recipe, side dish, thanksgiving, country, country-style
side dish, vegetables
american, southern
Yield: 4-6 Servings
Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth
Stewed Squash

Stewed Squash

A simple recipe for country-style fresh yellow squash stewed then pan-fried in a large skillet with onion and lots of black pepper.
Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 25 Min

Ingredients

  • 4 lbs fresh yellow squash
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 3-4 tablespoons bacon grease
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

  1. Sauté onions in bacon grease over medium heat in a very large skillet until lightly browned.
  2. Meanwhile, wash squash well then cut into slices (about 1/4 inch thick). Add squash, salt and pepper to skillet then stir until well combined.
  3. Cover pan, reduce heat to medium-low then cook for 5 minutes or until tender.
  4. Remove lid, increase heat to medium-high then cook and stir until all liquid has cooked out and squash is starting to sizzle and brown (about 5-10 minutes depending on pan size).
  5. Taste for seasoning then add more salt and/or pepper if desired. This is usually cooked with a LOT of pepper (to the point it makes it spicy).

Notes:

  • You’ll need a verrrrry large skillet to cook this like I’ve written. If you don’t have anything oversized, simply pour most of the liquid out after the 5-minute covered cook time, add another tablespoon of bacon grease, then skip to Step 4.
  • 4-5 average-sized squash weigh about 4 pounds.
  • Use vegetable oil if you don’t have any bacon grease then have a conversation with whoever’s throwing out the bacon grease. 
  • Zucchini can be prepared the exact same way (or use a combo of the two).
Did you make this recipe?
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11/09/21

Craisin Bacon Shredded Brussels Sprouts

Thinly sliced brussels sprouts sautéed with crispy bacon, toasted crunchy pecans and sweet, tangy dried cranberries makes a perfect side dish recipe for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner!

JUMP TO RECIPE

I actually enjoy grocery shopping. Well, I enjoy it when I have plenty of time and I’m by myself (if you want to take me close to a meltdown, make me do a week’s worth of grocery shopping with Husband and the kids in tow). 

But I used Instacart for the first time this weekend! You know, the DoorDash of grocery shopping? Overall, it was great and I will totally be using it again but the one negative was the produce selection.

I imagined the shopper thinking, hmmm… this heifer is too bougie to buy her own groceries so I’m going to pick the crappiest looking vegetables in this entire store to remind her she puts her black leggings on one leg at a time like the rest of us. 

Craisin Bacon Shredded Brussels Sprouts! Thinly sliced brussels sprouts sautéed with crispy bacon, toasted crunchy pecans and sweet, tangy dried cranberries makes a perfect side dish recipe for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner!

It was bad. Mama was eying the lettuce like, mm-hmmm how’d that work out for you and your CompuServe?

Evidently, if you reach all the way to the back of the bin and dig down to the bottom, you can find brussels sprouts that have black dirt all over their bruised, wilted leaves AND if you try real hard you can find hearts of romaine with actual slime in the bag. Super!

I had to toss the lettuce but I wanted to try to salvage the brussels sprouts. Once I started trimming off the outer leaves and cleaning them good, they were fine but they would not be very pretty to look at if I cooked them whole, or even halved. 

Craisin Bacon Shredded Brussels Sprouts! Thinly sliced brussels sprouts sautéed with crispy bacon, toasted crunchy pecans and sweet, tangy dried cranberries makes a perfect side dish recipe for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner!

What to do??? What to do???

I’d seen a few recipes for salads and slaws made with thinly sliced sprouts (shaved or shredded, they’re called) and thought, meh, lets shred them like that and cook them. They’ll be alright!

Then I worried there wouldn’t be enough left to feed everybody once I’d trimmed all the bar brawl bruises and busted leaves off so I decided to add some other stuff to beef them up.

Craisin Bacon Shredded Brussels Sprouts! Thinly sliced brussels sprouts sautéed with crispy bacon, toasted crunchy pecans and sweet, tangy dried cranberries makes a perfect side dish recipe for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner!

I was already going to use bacon then decided to add toasted pecans and dried cranberries to give everything sort of an Autumn/Fall/Thanksgiving feeling.

Now that I’ve made it – AND LOVE IT – I might add it to this year’s Thanksgiving menu and if not then, it will be amazing with a Christmas ham!

Mama walked over after I'd finished cooking everything and I thrust the bowl at her with a fork and told her to try it. I knew she would love it and I really wanted to redeem myself for the punky produce or I'd never hear the end of it. And she did - she LOVED it!! I asked if she thought I should tweak anything and she said it was perfect! YASSSS!!

Craisin Bacon Shredded Brussels Sprouts! Thinly sliced brussels sprouts sautéed with crispy bacon, toasted crunchy pecans and sweet, tangy dried cranberries makes a perfect side dish recipe for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner!

NOTES ABOUT COOKING THESE SHREDDED BRUSSELS SPROUTS:

  • Cook the brussels sprouts per your preference. I wanted mine to be soft with just a tiny bit of bite here and there. If you’d like yours to be more al dente, cook less and then obviously cook longer if you’d like them to be soft all the way through.
  • Feel free to substitute raisins for the dried cranberries, walnuts for the pecans or leave either out.
  • Use sweetened dried cranberries such as Craisins brand.
  • I didn’t use fresh garlic because I didn’t want the garlic flavor to stand out too much but you’re more than welcome to! Add it half-way through cooking the brussels sprouts. 
  • If you’d like to omit the bacon, use about 3 tablespoons olive oil instead.

Craisin Bacon Shredded Brussels Sprouts! Thinly sliced brussels sprouts sautéed with crispy bacon, toasted crunchy pecans and sweet, tangy dried cranberries makes a perfect side dish recipe for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner!

If you love brussels sprouts, be sure to check out my recipe for ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS too! They are tossed with olive oil and roasted with fresh garlic and sea salt! 

Recipe for Craisin Bacon Shredded Brussels Sprouts

Craisin Bacon Shredded Brussels Sprouts! Thinly sliced brussels sprouts sautéed with crispy bacon, toasted crunchy pecans and sweet, tangy dried cranberries makes a perfect side dish recipe for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner!

Craisin Bacon Shredded Brussels Sprouts

Craisin Bacon Shredded Brussels Sprouts
Yield: 6 Servings
Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 10 MinTotal time: 20 Min
Thinly sliced brussels sprouts sautéed with crispy bacon, toasted crunchy pecans and sweet, tangy dried cranberries makes a perfect side dish recipe for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner!

Ingredients

  • 1 lb brussels sprouts
  • 4 pieces thick-sliced bacon
  • 1/2 cup pecan pieces
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

  1. Add pecans to a large skillet then cook over medium heat until lightly toasted and fragrant. Remove pecans and set aside.
  2. Cut bacon into small pieces then cook in the same skillet over medium heat until very crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon, leaving the drippings in the pan. Set bacon aside to add back later.
  3. While pecans and bacon cook, prepare the brussels sprouts. Cut ends off each sprout and any wilted outer leaves. Slice each in half lengthwise. With the cut side down, slice each half into thin strips, starting with the top end and working your way back to the stem end.
  4. Add shredded brussels sprouts, dried cranberries, salt, garlic and pepper to the skillet with the bacon drippings then sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until sprouts are tender-crisp.
  5. Add cooked bacon and toasted pecans to skillet then continue cooking for 2-3 minutes. Enjoy!

Notes

  • Cook the brussels sprouts per your preference. I wanted mine to be soft with just a tiny bit of bite here and there. If you’d like yours to be more al dente, cook less and then obviously cook longer if you’d like them to be soft all the way through.
  • Use sweetened dried cranberries such as Craisins brand.
  • Feel free to substitute raisins for the dried cranberries, walnuts for the pecans or leave either out.
  • I didn’t use fresh garlic because I didn’t want the garlic flavor to stand out too much but you’re more than welcome to! Add it half-way through cooking the brussels sprouts. 
  • If you’d like to omit the bacon, use about 3 tablespoons olive oil instead.
brussels, brussel, sprouts, shaved, shredded, slaw, sliced, chopped, bacon, cranberries, craisins, pecans, autumn, fall, thanksgiving, christmas, winter, dinner, easy, best, hot, how to, fresh, recipe, garlic, skillet, pan, sauteed
side dish, vegetable
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10/06/21

Perfect Pumpkin Bread

A super soft and tender pumpkin bread recipe, perfectly spiced, with a surprise secret ingredient that makes it ultra-moist and delicious!

JUMP TO RECIPE

You may remember Mama having a pretty scary brain surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville a few years ago. Leading up to and following the surgery put us in Jacksonville, FL quite a lot.

Never ones to let tragedy keep us from sniffing out something good to eat for supper, we ended up at a restaurant in Ponte Vedra Beach called Barbara Jean’s on the Water which literally sits right on the Intercoastal Waterway and has some of the best food I’ve ever had!

I can’t tell you how many times we’ve eaten there since first discovering it. I almost look forward to Mama's yearly check-ups so we can stop by Barbara Jean’s! Mom’s A-OK, by the way. The incredible doctors, nurses and staff at the Mayo are world class and I appreciate them all so much!

Perfect Pumpkin Bread! A super soft and tender pumpkin bread recipe, perfectly spiced, with a surprise secret ingredient that makes it ultra-moist and delicious!

Among the many delicious things Barbara Jean's serves is pumpkin bread, which comes in a basket of assorted warm bread before your meal.

The first time we went, I wasn’t even going to eat any of the pumpkin bread because everything else looked so good and, well... I’ve never gotten too excited about pumpkin bread so…

Then Mama tried it and was like OH WOW!! which lead to how I discovered the most delicious pumpkin bread I’ve ever had!

Perfect Pumpkin Bread! A super soft and tender pumpkin bread recipe, perfectly spiced, with a surprise secret ingredient that makes it ultra-moist and delicious!

I searched online a bit for a copycat recipe but never saw anything that looked like the fine, tender, ultra-moist bread from Barbara Jean’s so I never attempted to recreate it.

BUT THEN I figured out how to make the best banana bread in the universe by using mayonnaise (I know, I KNOW, it sounds crazy but it makes the bread life-alteringly moist and tender!) and decided to use the same recipe to make pumpkin bread!

This recipe has almost EXACTLY the same texture as Barbara Jean’s! The spices aren’t quite the same but I think they’re close. If I had to guess I’d say Barbara Jean’s pumpkin bread doesn’t have pumpkin pie spice and is likely just nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon.

Perfect Pumpkin Bread! A super soft and tender pumpkin bread recipe, perfectly spiced, with a surprise secret ingredient that makes it ultra-moist and delicious!

I seriously doubt Barbara Jean’s has mayonnaise in it either but since I already knew the base recipe would make the texture the same and make the pumpkin bread soft, moist and tender, I used it and have zero regrets!

You can use this recipe to make Sweet Potato Bread too! Use about 2 cups leftover mashed baked sweet potatoes. If you use canned sweet potatoes check to see if they’re sweetened at all – if so you’re going to want to reduce the sugar in the recipe.

Perfect Pumpkin Bread! A super soft and tender pumpkin bread recipe, perfectly spiced, with a surprise secret ingredient that makes it ultra-moist and delicious!

You may notice that the pumpkin bread cooks 50% longer than the banana bread. I have no idea why. There’s only a bit more pumpkin than banana (and it’s not as “wet” as mashed bananas). I cooked it for an hour, went to take it out of the oven and could see the center was still jiggly. 

I tented some foil over it to make sure it didn’t brown too much then proceeded cooking in 5-minute intervals until I thought it was done. Knowing most cakes are done at about 220 degrees I tested it after an hour and 25 minutes (because I thought I was SURELY going to burn it!) and it only registered 198 degrees. I took it out anyway – because seriously, I was convinced I was overcooking it – and you can see in the photos the tip-top center is slightly undercooked.

If you have a thermometer, use it (for this and all sweet breads and cakes – aim for 220 degrees). If you don’t have one, test with a toothpick. I use an instant-read meat thermometer and it works perfectly for cakes and quick breads!

Perfect Pumpkin Bread! A super soft and tender pumpkin bread recipe, perfectly spiced, with a surprise secret ingredient that makes it ultra-moist and delicious!

This recipe was based off my Secret Ingredient SUPER MOIST Banana Bread. You’ve already figured out the “secret” is mayo but if you want to read more about WHY it works so well or want to make the best banana bread you’ve ever had in your whole entire life, check out the link above!

Perfect Pumpkin Bread! A super soft and tender pumpkin bread recipe, perfectly spiced, with a surprise secret ingredient that makes it ultra-moist and delicious!

Recipe for Perfect Pumpkin Bread

TRY THESE SUPER MOIST QUICKBREADS TOO!

APPLE PIE BREAD - Fresh apples grated then simmered with honey until soft, made into a sweet quick bread spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger with a surprise secret ingredient.

SUPER MOIST BANANA BREAD - The BEST banana bread recipe made incredibly moist by adding a secret ingredient! Once you’ve made it this way, you’ll never make it without it again!

Perfect Pumpkin Bread

Perfect Pumpkin Bread
Yield: 1 loaf
Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 1 H & 30 MTotal time: 1 H & 40 M

A super soft and tender pumpkin bread recipe, perfectly spiced, with a surprise secret ingredient that makes it ultra-moist and delicious!

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup butter, at room temp
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 15-oz can pumpkin
  • 2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch loaf pan; set aside.
  2. Whisk butter and sugar together for 30 seconds.
  3. Whisk in mayo, vanilla, eggs, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon until well combined.
  4. OPTIONAL STEP: Sift flour, salt and baking powder together to prevent small clumps of flour and/or baking soda from appearing in the bread.
  5. Stir in flour, salt and baking soda until just combined.
  6. Pour batter into prepared pan then bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. You’re not done yet – be sure to read the next step!
  7. Tent a large piece of foil over the bread to prevent it from overbrowning then continue cooking for approximately 25-35 minutes longer or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  8. Cool bread completely in the pan before turning out.

Notes

  • Pumpkin Pie Spice is a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice. I use it in this recipe because it’s such a well-balanced blend then add a bit more cinnamon. Use whichever spices you have and enjoy best. To make your own pumpkin pie spice, I’d go with a 4-3-2-1 formula… 4 parts cinnamon, 3 parts ginger, 2 parts nutmeg and 1 part allspice.
  • Any quality, traditional mayo will work (Duke’s, Hellmann’s, Kraft, Blue Plate, etc). Don’t use Miracle Whip or anything sweet and tangy like it.
  • You can add chopped pecans or walnuts to this if you’d like! Add 1/2 cup or so when you mix in the flour. 
  • Letting the pumpkin bread cool in the pan helps it stay moist so try to be patient and let it cool before slicing into it.
  • Don’t use a whisk to stir in the flour and only stir it long enough to combine it into the wet ingredients. Stirring develops the gluten in the flour which will create air pockets in quick breads like this and make it tough.
  • Pour the batter into the pan as soon as it’s ready then bake it immediately. The longer the batter sits wet, the more gluten develops which will also make the bread tough.
pumpkin bread, pumpkin spice, pumpkin pie spice, ginger, best, moist, mayo, mayonnaise, how to, super moist, secret ingredient, duke's, recipe, copycat, barbara jean's
bread, cake, dessert
american
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9/20/18

Southern Thanksgiving Side Dishes

A collection of the TOP 10 most popular side dish recipes for a Southern-style Thanksgiving!

There is nothing, and I do mean nothing, I look more forward to than cooking Thanksgiving dinner!

Mama and I camp out in the kitchen, watch the parade, sip on mimosas and cook all dang day long. And I love it!

I put together a collection of the TOP 10 most requested Thanksgiving side dishes from South Your Mouth to share with you in case you're looking for inspiration!

A collection of the TOP 10 most popular side dish recipes for a Southern-style Thanksgiving!

Below find photos and recipes for these tried-and-true family favorites!

  1. Southern-Style Baked Macaroni & Cheese
  2. Collard Greens
  3. Sweet Potato Praline Casserole
  4. Confetti Cornbread Salad
  5. Southern-Style Baked Beans
  6. Cornbread Dressing with Sausage
  7. Squash Casserole
  8. Southern-Style Green Beans & Potatoes
  9. Pineapple Casserole
  10. Southern-Style Coleslaw

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Southern Thanksgiving Side Dishes | A collection of the TOP 10 recipes for Southern Thanksgiving side dishes!


7/23/18

Confetti Cornbread Salad

A kaleidoscope of fresh vegetables, crisp bacon, creamy beans and cheese with a sour cream ranch dressing tossed with crumbled cornbread in a bright, beautiful, fun salad.

JUMP TO RECIPE

I felt like cooking this weekend. Like, really cooking. I don’t know if it’s because of everything I’ve had going on lately or because of all the fresh local produce in abundance this time of year or what, but the urge to camp out in my kitchen and cook myself blind struck me like a bolt of lightning this weekend.

Or maybe my body was trying to tell me something. Have you ever noticed that oftentimes the food you crave can be tied to something your body might be needing?

I tend to crave beef when my body needs iron, oranges and grapefruit when I’ve got a bit of a cold coming on, vegetables when I’m worn down, etc.

Confetti Cornbread Salad! A kaleidoscope of crisp bacon and diced fresh vegetables, creamy beans and shredded cheese tossed with sour cream dressing and crumbled cornbread in a bright, beautiful, fun salad perfect for potlucks, picnics and Sunday dinner.

I’ve had about the worst two months a person could have. It started when our beloved 15-year old golden retriever passed away and went downhill from there.

I won't trouble you with the rest of (Lord knows, we all have our struggles) but I will tell you we have been through the wringer and the stress and fatigue is surely what prompted me to want to cook up a mess of vegetables this weekend.

My body needed the nutrients and my heart needed mending and my kitchen is the place where I can take care of both.

Confetti Cornbread Salad! A kaleidoscope of crisp bacon and diced fresh vegetables, creamy beans and shredded cheese tossed with sour cream dressing and crumbled cornbread in a bright, beautiful, fun salad perfect for potlucks, picnics and Sunday dinner.

In addition to the absolutely ridiculous amounts of vegetables I cooked this weekend (including these Baby Lima Beans), I also made this Cornbread Confetti Salad which is chocked full of vegetables.

This is my version of a recipe I found flipping through one of my old community cookbooks eons ago. This is one of my favorite things to take to a covered-dish or potluck because you can bet there won’t be another dish there like it!

The crunchy veggies, creamy cheese, smoky bacon and rustic cornbread make for the perfect storm in this unique side dish. It makes a ton so it's great for entertaining!

Confetti Cornbread Salad! A kaleidoscope of crisp bacon and diced fresh vegetables, creamy beans and shredded cheese tossed with sour cream dressing and crumbled cornbread in a bright, beautiful, fun salad perfect for potlucks, picnics and Sunday dinner.

INGREDIENTS FOR CONFETTI CORNBREAD SALAD

Here's what I put in mine, but you can certainly change things up if you want. I try to pick veggies of all colors of the rainbow (though I've yet to come up with anything blue!) with a lot of variety in texture:

  • Tomatoes
  • Orange bell peppers
  • Corn
  • Jalapenos (seeded)
  • Black Beans
  • Red Onion
  • Pinto Beans
  • Cheddar cheese
  • Bacon
  • Cornbread
Confetti Cornbread Salad! A kaleidoscope of crisp bacon and diced fresh vegetables, creamy beans and shredded cheese tossed with sour cream dressing and crumbled cornbread in a bright, beautiful, fun salad perfect for potlucks, picnics and Sunday dinner.

When I want to be fancy, I layer the ingredients in a glass dish (veggies, cheese, bacon and dressing layered on the bottom then top everything with the crumbled cornbread) much like a 7-Layer Salad or traditional Cornbread Salad. But when it's just us, I mix it all together.

I've always loved cornbread in salads. You might think this is weird but when I order a big salad anywhere that serves cornbread, I always crumble the cornbread up in my salad! The little meat-and-three restaurant I introduced y'all to with my Baby Lima Beans recipe post has a chef salad with ham and fried chicken and I always get it with ranch dressing then crumble a few of their cornbread muffins over the top!

Ain't nothing healthy about it but I sure do love it! The cornbread kinda soaks up the dressing and just takes the entire salad to a whole other level of deliciousness!

Confetti Cornbread Salad! A kaleidoscope of crisp bacon and diced fresh vegetables, creamy beans and shredded cheese tossed with sour cream dressing and crumbled cornbread in a bright, beautiful, fun salad perfect for potlucks, picnics and Sunday dinner.

The original recipe has double the corn and pinto beans and only one packet of ranch dressing mix but I always found it too dry and a bit bland. Feel free to use whichever vegetables you like just try to keep them all diced about the same size so that everything looks, well, like confetti!

You could easily double this with a big pan of cornbread and double everything else but this recipe makes a HUGE batch so unless you're feeding an army, I can't imagine ever needing to double the recipe.

Confetti Cornbread Salad! A kaleidoscope of crisp bacon and diced fresh vegetables, creamy beans and shredded cheese tossed with sour cream dressing and crumbled cornbread in a bright, beautiful, fun salad perfect for potlucks, picnics and Sunday dinner.

This is an AWESOME side dish for Thanksgiving! Here are some more of my favorites for Turkey Day (or a good Sunday dinner!)

Recipe for Confetti Cornbread Salad

Confetti Cornbread Salad

Confetti Cornbread Salad
Yield: 15 Servings
Author: Mandy Rivers | South Your Mouth
Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 15 MinTotal time: 45 Min
A kaleidoscope of fresh vegetables, crisp bacon, creamy beans and cheese with a sour cream ranch dressing tossed with crumbled cornbread in a bright, beautiful, fun salad.

Ingredients

  • 1 small pan of cornbread
  • 1 16-oz carton sour cream
  • 2 packs dry ranch dressing mix
  • 1 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
  • 1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 can corn, drained
  • 1 orange or yellow bell pepper, diced
  • 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
  • 3 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
  • 1 small red onion, diced
  • 1 8-oz block cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions

  1. Prepare cornbread then allow to cool completely (this can be done the night before). Crumble cornbread then add to an oversized mixing bowl.
  2. Combine sour cream and ranch dressing mixes in a separate bowl then stir to combine.
  3. See notes below about layering the salad if desired or proceed with mixed version:
  4. Add sour cream ranch mixture, cooked bacon and remaining ingredients to the cornbread then gently fold until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.
  5. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

  • I use Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix baked in a 9x9 pan or 9”-round cake pan but you can use any package or recipe so long as it makes a “half-pan” batch (not a full 13x9 sized pan).
  • Cook cornbread a little longer than usual until the edges are dark golden brown (you want the cornbread to be a bit on the dry side).
  • I use the pan drippings from cooking the bacon to grease my cornbread pan.
  • The jalapenos do not make the salad spicy (so long as they’re seeded). I use them for a bit of green in the salad.
  • I’ve found that green bell peppers can overpower the flavors of the other ingredients.
  • LAYERED VERSION: Layer the ingredients in a glass dish or trifle bowl starting from the bottom: veggies, cheese, bacon, dressing, crumbled cornbread.
cornbread, corn bread, bacon, cheese, salad, 7-layer, layered, seven, southwest, mexican, pinto beans, corn, peppers, side dish, potluck, best, how to, ranch, sour cream, jiffy
side dish, vegetables, salad
amerian
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