Spoonbread 

Published June 8, 2022

Spoonbread 
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist; Simon Andrews.
Total Time
1 hour
Rating
4(333)
Comments
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Popular in Virginia, the Carolinas and elsewhere in North America, spoonbread has a long history thought to date back to the Sewee tribe of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Somewhat closer to soufflé than cornbread, its tender texture comes from eggs and the creamed corn. It’s slightly sweet from the kernels, a bit of sugar and vanilla extract, but gently tangy from sour cream, relying upon simple ingredients that come together into something great. This version uses fresh or frozen crawfish, but don’t worry if crawfish isn’t available to you: Spoonbread is still wonderful without it. 

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Ingredients

Yield:12 servings
  • ¾cup unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing the pan and serving
  • cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾cup stone-ground cornmeal
  • ¼cup granulated sugar
  • 2teaspoons coarse kosher salt
  • 1teaspoon baking powder
  • ½teaspoon black pepper 
  • 1(15-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained (or use 1½ cups fresh corn kernels from 2 large ears of corn)
  • 1(14.75-ounce) can creamed corn
  • cups sour cream
  • 2large eggs, beaten
  • 1teaspoon vanilla extract 
  • 1pound shelled frozen crawfish, defrosted and patted dry, or 1 pound shelled fresh crawfish (or skip crawfish altogether)
  • A handful of chopped chives (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)

385 calories; 20 grams fat; 11 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 36 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 8 grams sugars; 18 grams protein; 486 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

  2. Step 2

    In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder and pepper.

  3. Step 3

    To another medium bowl, add the melted butter, corn kernels, creamed corn, sour cream, eggs and vanilla, and stir to combine.

  4. Step 4

    Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just combined, making sure not to overmix.

  5. Step 5

    Fold in crawfish and chives, if using. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking dish and spread it evenly to the edges of the pan.

  6. Step 6

    Bake until set and lightly browned, about 40 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the middle to test. If it comes out clean, pull it out of the oven. If not, bake the spoonbread for another 5 to 10 minutes. Garnish with extra chives, if desired, and serve the spoonbread hot, with butter.

Ratings

4 out of 5
333 user ratings
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Comments

This is mixing regional cuisines a bit, but I've made spoonbread with browned Italian sausage instead of the crawfish, plus sauteed chopped onions and bell pepper and chopped herbs. It seems to go over big.

Wondering if shrimp might work as a crawfish substitute…

While this recipe looks intriguing, it bears little (no) resemblance to spoonbread I've known. Yes, by all means use just cornmeal! All my recipes call for 100% cornmeal, no flour. Check Joy of Cooking or online for a nice basic one. Let a big knob of butter melt on it when you serve yourself. It goes great with ham, salad or greens.

This looks like corn pudding with crawfish added, which is kind of a weird take. It's meant to be a side dish, but if you wanted to add a protein and make it more of a meal, crawfish wouldn't be my go-to. But, if it works for you, more power to you.

I have had this with cheddar cheese in it but not crawfish. In Michigan it’s very popular and called corn casserole. We like it at cookouts in summer or beside chili in fall

I used this recipe as a jumping-off point for gluten-free spoon bread. I used a GF cornbread mix and added the eggs, butter, cans of corn, and sour cream. The mix is already sweet. It came out yummy and more like a corn pudding dessert thingy. Using a mix made prep quicker too.

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