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 RECIPEI 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.
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.
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!
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
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!
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.
This is an AWESOME side dish for Thanksgiving! Here are some more of my favorites for Turkey Day (or a good Sunday dinner!)
- Zucchini Pie - Sauteed zucchini and onions with Italian herds and cheese baked in a crescent roll crust.
- Sweet Potato Praline Casserole - A classic recipe with whipped sweet potatoes crowned with a pecan praline topping.
- Southern Cornbread Dressing with Sausage - Much like Mama's recipe for dressing but with sausage!
- Southern-Style Green Beans & Potatoes - Green Beans & Potatoes cooked low and slow (both stove-top and crock pot instructions).
- Squash Casserole - A delicious squash casserole recipe made with herb stuffing, sour cream and cream of chicken soup.
- Southern-Style Collard Greens - A step-by-step recipe for cooking authentic Southern collard greens.
- Corn Casserole with Cheese & Bacon - An easy casserole recipe with corn, butter, cheddar cheese, bacon, a little flour, eggs and chives!
Recipe for Confetti Cornbread Salad
Confetti Cornbread 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
- Prepare cornbread then allow to cool completely (this can be done the night before). Crumble cornbread then add to an oversized mixing bowl.
- Combine sour cream and ranch dressing mixes in a separate bowl then stir to combine.
- See notes below about layering the salad if desired or proceed with mixed version:
- Add sour cream ranch mixture, cooked bacon and remaining ingredients to the cornbread then gently fold until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.
- 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.
