Cornbread Salad
on Jun 29, 2022, Updated Apr 16, 2024
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This easy Cornbread Salad has all of your favorite summertime flavors – tomatoes, corn, pinto beans, and the star of the show, cornbread! Topped with a rich and creamy homemade ranch dressing, it’s a perfect potluck dish.
This salad includes my easy homemade cornbread recipe as one of the ingredients. It is seriously the BEST cornbread you will ever try!
What Is Cornbread Salad?
The first thing you think of when you hear “cornbread” probably isn’t salad. You’d probably think of grilling out or a big bowl of chili, or maybe a cool, fall day watching football with your favorite comfort foods being served up. But let me tell you, this cornbread salad is a game changer (and it doesn’t even have to be served on game day with some yummy hot wings, sliders, and potato skins!).
Packed with colorful veggies, pinto beans, shredded cheddar cheese, and crumbly, sweet cornbread, it comes together beautifully with a creamy homemade ranch dressing to top it off. All these fresh and big flavors combine to make a decadent and rich salad that the word “salad” doesn’t do it justice.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s such an easy way to use up leftover cornbread and remake it into something delicious!
- The combination of the different textures from the cornbread, veggies, cheese and dressing is amazing.
- It is really versatile. You can add more vegetables from whatever you have on hand, vary the variety of beans you use, customize the type of cheese, or add protein like diced chicken breast to make it into a full meal!
Ingredients
- 1 Batch of my famous cornbread
- Romaine Lettuce
- Pinto Beans: you can use just about any beans that you like or have on hand
- Cheese: I love a good sharp cheddar but Pepper Jack would be amazing too
- Veggies: tomatoes, bell pepper, green onions, and corn
- Dressing ingredients: mayo, sour cream, ranch dressing mix, and milk
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities
How to Make Cornbread Salad
Step #1. Make the cornbread first. This can be done ahead of time too or you can use leftover cornbread (if that’s such a thing). Let the cornbread cool completely before using.
Step #3. Add the cornbread, beans, and cheese.
Step #2. Chop up all of your veggies and add them to a large bowl.
Step #4. Mix up the ranch dressing and pour it over the top. Toss and serve right away.
Frequently Asked Questions
I love layering up this salad in a glass bowl so you can see all the different colors and textures for presentation. It is so beautiful and fun! To serve, top with a drizzle of the ranch dressing with more in a small bowl on the side so people can add as much more as they’d like.
You can — to make it ahead of time, put all the veggies in a bowl, and keep the dressing, cornbread, and cheese separate so that nothing gets soggy or wilted. Add those three ingredients right before serving.
Cornbread salad is hugely customizable, so you can really add any vegetables you like or have on hand, or use a different type of beans or cheese. This is also a great dish to make when you have leftover cornbread you need to use up!
Expert Tips
- If you are in a pinch, you can substitute an equal amount of a cornbread mix but I definitely recommend making your own cornbread. It’s just so good.
- You can opt to crumble the cornbread rather than cube it but it will become soggy faster.
- As with any mayonnaise-based dressing, be sure to keep the ranch in the refrigerator until serving. Any leftover dressing and salad should be placed back in the refrigerator within an hour to prevent it from spoiling.
More Salad Recipes to Consider
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Cornbread Salad
Ingredients
- 1 batch of my famous cornbread, baked and cooled
- 6 cups shredded romaine lettuce, about 2 romaine hearts
- 1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
- 4-6 green onions, chopped
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- 1 large tomato,, diced (or 3 roma tomatoes)
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 1 can corn,, drained (or 1.5 cups frozen corn, thawed)
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 heaping tablespoon ranch dressing mix
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- When the cornbread is cool, remove it from the pan and cut into 1- to 1.5-inch cubes.
- Add the lettuce to a large bowl, and top with the cornbread, pinto beans, green onion, cheese, tomato, bell pepper, and corn.
- In another bowl, add the mayonnaise, sour cream, and ranch mix. Stir to combine. Add enough milk to make a dressing that is pourable, but still on the thick side.
- When you are ready to serve, toss the salad well and drizzle with half the dressing. Serve right away with the other half of the dressing on the side so that people can add more as they like.
Notes
- This recipe is beautiful layered in a glass bowl or trifle dish! If I’m taking it to a party, I always layer it up because it’s so pretty.
- The cornbread falls apart and crumbles, but it’s so good! The texture and sweetness do something magical to this salad.
- This salad is super customizable — add what you have or like, and leave out what you don’t like or have. I love chopped jalapeno in it, and sometimes I’ll grill a few ears of corn instead of using frozen.
- Add some grilled chicken to make this a main dish salad.
- This recipe makes a lot of salad, and it’s not great leftover (the cornbread gets too soggy), so take it to a party or make a half batch.
- If you’d like to make this ahead of time, assemble the salad but leave the dressing and cornbread separate from everything else. Toss it all together right before serving.
- This is a great recipe to use with leftover cornbread.
I was looking for a lunch recipe that would be good for a spring day that would be filling, but not too heavy, and this fit the bill perfectly. 🙂
Your buttermilk cornbread recipe is amazing! I’m loving all your recipes and look forward to making some delicious meals.
Thank you!
I love that! Thank you!