Cowboy Casserole

This Cowboy Casserole made with cornbread will make a great weeknight dinner when looking for a comforting or kid friendly meal! Hearty Cowboy Casserole ingredients include: BBQ beef layered base, baked beans, cheddar cheese and topped with cornbread–baked to perfection. So good!

Cornbread was something of a treat growing up- and usually served with syrup so this Cornbread Cowboy Casserole was definitely a new recipe I had thought of later in life. It is an easy meal to make and can be made quite quickly if you have your meat prepped- it is a great way to use leftover BBQ meat!

Ingredients in Cowboy Casserole Recipe

This Cowboy Casserole Recipe has really easy, simple and versatile ingredients.

BBQ Beef: I used 2 cups of our own homestyle bbq mixture that we have on our freezer meal business. This was super handy because I just had to thaw it and it was ready to go! BBQ meat is VERY freezer friendly, and easy to make an extra batch to freeze for times like this. Otherwise, just use your favorite BBQ recipe– better yet, if you have BBQ leftovers this is a great recipe to save for those times!

Baked Beans: I am usually not one to be picky about brands, but I always use Bush’s Baked Beans for most of my recipes and grilling. If you have another brand you prefer- use it. 8 oz can (about 1 cup) and use any flavor variety you would like. I use original or homestyle usually.

Cheddar Cheese: 1 cup of cheddar cheese is spread in the middle of this casserole for a cheesy filling. I suggest hand shredding for the best melting, but feel free to use pre-shredded if in a pinch.

Jiffy Cornbread Mix: again, I’m usually not one to commit to brands but the 8 oz box of cornbread mix is what you will need. Yes, you can use your favorite or homemade but there is a good chance you’ll have too much cornbread made if you do not use jiffy.

Ingredients to make cornbread: milk, egg and optional corn! Corn can be canned, frozen or fresh. Want to preserve your own frozen sweet corn? Checkout my Freezer Corn Recipe.

Optional add-ons: add some diced chiles, jalapenos, more cheese or bacon bits if you wish to really bring this cowboy casserole recipe to the next level.

How to make Cowboy Cornbread Casserole

This is an easy cowboy casserole recipe that anyone can make!

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Then, add your already cooked BBQ mixture to the bottom of your small to medium sized casserole dish (about 9×9 dish).
• Next, top with your can of baked beans. Stir together with the BBQ at the bottom of the pan if you wish.
• Shred your cheese if you haven’t already, and then top the meat and bean mixture.
• Now, make the corn bread per the package instructions (1 egg, mix and 1/3 c milk- stir in medium bowl). Add 1 cup of corn to the cornbread mix if you wish, but not necessary.
• Now, top the meat mixture with the mixed cornbread mix.
• Add any other additional toppings if you like- jalapeños, more shredded cheese, bacon bits, etc.
• Bake in the oven uncovered at 350 F for about 30-40 minutes until cornbread mix is cooked through and beginning to bubble and turn golden. Enjoy!

Cowboy Casserole Substitutions and Variations:

Meat: feel free to use about 2 cups of any kind of BBQ’d meat- shredded roast beef (see my recipe for instapot shredded beef), shredded BBQ chicken, shredded BBQ pork or even make ground BBQ turkey for a leaner option.

Cornbread: use homemade cornbread, top with a cornbread casserole topping, skip the corn that I optionally added or take the cornbread out entirely and top with tater tots and cheese!

Baked Beans: don’t like baked beans? Leave them out- I have done that before. Or, make your own bean variation such as chili beans with diced chiles.

Cheese: you can skip the cheese entirely or use a different kind such as pepper jack.

Other add-ins: I think diced chiles or jalapeños would pair well with this dish. Bacon bits would taste great mixed in with the bean and bbq mixture or sprinkled on top of the casserole.

Seasoning: try a taco inspired cowboy casserole– add 1-2 tbsp taco seasoning to your meat mixture for a fun flair- try chili beans instead of baked beans- call it ‘Taco Cowboy Casserole’?!

Leftover Storage & Freezer Instructions

Keep leftovers up to 4 days in the refrigerator if stored in an airtight container- warm in microwave for quick leftovers.

Freezer: I do not recommend assembling this cowboy casserole ahead of time and freezing. If you decide to substitute tater tots for cornbread- I do think you could freeze it fully assembled.

However, I have a couple of ideas to make this dish easier to prep.

• Freeze baked: After baked, cool and store in serving size freezer safe containers. Thaw and warm in microwave. These meal prep containers would work for storage- or I have used these glass meal prep containers too if you are switching to glass.
• Freeze the meat ahead of time: BBQ’d beef, or any protein, is really SO easy to freeze and nice to have on hand to eat on sandwiches, or to use in recipes such as this. All you have to do is make your favorite BBQ recipe, cool, and freeze in freezer bags flat for quick thawing OR freeze in the containers such as above linked. I personally like Ziploc freezer bags. The freezer Ziploc containers work well too and can be reuseable- I just like to store meats flat for more room in my crowded freezers.
• I use my Homestyle BBQ in this recipe which is almost always available on our store locally, this is a similar BBQ recipe if you need one-but really any BBQ recipe your family likes would work. Again, this recipe is perfect for leftover BBQs!

Cornbread Cowboy Casserole FAQs

More recipes like Cowboy Casserole

If you are looking for ground beef recipes here are a few I will highlight for you:

King Ranch Casserole Recipe made with Doritos!

Our Taco Stuffed Shell Recipe is a great one, too if you like Cowboy Casserole I think you’ll enjoy it!

Looking for a casserole that’s a bit healthier? Try our new Creamy Zucchini Noodle Spaghetti recipe.

More freezer friendly recipes

If you have been around long, you know freezer meal recipes are my niche! Here are a few to check out:

This post on Easy Freezer Meals with Ground Beef is something to checkout!

If you like cowboy casserole, this Ranch Chicken, Bacon & Potatoes recipe is a great crockpot dump & go freezer meal recipe.

Swedish Meatballs Recipe is a great, too. Meatballs are such an easy freezer meal!

A cookbook full of homestyle-family friendly, freezer meals

If you like these recipes, we have a cookbook that is both digital and physical with 50+ pages of homestyle, family friendly recipes my fam enjoys. Most of them have freezer instructions, too. Recipes from French Creek – A collection of family favorites.

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I hope you enjoy our Cowboy Cornbread Casserole – Bobbi Jo