Layered Southwestern Cornbread Salad

Course Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword easy-salad-recipes, layered-cornbread-salad, southwestern-cornbread-salad

Prep Time 25

Chill time 4

Total Time 4 25

Servings servings

Calories 479kcal

Author Melissa Sperka

1 7.5 oz box cornbread mix plus ingredients to prepare
1 1.0 oz package dry Spicy Ranch dressing mix i.e. Hidden Valley
1 1/3 cups milk or buttermilk
1 cup mayonnaise
Pico de gallo:
6 medium Roma tomatoes
1 medium purple onion
1 medium jalapeno pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbsp lime juice
garlic salt and black pepper to taste
Salad:
2 12 oz packages frozen Southwestern Corn [i.e. Steamfresh] OR 2 [11 oz] cans Mexi-Corn drained
1 15 oz can black beans drained & rinsed
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 small head iceberg lettuce shredded
12 oz bacon cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup sour cream [for garnishing the top]

Cornbread: Prepare cornbread per instructions on package and cool. Divide into thirds.
Dressing: Prepare the dressing using 1 1/3 cup of milk or buttermilk and 1 cup of mayo. Whisk until fully combined, then chill until assembling the salad.
Prepare pico de gallo: In a medium size mixing bowl, toss together diced tomatoes, onion, and jalapeno pepper. Add chopped cilantro, lime juice and season with garlic salt and pepper to your taste. Chill until assembling.
To Assemble: Divide the ingredients into thirds.
Layer in this order: Begin with shredded lettuce, crumbled cornbread, bacon, corn and black beans, pico de gallo, a drizzle of dressing and shredded cheese. Repeat until all of the ingredients are used.
Reserve some pico de gallo, bacon crumbles, and cheese to garnish the top. Dollop plain sour cream on top as a garnish.
Refrigerate for several hours, or preferably overnight to allow the flavors to come together before serving.
Serve chilled as a side dish or with tortilla chips for dipping.

In the Summer months when fresh corn is abundant, I always use cooked fresh corn in this salad.
If you're unable to find Spicy Ranch Dressing mix, you can use classic Ranch dressing mix. You can also use the same amount of bottled prepared Ranch dressing.