Cheesy Chive Spoonbread Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Chive

by: EmilyNunn

March18,2018

4.8

12 Ratings

Cheesy Chive Spoonbread Recipe on Food52 (1)

Prep time 15 minutes
Cook time 45 minutes
Makes 1 9-inch (or comparably-sized) dish

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Author Notes

Spoonbread is a light, fluffy-but-somehow-gloriously-substantial, custardy concoction most often made with nothing more than cornmeal, eggs, milk. It is, quite simply, the dreamiest of cornmeal-based dishes. It’s not as delicate as a soufflé but it’s nowhere near as hearty and heavy as cornbread or corn pudding, which is what it often gets unjustly confused with; there’s no comparison. You could call it a bit of a culinary unicorn—a lot of people who liked the pretty picture had heard of it, but many of them had never actually eaten it.

A lot of recipes for spoonbread call for baking powder but my version uses stiffly beaten egg whites for lift. I have found that relying on baking powder gave me very iffy and inconsistent results: I often ended up with a dense cornbread layer on bottom with custard on top. You want these two things thoroughly incorporated, and egg whites do that beautifully.

Miraculously, to make the plain version of this recipe, all you have to do is leave out the cheese and chives, add mix an extra half teaspoon of salt and two teaspoons of sugar into the cornmeal-salt mixture. —EmilyNunn

Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients

1 ¹/₃ cupscornmeal (I used Bob’s Red Mill Medium; you can use fine as well)
1 teaspoonsalt
2 ¹/₂ cupswhole milk
4 tablespoons(1/2 stick) unsalted butter
5 large eggs, separated
1 ¹/₂ cupsfinely grated, sharp cheddar cheese (buy something decent)
¹/₂ cupfinely chopped chives (or more, to taste)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a large soufflé dish or 3-quart oval pan, or another similarly sized dish (I have also used a 9-inch square and a springform). In a large bowl, mix the cornmeal and salt with a fork.
In a medium saucepan, bring the milk to a boil, reduce heat and simmer. Slowly stir in the cornmeal mixture, whisking until it begins to thicken. Cook for about 3 minutes—continuing to whisk!!—then remove from heat. Stir in the butter.
In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks. In a larger bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Once the cornmeal mixture has cooled a bit, stir in the egg yolks. Stir in cheese and chives. Next, gently fold in the egg whites. (If you don’t know how to do this correctly, it’s worth it to go on Youtube and learn.) It makes a difference.
Pour the mixture into the soufflé dish and bake for 40 minutes. The middle should be soft, but not loose and definitely not liquid. Serve immediately with lots of butter. This is good leftover, but nothing beats it hot.

Tags:

Pie
Bread
American
Chive
Milk/Cream
Cornmeal
Entree
Appetizer
Snack
Hors D'Oeuvre
Side

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Maya Retzlaff
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39 Reviews

shankarr February 4, 2023

Have seen this recipe on youtube revanced app and it was great. Thanks for sharing

MikeBraun54 May 1, 2022

First time effort. And it came out really pretty good. My kids ate it with no complaints except it might need a touch more salt.

MikeBraun54 May 1, 2022

We had turkey kielbasa and fresh green beans to go with.
I’m going to try reheating the remainder in the morning.
I consider ANY meal my kids eat without complaining as a win!!

MikeBraun54 May 1, 2022

Mine was quite thick as well (reminded me of the baked semolina cake my Austrian mom used to make). But it came out fluffy and raised pretty well.

susie April 28, 2022

I never had spoon bread but was curious. Followed the recipe precisely but was concerned that the batter was very dense prior to adding the egg whites. I did fold everything together and the recipe said to "pour" the batter into the pan. Mine was like a very very soft dough but it really didn't pour. It did rise somewhat. What is the texture supposed to be like when its done? I was thinking it should be a little softer on the inside and perhaps I should have added more milk or less cornmeal to achieve the proper result. What is the correct texture on the inside of the spoon bread?

Runner G. April 29, 2022

My batter was really thick and dense too, so I added a little water and another tablespoon of butter, mixing them in until I had a smoother consistency. Then added other ingredients and folded in egg whites. When reheating, it still tasted really good but not as fluffy as the original.

Runner G. April 25, 2022

What a fun and delicious recipe to make! I was contemplating new ideas for a tri-tip side-dish - lo and behold, the email sharing this spoon-bread recipe came through. I ended up adding 1/2 cup corn kernels and 4 oz can of chilis to the batter before folding in the egg whites. Turned out great! Will make this again, for sure.

Betty April 24, 2022

Oh my goodness, thank you for doing this article. I thought spoon bread was forgotten, but not by me :) My mom would fry fish and have spoon bread on the side. While I'm not crazy about fish, spoon bread is good anytime. The next day, if we had spoon bread leftover, I'd heat the spoon bread in the microwave and top with a bit of butter or margarine. I've never tried putting the leftovers in the freezer because there was none.

Sugarlove April 24, 2022

Love spoon bread! I have a recipe that calls for adding a jigger of bourbon to help the rise. Absolutely delicious! Serve it hot as soon as you can because it is a soufflé and will deflate. Still tastes good cold or reheated, but the glorious, soft texture has changed. We often had it with thin slices of Smithfield ham.

charity April 21, 2022

Does anyone know how far in advance of serving you can cook this? Would it hold it's texture for an hour while I bake other things? Thanks all!

susan May 14, 2020

Can I make this with non-dairy milk? Does the milk serve a purpose other than moisture? I am considering making it with oat milk.

Millicent May 15, 2020

I have never cooked with oat milk, but I've seen recipes that use water instead of dairy milk so oat should be ok. Overall, though, this recipe is really about dairy: milk, eggs, cheese, and butter. If you're avoiding this category, another recipe altogether might lead to better results than adapting this one.

susan May 15, 2020

Thanks! I am fine with butter and cheese and I dont consider eggs to be dairy. Cows milk is something I dont have any use for so dont keep it in the house. I might give it a try with water or the oat milk. But, I was hoping this recipe would be about the corn instead of the add ons so you are right there might be a better corn focused recipe out there for me. I am not familiar with spoon breads or corn puddings, but I love corn so they all sound delicious.

Jeffrey B. April 24, 2022

Oh it’s plenty corn forward. Give it a try with the oat milk but leave out the cheese and chives and add the extra salt and sugar she suggests for plain spoon bread before you move on.

Millicent May 5, 2020

I made this last night using cheddar and scapes instead of the chives -- it was delicious and easy. There are two of us in this lockdown household, so I halved the recipe: 3 eggs and half of everything else. Between the cheese and whole milk, I didn't think it needed extra butter when served, but that's your call :) We had it as a main course with a vegetable side of steamed artichokes. It could certainly work as a side dish along with a protein and vegetable as well. I'll definitely make this again and play around with different flavorings -- the cornmeal is sturdy enough to carry stronger flavors and other additions, such as chopped greens, chilies, bits of ham or smoked meat.