Luby’s Spanish Indian Baked Corn Casserole: Perfect Potluck Recipe

Few dishes capture the essence of comfort food quite like Luby’s legendary Spanish Indian Baked Corn Casserole. This isn’t your ordinary corn side dish, it’s a flavor-packed celebration that transforms humble canned corn into something extraordinary. What makes this casserole so beloved is its perfect harmony of sweet corn, smoky bacon, colorful bell peppers, and just enough jalapeño heat to keep things interesting, all topped with a golden cornbread crust that provides delightful textural contrast.

Luby’s Cafeteria built its reputation on soul-satisfying comfort foods, and this corn casserole represents everything people loved about their approach to cooking. The dish disappears first at potluck dinners, leaving everyone asking for the recipe. The genius lies in how simple ingredients work together to create layers of flavor and texture that make this casserole irresistible

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What Makes the Luby’s Spanish Indian Baked Corn Casserole So Good?

Corn is pretty amazing on its own, but start doctoring it up with veggies, bacon, and a crunchy cornbread topping, and you have something undeniably delicious!

Luby’s Spanish Indian Baked Corn Casserole is the side dish people want to see on the table. It hits all the right flavors with sweet corn, spicy jalapenos, tangy pimentos, and salty bacon. 

Why You Should Try This Corn Casserole Recipe 

Do you want to be a hero at the next potluck? Take along this casserole, and get ready for the compliments. Spanish Indian Baked Corn Casserole is easy to make, cheap, and immensely satisfying.

It can feed a crowd, goes with just about any meat or poultry, and if you hold back just a little on the jalapenos, kids will want seconds. 

Baked Corn Casserole Ingredients

• Prepared cornbread – Forms the crunchy topping and helps thicken the casserole base
• Yellow onion – Provides aromatic foundation and subtle sweetness when sautéed
• Celery – Adds crunch and fresh, herbaceous notes to the vegetable medley
• Green bell pepper – Contributes mild pepper flavor and colorful visual appeal
• Bacon – Creates smoky, salty richness and provides flavorful cooking fat
• Butter – Adds richness and helps create the creamy base
• Whole milk – Provides creaminess and helps bind all ingredients together
• Cream style corn – Creates the signature creamy texture and sweet corn flavor
• Whole kernel corn – Adds textural interest and bursts of sweet corn
• Fresh jalapeño pepper – Provides controllable heat and bright pepper notes
• Pimentos – Adds mild sweetness and beautiful red color throughout
• Salt – Enhances all flavors and balances the natural sweetness
• Sugar – Balances acidity and enhances the natural corn sweetness

Ingredient Notes

Jiffy Cornbread Mix is highly recommended for this recipe, but you can use another mix brand. If you have the time, you can also make the topping for this corn casserole without Jiffy mix or any prepackaged cornbread mix and opt for a from-scratch cornbread recipe using cornmeal and all-purpose flour. 

Creamed corn and cream-style corn aren’t the same thing. Ensure the can of corn you use for this recipe is correct.

How to Make Corn Casserole

To prepare Luby’s Spanish Indian Baked Corn Casserole:

1. Crumble the cornbread in a large bowl. You can spread it out on a baking sheet to dry slightly while preparing the rest of the casserole. 

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C).
3. Dice the onions, celery, and green bell pepper. 
4. Chop the raw bacon into half-inch pieces and cook bacon in a medium size pan or skillet over medium heat until crispy.
5. Drain all but one tablespoon of bacon fat and add the diced onions, celery, and green bell pepper to the skillet.
6. Reduce the heat to low and saute the vegetables until they just soften, about two minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and set aside.

7. Split the fresh jalapeno pepper in half and remove the seeds. 
8. Finely chop the de-seeded jalapeno pepper and the pimento and reserve for later. 
9. Drain the can of whole-kernel corn.
10. Melt half a cup of butter in a deep pan over low heat. 
11. Add the whole milk, cream-style corn, drained whole kernel corn, jalapenos, pimento peppers, salt, and sugar to the melted butter. Stir well and heat for a minute or two until warm.
12. Add the sauteed vegetables and bacon to the saucepan.

13. Stir in about half of the crumbled cornbread to the bacon-vegetable mixture. Keep stirring until the liquid starts to thicken a little. 

14. Pour the thickened mixture into a lightly greased 8 X 11 X 2-inch pan. Gently shake the baking pan back and forth to flatten and corn mixture and get rid of any air bubbles.
15. Sprinkle the remaining cornbread crumble on top of the corn mixture and dot it with the remaining butter.

16. Bake in the preheated oven until the cornbread is golden brown. 
17. Let the casserole rest on a wire rack for a few minutes to set before serving. If desired, garnish with chopped chives or fresh herbs.

What to Serve It With 

A corn casserole is tasty enough for the holiday table but easy for a weekend supper. It pairs well with a Thanksgiving turkey, a take-home supermarket rotisserie chicken, and even baked chicken tenders. Serve it alongside roast beef, pork chops, or a grilled steak.

Storage and Reheating Instructions

You can store the cooled casserole covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze it for up to 1 month. Pre-portioning before freezing makes reheating more convenient.

For best reheating results, thaw the frozen casserole overnight in the refrigerator. Cover with foil and reheat in a 300°F oven for 20-30 minutes until heated through. Let it come to room temperature for 20 minutes before reheating for even warming.

More Luby’s Copycat Recipes

• Baked White Fish
• Beef Tortilla Soup
• Carrot Raisin Pineapple Salad
• Chicken Durango
• Coconut Meringue Pie
• Hawaiian Pie
• Skillet Cabbage
• Spaghetti Salad

Favorite Side Dish Casserole Recipes

• Chili Relleno Casserole
• Cheesy Green Bean Casserole
• Broccoli Cheese Rice Casserole
• Spicy Mac and Cheese
• Twice Baked Cauliflower Casserole

Check out my easy casserole recipes and the best copycat restaurant recipes on CopyKat!