Jiffy “Corn Casserole”

Photo: Julia Gartland | Prop Stylist: Suzie Myers | Food Stylist: Ericka Martins

This is the original Jiffy Corn Casserole recipe, which first appeared in the 1960s as a recipe tear-off sheet in retail grocery stores. There are hundreds of versions of this recipe on the internet, but this is the real deal. It was later published on the first-ever Jiffy recipe box in 1976. Originally, the beloved side dish was called “Corn Bowl” and today, the brand calls it “Spoon Bread Casserole.” However, it’s best known by its nickname: Corn Casserole.

For as long as I can remember, my grandmother made this Corn Casserole recipe for Thanksgiving. For some families, Thanksgiving isn’t complete without cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes covered in marshmallows, and of course the turkey. But for me, I’d pass up everything else for this recipe. I’ve made her version over the years and while it’s nearly identical to the original, there are a couple of notable differences.

I was surprised to see that the original recipe by Jiffy called for margarine, rather than butter. But it makes sense! Margarine was popular during the Great Depression because it was less expensive to produce, and it was used even more widely during the second half of the 20th century, which was when this recipe was developed. Grandma and I have always made corn casserole with unsalted butter, but this Thanksgiving may be margarine’s turn. After all, it’s how Jiffy intended their recipe to be made.

Additionally, Jiffy’s version is a one-bowl recipe, which results in fewer dirty dishes on Thanksgiving (certainly something no home cook will complain about). The recipe calls for mixing all of the ingredients together in a casserole dish and then baking it in the same pan. I find that the combination of muffin mix, two cans of corn, sour cream, butter, and eggs require a *lot* of mixing to become one creamy, homogeneous mixture so I prefer to do this in a separate bowl, just to avoid any overflow or spatters of batter on the counter. Fortunately, there are so many rich, fatty ingredients in the casserole that it’s nearly impossible to overmix the batter and create a dry, chewy casserole. That’s just not the Jiffy way.