Hazelnut Free Classic Spoon Bread
Spoon bread sits somewhere between a soufflé and a savory pudding, and it's one of those old-fashioned Southern dishes that feels genuinely special every single time it comes out of the oven. The base is a simple stone-ground white cornmeal porridge enriched with butter, milk, and egg yolks, then lifted into something impossibly airy by folding in stiffly beaten egg whites. That technique is the whole secret — it gives the finished dish a golden, puffed top with a custardy, spoonable center that you just can't get any other way. The ingredient list is refreshingly short and straightforward: whole milk, water, cornmeal, butter, eggs, a little sugar, and baking powder. There are no nuts, no nut-derived oils, and no ambiguous pantry additions to second-guess, which makes this a genuinely worry-free comfort dish. It bakes up in about 35 to 40 minutes and needs to go straight from the oven to the table, scooped generously into bowls while it's still puffed and steaming. Serve it alongside roasted chicken, braised greens, or a holiday spread and watch it disappear before anything else on the table.
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Learn more →Ingredients
6 servings
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup stone-ground white cornmeal
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3 large eggs, separated
- 1 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- 1
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Generously butter a 2-quart baking dish and set aside.
- 2
Combine the milk, water, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Whisk in the cornmeal in a slow, steady stream, then reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, until the mixture thickens to a stiff porridge and pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.
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