Vegan Healthy Corn Casserole – just as delicious as traditional corn casserole, but without the cream, lard, and day’s-worth of saturated fat!
Many years ago, at a 4th of July barbecue, a neighbor brought a dish called “Aunt Linda’s Corn Casserole,” and everyone went crazy for it. As it turned out, there was a reason we loved the recipe so much: How can a recipe not taste good when it basically consists of eggs, sugar, corn muffin mix, and a whole lot of butter? The challenge is making a recipe taste good without these ingredients!
A few weeks ago, while going through old papers, I came across a scribbled sheet with “Aunt Linda’s Corn Casserole” and decided it had been much too long since I’d eaten that deliciously deconstructed cornbread mess.
To make the homemade vegan corn casserole recipe healthier, I pretty much changed every single ingredient until it looked nothing like the original… but incredibly, this healthy corn casserole tastes just as good!
Vegan Healthy Corn Casserole
(gluten-free!)
- 1/2 cup fine cornmeal (85g) (whole-grain or regular)
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 1 cup milk of choice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Sweetener of choice – Amount will depend on your tastes, as well as the types of milk and yogurt you’re using. Use your favorite sweetener: maple syrup, stevia, agave, sugar, etc.
- 2 1/2 cups fresh, frozen, or canned corn (drained if canned) (300g)
- 2/3 cup silken-firm tofu (Mori-Nu brand) (160g) or yogurt of choice (such as Wholesoy)
- optional: 2 tbsp coconut oil or Earth Balance, for a buttery flavor
In a medium pot, combine first 4 ingredients (and corn, if using raw) and heat on low-medium. Whisk periodically to prevent lumps. When desired thickness is reached, add all other ingredients and stir to combine, then take off the heat immediately. (If using Mori-Nu silken-firm tofu, blend it with 3 tbsp water before adding to the other ingredients.) I didn’t bake, since this is a summer casserole. But if you don’t happen to live in an area with scorching summers, feel free to experiment with baking the dish.
View Vegan Corn Casserole Nutrition Facts
Did you know that corn isn’t really a vegetable?
Technically, it’s a grain. But we eat corn like a vegetable, and it has ten times more Vitamin A than other grains, so we call it a vegetable. The USDA still considers sweet corn (not cornmeal) to count towards your 5-a-day fruits and veggie servings.
Link Of The Day:
Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie… Without Sugar!
Hi Katie,
I made this just now for dinner, and it is a fantastic recipe. I used the tofu version, and it gave the pudding (I’m calling it pudding) a delightful custard taste and texture. My kids asked me for seconds.
I felt like supermom :).
Wow I didin’t know!
It happens the same with tomato, it’s a fruit (well, that’s a popular fact anyways)
It looks really yummy. I bought cornmeal yesterday and I was how to cook it, I will have to wait until I can get tofu again though (is not very popular in Chile, hard to find 🙁 )
I can just imagine this being nice and creamy. The recipe sounds kind of similar to polenta + broth and actual corn pieces. Since my family loves polenta I’m sure this would be a hit ^^
This was really good! I made it for dinner last night, and I just had another serving for breakfast this morning! 🙂
I can’t wait to try this at my barbeque tonight! I’m making a couple alterations–a more savory rather than sweet casserole. Hopefully it turns out as delicious as yours. 🙂
That is the cutest bowl. Just sayin’ 🙂
New favorite recipe right here!
We all agreed that this was BETTER than traditional corn casserole. Yes, BETTER. It wasn’t as heavy, or as overly sweet. It was the perfect side dish to our sauteed spinach and vegan “meat” loaf we made from Ohsheglows blog. If you haven’t checked out that blog, it’s really great. My other favorite besides CCK.
To summarize: make this now. You won’t regret it!
I’ve never heard of corn casserole, but I LOVE cornbread and polenta and your review has made this a MUST TRY for me. OhSheGlows IS and awesome site too, I totally agree. The 5 minute avocado pasta sauce is INCREDIBLE 🙂
It was a hit with my family too!
The veggie loaf sounds good. I’ll have to remember that for next time I make this casserole. And there will be a next time ;).
To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t gonna try this when I first read the recipe. It just didn’t sound like something I’d like. But then I saw the comment from BB and so I figured Hey why not?
I am so glad I did! How glad? Well, I made it two days ago and the entire recipe is already gone!
Oh sounds wonderful!!! I think I’ll give this a go, but I may add some fresh jalapeno in it!! I love my corn with a kick!! Have a great weekend!
Katie, this sounds amazing! I am going to print this one out to keep for certain. I grew up being told that corn was a starch and I couldn’t serve it alone without another veggie on the plate. 😀 My mom had old-fashioned ideas, like calling fiber “roughage,” but I guess she was ahead of herself here. lol
I love what you say about of course a recipe tastes good with all of those awful ingredients in it! When I was trying to learn to cook healthfully, people used to rave about such and such’s cooking in our little church. I used to snort to myself that ANYbody could be a good cook with butter, milk, sugar, and such. It took a REAL talent to cook healthfully and taste good enough that nobody could complain! 😀
Keep up the marvelous work! You are an inspiration. 🙂
But….corn is getting dangerous (until it is truthfully labeled whether gmo or not), and saturated fats are GOOD! Don’t discount the fats and the calories…many chronic diseases are due to low fat diets.