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!
Therese says
S’wonderful! I doubled the recipe, added baking powder, used a whole 12 oz block of firm sprouted tofu, threw it in the vita mix, stirred in frozen corn and baked it at 400 for half an hour. Absolutely fabulous, sort of quiche/cornbread hybrid, you’d swear it was made with eggs. Gooey in the middle, golden brown crispy chewy on the edges. This is like the refrain from a cheesy old cartoon, but: “Gee thanks, you saved us again Chocolate Covered Katy…” Until next time, stay tuned for the amazing adventures of CCK!
Javelin Warrior says
Another delicious creation – I’m featuring this in today’s Food Fetish Friday (with a link-back and attribution). I hope you have no objections and I always love dropping by to see what you’ve created…
Anonymous says
Hi Katie!
What is “silken-firm” tofu? I have heard of silken tofu and firm tofu but not both together.
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Search google images for “mori nu” and you’ll see it 🙂
Christy says
just made this for lunch! very good 🙂
Rachel Ramey says
This looks delicious! I was just wondering if you might be willing to post the original you adapted this from. I know you wouldn’t cook it that way, but then we could see how far it’s come!
Alexia says
I just made this and i baked it. It was great!
trajayjay says
It is kind of weird. I mean, there’s popcorn, cornmeal, and cornstarch which are all grains. Then there’s corn syrup, which is well, sugar. But I guess because just plain old corn has a large % of water, unlike oats, quinoa, or flour, it seems more like a veg. But I do think that corn could be classified as a grain. There are more carbs in corn than most veggies.
Jo says
I have made corn casserole the “easy” way with vegan corn bread mix, canned cream corn (Golden Corn, Water, Sugar, Modified Corn Starch, Salt.), and almond milk. No need to add additional sweeteners, it rises, is very moist and could NOT BE EASIER. Trader Joes Cornbread mix (Enriched unbleached flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin and folic acid), sugar, enriched cornmeal (yellow degermed ground corn, niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin and folic acid)
Amanda says
Hi Katie – did you use tofu or yogurt when testing this recipe? Or did you test it with both options? Did you have a preference of one over the other?
Thanks!
sarah says
Katie! I made this last night and it was FANTASTIC! I wasn’t a fan of it uncooked, but popped in the oven at 375 for an hour made it an awesome consistency. Unfortunately, our fresh corn is not very flavorful here yet, so I added some mustard powder, garlic powder, a chopped up onion and some sliced yellow squash. Everyone loved it! The onion in it really gave it a great flavor. There is no way anyone could tell there was tofu in this… it was thick and creamy as though it was filled with butter, heavy cream, and flour! Thank you for this recipe!!!!
Isabel says
Hi Katie.
I recently found your website and love it! I recently found out I have gluten allergies, and so now I am exploring other recipes 🙂
I live in Denmark, so some of the procedures are a little different for me. When you say 1/2 cup go broth, what exactly do you mean? Do toy make it yourself, or do you resolve those cubes in water?
Unofficial CCK Helper says
Either is fine.
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Milk of choice means whatever milk you choose. I like almond or cashewmilk, both of which are vegan.
Tina says
What is the serving size that you based the nutrition on? 🙂
Angela W Broyles says
Really good for a quick and easy side dish! I baked it for about 20 minutes to brown the top
Tammy says
Has anyone tried to bake it? We have a baked corn casserole for the holidays. It is made with creamed corn. How much sweetener has anyone used?