A super easy and delicious firm cornmeal breakfast treat cooked stovetop and served much like french toast. Delicious with fresh fruit, maple syrup, gravy, sugar, blueberry sauce, and more!
When I was a kid, my mom made a lot of fun breakfast treats. My favorites were waffles, pancakes, french toast, rice pudding, and mush. Yeah, that last one may sound strange. And honestly, none of my friends ever had mush before. In fact, I thought my mom simply made it up.
As it turns out, Fried Cornmeal Mush is a midwestern breakfast historically found in Indiana and Ohio, sometimes West Virginia. And since my mom is from Ohio, this makes complete sense. Interestingly, and according to Dutchmen News, no breakfast in Amish country is complete without fried cornmeal mush. So there you have it. My mom didn’t make it up after all.
Have you ever had Fried Cornmeal Mush?
If you haven’t ever had Cornmeal Mush before, it’s similar to grits or polenta, but has a firmer texture. And though you can use a variety of cornmeal to make it, Cornmeal Mush is best made with finely ground yellow corn meal. What’s interesting is that cornmeal is made with “dent” corn or field corn, which is starchier and harder than fresh sweet corn. For this reason, cornmeal can sometimes have a slight bitterness to it.
There are also a few different ways to make Cornmeal Mush. Most of the time, cornmeal is added to boiling water and salt in a saucepan. I like adding a little unsweetened plant milk because I think it lends to a slightly creamier texture and milder flavor, though this is not necessarily traditional. I also like adding a touch of maple syrup to counter the bitterness as mentioned, but usually don’t add any salt. It depends on your personal preference.
Once the mixture thickens, it is poured into a bread loaf pan, covered, and placed in the refrigerator to cool overnight. This time allows the mixture to congeal into a nice soft loaf. You can use any mold you want, including muffin tins or a square pan. Though I think it’s easier and more traditional to slice it the way my mom made it using a loaf pan.
I still enjoy eating Cornmeal Mush every now and again. And when I’m traveling and see a tube of “MUSH” in the refrigerated section of a grocery store, just like a tube of polenta, it makes me smile. It reminds me of my mom serving us mush when I was young. Back when I was pretty sure she created the delicious breakfast treat just for her kids.
Though there are variations and preferences, most people cut it up in three-quarter inch thick slices. Then much like French toast, the Cornmeal Mush is fried in butter in a skillet and served with maple syrup. It can also be served with breakfast syrup, sausage gravy, tomato gravy, brown sugar, or apple butter.
Though, truth be told, I have been known to top it with jam or Blueberry Sauce… So yeah, I may have changed things up a bit.
Regardless of how you choose to serve this delicious Cornmeal Mush, I hope you enjoy this it as much as I do.
I would love to see your results! Please leave a comment and rate it down below, tag a picture @pebblesandtoast and #pebblesandtoast on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook! Enjoy!!
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Ingredients
- 3 cups water
- ¾ cup plant milk
- 1 cup cornmeal*
- 1 Tbsp sweetener (optional)
- ½ tsp salt (optional)
- Vegan butter (optional)
- Toppings such as coconut sugar, maple syrup, fresh fruit (optional)
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, bring the water and milk to a boil.
- Turn the heat to low and stir in the cornmeal, sweetener, and salt, if using. Continue to cook the mixture over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the cornmeal has absorbed the water, until very thick, about 20-30 minutes.
- Pour the cornmeal batter into a 8×4 bread loaf pan and refrigerate overnight, or for at least two hours.
- When ready to serve the mush, heat a skillet over medium to medium-high heat.
- Meanwhile, remove the mush from the refrigerator. Slide a butter knife around the edges of the loaf pan and turn the loaf pan over to release the mush. Slice into ¾ inch to 1 inch thick slices, I normally get 10-12 slices.
- Place a few slices into the skillet, and cook for 8-12 minutes, until both sides are golden.
- Serve the fried mush with your choice of toppings. Like French toast, this is delicious with coconut sugar, maple syrup, fresh fruit, or blueberry sauce.
- Store the mush cooked or uncooked in an air-tight covered container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
You can use any cornmeal you have on hand though finely ground is best, though I typically use Bob’s Red Mill or Quaker yellow cornmeal.
Fried Mush
Equipment
- stove
Ingredients
- 3 cups water
- ¾ cup plant milk
- 1 cup cornmeal*
- 1 Tbsp sweetener optional
- ½ tsp salt optional
- Vegan butter optional
- Toppings such as coconut sugar maple syrup, fresh fruit (optional)
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, bring the water and milk to a boil.
- Turn the heat to low and stir in the cornmeal, sweetener, and salt, if using. Continue to cook the mixture over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the cornmeal has absorbed the water, until very thick, about 20-30 minutes.
- Pour the cornmeal batter into a 8×4 bread loaf pan and refrigerate overnight, or for at least four hours.
- When ready to serve the mush, heat a skillet over medium to medium-high heat.
- Meanwhile, remove the mush from the refrigerator. Slide a butter knife around the edges of the loaf pan and turn the loaf pan over to release the mush. Slice into ¾ inch to 1 inch thick slices, I normally get 10-12 slices.
- Place a few slices into the skillet, and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side, until both sides are golden.
- Serve the fried mush with your choice of toppings. Like French toast, this is delicious with coconut sugar, maple syrup, gravy, fresh fruit, or blueberry sauce.
- Store the mush cooked or uncooked in an air-tight covered container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.