For Extra-Moist Cornbread, Add One Ingredient That's Already In Your Fridge

Cornbread mix makes a simple and inviting side for all sorts of meals, such as a pot of chili or a plate of barbecue. Interestingly, though, an ingredient often connected to pasta night will enhance that pantry staple. As it turns out, you can get creative with ricotta cheese by using it to augment cornbread mix. Not only does it improve the bread, but it also gives new life that half-empty container of ricotta that went from filling out layers of lasagna to taking up space in the fridge.

Mixing around a cup of this fresh cheese into the batter from a box of cornbread mix — or your favorite homemade recipe — helps to keep a loaf or batch of muffins nice and moist while baking. But that's just one technique for working ricotta into cornbread. Rather than evenly distributing the cheese through the batter, you can also try leaving clumps or whole layers of it to enhance the dish in a different fashion.

When mixed less thoroughly, the clumps of ricotta create little pockets of soft cheese in the finished bread, adding variety to each bite. Or, if you instead choose to add a whole layer of ricotta in the middle, you can turn your cornbread into a sort of lava cake. While not quite ganache, the cheese delivers that same sort of delightful molten center. In truth, though, this cheesy addition is only the beginning.

There are countless single-ingredient mix-ins to elevate cornbread, and ricotta is the sort of background enhancement ingredient that works with all of them. On the sweeter side, you could try mixing in blueberries or other fruit. This would create a loaf that works equally well for breakfast, a side dish, or dessert. Or you could take things a traditional savory route, mixing in onion, cheddar cheese, or sliced jalapeños, for a bit of Southwestern flair. Since ricotta is an Italian ingredient, though — and that cheese is probably leftover from pasta night — why not lean into that Mediterranean culinary tradition?

Instead of cheddar, try using parmesan for the added layer of cheesiness in your cornbread. The nutty, salty flavor lends layers of depth to this starchy side dish. To improve things further, consider mixing in some Italian herbs — like rosemary, basil, or oregano — or some nice roasted garlic. Finally, if you prefer cornbread with a little heat to it, take this opportunity to explore a new way to use Calabrian chiles. It's all the same well-traveled cornbread enhancers, just with an Italian tilt to them. None of these are likely to go awry beside a pot of chili — that'd still be delicious. However, they may just be the perfect complement to an Italian-style white bean and tomato skillet.

It's hard to go wrong adding ricotta to cornbread. Whether you simply want to add a bit of moisture or attempt something more complicated, like a delicious molten center, this pasta-night leftover does the trick beautifully.