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    Home » Recipes » Vegetarian

    Creamy Oven-Baked Polenta (with toppings)

    Published: Oct 1, 2020 · Modified: Oct 31, 2022 by Jenny

    Jump to Recipe
    Baking dish of creamy oven-baked polenta garnished with sliced squash
    Bowl of creamy oven-baked polenta garnished with sliced squash and kale

    No more stirring polenta on the stove! Oven-baked polenta cooks all by itself in the oven. It's creamy and comforting and everyone in the family can add their favorite toppings.

    Bowl of creamy oven-baked polenta garnished with sliced squash this recipe

    Oven-baked polenta is a meal I used to make years ago and then for some reason completely forgot about until recently, when a box of cornmeal kept staring back at me in my pantry.

    It finally dawned on me that polenta checks all the boxes for family meals.

    • Easy? Check.
    • Satisfying? Check.
    • Affordable? Check.

    Best of all, this is one of those customizable dinners that allows everyone at the table to make their own bowl with delicious toppings.

    There's a detailed recipe at the bottom of the page, but honestly, oven-baked polenta is so easy you don't need a recipe.

    Cooking Instructions

    • Combine 1 cup cornmeal with 4 to 5 cups water
    • Add a little salt and olive oil or butter
    • Bake for about an hour

    That's it! This polenta cooks entirely on its own.

    Here's the catch: This dinner is all about the toppings, so your work in kitchen isn't quite done yet.

    Here's the good news: I'm trying to think of something that doesn't taste good with the mild flavor of polenta, and I'm having a hard time coming up with anything. A bowl of creamy polenta is eager to soak up flavor and it pairs with just about anything.

    You can mix and match and serve as many toppings as you like. No pressure, though. A bowl of polenta topped with just butter and grated cheese is perfection!

    Polenta Toppings

    • Butter and grated cheese
    • Sour cream, pesto, harissa or marinara sauce
    • Fried egg or soft-boiled egg
    • Sautéed kale or spinach
    • Crumbled bacon, ground meat, cider-braised pork, chicken, sliced steak
    • Shrimp
    • Stew or chili
    • Meatballs or sausage
    • Beans and lentils
    • Roasted vegetables of any kind
    • Sauteed Mushrooms

    Combinations

    • Perhaps you have leftover meatballs in your freezer? Serve polenta with meatballs, tomato sauce, mozzarella.
    • Black beans, cheddar, sour cream and green onions
    • Pesto with shrimp
    • Sausage and roasted vegetables
    • Mushrooms, roasted squash and kale
    • Soft-boiled eggs and bacon
    Baking dish of creamy oven-baked polenta garnished with sliced squash

    Is Cornmeal the Same as Polenta?

    Polenta is a dish you make, not a type of ground corn. To make polenta, the main ingredient is cornmeal.

    Cornmeal is made by grinding dried corn kernels and is sold in three textures: fine, medium, and coarse. Traditionally, polenta is made from coarse ground cornmeal, and this is what a bag labeled as "polenta" should be. However, sometimes bags of cornmeal that are labeled as "polenta" are really medium-ground cornmeal. That's okay, too.

    Don't use finely ground cornmeal to make polenta; it won't turn out. Also, don't use Masa Harina. Masa Harina is cornmeal made from corn kernels that have been soaked in lime water. It is used for tortillas and tamales, not polenta.

    What Type of Cornmeal Should I Buy?

    To make polenta, you need to use cornmeal that is ground to a coarse or medium texture, not finely ground. Unfortunately, not all packages of cornmeal indicate how they are ground.

    For this reason, your safest bet is to buy cornmeal that is also labeled as "polenta." Cornmeal labeled as "polenta" should be coarse or medium ground cornmeal.

    That being said, I often use regular old Albers yellow cornmeal to make polenta, found in most grocery stores. (Their easy cornbread recipe on the box is delicious too, by the way). I also really like Bob's Red Mill Cornmeal because they clearly indicate on their packaging if the cornmeal is coarse, medium or fine grind. Sometimes you'll see course ground cornmeal labeled as both polenta and grits, like Bob's Red Mill Grits Polenta.

    Sliced Polenta

    If you're looking for a recipe that uses pre-cooked firm polenta that's sold in tubes, then try my Turkey Meatballs Baked with Polenta and Mozzarella.

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    Print

    Creamy Oven-Baked Polenta (with toppings)

    Bowl of creamy oven-baked polenta garnished with sliced squash and kale
    Print Recipe
    Pin Recipe

    ★★★★★

    5 from 2 reviews

    No more stirring polenta on the stove! Oven-baked polenta cooks all by itself in the oven. It's creamy and comforting and everyone in the family can add their favorite toppings.

    I often roast a sheet pan of vegetables tossed in olive oil at the same time that the polenta is in the oven, so I can serve roasted vegetables on the side. 

    • Author: Jenny Meier | Kitchen Skip blog
    • Prep Time: 5
    • Cook Time: 60
    • Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
    • Yield: 6 servings 1x
    • Category: polenta
    • Method: baked
    • Cuisine: Italian American
    • Diet: Vegetarian

    Ingredients

    Scale
    • 1 cup course or medium grind cornmeal (look for cornmeal that's labeled as "polenta")
    • 4 ½ cups water*
    • 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter (I prefer butter)
    • ¾ teaspoon salt 

    *You can use between 4 and 5 cups water. Four cups for firmer polenta and 5 cups for softer polenta.

    Instructions

    1. Heat the oven to 350°F. 
    2. In a baking dish that’s close to 9x13 in size, combine the cornmeal, water, butter or olive oil and salt. Mix well with a fork or whisk. 
    3. Carefully put the baking dish in the oven, being careful not to slosh water over the side.
    4. Bake the polenta uncovered for 40 minutes. You don’t need to stir or check on the polenta while it bakes, just let it do its thing.
    5. After 40 minutes, stir the polenta and bake for another 10 to 20 minutes until the polenta has absorbed all of the water and the texture is no longer runny. It will start setting around the edges first. If the texture in the middle looks like cake batter, you need to bake it longer. The texture should be soft, but not watery. Taste the polenta - if it's bitter, that's a sign that the cornmeal is still slightly raw and hasn't cooked long enough. 
    6. When the polenta is done, add salt as needed and top the polenta with your favorite toppings. 

    Polenta Toppings:

    I often also roast a sheet pan of vegetables while the oven is on and serve the veggies on the side. Many people like adding butter and cheese to polenta. See the blog post above for more topping ideas. 

     

     

    Notes

    Oven-baked polenta needs to be made with medium or coarse ground cornmeal. Two brands I like are Albers and Bob's Red Mill. I haven't had luck with Arrowhead Mills Cornmeal, which is too finely ground.  

    Keywords: polenta

    Please rate and review this recipe!

    Your reviews help other readers. They also help me provide the best recipes possible. Thanks!

    Bowl filled with creamy yellow polenta topped with grated cheddar cheese, sauteed kale and sour cream

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    Reader Interactions

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      Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

    1. Paget

      February 18, 2023 at 6:37 am

      Very easy and good and you don't have to stand at the stove stirring. I added shredded cheddar at the end and served it with shrimp étouffée.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    2. S.

      June 22, 2020 at 6:11 pm

      Love polenta! Thanks for the topping ideas.

      ★★★★★

      Reply

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