Brown ground beef in a skillet.

Strain the grease, leaving enough in the skillet to coat the skillet for baking. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl (except for the cornbread, of course).

You can add just about anything to the meat mixture. When fresh veggies are in season, add a 1/2 to 3/4 cup fresh corn, chopped zucchini, etc, whatever floats your boat.

My iron skillet is a 9-inch and this works perfectly for the recipe as listed above and can also take about 1/2 to 3/4 more of fresh veggies mixed in. Be careful not to add too much extras to fit your skillet size.

Prepare the cornbread!

Spread half of the cornbread mixture in the bottom of the greased skillet. (Same skillet you cooked the ground beef in, spread the reserved grease around from browning the ground beef to grease the skillet.)

Add meat mixture and top with shredded cheese, if using. You don’t have to add cheese. I don’t always. When I do, I like cheddar or jack. But any cheese you like will do.

Pour/spoon out the rest of the cornbread mixture on top and spread it around to cover.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for about 35 minutes. Watch it, it’s done when the top of the cornbread is starting to brown.

You will love this! I promise.

And yes, you can make this in a skillet that is not an iron skillet. But if you don’t have an iron skillet, why not?