Creamy Jamaican Cornmeal Porridge Recipe

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Jamaican Cornmeal Porridge is smooth, creamy, and comforting. A popular breakfast dish in Jamaica, this porridge is the perfect recipe to start the day. 

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You’ll find the full recipe with ingredient amounts and instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post. Be sure to check out the blog post itself for extra tips and tricks!

This porridge is the breakfast of champions! It's comforting and keeps you full and ready to tackle your day. I grew up eating it, and I'm happy my kids now love it, too. 

When prepared just right, cornmeal porridge is a unique blend of smoothness, sweetness, and spice. The traditional Jamaican flavors of allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg create a perfect harmony of tastes that you won't find in any other breakfast dish. 

I've made this version with a can of coconut milk, but you could also use dairy milk in its place, whichever you prefer. The only must-have ingredient for this recipe is fine cornmeal, which yields the smoothest and creamiest porridge. 

Be sure to try my green banana porridge, too.

How to make Jamaican Cornmeal Porridge

First, add 2 ½ cups water and one can of coconut milk to a four-qt heavy-bottomed pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. 

Meanwhile, add 1 cup cornmeal and 1 ½ cup water to a large mixing cup and whisk until smooth. This is how to avoid getting lumps in your cornmeal porridge. Please do not skip this step. 

Once the liquid in the pot begins to boil gently, whisk in the cornmeal mixture and continue to whisk for about 1 minute, ensuring there are no lumps. Reduce heat to low and cover with a tight-fitting lid.

Cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. When there are about 5 minutes left, stir in vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.  

Remove from heat and stir in condensed milk to sweeten it.

Serve and enjoy.

What is cornmeal?

Cornmeal is a meal ground from dried corn. Various grain sizes are available. For this recipe, ensure the label states "fine cornmeal" for the best results. 

Are cornmeal and cornflour the same?

Although they come from the same type of grain, they are not the same. Corn flour is ground until it takes on a powder form. You want to ensure you use "fine yellow cornmeal" for this recipe.  

What do you serve cornmeal porridge with?

Typically, I eat this by itself. A bowl really fills you up. You can serve it with fruit, breakfast meat like bacon, and eggs on the side if you wish. 

What does cornmeal porridge taste like?

Cornmeal porridge is smooth, creamy, and rich, similar to polenta. Polenta is usually savory. Porridge has a sweet, nutty flavor. People often season it with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Additional Notes

• The condensed milk does add a delicious flavor to the porridge. If you prefer to keep the recipe dairy free, you can either leave out the condensed milk and use sugar to sweeten or use sweetened condensed coconut milk.
• I used a can of coconut milk in this recipe but regular dairy milk can be used instead. In fact, I grew up eating it made with regular dairy milk and it's still delicious.
• For thicker cornmeal porridge, reduce the liquid you add initially or simmer for longer. If your porridge gets too thick, whisk in more water or milk until you reach your desired consistency.

Looking for other Jamaican breakfast recipes? Try these out:

• Jamaican Ackee and Saltfish
• Callaloo and Saltfish
• Jamaican Carrot Juice
• Jamaican Fried Dumplings
• Saltfish Fritters
• Pressure Cooker Cornmeal Porridge

Tanya Harris

Jamaican Cornmeal Porridge Recipe

4.73 from 37 votes

Jamaican Cornmeal Porridge is smooth, creamy, and comforting. A popular breakfast dish in Jamaica, this porridge is the perfect recipe to start the day.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Servings: 4 people

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Caribbean

Calories: 518

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 4 cups water separated
• 1 13.5 oz can coconut milk
• 1 cup fine yellow cornmeal
• 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground all-spice
• ½ cup sweetened condensed milk or to taste

Instructions

 

1. Add 2 ½ cups water, 1 can coconut milk to a 4 QT heavy bottomed pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. Meanwhile, add 1 cup cornmeal and 1 ½ cup water to a large mixing cup and whisk until smooth.
3. Once the pot begins to boil, whisk in cornmeal mixture and continue to whisk for about 1 minute, ensuring there are no lumps. Reduce heat to low and cover with a tight fitting lid.
4. Cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. When there is about 5 minutes left, stir in vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, and all-spice. Remove from heat and sweeten with condensed milk.
5. Serve and enjoy.

Nutrition

Calories: 518kcalCarbohydrates: 56gProtein: 9gFat: 30gSaturated Fat: 24gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 78mgPotassium: 546mgFiber: 6gSugar: 25gVitamin A: 104IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 139mgIron: 3mg

Notes

• The condensed milk does add a delicious flavor to the porridge. If you prefer to keep the recipe dairy-free, you can either leave out the condensed milk and use sugar to sweeten or use sweetened condensed coconut milk.
• I used a can of coconut milk in this recipe but regular dairy milk can be used instead.

Tried this recipe?

Let us know how it was!

This post was originally published on August 17, 2021. It has been updated with new and helpful information.