Meet your new go-to recipe. This tender, moist homemade cornbread is easy to make and tastes like box mix, but 100 times tastier.

Best Homemade Cornbread

Meet your new go-to recipe. Yes, you can make cornbread from a box. But if you want the best cornbread, the kind that’s that’s tender and moist, with just the right sweetness: we’ve got you. This new homemade cornbread recipe is truly stellar, and deceptively easy to make. It reminds me of the Jiffy box mix that I grew up with, but way tastier. Alex and I have already served it with chili, in Caesar salad, with our best lentil soup, and with salmon. In fact, there’s long list of main dishes made more perfect with a square of cornbread! Ready to get started?

Also try: Classic Cornbread Muffins or Skillet Cornbread!

Homemade cornbread

What is “the best” cornbread?

Everyone has their own favorite homemade cornbread. We know, it’s like mom’s best potato salad or mac and cheese. But what is “the best” to us? First off, it’s the perfect thickness, about 2-inches thick, which makes just the right satisfying bite. Ever had a too thin piece of cornbread? It’s super anti-climactic. Even more important, this recipe is moist and tender, not too crumbly. Because no one wants cornbread that falls apart before you can take a bite.

And, it’s just the right sweetness! Most of our recipes on this website have a healthy spin, so we often experiment with lowering sugar. But Alex and I have realized: a good cornbread needs sugar. So we’ve added just enough to get the right flavor, without being overly sugary.

How to make homemade cornbread

There’s no need for a box for cornbread. Seriously! Our recipe uses normal ingredients you’ll likely already have in your pantry and fridge. Here’s all you need to do to make homemade cornbread (see below for the full recipe):

  • Mix together medium grind cornmeal, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
  • In a separate bowl, mix milk, apple cider vinegar and melted butter.
  • Pour the wets into the dries and mix them together.
  • Pour into 9 x 9-inch greased pan and bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.
Homemade cornbread recipe

How to store leftovers

Cornbread, like many quick breads, keeps very well. If you can keep yourself from eating all of it at once, it stays perfectly moist on a cutting board at room temperature with a towel on top for 3 days. You can also keep it in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Refrigerating cornbread is not recommended, because it gets very dry! If you’d like to keep your cornbread for longer, you can freeze it for a few months. Just make sure to thaw to room temperature before serving.

Homemade cornbread recipe from scratch

Ways to serve cornbread

Now that we have our best homemade cornbread recipe, I’ve been recommending it to go with just about EVERYTHING. (And of course, don’t forget to slather it with hot honey or strawberry jam too.) Here are our top favorite types of recipes to serve with a square of cornbread:

  1. Chili: The most popular pairing with chili can’t really be beat. This Vegetarian Chili is our most popular, as are our Healthy 3-Bean Chili and Vegan Quinoa Chili.
  2. Salmon: It’s a great side to serve with salmon. Try it with our Baked Salmon, Broiled Salmon or Cedar Plank Salmon.
  3. Shrimp: It’s perfect to accompany our Sheet Pan Shrimp Boil in Oven.
  4. Soup or Stew: It truly goes with any soup. A few we’d recommend: Best Damn Lentil Soup, Tomato Basil Soup, Creamy Corn Chowder, and Vegetarian Split Pea Soup.
  5. Croutons in Salad: Dry it out to make crunchy croutons for a salad.
  6. Barbecue: Try it with our Jackfruit BBQ Sandwich or your favorite BBQ recipe.
  7. With Hot Honey: The best way to top this cornbread? Our spicy Hot Honey recipe.

This homemade cornbread recipe is…

Vegetarian.

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Best Homemade Cornbread

Best Homemade Cornbread


  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 16 1x

Description

Meet your new go-to recipe. This tender, moist homemade cornbread is easy to make and tastes like box mix, but 100 times tastier.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 ½ cups medium grind cornmeal (fine grind also works)
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 2 cups 2% milk
  • 1 ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • ½ cup melted unsalted butter

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Use coconut oil to liberally grease a 9 x 9″ pan.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, and sugar.
  3. Whisk together the milk and apple cider vinegar in a liquid measuring cup. Melt the butter, then pour both the milk and butter into the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. Pour into the prepared pan.
  4. Bake about 30 minutes until the center has firmed up and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan completely, about 30 minutes. Then run a knife around the edges and invert. Cut into 16 squares and serve. Store any leftovers at room temperature covered with a towel for about 3 days, or in a sealed container at room temperature for about 5 days.
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: Homemade Cornbread, Cornbread Recipe,

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About the authors

Sonja & Alex

Meet Sonja and Alex Overhiser: Husband and wife. Expert home cooks. Authors of recipes you'll want to make again and again.

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7 Comments

  1. I’ve made this twice in the past few weeks and served it with your Best Sweet Potato Chili, such a delicious pair! I love cornbread but had never made it from scratch before, now I don’t think I’ll be able to go back to the box mix, this was so simple to make and turned out delicious both times!

    1. Just wanted to come back to report that I’ve made this with your Sweet Potato Chili 3 years in a row now and I look forward to it ever fall! Definitely a keeper ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

  2. I want to turn this into a big batch of cornbread mix that I can take out and just add wet ingredients to in order to save a little time in the kitchen. Thoughts on measurements of how much dry mix I would need if I kept your wet ingredient measurements for each batch? Thanks for another great recipe!

  3. My first time making cornbread from scratch was a major hit thanks to this recipe! Easy to follow, uses commonly available ingredients without a lot of fuss/fancy stuff, and comes out perfectly moist and sweet (without being too sugary). Thanks for such a great cornbread recipe!!

  4. The cornbread is the best I have ever eaten. It comes out of the oven looking beautiful . Spread a little butter and drizzle some honey – YUM!
    Plan to make many times.