This Classic Southern Cornbread Recipe combines simple yellow cornmeal and buttermilk, bringing out the naturally sweet flavor of corn – without adding sugar. Cooked in a cast iron skillet with bacon drippings – it will please even the toughest critics.
Real Southern Cornbread is golden, sweet, moist, and delicious – without any sugar. Yellow cornmeal is combined with creamy buttermilk and baked in bacon grease or butter – served with your favorite bowl of seafood gumbo, it is absolute perfection.
If you grew up adding sugar to your cornbread or using Jiffy corn muffin mix, I urge you to give true southern cornbread a try. You think you won’t like it, but I promise you will. Cornmeal has a natural hint of sweetness, and baking it with butter makes it taste even sweeter. (Southern Cornbread is not the same as old-fashioned cornbread with no flour, which is definitely an acquired taste/texture.)
I love a good sweetened cornbread, but I will agree with the southern cornbread purists that it is a bit like cake. This is why my husband loves it – an excuse to eat dessert with dinner!
A true Southern cornbread is crumbly, delicious, and tastes like sweet Southern corn. Southern Style Cornbread is such a great addition to any Southern meal – we love to serve it with fried chicken and collard greens.
Table of Contents
- Southern Cornbread Ingredients
- How to Make Southern Cornbread
- Recipe Variations
- Helpful Tips
- Southern Cornbread with Buttermilk Recipe
- 🙋♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
- Can You Freeze Cornbread?
- How to Store Homemade Cornbread
- Uses for Leftover Cornbread
- What is the Ideal Texture of Southern Cornbread?
- What Does Southern Cornbread Taste Like?
- What Can You Serve with It
Southern Cornbread Ingredients
- Bacon Drippings or Butter
- Yellow Cornmeal – If you don’t have any cornmeal, here are some substitutes for cornmeal.
- All-Purpose Flour
- Buttermilk
- Eggs
- Melted Butter – Instead of vegetable oil, this recipe uses melted butter to really give even more flavor to this cornbread. Butter makes everything better.
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Kosher Salt
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that you’ll need for the best southern cornbread recipe. As always, specific measurements and complete cooking instructions are included in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Recipe Tip
Let the eggs and buttermilk come to room temperature before baking so that the melted butter doesn’t harden back up when the wet ingredients are combined.
Also, make sure the melted butter has cooled off enough so that the butter doesn’t cook the eggs or curdle the buttermilk.
How to Make Southern Cornbread
There are so many different ways to make cornbread, but this is our favorite way. It uses simple ingredients that we always have on hand, and it is a quick and easy cornbread recipe.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and make sure the rack is positioned in the middle. Place a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, a cast-iron pie pan, or an 8×8 square baking dish in the oven to preheat along with the oven.
- While the oven is preheating, melt the butter in the microwave or in a small pan on the stove. Set it aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. (Pictures 1 – 2)
- Open the oven and pour bacon grease or butter into the preheating skillet to get it nice and hot and melty.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and buttermilk together. Add the cooled melted butter and mix well. (Picture 3)
- Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. (Pictures 4 – 5)
- Remove the hot skillet from the oven and swirl the bacon grease around to coat the pan.
- Tilt the skillet around to get some of the bacon grease up the sides, or use a paper towel to spread it around.
- Then, pour the batter into the hot skillet, and it should sizzle and crackle. The edges should crisp up right away – this crust that forms is what will keep the cornbread from sticking to the skillet, and it will also be so delicious.
Recipe Tip
Crispy edges are my favorite thing about cornbread.
Preheating your skillet and adding bacon drippings or butter to it before adding the batter will not only prevent the cornbread from sticking to the skillet but it will also create such a flavorful crust on the cornbread. (Be sure to spread the drippings or butter up the sides of the skillet as well.)
Bake the cornbread for 18 to 24 minutes until it is golden brown.
The cornbread is ready when it is slightly springy when you press on it and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
For best results, cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. If desired, you can spread butter over the top of the cornbread as soon as it comes out of the oven.
Once cooled, slice and serve – yum!
If you want to add a touch of sweetness, you can drizzle a little bit of honey on your cornbread or top it with a pat of honey butter.
Recipe Variations
The awesome thing about cornbread is that it is so simple, and it is pretty much a blank slate. Because it is unsweetened, we like to serve warm cornbread with homemade honey butter.
I also like to add things to cornbread to jazz it up –
- Cheddar Cheese
- Diced Jalapenos – Pickled, Fresh, or Canned Chiles
- Diced Cooked Bacon or Leftover Diced Ham
Helpful Tips
- Preheat Your Pan. To make the best southern-style cornbread, preheat your cast iron pan while prepping the cornbread batter – then, when it is ready, add bacon grease or butter to the pan and coat the pan. Dump the cornbread batter into the melted bacon grease. The edges fry up in the bacon grease and get crispy, and the cornbread doesn’t stick to the pan. It’s perfection. If you don’t have bacon grease, you can do the same thing with butter.
- Do NOT overmix the cornbread batter. Fold the wet and dry ingredients together until they are just combined. If you overmix them, the cornbread won’t rise and will be very dense.
- Let it Cool. Do not cut into the cornbread until it has had a few minutes to rest after coming out of the oven. It will rise in the oven and might come back down a little bit, so it needs a few minutes to cool down and settle. (If you cut into it immediately, it will just fall apart.)
More Helpful Information Below!
Be sure to check out below the recipe card for helpful tips, tricks, and serving suggestions.
Have You Tried This Recipe?
Please rate it and leave a comment below. I would love to hear what you think!
Southern Cornbread with Buttermilk
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter or bacon grease for the skillet or pan
- 5 tablespoons butter
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup buttermilk shaken
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425°F and place a rack in the middle. Place a 10 inch cast iron skillet, a small pie pan, or an 8×8 square baking dish in the oven to preheat along with the oven. After a few minutes, add bacon grease or butter to the skillet to melt and swirl it around to make sure it gets up the sides of the skillet.1 tablespoon butter or bacon grease
- While the oven is preheating, melt the butter in the microwave or in a small saucepan on the stove. Set it aside to cool.5 tablespoons butter
- In a small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.¾ cup all-purpose flour, ¾ cup yellow cornmeal, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- In a large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and the eggs. Add the melted butter to the buttermilk mixture.1 cup buttermilk, 2 eggs, 5 tablespoons butter
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Do not overmix.
- Remove the skillet from the hot oven (carefully) and swirl the bacon grease up the sides. Pour the cornbread batter into the hot pan. (This will help you get a crispy edge.)
- Bake cornbread until it begins to turn golden brown, especially around the edges. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean – about 18 – 24 minutes.
- Allow the cornbread to cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Spread some honey butter over the top of the cornbread while it is still hot if desired.
Video
Notes
Cornbread Variations
Add cheddar cheese, diced Jalapenos (pickled, fresh, or canned chiles), or diced Bacon or leftover diced ham.Storage
Store in an airtight container. (Or – leave it in the skillet with the same knife for 2-3 days until it is all gone, loosely covered with a piece of foil. Then, use that same piece of foil the next time you make cornbread 😅)Fresh cornbread can grow mold pretty quickly so it should be eaten or frozen pretty quickly. Freezing – Freeze any cornbread that you aren’t eating right away by wrapping it in plastic, then foil – then put it in an airtight container or plastic bag for up to 3 months.
Special Equipment Needeed
- a 10-inch cast iron skillet, 8×8 baking dish, or 9-inch pie pan
Nutrition
Nutrition information is approximate and is automatically calculated, so should only be used as a guide.
🙋♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
Buttermilk is such a great ingredient for making cornbread because it adds a subtle tanginess. It also makes the cornbread lighter when the acid in the buttermilk reacts with the baking powder – it causes a little bit of extra lift and rise in the bread. Be sure to shake the container of buttermilk before you pour it out of the container.
If you don’t have buttermilk, pour 1 tablespoon of distilled white vinegar into a liquid 1 cup measuring cup, then fill the cup to the top with whole milk. Let it curdle and stir – it will take on the properties of buttermilk after about 5-10 minutes.
You can if you want, but then it will no longer be Southern cornbread. If you want a super sweet, fluffy cornbread, I have a recipe for that – it’s my Sweet Skillet Cornbread, and everyone loves it.
You can if you want, but it would be a different recipe because the proportions of flour and baking powder would be different.
Yes! This recipe makes great corn muffins. Corn Muffins are a great option to bring as a side dish to a picnic or if you are invited to a dinner party. They are much easier to share with a group! Simply grease muffin tins with butter or line them with paper liners, then bake corn muffins until golden. It should still take around 18 – 20 minutes.
Can You Freeze Cornbread?
Yes! You can absolutely freeze cornbread.
Once cooled, wrap leftover cornbread in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, and place it in a freezer bag. It will keep in the freezer for 2-3 months.
How to Store Homemade Cornbread
As a blogger giving instructions on how to properly do things, I should tell you to store your cornbread in an airtight container. As someone who knows you want to do things the easiest way possible – here’s how we do it. We leave the cornbread in the skillet with the same knife for 2 – 3 days until it is all gone. We loosely cover it with a piece of foil, and we use that same piece of foil the next time we make cornbread. It’s a bit redneck I suppose, but that’s how we do it.
Fresh cornbread has a tendency to grow mold pretty quickly if you live somewhere with a lot of humidity, which is basically all of the South, so it should be eaten or frozen pretty quickly. If we aren’t going to eat it right away, we will freeze half of the cornbread to save for later.
Uses for Leftover Cornbread
- Southern Cornbread Dressing
- Cornbread Croutons – Cut up stale cornbread into cubes and bake until crispy. Toss into a salad.
- Cornbread with Buttermilk – Pour buttermilk over cornbread and eat it with a spoon. It’s a Southern thing – you just have to try it.
What is the Ideal Texture of Southern Cornbread?
The texture of this homemade cornbread is completely different than you would expect – it’s not completely crumbly, but it is not a fluffy cake either. It is the perfect in-between. It holds together enough so that you can slice it and remove it from the pan, but it crumbles as you bite into it, and you find little bits of cornbread in the butter on your knife after you spread it across a warm slice. (I highly recommend spreading honey butter on your cornbread!)
This recipe should produce a light cornbread that has an almost grainy texture that is soft, and so, so crumbly. The combination of all-purpose flour and cornmeal gives this cornbread recipe such a great flavor and texture. The crumbly texture is ideal for crumbling into chili, white beans, red beans, collard greens, or – the old southern snack, a glass of buttermilk. Southern Cornbread is meant to crumble.
What Does Southern Cornbread Taste Like?
Traditional Southern Cornbread tastes like… well, corn. Sweet summer corn. It is naturally sweet, and the crispy golden crust tastes a bit like butter and bacon. The corn flavor is sweet but not too sweet – and dunked in some collard greens potlikker – it is so good.
What Can You Serve with It
We eat cornbread with nearly everything. This is such a good cornbread recipe, and it is pretty much a staple side dish at our house. Dunk it in bowls of chili or chicken and sausage gumbo, or dip it in potlikker from your turnip greens or collard greens. No matter how you serve it, this cornbread is amazing. Some of my favorite recipes to serve with cornbread are:
So good! Buttery with crispy edges. Perfect!
This is the exact cornbread recipe I’ve been looking for. I am never satisfied with the ones that call for white corn meal or added sugar. This recipe reminds me of my grandmother’s, growing up in the South. She would crumble the cornbread up in a glass and pour milk, salt and pepper over it and I loved it as a child. I’m doing that again and I still love it. Now the only problem with it will be my having to watch my waistline. Thanks for the recipe. It’s a keeper.
Perfection!! This is my favorite version. The butter adds richness & moisture.
Delicious! Thanks so much!
Delicious!😋