Easy Homemade Cornbread

$1.51 recipe / $0.19 serving
by Beth - Budget Bytes
4.62 from 134 votes
Pin RecipeJump to recipe โ†’

All recipes are rigorously tested in our Nashville test kitchen to ensure they are easy, affordable, and delicious.

Cornbread is a highly underrated side dish. You can whip up this deliciously sweet and moist homemade cornbread recipe with just a few pantry staples, and it makes a perfect side dish for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! Serve it slathered with butter at breakfast, crumbled into your soup or chili at lunch, or as a side with your collard greens and pork chops for dinner. It’s inexpensive, comforting, and seriously easy to make! So toss that boxed mix and let me show you how it’s done for real. ;)

Overhead view of cornbread in a glass baking dish with one piece cut out.

This post contains some affiliate links, which means that we make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you.

What to Serve with Cornbread

Cornbread is a great side dish to go with any thick and hearty soup, stew, or chili. The cornbread can be dipped or crumbled into the saucy stews, where it absorbs all the flavor. I love it with Slow Cooker Vegetarian Lentil Chili, Weeknight Black Bean Chili, Glazed Pork Chops, Mexican Red Lentil Stew. This cornbread recipe also goes great with eggs for breakfast!

Cornbread Add-Ins

To make your cornbread a little more fun, consider stirring in some add-ins, like cheddar cheese, roasted corn kernels, diced green chiles, chili powder, or jalapeños, blueberries, or even some cooked sausage!

What Kind of Baking Dish to Use

While this glass pie dish is my favorite dish to bake my cornbread in, you can use just about any baking dish. This amount of batter would fit well in an 8×8 casserole dish, or a 10-inch cast iron skillet (although you should preheat the skillet as the oven preheats). Glass, ceramic, and cast iron work best, but you can also use metal baking dishes.

Make Corn Muffins Instead

Yes, you can pour this batter into an oiled muffin tin, filling each well about 3/4 full. Bake at the same temperature for 16-18 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. This recipe will make about 10 corn muffins (see step by step photos below).

Side view of a piece of cornbread being lifted out of the baking dish.
Share this recipe

Easy Homemade Cornbread Recipe

4.62 from 134 votes
Toss that boxed mix and make this fast and Easy Homemade Cornbread, which makes a great side dish for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! 
Side view of a piece of cornbread being lifted out of the baking dish.
Servings 8
Prep 10 minutes
Cook 20 minutes
Total 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup yellow cornmeal ($0.24)
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour ($0.15)
  • 1/4 cup sugar ($0.20)
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder ($0.24)
  • 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
  • 1 cup milk ($0.31)
  • 1 large egg ($0.27)
  • 1/4 cup cooking oil ($0.08)
Email Me This Recipe
Get this sent to your inbox, plus get new recipes from us every week!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 425ºF and coat the inside of a 9-inch pie plate, cast iron skillet, or 8×8 casserole dish with non-stick spray (or butter for more flavor).
  • In a large bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, and oil.
  • Pour the bowl of wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir just until everything is moist. Avoid over stirring. It’s okay if there are a few lumps.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared dish and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the top and edges are golden brown. Cut into 8 pieces and serve.

See how we calculate recipe costs here.


Nutrition

Serving: 1ServingCalories: 241.23kcalCarbohydrates: 35.39gProtein: 4.79gFat: 9.15gSodium: 352.61mgFiber: 1.19g
Read our full nutrition disclaimer here.
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!

Video

Scroll down for the step by step photos!

Overhead view of cornbread sliced into pieces in the baking dish.

How to Make Cornbread from Scratch – Step by Step Photos

Dry ingredients for cornbread in a metal bowl.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and coat the inside of a 9-inch pie plate or 8×8 inch casserole dish with non-stick spray. In a large bowl, stir together 1 cup yellow cornmeal, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt. Make sure these are really well stirred together.

Milk, egg, and oil in a metal bowl with a whisk on the side.

In a separate bowl, whisk together 1 cup milk, 1 large egg, and 1/4 cup cooking oil.

We ingredients being poured into the bowl of dry ingredients.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients…

Mixed cornbread batter in a metal bowl with a wooden spoon.

And stir just until everything is moistened. You don’t want to over stir the batter because that can develop the gluten in the flour and make the end product a little rubbery, so it’s okay if there are a few lumps. No need to stir until everything is completely smooth.

Cornbread batter in a round glass baking dish.

Spread the batter into your prepared dish and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the top and edges are golden brown. The exact baking time may vary slightly based on your dish and your oven.

Baked cornbread in the baking dish.

The top will crack a little and look all delicious.

Cornbread batter in a muffin tin

Or you can pour the batter into an oiled muffin tin, filling each well about 3/4 full. You’ll get about 10 corn muffins.

Baked Corn Muffins in the muffin tin

Bake the muffins at the same temperature, for 16-18 minutes, or until they’re golden brown on top.

Close up side view of butter melting on top of baked cornbread.
Share this recipe

Posted in: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating





This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

Leave a Comment
  1. Soooo delicious & easy to make. Definitely will not making the box one anymore. Thank you for sharing.

  2. This cornbread recipe whips up so quickly. I also added a cup of shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeรฑos. Delicious!! Thank you Beth!

  3. Had a potluck and needed a quick recipe. You didn’t disappoint! Thank you so much โค๏ธ

  4. Well written recipe! Easy to follow directions, simple ingredients. Delicious! Thank you so much!

  5. I love your recipe for banana bread! Gave it to my neighbor and she loved it!

  6. My dear wife makes cornbread that is so DRY, what could cause this

    1. Without knowing what recipe she’s using it’s hard to say! I could be that she’s baking it at too high heat, over baking, or not properly hydrating the cornmeal with oil/butter and milk/buttermilk.

  7. Really good!
    I swapped out the oil for the same amount of bacon grease and add cheese ontop then foil over the top and bake.