Best Homemade Cornbread

This homemade cornbread recipe comes together quickly and easily. Delicious and easy to make, you’ll never make cornbread from a box again.

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Cornbread. Is there really a need to talk for paragraphs about how basic, fundamental, and downright delicious a steaming hot slice of cornbread tastes?

Delicious on its own, and a solid notch better with a generous dab of butter and drizzle of warm honey.

For other cornbread lovers out there, I know it’s a sermon to the choir to tell you why cornbread is a must make, especially when paired with chili. All the chilis. White Chicken Chili, Garden Fresh Chili.

Why Homemade?

I grew up in a home where Jiffy always held a spot in my mom’s pantry. Those little blue boxes of cornmeal and flour came together quick, and the few directions were easy enough for us kids to follow as soon as we learned to read.

The thing about eating boxed cornbread is you don’t realize what you’re missing.

It’s like eating a chocolate candy bar that came out of a brown wrapper with large white lettering – and thinking that it is good chocolate. Then you discover what real chocolate tastes like.

The same is true with boxed cornbread. It tastes good. But it really could taste so much better.

Cornbread can be so much more than the dry, grainy yellow muffin you chomp down alongside your homemade chili or macaroni n’ cheese.

Cornbread can be so much more.

 

Easy

This homemade cornbread recipe might not come out of a box, but it still comes together in minutes.

Simply mix the sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder together. Add in the wet ingredients, and bake.

You and your family can be enjoying homemade cornbread that tastes delicious within 30 minutes from the time you got out your mixing bowl.

 

What to Eat with Cornbread?

There really is no excuse needed to make cornbread in our house, it just tastes so, so good.

I mentioned earlier eating cornbread as a side for various chili recipes. And truly, cornbread and chili were a match made in heaven. But apart from eating cornbread as a side to a bowl of chili (or chili as a side to slice of cornbread), what else can you eat with cornbread?

When you’re a lover of cornbread as strongly as I am, you know there is no shame in baking cornbread as your main course. When this Best Homemade Cornbread is at the center of your dinner table, here are a few suggested pairing options to eat alongside that heavenly yellow slice of cakey bread:

• Chili (White Chicken Chili, Garden Fresh Chili)
• Baked Beans (or Cowboy Beans)
• Macaroni and Cheese
• Pan Fried Green Tomatoes
• Sweet Potato Casserole
• Pork chops
• Ham
• Bacon Topped Green Beans
• Fried Chicken
• Beef Stew
• BBQ Chicken

 

Leftovers

Cornbread leftovers are nothing to sigh about. I won’t lie, there really is no beating that fresh-from-the-oven, steaming hot cornbread flavor. But next-day cornbread can be delicious in its own right.

If you do find yourself wondering what to do with leftover cornbread, here are some tried and true favorite ways to eat this delicious side (or main) dish:

• Reheat. That’s right, one of the best ways to eat leftover cornbread is simply to reheat it. I’ve found that warming it in the oven, either at a moderate temperature or on a low broil setting, heats it best. Microwaving gets it hot fast while staying moist when it’s warn, but I’ve found that microwaved cornbread turns hard and dry once cooled.
• Cornbread in Milk. This is a family favorite for breakfast or midnight snacking. Simply pour milk over a bowl full of cornbread. Drizzle with honey, or eat without. Its simple, filling, and comforting.
• Cornbread Taco Salad. This recipe replaces corn tortilla chips with crumbled cornbread for a fun spin on the easy, weeknight dish.
• Crumbled Cornbread. Cornbread crumbles taste great sprinkled over casseroles and soups.

 

Need a smaller recipe?

This recipe is a family sized recipe, meaning that it is portioned out to generously feed a family of 6-8 individuals. This Best Homemade Cornbread recipe yields a thick 9×13 pan of cornbread.

For those who don’t require such a large batch of cornbread, check out this Three-Quarters Homemade Cornbread Recipe. The same great recipe, just a quarter smaller.

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