Easy Southern Cornbread Recipe

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This Southern cornbread recipe is my best one yet! Cornbread is one of the best comfort foods there is. Done right, it's moist inside with a nice outer crust and lightly crumbly texture.

Goes great with pinto beans, soup, or alongside just about anything you're fixin' for dinner.

My family ate LOTS of cornbread and pinto beans when I was a kid growing up in the South.

Cornbread is very hearty, filling, and satisfying, and leftovers are great with milk - whether you pour the milk over crumbled cornbread or you dip your cornbread in the milk - it's a great snack or light breakfast!

This Southern cornbread recipe is savory - not sweet. Some Southerners add sugar to almost everything - cornbread, coleslaw, salads, pizza sauce - but not me.

I personally like savory instead of sweet with most of my cooking (and eating). So if you want sweet, just add some sugar to the recipe, but (in my opinion), you'll mess it up 😉

If you want to use buttermilk instead of regular milk, but you don't have any and don't want to buy it (I personally don't drink or buy buttermilk) - you can use the trick in the recipe to turn regular milk into buttermilk.

This is for recipe use only - in essence, it basically curdles the milk. That's what I did (and do on a regular basis, as I don't usually buy buttermilk). It really adds to the recipe over using just regular milk.

Southern Cornbread Recipe Tips

Make sure to not mix too much. Mix the batter just until incorporated, but it may not be completely smooth (which is okay). If you over mix, the corn bread may not rise as well and be kinda flat when done.

Also, it's pretty important to preheat your pan with the butter in it. This sets the cornbread up for its best rise as well as melting the butter to mix into the rest of the batter. Don't overlook this steps, as it's pretty important!

Hope you like this simple but fabulous Southern cornbread recipe! Please comment below.

You can use either bacon fat or butter - or you can use a mixture of the two. But please don't skimp on the fat in this recipe.

Bacon and butter both add so much flavor. And really, in moderation, they're not unhealthy but better for you than ultra processed fats.

Bean or Soup Recipes that go great with this cornbread:

Crock Pot Black Eyed Peas with Ham

Ham & Bean Crockpot Soup

Slow Cooker Baked Beans

Pinto Beans & Ham (slow cooker)

Slow Cooker Chili Recipe

Zucchini Potato Soup

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Easy Southern Cornbread

Southern cornbread is one of the best comfort foods there is. Done right, it's moist inside with a nice outer crust and lightly crumbly texture. Goes great with pinto beans, soup, or alongside just about anything you're fixin' for dinner.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time40 mins

Course: Bread, Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: 6 servings

Author: Savory With Soul

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 1-½ cup buttermilk or regular milk
• ¼ cup bacon fat and/or butter
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1-¾ cup corn meal (NOT self rising)
• 1 cup flour, all purpose (NOT self rising)

Instructions

• Note:  If you want to turn regular milk into buttermilk, simply add the milk to a bowl and add about 1 tsp apple cider vinegar.  Let it sit until you get the rest of the ingredients combined (about 10 minutes).
  
• Preheat oven to 400 F. 
  
• In a cast iron skillet, add fat and/or butter and place in the oven to melt as the oven heats up.
• Mix all dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl until incorporated. 
  
• In a large bowl, beat the eggs. 
  
• Add the dry ingredients to the eggs and mix.  Add the milk and hot fat from the pan and mix gently until incorporated. 
  
• Add batter to the hot skillet and cook for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve right away with butter.  Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days.