Easy Southern Skillet Cornbread Recipe

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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.

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 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 (for recipe use only – in essence, it basically curdles the milk). That’s what I did, and it really adds to the recipe over using just regular milk.

Print Recipe

Easy Southern Skillet 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

Servings: 6 servings

Author: Savory With Soul

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 1-1/2 cup buttermilk or regular milk
• 1/4 cup bacon fat and/or butter
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1-3/4 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.