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This Cast Iron Cornbread is so easy to make from scratch, using only ingredients you probably already have on hand! Cast iron cornbread is the perfect side to dozens of savory dishes.
This is probably one of my favorite cornbread recipes. I make it all the time to go with my venison chili or moose chili recipe and any leftovers? Well, they make the best late-night snacks for my husband and me.
Now, these aren’t super sweet—actually, not sweet at all—but with a little butter and honey (okay, maybe a lot of butter), it turns into a tasty, sweet treat perfect for satisfying those midnight cravings.
We don’t even bother reheating it; we just enjoy it cold. But I digress. You’re probably here to make this cornbread to go with your chili, not for a snack.
It’s quick to make, and you’ll love the flavor whether you serve it warm or cold. One thing’s for sure: you’ll be bringing back an empty skillet by the end of the night!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s made with just the essential ingredients, so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time with your family or guests.
- While it is a very straightforward recipe, you can easily sweeten it up with canned sweet corn or add in diced jalapenos and shredded cheese for a spicy twist.
- Who doesn’t love cornbread? Serve it with your favorite meal or sneak a piece to satisfy those late-night munchies.
Recipe Ingredients
- Cornmeal: I always recommend doing everything from scratch if you can, but storebought cornmeal will work just fine here, too.
- Sugar: Yes, sugar! A little sweetness goes a long way with cornbread, but you can substitute honey if you don’t want to use sugar.
- Oil: This is just for greasing your skillet, so whatever you have is probably fine.
- Eggs: Fresh local eggs are the best. If you have a local farmer’s market, take a look!
- Milk: Go with whole milk here. The extra milk fat makes a difference!
Cast Iron Cornbread Recipe
Before starting: Place your skillet in the oven and preheat to 400°
Step 1: Add dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl.
Step 2: Whisk dry ingredients until evenly combined.
Step 3: Add the wet ingredients to the bowl on top of your dry ingredients.
Step 4: Whisk until combined. You can use a hand mixer if you prefer, but be careful not to overwork it.
Step 5: Carefully remove preheated skillet from the oven, add the tsp of oil and swirl around to coat the bottom of the skillet. Pour the batter into your skillet and bake on the center rack for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Step 6: Slice into squares, top with butter and honey, and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Made for a 12″ skillet. This cornbread recipe fits perfectly in a 12″ cast iron skillet. If you have a 9 or 10″ skillet, simply half the recipe and it will work just fine. It will be full, but it will fit!
- Preheat the skillet. This ensures the bread doesn’t stick, and you’ll have a beautiful brown crust when it’s done.
- Popcorn is just corn! Ground popcorn can be substituted for cornmeal.
- Butter is better. If you don’t want to use butter for some reason, you can swap out the melted butter equally for your cooking oil of choice. That said, butter gives a fuller flavor.
- Out of milk? If you don’t have milk, you can use water, but you will want to reduce the cooking time to prevent the cornbread from drying out.
I hope you found this recipe helpful! My goals for this were simple, delicious, and of course, something you can proudly say you made yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
This could be caused by a number of factors—a high cornmeal to flour ratio, not enough egg, or not enough milk.
Baking Powder! You’ll have to play around with this one. With the baking powder as the leavening agent, not enough will keep the cornbread from rising and too much may cause it to collapse in on itself.
Certainly not. You can substitute the sugar equally for honey.
Cast iron cornbread is the perfect side to dozens of savory dishes. Serve it with your favorite BBQ-style dish, like my Oven-baked beef back ribs or Dutch oven spare ribs. It’s actually quite a versatile side dish, try it with just about any of your favorite meals!
Related Recipes
- Fried zucchini cakes
- No-knead dutch oven bread
- Dutch oven cheese bread
- Pork belly burnt ends
- Fried chicken tenders
- Korean stuffed garlic bread
- Lemon glaze zucchini bread
If you tried this Cast Iron Cornbread or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝
Skillet Cornbread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 2 cups of yellow cornmeal
- 1/3 cup of pure granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- 2 tablespoons of baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups of whole milk
- 1/2 cup of butter melted
- 1 teaspoon of coconut oil or cooking oil of choice
Instructions
- Place 12" cast iron skillet on the center rack of the oven and preheat to 400°F
- Add dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk dry ingredients until evenly combined.
- Add the wet ingredients to the bowl on top of your dry ingredients.
- Whisk until combined. You can use a hand mixer if you prefer, but be careful not to overwork it.
- Carefully remove preheated skillet from the oven with oven mitts. Add the tsp of oil and swirl around to coat the bottom of the skillet. Pour the batter into your skillet and bake on the center rack for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Slice into squares, top with butter and honey, and enjoy!
Notes
- This cornbread recipe fits perfectly in a 12″ cast iron skillet. If you have a 9 or 10″ skillet, simply half the recipe and it will work just fine. It will be full, but it will fit!
- Preheat the skillet. This ensures the bread doesn’t stick, and you’ll have a beautiful brown crust when it’s done.
- Ground popcorn can be substituted for cornmeal.
- If you don’t want to use butter for some reason, you can swap out the melted butter equally for your cooking oil of choice. That said, butter gives a fuller flavor.
- If you don’t have milk, you can use water, but you will want to reduce the cooking time to prevent the cornbread from drying out.
I love making this recipe.
And it always turns out great!
“Whisk dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl”
“Add dry ingredients and whisk until well combined.”
Is the second statement supposed to be the “wet” ingredients?
Yes. Updated, thanks