26 Homemade Cornbread Recipes for Every Meal

Trust us, this will be your go-to recipe for cornbread. You only need a handful of ingredients from the pantry and refrigerator and it’s a cinch to make.

Cat’s cornbread requires just eight ingredients, which is precisely what makes her recipe so special. This cornbread is light, moist and perfectly balanced — not too sweet, dry or complicated. Do yourself a favor and tuck away a piece so you can have extras for breakfast the next morning.

Geoffrey doctors up store-bought cornbread mix with walnuts, honey, thyme and sour cream. Trust us — no one will ever guess it starts with a box mix!

This tender and fluffy cornbread is laced with freshly shredded zucchini, which adds the perfect amount of moisture. There’s also a touch of oniony chives and fresh corn kernels for textural appeal. Serve slices with the homemade honey butter, and you’ll have the perfect summer side dish.

For all those cornbread lovers who want a cross between cornbread and cake, this is it — a tender, sweet cornbread that is lovely and versatile. Enjoy it with a special meal or serve it with berries and whipped cream for a light dessert.

This is fluffy cornbread, full of corn taste with a tiny bite because of the cornmeal. With a combination of millet flour, sweet rice flour and potato starch, it's indistinguishable from a gluten-based cornbread.

Damaris says, "The only way to cook cornbread correctly is in a cast-iron skillet that has been heated until it is screaming hot. I didn't make these rules, I just follow them!"

Hot Water Cornbread has long been a staple in Black American cooking, and in households throughout the South. It’s made with only a handful of ingredients, fried in fat instead of baked, and is more similar to a hush puppy than a bread. White cornmeal is preferred to yellow in the South, but you can use either as long as it's finely ground. Some just use cornmeal. Others add a little baking powder for added texture. But the magic ingredient is really the boiling water, which cooks and softens the cornmeal so that the frying is just to crisp and color the exterior.

Bake a moist, tender and slightly sweet batch of classic cornbread in just 40 minutes from start to finish.

This flavorful cornbread is almost like a side dish with ample green herbs, lots of texture and sweetness from the corn pieces. One thing is for sure: this bread is great on its own, and tastes fantastic with a little bit of fresh goat cheese spread on top.

Something very special happens in the oven while this twist on a southern classic bakes. The result is a rich and custardy center. Serve it with barbecue — or as dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of honey.

Trisha’s three-ingredient cornbread is so easy to whip up on a dime — all you need is oil, cornmeal and buttermilk!

Though most recipes for cornbread call for buttermilk (it helps to tenderize the crumb of the bread, made with inherently grainy cornmeal), this recipe drives home the buttermilk's characteristic tang by adding white vinegar and heavy cream for more dairy richness. Brushing the cornbread hot out of the oven with more buttermilk helps keep the top moist, and adds another dose of fresh, tangy flavor.

The sweet canned peaches and the spicy jalapeño pepper are baked right into Sunny’s Peachy Jalapeño Cornbread. Glazed with a combination of butter and fresh lime juice, this easy side dish can be made in under an hour.

This loaded cornbread is nearly a meal with cheese, chorizo, bell peppers and onion.

Cornbread never had so much flavor. The poblano chile pepper and ground coriander smooth out the heat of the cayenne and ground pepper. Serve as you would any cornbread side — but be prepared for some spice and heat!

Red pepper flakes lend a spicy kick to Katie’s rich and cheesy cornbread muffins. Serve as a side dish for a cookout or a Tex-Mex-style dinner.

Think you can’t make cornbread without cornmeal? No problem! We use sweet in-season corn and blend it up with milk and sour cream to deliver all that good corn flavor, even without cornmeal. Don't hold back if you get the craving to stir a little Cheddar, scallions and crispy bacon in there, as well.

Alton says a piping-hot cast-iron skillet is a must to make this creamed corn cornbread. Serve right out of the skillet for a rustic presentation or invert onto a platter.

Golden cornbread gets zesty with the addition of onion, scallion and roasted poblano.

This is almost like a cornbread version of macaroni and cheese, and thus, it would be comforting and filling alongside tomato soup on a cold fall day.

With aged extra-sharp cheddar scattered in the batter and sprinkled over the top, Ina’s easy cornbread gets a dose of delicate freshness from minced dill. Be sure not to overmix so that the bread leaves the oven light and fluffy.

For a healthier take on traditional cornbread, use whole wheat flour and honey instead of sugar.

Fold cooked kale and crisp bacon into this moist and flavorful cornbread.

Upgrade your brunch with Melissa’s light and fluffy cornbread. She incorporates unsweetened applesauce for plenty of moisture without too much sugar.