Southern Skillet Cornbread Recipe (2024)

If you have ever traveled to the Southern portion of the United States, you most likely had the pleasure of eating Southern Skillet Cornbread.

It is served at almost every Southern restaurant. And you can be sure that if you ate at a Meat & Three that it was an optional side dish choice.

But don’t get this recipe confused with Sweet Cornbread. There is no sugar added to classic Southern Skillet Cornbread.

As they say in the South, we will save the sugar for our tea and desserts!

The Keys To Making Southern Skillet Cornbread

Making classic cornbread couldn’t be easier!

Cast Iron Skillet

Although, to make the best cornbread that you have ever had, be sure to use a cast iron skillet!

Yes, that skillet in your cupboard that you hardly ever use. Now is the perfect time to pull it out of retirement.

There is just something about cooking in a well-seasoned, cast iron skillet that makes the recipes turn out so much better than when cooked using traditional pans.

Start by adding a little oil to your skillet and place it in a cold oven. As you preheat your oven the pan will get nice and hot.

Once you are ready to add the batter, be sure to use a well-insulated oven mitt to remove the skillet from the oven.

However, if you don’t have a cast iron skillet, you could use a non-stick cake pan for this recipe and it will still taste great.

Cornbread Batter

Southern Skillet Cornbread batter is quick and easy to make.

It starts with a 3:1 ratio of cornmeal to all-purpose flour. For instance, for an 8 inch cast iron skillet, use 3/4 cup of cornmeal to 1/4 cup all purpose flour.

However, if you are feeding a crowd, you can increase the ingredients proportionally.

Next add in a little baking powder and salt to make the cornbread rise.

As a side note, I have also used self-rising flour in place of the all-purpose and have omitted the baking powder and salt.

Although I actually found this substitution out of necessity. I was at a friend’s house and she asked me to make her Southern Skillet Cornbread.

And she only had self-rising flour in her cupboard. But it ended up working perfectly.

But the most important part about making this recipe is to NOT OVERMIX THE BATTER.

See Also

Big and Fluffy Red Velvet Pancake Recipe • Pint Sized Baker

Once you add the egg and buttermilk, just stir until the egg breaks down and the buttermilk is incorporated into the batter.

Although there will be a few little lumps here and there, it will bake up perfectly okay!

Buttermilk Substitute

Speaking of buttermilk, this isn’t a staple ingredient that I constantly have in my refrigerator throughout the year.

And if you are like me, you really don’t want to run to the store to purchase a half gallon of buttermilk just to make cornbread.

However, there is an easy solution to this dilemma.

Simply add 1 tablespoon of either white vinegar or lemon juice to a measuring cup.

Then add milk to the 1 cup measuring line. Let it sit for 5 minutes and you will see that the milk will begin to curdle.

Finally, give it a quick stir and add it to your recipe as instructed.

What To Serve With Cornbread

• Instant Pot Thick and Hearty Chili
• White Chicken Chili
• Texas Chili
• Oven Fried Chicken
• Instant Pot Pulled Pork
• Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs
• Smoked Brisket

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