Skip to Content

Bona Fide Southern Cornbread

 

Real Bona Fide Southern Cornbread! It seems like everybody in the South has their favorite way of making cornbread. Cornbread is a southern staple, just like biscuits. I grew up eating it as did generations before me. One thing for sure, we like it savory, not sweet! Sweet cornbread is a preference of our Northern neighbors, respectably.

I remember my grandmother even having leftover cornbread covered in buttermilk, eating it like cereal. There’s nothing like having a piece of cornbread with soup or a bowl of beans. That’s a meal!

This basic cornbread recipe is what I mainly use. Sometimes I will switch it up and add onions, cheese, or jalapenos too. This is also the basic cornbread that I use in my Southern Cornbread Dressing for holidays.

Ingredients:

  • 2 Cups of Self Rising Cornmeal (I prefer stone ground, white cornmeal but yellow will work fine too)
  • 1 Cup All Purpose Flour
  • 2 Eggs Beaten Lightly
  • Salt and Pepper to Taste
  • 1 1/4 Cup Buttermilk, more if needed to get a batter consistency
  • Butter, Shortening, or Bacon Grease to oil skillet
  • Cast Iron Skillet preferred but you can make it in a baking/cake pan or muffin pan
  • Melted Butter to brush the top of the cornbread after it comes out of the pan.

Bona Fide Southern Cornbread

Combine all ingredients well, pour batter into an oven heated cast iron skillet. I put the skillet into the oven while it’s pre-heating. Once I remove the skillet from the oven, I coat in butter, shortening, or bacon grease then add the batter. Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown, 20-25 minutes.

If you’re using a muffin tin, adjust cooking time as the muffins do not take as long to brown.

If you do not have self rising cornmeal on hand and your using plain cornmeal, add 1 tsp baking powder to recipe so that the cornbread will rise.

No ratings yet
Print Recipe Save

Bona Fide Southern Cornbread

Traditional Southern cornbread recipe
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Servings: 1 Cornbread Cake
Calories: 322kcal
Author: Julia Jordan

Ingredients

  • 2 Cups of Self Rising Cornmeal
  • 1 Cup All Purpose Flour
  • 2 Eggs Beaten Lightly
  • Salt and Pepper to Taste
  • 1 1/4 Cup Buttermilk more if needed to get a batter consistency
  • Butter Shortening, or Bacon Grease
  • Cast Iron Skillet preferred but you can make it in a baking/cake pan or muffin pan
  • Melted Butter

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400°F.
  • Place a cast iron skillet into the oven as it heats up and you prepare the cornbread batter.
  • Combine the cornmeal, flour, eggs, buttermilk and seasonings together in a mixing bowl.
  • Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven and grease the bottom and sides with bacon grease then add the cornbread batter.
  • Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.
  • Turn the cornbread out of the skillet onto a plate.
  • Brush with melted butter, if desired.

Notes

Growing up, leftover cornbread was often eaten like a cereal with buttermilk or whole milk. Some still consider this a real treat.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 322kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 602mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 10g

Here are some other cornbread recipes you might enjoy:
Cheesy Jalapeno Corn Muffins

Iron Skillet Strawberry Cornbread

Southern Cornbread Dressing

Try Southern Style Keto Cornbread Dressing from Southern Plate.

Julia - author and publisher of Julia's Simply Southern Food Blog Recipes

About Julia

Hey Y’all! I’m Julia, the cook and writer behind the recipes here at Julia’s Simply Southern. I began my website so that I could share easy to follow recipes that anyone can use to put a home cooked meal on the dinner table. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Follow me on Facebook Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | YouTube

Sharing is Caring

Recipe Rating