Healthy Skillet Cornbread Recipe

This easy healthy cornbread recipe can be made in a cast-iron skillet or baked in a 9×9 baking dish.  The base of the recipe is made with cornmeal and whole wheat flour and can easily be made vegan or gluten-free, depending on your dietary needs.

I am so excited to bring you the BEST healthy skillet cornbread recipe I’ve made to date.  This is an updated version of a recipe I shared a few years back and it’s better than ever.

This is the recipe I use for the base of my cornbread stuffing (coming soon!) and I also love serving it along side homemade chili or a simple roasted chicken.  It’s easy enough for a Tuesday night and delicious enough for a holiday table.

How To Make Healthy Skillet Cornbread

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine cornmeal, whole-wheat pastry flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and gently stir together.
3. Add buttermilk, honey, egg, and coconut oil in a smaller bowl and whisk together until well combined.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
5. Toss in corn kernels and gently stir until the ingredients are just incorporated.
6. Transfer into 10-inch cast-iron skillet or greased 9×9 baking dish.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and set through.
8. Cool, serve and enjoy!

Baker’s Tip

Whenever you are baking a loaf of bread, muffin or cookie in the oven, use your nose to determine when it’s done cooking.  General rule of thumb -> as soon as your kitchen becomes super fragrant and smells delicious, your baked goods are just about ready.

Can I make this Cornbread Vegan + Gluten-Free?

This cornbread can easily be made vegan, vegetarian, or/and gluten-free by making a few simple swaps.

Vegan Cornbread

• Swap the buttermilk with any type of plant-based milk you like.  Almond, oat and soy milk would all work.
• Swap the egg with one chia or flax egg.  Simply combine one tablespoon of ground up chia or flax seeds with three tablespoons of water and let it rest on the counter for 5-10 minutes.  Once it’t thickened up, it’s ready to go.
• Swap the honey with maple syrup.  Super easy swap and just as delicious.

Gluten-Free Cornbread

To make this cornbread gluten-free you have a couple of options.

You can either swap the whole wheat pastry flour with a 1-to-1 gluten-free flour mixture or swap in equal amounts of oat flour.  If you’ve never made oat flour before, simply pulverize dried oatmeal in a high-speed blender or food processor.

What to Eat With Cornbread

• Chili Con Carne
• Veggie Chili 
• Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili
• Roasted Chicken
• White Bean Chicken Chili

Thanks so much for reading! You can watch the video down below and if you make this recipe I would love for you to give it a ★ rating below.  And be sure to follow me on YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook for more healthy food inspiration!

Print Recipe

3.75 from 12 votes

Healthy Skillet Cornbread

Skillet cornbread is easy to make and delicious served alongside your favorite chili or roasted chicken dish. I recommend using a medium grain cornmeal, not too fine and not too coarse.

Course: breads + muffins

Cuisine: American

Author: Dani Spies

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Total Time40 mins

Servings: 9

Calories: 222.52kcal

Ingredients

• 1 cup organic cornmeal
• 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup organic buttermilk
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, defrosted

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a large bowl combine cornmeal, whole-wheat pastry flour, baking soda and salt.  Gently stir everything together.
• In a smaller bowl combine buttermilk, honey, egg, and coconut oil.  Whisk everything together until it’s well combined.
• Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients along with the corn kernels and gently stir until the ingredients are just incorporated.
• Pour everything into a greased pan 10-inch cast iron skillet or a 9x9 baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
• Cool, serve and enjoy!

Notes

I like using regular cornmeal for this recipe.  Fine cornmeal makes the bread too soft and coarse cornmeal adds crunchy bits to the recipe.  I find a medium grain is perfect.  This is the one I use.

 

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 222.52kcal | Carbohydrates: 30.86g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 10.26g | Saturated Fat: 7.62g | Cholesterol: 19.65mg | Sodium: 273.54mg | Potassium: 139.31mg | Fiber: 2.63g | Sugar: 11.28g | Vitamin A: 48.4IU | Vitamin C: 0.66mg | Calcium: 20.34mg | Iron: 0.97mg