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
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine cornmeal, whole-wheat pastry flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and gently stir together.
- Add buttermilk, honey, egg, and coconut oil in a smaller bowl and whisk together until well combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
- Toss in corn kernels and gently stir until the ingredients are just incorporated.
- Transfer into 10-inch cast-iron skillet or greased 9×9 baking dish.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and set through.
- 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!
Healthy Skillet Cornbread
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
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!
Comments
Sher says
I made this Cornbread tonight with veggie chili, I subbed the honey for maple syrup. This was so delicious. My only issue was it was too grainy . I used the cornmeal you recommended but would have preferred a smoother grain but still a 5 star. I will make again and experiment with different cornmeals. will post on IG
Dani says
Hi Sher! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Sounds like you may want to look for a fine ground cornmeal… that will create a softer texture. Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback and rate the recipe.
Betty says
In your recipe, it says 1/3 cup honey, but in your video, it shows 1/2 cup. Which is it?
Dani says
1/3 cup!
Larisa Breedlove says
Can the honey be omitted without replacement? I really dislike sweet cornbread but want to try your recipe as it reminds me of my grandmother’s.
Dani says
I honestly don’t know, but you will probably need something else in there. Let me know if you decide to experiment- I would love to know how it goes!
Sarah says
Hi! If I don’t have a skillet, can I bake this in a regular baking dish? Thank you! 🙂
Dani Spies says
Yes! You can bake this recipe in an 8×8 baking dish if you don’t have a skillet.
Rachel says
Perfect! I can never go back to using a mix now that I’ve tried this recipe. My favorite thing about this recipe is that it’s not too sweet at all. Based on what I had on hand, I subbed vegan butter for the coconut oil, maple syrup for the honey, and added jalapeno. I usually use a chia egg instead of eggs for cornbread so I’m sure that sub would be great, too, to make it vegan. I also baked it in a muffin tray, which made 9 perfect muffins. This is my new go-to recipe for cornbread! So delicious! Thank you!