Perfect Vegan Cornbread

My non-vegan husband (who is generally skeptical of all things vegan) tried this and said, “Wow! That’s like…the perfect cornbread.” And I replied, “Funny story, that’s the name of the recipe!” That about sums it up. Will be making this many more times for many years to come.

So this is a fine line distinction that most southerners will tell you. Corn bread does not have sugar in it. When you add sugar to a corn bread recipe it becomes corn cake. I made mine without the sugar, it came out nicely.

I substituted quinoa flour for the all-purpose flour to make it gluten-free and it turned out perfectly! Super tasty and buttery on its own!

Loved this recipe to the moon and back.

I read the comments, so decided to reduce sugar. Used a scant 1/4 cup and it turned out just right for us with the Smoky Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas & Greens. But my mom had a slice with ice cream later & loved it as a desert too.

I did not have baking soda (FYI called ‘bicarbonate of soda’ here in South Africa where I’m from), so replaced it with baking powder & kept method unchanged. Turned out great. But I’ll definitely try it with the baking soda next time. I might die instantly if it turns out even better, but I’m willing to take the risk ;)

Another winner, Dana. Thank you!

This came out great! I had never had cornbread before but my husband said it tasted like the real thing (non vegan versions).
I used oat milk bc I ran out of almond milk and avocado oil instead of butter. Delicious!

Amazing recipe! I just made two batches tonight. I made your tradition version and one I call ‘campfire cornbread’. It simply has a jalapeno and corn added to the batter to give it some extra kick on its own.

10/10 will be making again.

Yum! and Easy! I used corn meal- not fine (didn’t have it at the store) I used non-fat oat milk + acv, a little less sugar (used Coconut sugar) and for the flour I used mostly regular flour and part almond flour because its my favorite. Turned out light brown and really tastey.

This is phenomenal! I subbed pumpkin purée for applesauce (due to allergies) and made it with 3/4 c gluten free flour blend (also your recipe Dana), and only needed 28 mins to cook. We ate the whole pan with chili tonight. Picky child approved, thank you!

Fantastic cornbread! Ate it alongside your black-eyed peas and greens and the pairing was perfect. The cornbread is sweet and so it balanced the spicy nicely, I thought. Followed the recipe exactly, using the ACV option, but my cornmeal was not particularly fine ground. Still worked great and I liked the nutty texture with the grittier cornmeal. This will be my go-to cornbread recipe from now on!

This is the best vegan cornbread recipe ever. I’ve been using this recipe for the last 3-4 years and get rave reviews. I’m from the south and this is perfect. I do add a tad bit more sugar, but it’s still good.

Love this recipe, even though I have to adapt it as I never have applesauce or almond milk. Last night I used oat milk and apple cider vinegar (have used lemon before as well, but it never seems to curdle); pumpkin puree instead of applesauce; only a tablespoon of coconut sugar (have used more before, but am trying to reduce sugar intake now); gluten free all purpose flour; and added some corn and chopped jalapeno as per a below commenters suggestion. It’s so, soo good! This recipe is always amazing on its own or as a base for additions as just mentioned, and modifies well. Cheers, MB!

This was a big hit for a small socially distanced crowd at New Year’s Eve bonfire! I made 2 batches and added to each Niblets and minced jalapeños! PERFECTION!

Holy moly is this great! Couldn’t find cornmeal (what’s up with that Chicago?) but used Masa Harina and it came out great. Perfect complement to my Pennies, Dollars, and Gold New Year’s Day dinner!

Really good recipe. To help others, here are the modifications I made:

-Unsweet Soy Milk
-Only 1/4 C sugar
-White Whole Wheat Flour

Since I used WW flour, I was concerned the texture would be affected. But, the bread rose well and was fluffy.

My only problem was an ‘off’ taste from the Earth Balance–I checked the package and it had expired in 2018 (I rarely use it–obviously!). So, definitely check the date on your vegan butter if you don’t use it often.

Thanks for the recipe! Another great one from MB!!

Love, love, loved this cornbread recipe. And my husband, who is NOT vegan, also loved it. We needed a cornbread recipe for New Years and this did not disappoint.

I did find the directions difficult to follow. I needed each step separate, so have copy and pasted into Word to save for future use.

It is also nice to have the Corn Bread for Two version!

This is very good! I halved the sugar, and subbed coconut oil (for the vegan butter) and soy milk (for the almond mile). I really liked the result and will definitely make again – excited to try to tonight with the Instant Pot Black-Eyed Peas and Greens.

This is an excellent recipe for making sweet, moist cornbread. The texture was a bit like banana bread, and the flavor reminded me of corn bread I got in restaurant bread baskets 20 years ago, like from Cracker Barrel or possibly Red Lobster. If you are looking for a more dry, crumbly, ‘country style’ corn bread, like I was, this may not be your recipe. I cut the sugar in half and served with savory black eyed peas and greens, and found the corn bread so sweet it tasted like cake. After the meal, I ate a little more corn bread (for dessert) and noticed it wasn’t quite as dessert-sweet when it wasn’t eaten along side my beans and greens. So, if I make this again, I’ll probably make it as written and eat it for dessert with applesauce and whipped cream (yum!!).
But! If you love that sweet moist style of cornbread, then this is an excellent rendition and undetectably vegan.

I made this incredible cornbread on New Year’s eve and served it along with your Butternut-squash Quinoa Chile and it was the best dinner EVER!!! I subbed the flour for g.f. and used Myoko’s vegan butter instead of Earth Balance. It was perfect and we almost finished all of it. Thank You!!!!

Yum! I transformed this into a muffin recipe (qty 15). Used old school egg replacer and light coconut milk with ACV. Some flax and nooch to make them nuttier. Turned out slightly too dense, but my cornmeal was NOT ground like it should have been for the balance. I knew this going in, but they were meant to soak up a black bean+butternut squash chili, so NO COMPLAINTS were heard. Thank you as always!

I made this for dinner tonight to go with chili… it was devoured and definitely wish I made a bigger pan, but that’s what tomorrow is for :)

I’ve made cornbread once before many years ago but it was so horrible I vowed to never make it again even though I always order it if I see it on a menu. I am definitely going to memorize this recipe because this recipe is good for life. And thank you MB team for answering my question,

You can sub more vegan butter for applesauce!

Anyway,
Thank you!

I just made this and it is wonderful! Followed the recipe as written with no modifications. Keeper!

So good and turned out great! I needed the full cook time but added defrosted corn so that might have added moisture. Will definitely make again.

I have made this so many times. It’s the only cornbread recipes I have used. I e added jalapeño and corn a few times as well. Delicious. This time I had a mini me come through and eat the last of the applesauce so I had to make
It with out. And it was still good. Thanks again Dana.

This is my go-to cornbread recipe. I shared it with my parents and now it’s the only recipe either of us uses when we want cornbread! We have made it SO MANY TIMES and it is consistently a struggle not to eat the whole pan in one sitting. Thank you for sharing this recipe!!!

This is my favorite cornbread recipe! I’ve made it as written before and it’s wonderful. I have also adapted the recipe on occasion out of necessity. In case it’ll be helpful to others, these are the adaptations/substitutions I’ve successfully made:

-sub medium cornmeal or polenta for fine milled cornmeal (changes texture of finished bread a little bit)
-sub pumpkin puree for applesauce
-sub oil and pumpkin puree for vegan butter (2 tbsp oil * 4 tbsp pumpkin puree)
-sub soy milk for almond milk
-sub whole wheat flour for AP flour (add 1-2 tbsp plant milk to compensate)

Thank you for this recipe, Minimalist Baker! It’s a keeper!

Best cornbread! I have made this so many times and always sub milk with whatever plant milk I have at the time. Use polenta instead of corn meal as can’t find that in Australia. Also use mix of coconut flour and buckwheat to make it gluten free! Use half of sugar and all good! 😊

I’ve made so many vegan cornbread recipes and always been disappointed. This is the BEST one! This will be my go-recipe for life. Thanks for the awesome recipe!

I made this as muffins! and it was great! I didn’t have cornmeal so I pulsed some grits in the food processor — cornbread turned out a little crunchy but still great. FYI: makes 8 muffins at 1/2c for each, baked for 25-28 minutes.

So delicious! Made with sweetened oat milk so I cut the sugar to a scant 1/4 cup. Baked in an 11” pie dish for 28 mins since I don’t have an 8×8 pan. I also used 1/2 cup all purpose whole wheat + 1/4 cup AP white, so seems this is a pretty flexible recipe ? thanks guys!

First time making this recipe – phenomenal! My husband even said it’s better than the traditional version. Will definitely be making again. Thanks for sharing!

This cornbread is truly incredible!

I have made this twice and it was the bomb with all my friends who aren’t GF or vegan. I used cocnut sugar Always a third of the amount of regular sugar) and I put a can of corn and some jalapenos and it was fantastic. Hated to share it! LOL

Like others, I reduced the sugar by quite a lot (1/8 of a cup) and it turned out great – tender and fluffy, not too heavy or cake-y. My go-to cornbread from now on for sure :)

Oh my cornbread! This was soooooooo good! No other cornbread will ever stack up to this deliciousness. I did half the sugar but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Thank you!!!

I’m a newly converted vegan, and this cornbread is fantastic- you can hardly tell it’s vegan! It’s moist and fluffy and not overly sweet. I mixed maple syrup with some softened earth balance and it made it even more delicious.

This is delicious! I had to make another batch because the first one disappeared before I could bring it to my meeting.

The non vegans didn’t even know it was vegan. Everyone loved it. I subbed oat milk because that’s what I had and it was totally fine!

Finally made this to put on top of the Super Thickness Three Bean Chili. I had 7 mini muffins from the left over batter and I Can’t stop eating them!

This was delicious! I also cut the sugar, adding just 1/4 cup, which worked well for my purposes. I didn’t have any apple sauce, so I used olive oil instead. That worked fine. After I added the baking soda to the liquid ingredients, I understood the logic – it reacts with the vinegar and starts to bubble, probably helping the bread rise a little more during the baking.

I was trying to recreate a non-vegan blueberry cornbread from a local restaurant, so I added about 1 cup of blueberries to the wet batter. Turned out amazing!

I love this recipe! My vegan daughter showed it to me and I make it whenever I want cornbread. I use soymilk instead of almond because of an allergy. Just a note — it never says when to add the baking soda, so one time I forgot. Thank you!

This is ahhh-mazing!! I used aquafaba for the “egg” as I didn’t have flax meal and it worked out perfectly. Honestly the best tasting cornbread I have ever had. Having it with the one pot red lentil chili tonight. Thanks for sharing all of these amazing recipes Dana. I’ve been following you and using many of your recipes for a few years now and am one of your biggest fans. I am purchasing one of your cookbooks NOW. I do better with a hard copy in front of me, I’m a little old school that way ;) xo.

Tried this on a whim and it turned out so well. It’s light and buttery with the perfect amount of “corn-ness”. Next time I think I’ll use less sugar as it was a bit too sweet for me, but that’s personal preference hey ?

This is the best cornbread I’ve ever had. I made it for two different families this week and they couldn’t believe it’s vegan. It’s just SO good.

Amazing. Seriously, so delicious. I might eat the whole pan before dinner.

Every time we have legumes, my husband makes cornbread from his grandmother’s recipe – heavy on the eggs, butter and buttermilk. This is by far the best alternative I’ve tried. It bakes consistently and has an excellent flavor!

Loved it! Made in muffin form, and they are so light & moist! Perfect amount of sweet for me. Thanks! Will make these again for sure…

Made this recipe tonight tonight to pair with your 1 pot red lentil chilli.
I made as muffins and they worked great.
The only applesauce I had was an unsweetened raspberry apple sauce snack cup- so I used it. They are a little on the sweet side, but other wise a great texture and very easy to make.

Thanks!

This recipe came out perfect!!! I don’t think I will ever make a different cornbread recipe after finding this. Also, tip for making these as individual cornbread muffins: spray down a muffin/cupcake tin with cooking oil spray and cook for only 16-18 minutes (I discovered this accidentally when I didn’t have a baking pan and the cornbread sides were just getting crispy on the edges at 18 minutes in the muffin tin) . The muffins popped right out with a simple nudge of a spoon and they are the perfect balance between solid and fluffy, mealy and just a little sweet.

You have saved us!! This is the most excellent recipe! The whole stuffing recipe is perfect. Thanks SO much!

I made this last night and it turned out quite good: light, moist, and a nice corn-y flavor. Since I was making this to use later this week for Thanksgiving dressing, I omitted the sugar. I also substituted olive oil for the vegan butter because I have to eliminate saturated fats from my diet (doctor’s orders), but otherwise everything else was as called for. Definitely will make again.

This was delicious! I used soy milk instead of almond milk. I didn’t have applesauce, so I added 1 tablespoon of canola oil, as another reviewer had recommended. I cut the sugar down a bit, as here in the South we like our cornbread more on the savory side. It only took about 28 min to bake and was very tasty- will definitely make this again! The two of us nearly took down the whole batch (1x the recipe) so I might double it the next time I make this. Thanks for the great recipe!

So delicious! I made the recipe with coconut sugar (not cane sugar) and sunflower oil (not vegan butter) and it was perfect! This will definitely be in the regular rotation with soup/stews this fall and winter.

Seriously amazing corn bread.

This is the tastiest cornbread I’ve ever had!!!!! 5 million stars

I love this recipe blog. All the recipes are excellent. For this recipe, I didn’t use the applesauce and I substituted the baking powder for 1 tbsp baking soda , I reduce the sugar to 1/4 cup, used coconut milk instead of almond. Perfect buttery cornbread muffins with the right amount of sweetness.

Did not rise at all. Total disaster… Traditional cornbreads cook at 450º Why 350º here?

Amazing awesome delicious best cornbread in the world!!!!

This is great! It has the perfect texture. The only thing I changed was the sugar. I only added half the sugar as I wanted a less sweet version. I doubled the recipe and baked in a 9 x 12 pan. Cooking time did not change. Thanks so much for being my go to for recipes!

I omitted the Vegan butter and increased the applesauce to 1/2 cup. I also used parchment paper instead of oiling the pan. It was delicious. We don’t like sweetened cornbread so only used 1 teaspoon. We like this recipe very much and will make it again often.

Good, but way too sweet. It’s like a dessert bread and even then it’s sweet.

This came out Amazing! It was super moist and sweet just like I like it. Definitely my new go to cornbread recipe. I did make some substitutions using what I had on hand: For the cornmeal I used Arrowheadmills Organic Blue cornmeal, I switched the amount of butter and apple sauce to make it a bit lower in fat. I was out of butter so I used 2 Tbsp grape seed oil and 1/3 c applesauce , and I baked it in a cast iron pan which I preheated with the oven. I used lemon juice to curdle freshly made almond milk. Otherwise I followed the instructions.

YUM! Made this last night, and I felt like I just had to pop on here to leave a quick comment about how much I like it. This corn bread has just the right amount of sweetness & yummy texture to make it worth the effort of whipping it up. :) If you’re on the fence, I ~highly~ reccomend making it – I don’t think you’ll be disappointed! Thanks Dana!

So good!! I didn’t have any applesauce so I left that out and I added 1 chopped jalapeño to the batter. Made it tonight and it went perfectly with our red beans over steamed broccoli – Delish!!

I love this recipe! I made it twice during the holidays as a base for cornbread dressing and just made it tonight to go with chili. Made it EXACTLY as written and it was fantastic! Thanks, Dana! Happy New Year!

This cornbread was the hit of my meal, even though I messed it up in several ways. It came out perfect and delicious! I used coconut sugar, all I had, and was a little short. Oops, I mixed in the cornmeal and flour before adding all the wet ingredients. Finally, I put it in the hot oven for 3 minutes before realizing I forgot the baking soda. I took it out and mixed in baking soda and it still cooked perfectly in 30 minutes! Maybe I’m lucky, or maybe this is my favorite fool-proof baking recipe ever!

Amazing! soft, flavorful, moist. Only thing was a slight taste of baking soda, but still worth making and enjoying.

Thank you for a super easy and impressive corn bread recipe!

Went really good with a vegan stew we made today for family who are not necessarily plant-based, and got lots of compliments! Thanks for making food everyone always enjoys.

Currently making my third batch. Yummiest cornbread EVER. You have outdone yourself Dana.

I made these today my family vegan and non went crazy over them didn’t get to take a photo I also made them into muffins but such a great recipe thank you!! XOXO

A very awesome recipe…made it with about half the sugar (because I prefer less sweet, like many of the earlier remarks, noted here), but,stayed with the other recommended ingredients and quantities. Turned out just great! It has a little less “cornbread” color than some of the mixes I’ve used in the past, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing!

Fabulous!! And thanks for egg substitute recipe.

2 mistakes I made = 1 didn’t have “fine” cornmeal so will grind first next time;
and I used coconut sugar which made the cornbread too dark.

I did use chickpea flour (see other comment – !), and it works great!

My inner child is doing the happy dance at this recipe. I have tried so many vegan cornbread recipes and they never turn out right. Too dry, too bland, too salty, not sweet enough… I’d almost given up. But I found locally ground cornmeal at my grocery store and figured I’d have another go and search for yet another recipe to try. I’ve avoided this one because we avoid flax due to allergies, but I figured I could try modifying it. I used an extra 1 Tbsp applesauce, 3 Tbsp unsweetened soy milk, and added 1 tsp baking powder. IT IS AMAZING! The texture is spot-on, the flavor is great, it browned on the edges… Ahh. I need to go eat more. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

This was amazing!!! So much healthier and tastier than my other cornbread recipe. It came out perfectly moist and sweet – I subbed oil for the butter because that’s what I had, and I accidentally bought vanilla almondmilk. Other than that- I followed the recipe exactly. 28 minutes was perfect. It didn’t even need the butter or maple syrup – fabulous as-is. I can get rid of that other recipe, now :) Thank you, Dana!!

Made this today, reducing the sugar to 1/3C and substituted 2T whisked aquafaba for the flax egg. Also used a mini-muffin tin that made about 18 of them. So light and absolutely delicious. Going to reduce the sugar even more and make them savory next time with some of our great NM green chili. Thanks for the most excellent recipe!

Made this for the first time tonight, paired with chili…. it turned out PERFECT!! It was moist and perfectly sweetened. This will be my go to recipe from now on!! Thank you!

Excellent!! I love this cornbread with your chili. I have made it several times. It’s become a regular at our house.

Love this

Great recipe, tasty and easy!

Wonderful recipe. I tried this out with 1 vegetarian, 3 adult omnivores, and a super picky 3-year old. Everyone loved it. This is now my go to cornbread recipe. Thanks tons for making tasty treat that have simple ingredients and produce wonderful results.

This is the best cornbread I have ever had, vegan or nonvegan. I’m from the south, so I grew up on cornbread. It’s moist, it’s perfectly sweet with a tender outside, and it’s simple. The only adjustment I might make next time would be to add some mashed sweet corn. I might also cut the sugar a bit when I make it for chili, but those are just items of preference. This cornbread is beyond lovely. Thank you for the recipe.

This was soooo good! I’ve made vegan cornbread before and it turns out really bland, but this was sweet and savory and really delicious! I made it with vegan chili and the paring was amazing and I also had some as a desert with some vegan butter and maple syrup. The latter is to die for! I thought the cornbread would be to sweet when I tried the batter, but it mellowed out when I baked it. The sweetness worked really well with the chili as well as by itself! Thanks so much!

Made this exactly and it was PERFECT! Thanks for the recipe.

I made this tonight and while the texture is awesome it is super sweet, almost like a cake. I’m keen to try again but with just half the amount of sugar or possibly less. Definitely recommend that people trying the recipe go with 1/4 or less of a cup.

Delicious, delicious cornbread. My first time trying to make a vegan cornbread. I added a little cinnamon and pure vanilla extract made it taste like cake. My family loved it. Thanks again for the recipe.

I am making this tonight along with my vegan chili for our vegan kiddos – your recipes are the best, and i really appreciate the wonderful, colorful, flavorful write-ups, descriptions, backdrop to the beautiful food. I’m used to adding cheddar cheese and sour cream to my “non-vegan” recipe, so very curious to see how this turns out. I’m sure it will be dreamy, along with all the other concoctions i’ve tried of yours. Slowly, my sweetie and i are getting healthier thanks to our babes, and your recipes. i’m wondering if creamed corn can be added – it actually doesn’t have cream :). I missed the wonderful description you usually provide on this recipe btw – but it’s the first, so no biggy. Peace.

Oh mama….SO SO GOOD!!
Best cornbread i’ve ever made/or eaten. I used real egg and halved the sugar. Baked in a muffin tin for 25 mins. Perfection. (it made 9 muffins fyi)
Thank you for this recipe :)

Great recipe, as usual! Made this with a GF blend of 60 grams whole grain/stone ground Millet flour and 50 grams stone ground white rice flour. It came out soft and perfect! I also made it with your DIY Gluten Free Flour blend and was great as well. I used GF stone ground/whole grain cornmeal!
Substitute sugar for coconut sugar, and once 50 gr. coconut sugar and 50 gr. Xylitol.
I Didn’t have any issues with the baking time, both came out soft and with brow corners. 100% good and tasty. This is what I call a balance recipe!

So good! No applesauce- subbed one TBS veg oil. I also used coconut oil instead of vegan butter. Another great recipe ! Thank you!

For anyone looking to make this gluten free, I subbed the flour with Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 flour and it worked great! I would also second the reduction of sugar if you don’t prefer sweet muffins– I used about 1/8 c and I thought it was perfect. I also made this into muffins for ease and took about 20-22 min to bake in my gas stove. Took them to a potluck and got rave reviews! Hope this helps someone– they are really delicious! :)

This is absolutely a fantastic recipe. Moist, light and flavorful – perfect to go with my black bean soup. My wife is a vegan and I’m always looking for recipes that I like, and are vegan. This rocks!

This was amazing! my non vegan family loved it!

I just made a double batch of this today, and I plan to use it to make the vegan cornbread stuffing recipe. It’s delicious! Fluffy and moist, and a good balance of sweet and savory. The batter was a bit on the sweet side, but after baking, the sweetness mellowed out, and it’s wonderful. I’ll definitely make this again sometime, and use it as a side on its own.

OMG So good! I used whole wheat flour because thats all I had and I am in love. I never really liked cornbread but this recipe changed my mind completely! Thanks!

I made this a couple of days ago to use in a veganized version of my mother in law’s southern cornbread dressing for Thanksgiving today. I left out the sugar (southern cornbread doesn’t have it), and I used spelt and coconut flours instead of wheat flour because it also had to be GF for a family member. The batter was very thick, so I added a little extra unsweetened almond milk. The cornbread came out heavy, probably because of the flour substitution, and next time I’ll add baking powder. It was great in the dressing, though. Non-veg hubs said it tasted just like the full octane kind, and he’s happy with having just vegan dressing from now on. Don’t tell his mother, though :-) Thank you for another wonderful recipe!

Overall, a tasty recipe (!!), but a few thoughts;

I only used 1/8 cup of sugar (instead of 1/2) and think it’s perfectly sweet; I also didn’t have applesauce so left that out. I can’t imagine how sweet this would be with the full 1/2 cup! I actually think a bit more salt might be nice. I also swapped in olive oil for the butter and added a bit of thyme and sage to make it more festive!

I just made one batch of this, and it is so delicious that I’m about to make another! I added in 1/2 tsp baking powder, and I sifted both leaveners into the dry ingredients instead of mixing the bicarb with the milk (because I’m too stubborn to follow a recipe I guess.) Anyway, so good!

This cornbread is wonderful!!!! Thank you so much dana! I have made so many of your recipes and this one in particular is exceptionally yummy!!! Well done!!!

this is bloody great and the first time ive ever had corn bread let alone made it ! thanks for all your wonderful recipes soooooo appreciated