This gluten free cornbread recipe is a take on the classic quick bread that pairs beautifully with soups, stews, and chili. It uses only coarse cornmeal as flour which offers both an appealing texture and a slightly sweet taste. A dairy-free option is included as well.
About Cornbread
Cornbread is a complex food, but people can agree that it is a staple of United States cuisine. It particularly features in the cuisines of the Southern and Southwestern U.S., but nowadays it is enjoyed by people all over. Cornbread can actually take many forms from baked versions like this one or steamed cornbread that tends to be softer.
Cornbread in the northern U.S. and the southern U.S. can differ. In fact, northern cornbread tends to have a cake-like texture and sweeter taste, whereas Southern cornbread uses very little sugar or none at all. In my husband's home country Paraguay they have a version of cornbread with cottage cheese and onions called Sopa Paraguaya.
Cornbread is a quick bread, which means that it rises with chemical leaveners like baking powder and soda rather than yeast. For this reason, it is faster to prepare than bread recipes like sourdough which requires time to ferment and rise. This cornbread is easy to make because you simply mix your batter and bake it. Moreover, once it is baked, you can eat it straight away rather than having to let it cool.
How to Make Gluten Free Cornbread
The bonus of this cornbread recipe is that it is fast to make and uses few ingredients. In fact, you may have most of the ingredients on hand already. To start the recipe, you should preheat your oven to 400°F. This may seem like a high temperature for a quick bread recipe, but it is worth it to help the bread get some texture on the outsides.
Next, you grease your baking pan to ensure that the bread comes out of it cleanly. I recommend using butter for greasing the baking dish since butter goes into the batter as well. If you have the leftover butter wrapper, you can rub this all over the pan to get an even coating as well.
The following step involves whisking the cornmeal with the baking powder and soda, and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl until combined. This ensures that the leaveners are distributed evenly throughout your batter, allowing it to rise evenly.
The next step is to whisk the egg with the melted butter, Greek yogurt, and honey until thoroughly combined. In the case of the butter, be sure that it has cooled down to room temperature before using it. You don't want the egg to curdle.
Finally, you make a well in the center of your dry ingredients before adding the wet ingredients and whisking until the batter is smooth.
How to Tell When Your Bread is Done
Once you pour the batter into your prepared baking pan, the bread will only need a total of 20 to 30 minutes to bake. The timing will depend on your oven.
However, to test for doneness, inserting a skewer into the center is an excellent option. If it comes out clean or with a few dry crumbs, your bread has baked through sufficiently. On the other hand, if you see some wet, gummy crumbs, your bread will still need a few minutes.
How to Replace the Greek Yogurt
The addition of Greek yogurt in this homemade cornbread recipe is a little unique. However, it helps make this the best cornbread recipe because it becomes nice and fluffy because of its fat content. This is a common addition in fluffy cake recipes as well.
If you don't happen to have Greek yogurt in your fridge, you can easily replace it with a few other common ingredients. Plain yogurt works just as well, although it won't be quite as thick and creamy. In a pinch, you can add some sour cream or buttermilk as well. This is a great place to use up odds and ends in your fridge as you could even mix a few together to make up the 1 ½ cup volume needed for this recipe.
Dairy Free Cornbread
If you need to make a gluten free dairy free version of this cornbread, you can use a dairy free yogurt alternative. Both coconut and almond milk based yogurts are becoming more and more common even in regular grocery stores.
What Do You Eat With Cornbread?
Homemade cornbread is perfect on its own with just some butter, but there are other ways to enjoy it too. In fact, some in the United States like to eat it smeared with molasses, while others enjoy a combination of butter and honey. You could even consider mixing some softened butter with some spices or finely chopped jalapenos for a savoury spread with some kick. Alternatively, you could whip the butter with some honey for a honey butter or honey and sriracha for another unique spread.
This is the best cornbread because it pairs particularly well with saucy chili or Southern barbecue, as it can mop up the remaining sauces. I love how its slightly sweet, cornmeal taste contrasts a savoury and spicy chili. Whatever you serve this bread with will be delicious, though, from your homemade chicken soup to your roast chicken dinner.
Other Bread-Related Recipes You'll Love:

Gluten Free Cornbread
Ingredients
- 2 cups yellow cornmeal medium or fine
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg beaten
- 4 tablespoons butter melted and cooled
- 1 ½ cups Greek yogurt plain yogurt, sour cream or buttermilk work as well. For a dairy free version use coconut or almond milk yogurt
- 4 tablespoon honey
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F. Grease an 8-inch square pan.
- In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients (cornmeal, salt, baking soda and powder). In a second bowl combine the wet ingredients (egg, butter, yogurt and honey).
- Make a well in the dry mixture and pour in the wet ingredients. Whisk until just combined.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake for 20-30 minutes until lightly browned on top (edges will be darker) and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Slice and serve with chili, stews, or for breakfast.
REGINA MENESES
I DON'T LIKE HONEY!
CAN I USE BROWN SUGAR INSTEAD?
Regina | Leelalicious
Sure brown sugar will work too and sounds yummy. I would increase the amount to 1/3 cup to get a similar sweetness level
Ellen
Very tasty and great texture. I used corn flour rather than cornmeal and sour cream for the yogurt since I had some which was expiring. Next time I will use the yogurt because I think that's a lot healthier and shouldn't affect the taste. Very simple to make and came out perfectly. Thanks for the recipe!
Erin @ Texanerin Baking
Aww, man. I wish I had seen this before! I spent ages looking for a good GF cornbread but gave up and just made a regular recipe (which I guess doesn't matter... I don't have GF issues. I just thought it'd be a nice change. :))
It looks nice and kind of fluffy!
Regina
I was very surprised how it did come out so fluffish. Since baby was causing havoc with all of my eating I stopped trying to eat GF. Plain old white bread was the only thing staying down some days. And my other health issues haven't worsened, rather improved - but that could be a weird pregnancy thing. Still I like to and will continue experimenting with GF baking.