Just the best vegan cornbread, perfect for serving with chili. It’s wonderfully moist, perfectly sweet and only requires one bowl!
Every time we have chili, I have to make some cornbread to go along with it. The whole family loves it, and it makes a pot of chili go a lot further! My kids have recently decided that they love chili, and demand it often. I’ve tried several vegan cornbread recipes out there, and haven’t been perfectly happy until this one!
Now, I know people like to get all picky about their cornbread. So let me tell you what this one is all about.
It’s quite sweet, but not overly so. If you don’t like sweet cornbread, you may want to look elsewhere, or just lower the amount of sugar called for. It’s not a savory cornbread though, that’s not what I’m used to, and it’s not my preference!
It’s very moist, with the perfect amount of cornbread texture. I’ve made some cornbreads that have too much “grit” in them. I don’t like that. This one is just perfect in texture, in my opinion. Not totally cake like, but not super gritty either.
It’s made with just one bowl! This is a super easy recipe: dump, mix & bake! Perfect every time.
Serve cornbread with this Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili , Instant Pot Baked Beans, or Ultimate Vegan Chili for optimal results! 🙂
The Best Vegan Cornbread
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup yellow corn meal
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/3 cup canola oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and lightly grease a 8 x 8 pan, or a 9 inch round cake pan.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder and stir.
- Now pour in the almond milk and canola oil. Stir until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Notes
- You may use white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour in place of all purpose flour if you wish. I haven't tested it with a gluten-free blend but it may work.
- For oil-free, replace the canola oil with applesauce.
- Adapted from allrecipes.
May I ask if you have tried to freeze it? We are plannning ahead for two vegan visitors.
I haven’t tried to freeze this cornbread, but I have frozen cornbread in the past and it’s worked just fine. Just let it cool completely first, then wrap it really well with either plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and stick it in a freezer bag.
Would soy or oat milk be suitable in this?
Yes any kind of non-dairy milk will work just fine (soy, oat, almond, hemp, cashew).
Ok Nora this cornbread was heavenly, I used canned coconut milk for my milk alternative and I used 1/2 cup sugar instead!!!! Yummy in my tummy!!! And first time making cornbread these directions and ingredients were bang on!! Very easy to make and took no time at all! ??
Thanks Melissa! I’m SO glad you enjoyed the cornbread! Love your coconut milk addition. ?
Hi! If I leave out the sugar does it need to be replaced with a different ingredient? I don’t much care for “Yankee cornbread”
Thank you.
You could just leave it out, you don’t need to replace it with anything. Should be fine, just not sweet of course! Hope you enjoy it.
I made this with soy milk, no sugar, and aquafaba. It has a great texture and satisfied my craving for cornbread. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Glad you enjoyed the cornbread!
Is the aquafaba to replace the oil, or part of the milk? What is the amount? I have aquafaba that I would love to use up. And I’d love to have cornbread today!
Yes, I used the aquafaba to replace the oil. Exact amount as the oil. You can also replace it with applesauce. I only just saw your comment. I’m sorry for the late response.
Omg this cornbread goes sooooo hard. I’ve been vegan for a year and enjoy any kind of beans with brown rice and THIS takes it to the next level.
That’s awesome! Sounds good, I’m glad you enjoyed the cornbread.
My husband said this was the best cornbread he has ever eaten! It was very moist and the right amount of sweetness. I usually make the Betty Crocker version with eggs and butter, but I will use this recipe from now on. Thanks very much for such great recipes!
I’m so happy you enjoyed the cornbread so much! It really is the best!
What is the differne between this receipe and a vegan receipe? It uses regular flour, sugar and cornmeal. Is the differnce in the milk? is that what makes it vegan?
Usually cornbread has milk, eggs and sometimes even butter. Vegan means it doesn’t use any animal products. Flour, sugar and cornmeal are all vegan.
What can be used instead of canola or vegetable oil?
Applesauce is a good substitution for oil in the cornbread.
i added a little bit of cinnamon and nutmeg and vanilla, used a little less brown sugar and 1/2 the amount of regular flour substituted with almond flour and ground flax mixed with water for extra binder. its not out of the oven yet but its looking pretty darn good!
We made your cornbread to accompany the chili we served on Christmas and it was the hit of the night! Everyone went back for seconds & the piece I was able to save for lunch the next day was just as tasty! Moist, flavorful and not at all gritty This is absolutely the BEST cornbread! Thank you so much
I’m so glad everyone loved the cornbread! I agree, this is the best cornbread ever. 🙂 Thank you!
My wife made it for New Year’s Day to accompany a blackeye pea stew and it was fantastic! She used applesauce in place of the oil, and spelt flour. It will be a regular for sure. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
I have made this recipe & love the flavor! I use applesauce instead of the oil. The problem I have is that it’s gummy. I’ve even baked it for 35 minutes. Any idea what I could do to get rid of the gumminess?
Unfortunately, subbing applesauce for oil in baked goods like this cornbread does result in it being a bit gummy, and having that fat free taste. Some people don’t seem to mind, but it definitely tastes a lot better using a bit of oil. Maybe try using half oil, half applesauce if you are trying to cut back on the oil? I also made this recipe the other day and subbed non-dairy unsweetened yogurt for the oil, and that worked pretty well, better than applesauce even.
Could you make this recipe into muffins as well?
Yes, you can. They will take less time to cook, more like 15 minutes.
Best and easiest cornbread I’ve ever made! I substituted olive oil because that’s what I had on hand and they came out PERFECT!! I cooked for 22 minutes on the dot because I knew from experience that my oven usually requires a few extra minutes. Again, perfection! Thank you so much for helping me to add this recipe to my arsenal of delicious vegan goodies. 🙂
This is my go too recipe. I haven’t had a bad batch yet. When I am making my cornbread dressing for Thanksgiving I just add a pinch of sugar. Otherwise I follow this recipe to the T everytime. Making it today for my red beans and rice!
So good! Added 1 can of sweet corn, and only added 1/8 C of baking stevia, also made it fat free by adding 1 container of unsweetened applesauce. Came out moist and delicious !!
So glad you enjoyed the cornbread! The recipe is quite flexible. 🙂
Looking for a quick and easy recipe for cornbread and this was great. Instead of using all purpose flour I used cake flour, and used coconut milk instead of almond. My cornbread came out fluffy and moist! Thank you for the inspiration! This one is going in the homemade recipe book!
I have made this recipe a few times and it’s delicious. Today though I doubled the recipe and it came out very crumbly. Is it from overcooking ?
Hmm how strange! It could have been from overcooking, yes. Kinda hard to say! I’ve doubled it pretty frequently and haven’t noticed it getting crumbly.
Simply. The. Best. Cornbread. EVER!
So glad you love it! Thank you. 🙂
Have made this a couple times exactly to your recipe and it’s wonderful. My vegan husband says it has scratched a deep itch for good cornbread. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad! Thank you.
This is perfect! my whole family loved this and I’m making it for the second time right now
This cornbread exceeded all expectations. It’s crumbly, moist, and excellent on the second day.
“Best” is no joke. I just won the cornbread competition at a work chili/cornbread cookoff and I’ve never made cornbread in my life. My coworkers also had no clue it was vegan. Thanks so much! I feel like I should split the prize with you.
LOL that is awesome! So happy everyone loved the cornbread!!
This cornbread is amazing and really easy to make! We made ours in a 9 x 5 bread pan and baked for an extra 5-10 minutes and it turned out very well.
Hi, just found your site looking for vegan corn bread because our daughter has an allergy to egg and cow’s milk. She is also allergic to wheat, so I used Bob’s red Mill GF flour, and stoneground polenta for the corn meal because that’s what we had… Put a cast iron pan in the oven while it was preheating, and put buttery margarine in the pan right before I was ready to add the batter. 23 minutes later and it came out perfect! I did use brown sugar, rice milk and vegetable oil because that’s what we had. Otherwise use your exact ratios. Will be writing this one down as a keeper! Thank you!
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review! I’m so glad it turned out well even with your substitutions! You’re so welcome, I know it can be hard to find recipes that still taste good when you have food allergies in the mix.
I made this with soy milk and raw sugar and it was great. Sweet, and just gritty enough. Sometimes the simple things are best.
This was an awesome recipe. Thanks!
I made this to go with some vegan cajun beans, and even though it is a sweet cornbread I was surprised by how well I liked it! I paired the leftovers with some vegan pinto posole and it was terrific the second day too!
Hi! I’ve tried the cornbread recipe twice and it is absolutely delicious. The first try, I only had sweetened almond milk, but it was still delicious. I should have cut the sugar portion. However, the family loved it! Today, I have unsweetened almond milk. Once done, my family went to work on it. it was absolutely delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
This is the best cornbread I’ve ever made! Before I went vegan I used eggs and milk and butter in my recipes and none were as good as this. I cut the sugar just a bit to more like 1/2 cup.
Served it to non-vegan company and everyone loved it!
Can I use maple syrup instead? I don’t have granulated sugar, how about brown sugar? I’ve made it before with coconut sugar and omg it was so good! Best cornbread I’ve had!
I think brown sugar is a better option than maple syrup, as using a liquid sweetener will affect the dry to wet ratio. So glad you have enjoyed the cornbread before, and I hope you do again!
Okay, great! Thank you, making it now!
I’ve made so many of your recipes time and time and time again keep up the good work I love these recipes 🤗❤️
Made this with soy milk, 1/2 the sugar, and topped it with chia seeds. Delicious!! Even a raving review from my VERY picky, non-vegan partner. Thank you for this recipe!
Recipe came out well for my first time making cornbread from scratch. Glad that I had all of the ingredients on hand and that the recipe was quick and easy to follow. Cook time was a little bit longer for me 30+ mins. Will definitely be using this recipe to go with soups or beans or just on it’s own or with some coffee. Thank you Nora! Will be trying some of your other recipes soon.
Glad you enjoyed the cornbread! Thank you so much.