This is seriously the Best Vegan Cornbread! It’s wonderfully moist, perfectly sweet, and easy to make in one bowl. Perfect for pairing with chili!
If you love serving bread with dinner, then you’ll also want to check out my Vegan Dinner Rolls, Vegan Cheddar Bay Biscuits, and Vegan Garlic Bread recipes!
“This! It’s better than non-vegan cornbread. I’m using it in a dressing for Thanksgiving and it’s the best cornbread recipe! So good!” – Susan
I simply cannot make a batch of my Ultimate Vegan Chili without a side of this Easy Vegan Cornbread. The whole family loves it, and it makes a pot of chili go a lot further!
I’ve tried a bunch of vegan cornbread recipes over the years, and none have made my kids smile quite as much as this one. It’s on the sweeter side, but if you’re a savory cornbread fan, feel free to reduce the sugar or fold corn kernels or vegan cheese into the batter. Most importantly, it’s very moist, as classic cornbread should be.
And the best part? It’s super easy to make with 7 ingredients in only 1 bowl! Just dump, mix, bake, and enjoy your perfect cornbread.
Why this is the best vegan cornbread
- Chili’s best friend – Sweet, fluffy, and soft, there’s nothing better than dunking a big slice of vegan cornbread into a steaming hot bowl of this Veggie Chili or this Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili.
- Better than boxed cornbread – This cornbread will remind you of the cornbread that comes from the boxed mix, except it tastes sooo much better! Plus, it’s easy to make with less than 10 ingredients and in one bowl.
- Over 600 reviews – Don’t just take my word for it. This recipe has over 600 reviews from happy readers! Give it a try yourself and you’ll understand why it’s the best.
If you end up loving this vegan cornbread as much as I do, then you’ll want to save my Vegan Cornbread Stuffing recipe for the holiday season. It’s a perfect Thanksgiving side dish!
How to make vegan cornbread
Find the complete recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.
Stir the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder together in a large bowl. Pour in the almond milk and canola oil and stir until well combined.
Pour the smooth batter into your prepared pan. Bake the cornbread until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Set the bread aside to cool for a few minutes, then slice and serve with vegan butter, red pepper jelly, maple syrup, or vegan honey on top.
Frequently asked questions
You can fold up to 1/2 cup of corn kernels, canned green chilis, diced jalapenos, or shredded vegan cheddar cheese into the batter. I’ll even sprinkle extras over the top of the batter before baking the cornbread for extra pops of color and flavor.
After testing this recipe countless times, I found that using fine-ground cornmeal always gave me the best, never-gritty results. Medium and coarse cornmeal sometimes work, but they make the cornbread more grainy.
Absolutely! Make the batter as normal, pour it into a lined muffin tin (3/4 of the way full), and bake the muffins for 18 to 20 minutes at 350ºF.
Yes, a quality gluten-free flour mix will work as a replacement for the all-purpose flour here.
Yes, you can cut the sugar in half for less-sweet cornbread or use just a few tablespoons of sugar for a barely sweet cornbread.
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.
Video
Notes
- Whole grain or gluten free – You may use white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour in place of all purpose flour if you wish. A quality gluten free flour mix works as well.
- For oil-free – replace the canola oil with applesauce.
- Make cornbread muffins – Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a muffin pan with oil (or use liners) and fill 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
- Less sweet – This a sweet cornbread, but feel free to make it less sweet if you want. You can cut the sugar in half, or even use just a few tablespoons of sugar for a barely sweet cornbread.
- Adapted from allrecipes.
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.
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.
“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 exceeded all expectations. It’s crumbly, moist, and excellent on the second day.
This is perfect! my whole family loved this and I’m making it for the second time right now
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.
Simply. The. Best. Cornbread. EVER!
So glad you love it! Thank you. 🙂
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.
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!
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. 🙂
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!
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. 🙂
Could you make this recipe into muffins as well?
Yes, you can. They will take less time to cook, more like 15 minutes.
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.
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!
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!
What can be used instead of canola or vegetable oil?
Applesauce is a good substitution for oil in the cornbread.
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.
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!
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.
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.
Best vegan cornbread recipe! My nonvegan husband loves it too! And when I remember, I’ve thrown in a heaping tablespoon of diced jalapeños and it’s incredible! Thank you!
I don’t understand why someone makes three substitutes on a six ingredient recipe and then gives it four stars! You didn’t make this recipe. You made your own, so you’re rating your own cornbread.
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.
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. ?
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).
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.
Hi Nora, I was just wondering is it possible to use Plain flour instead of all purpose flour
I think that should work!