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.
This is the 2nd time I have made it and it’s my go-to for cornbread. Both times I made oil-free by using applesauce instead. I used Bob’s Red Mill polenta before which tasted better than these ones made with Quaker Oats corn meal ? Thanks Nora! I love your recipes!
This recipe is soooo yummy! And so easy! Thank you!
You’re welcome!
This is an excellent recipe. The texture and flavor were delicious, sweet but not too sweet, and easy to slice and serve. I did made it in a cast iron pan which I sprayed with oil, and preheated along with the oven. It gave it a golden brown crust.
Delicious!!!! Just made this to go with some vegan chili. The family loved it! I’ve not made vegan cornbread, only with buttermilk. This was absolutely perfect! Thank you!
You’re welcome!
First time making my own cornbread. It was really good!
By far my favorite cornbread recipe! Everyone in my family asks for “my cornbread” they didn’t even know it was vegan. I do add 2 extra table spoons of oil I find that it stays moistened and doesn’t crumble as much.
Loved it! Subbed Oat milk for Almond since that’s what we had and also used Olive Oil instead of Canola. Delicious!!
Great recipe. I did the applesauce substitution along with coconut sugar instead of regular. I also used part whole wheat and part spelt flour. Turned out fantastic.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, thanks!
I make this a minimum of once a week – perfect doesn’t even cover it! I grew up with a more savory cornbread tradition, so the first few times I made this recipe I cut the sugar to 1/3 or 1/4 cup, but having since made it exactly according to the recipe (2/3c sugar), I am completely sold on the cornbread-leaning-corncake. I also add in some frozen fire-roasted corn kernels for some additional texture. THANK YOU for this recipe – consider me a convert to the side of sweet cornbread!
You’re welcome! Thanks for the comment!
Moist, fluffy, sweet but not too sweet, and so simple. Subbed macadamia for almond milk because that’s what we had on hand and it worked great. Thanks!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed the cornbread!
Fantastic. Great crumb and taste. I added a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to help it raise.
Fabulous! My only change was Extra virgin olive oil and I added 1/2 of the sugar and the other 1/2 was honey. This is a winner recipe!
Awesome recipe! Thank you for sharing! My batter was thicker but it came out just right. I replaced the sugar with agave syrup and canola oil with olive oil (the only one i had available) and it tasted great. The best corn bread recipe! ??
Delicious recipe! I folded in a bit of corn kernels to make it a little extra. So yum!
This was amazing!! I used soy milk instead of the almond milk. Had it with chilli at the cottage. This will be a must every time I make chilli or bbq.
This recipe is delicious, moist, and could not be easier! I was looking for a vegan cornbread to accompany my husband’s vegan chili and made muffins last night. We tasted one this a.m. — had to try before serving to friends, of course — and were really impressed by how moist and tasty they were. They could be a bit less sweet for my palate, but will be the perfect complement to a spicy chili and tangy avocado salad. If you make muffins instead of a loaf, 18 minutes was the ideal bake time. They came out golden on the top, nicely risen, and still moist in the center. Highly recomment!
I just made this for me and my lovely wife, it was absolutely amazing. Just the right amount of cornmeal and sweetness. Thanks soo much for the recipe ?
You’re welcome!
Simply Amazing!!
Thanks!
Has anyone tried making cornbread muffins? If so how long did you bake them?
I make cornbread muffins a lot from this recipe, they take about 18-20 minutes.
This is my favorite cornbread. Full confession I ice it with earth balance sometimes and throw some agave on top and it’s absolutely a dessert like that! I also love it in “sweet m*lk” oh goodness. And lastly if you’ve never made a big tray of this for everyone and served hopping johns on top, I would def suggest it! I’ve made this recipe 20+ times but I just realized I’ve never left a review! Thank you so much for the great recipes!
You’re so welcome! And thanks for the review!
Hello,
I made this tonight to prep for thanksgiving studding. I made my own quinoa flour and added about 1/2 cup of almond flour to total the 1 1/4 cup of flour. I used homemade applesauce instead of oil. I used monk fruit sugar for granulated sugar and only did half because I ran out of sugar (1/3 cup). This cornbread is amazing and I am now so excited for Thursday (this will be my first time making stuffing. ).
My concern is that I need to store it. So I leave this on the counter for the next three days or can I put it in the fridge. Please help! I got too excited and I made this early (on a Monday) but I was that excited.
So glad it worked well! I would definitely store it in the refrigerator, I might even freeze it to make sure it’s fresh on Thursday. I find it only keeps fresh for a few days, then it dries out. Thanks!
Can I use Olive oil instead of canola oil?
Yes, it will taste best if it is not a very strong flavored olive oil.
Thanks for the recipe? It tastes really good. Although mine wasn’t soft like yours. It was quite crunchy outside. Why do you think it would be like that?
It sounds like you over baked it. Your oven could run hot, so maybe watch the time and take it out sooner next time. Thanks!
So good!
Excellent recipe.
Thanks!
Really yummy, I’ve made this a few times now. It works great to sub the oil for applesauce, but usually I do half applesauce and half oil. I also use half the sugar for a less sweet version since I share with my kids. 🙂 Note for the gluten free, almond flour tasted great, but it fell apart. Thanks Nora per usual for your fantastic and easy recipes!
You’re welcome!
Might have just posted on another yummy looking recipe but meant to say thank you for the cornbread recipe! Was soo delicious!! Moist and Perfect in texture ! thank you again !!