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.
I have a product called Maseca which is labelled as “instant yellow corn masa flour.” Could I use this in place of the corn meal in your recipe, still using the all-purpose flour as well? Thanks for the tips!
You should be able to use it but it will turn out a bit different. Not necessarily bad though.
Thank you for a great vegan cornbread recipe. Soft, sweet and delicious – perfect thickness and consistency. I believe next time I will try the applesauce to replace the oil and do a whole-r grain replacement for the white flour, but absolutely fluffy and delectable. My husband gave his seal of approval, which means it’s close to perfection :).
Hi Linda. How wonderful that you guys love the cornbread! I’m thrilled that you love it! Thank you for taking time to share your great review and comments!
This is my go-to cornbread recipe and have made it numerous times. it always comes out perfect. I’ve added roasted corn, cheese and jalapeños a few times for an extra special treat. So easy and delicious.
Hi Amy. I love your add ins – they sound delicious! Thank you for sharing your review and comments! I”m glad you love the cornbread!
Really looking forward to trying this using white whole wheat flour and substituting Allulose for the sugar. (Tastes great and has zero glycemic index!). Will let you know how it turns out.
I’ve made this so many times and it always come out perfect! Thank you!
You are welcome! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful review and comments. I’m glad you love the cornbread!
This was a keeper! So moist and delicious. Had soy milk and grapeseed oil on hand in my kitchen so those were the only changes- really just followed the recipe as written. Fabulous! Next time I will try using half applesauce and half oil. Wonderfully fast in one bowl too. Thank you. It was a hit with our chili. I just discovered you, Noracooks! My first time on your site.
I wonder what type of cornmeal you think works best – I think I used fine cornmeal this first time.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cornbread, thank you for visiting! 🙂 I prefer fine cornmeal.
I made this and the taste was great…only thing it was very crumbly…what can I do to make sure it is not so crumbly?????
Hi Judi. It can be crumbly hot out of the oven, but much less so as it cools. Did you make any substitutions? If made as written, it should not be very crumbly. You could also make muffins. They are easier to hold and will crumble even less. I hope this helps!
Can this be made in a 9×13
Hi Mary Ann. You will need to double the batch for a 9 x 13 inch pan. The cornbread might be a bit taller and need to bake an extra 5-15 minutes. Hope this helps!
Muito boa receita
Can I use soy milk in place of almond milk?
Yes, soy milk will work! Thank you, and happy cooking!
So good! Doesn’t even need egg or sour cream. I brushed the tops with vegan butter while still hot.
This was very good! I thought the photos looked a little dry, but it wasn’t dry at all. Next time I’ll add much less sugar, but will still be eaten quickly 🙂
Thanks for sharing your great review! I’m glad you enjoyed the cornbread!
So delicious and moist! I didn’t have milk so I used water with a tablespoon of melted butter, and I used coconut oil instead of canola oil and it came out fantastic. My only complaint is that it was way too crumbly. Would adding ground flaxseed or ground chia seed help with that?
Hi Erica, I have never had a problem with it crumbling, so I’m not sure what happened there except it could have been using water instead of milk and coconut oil. I’d try it again exactly as written and see if it’s better. I’ve never added a flax egg or anything else because it’s just not necessary, but I guess you could try it. Thanks!
Hi! Thanks for sharing this great cornbread recipe. I tried this last weekend for my guests & they loved it.
Thank you! I’m glad you loved the cornbread! I appreciate you taking your time to share your great review!
I used a gluten free flour blend and I added 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed to help make it less crumbly. I also added 1 cup of frozen corn. It was delicious but in the future I would only add 1/2 cup of sugar instead. Thanks for the recipe.
Nora , can I substitute granulated sugar for organic sugar cane or raw sugar ? Love your recipes , L ucy
I have never tried it myself, however, others have commented they used raw sugar and it turned out great! Hope this helps!
Will the recipe still work without sugar in it or will i need to adjust something?
Omitting the sugar may affect the overall texture of the cornbread, however, you could leave it out. You could also reduce the sugar to your taste. I hope this helps!
This was so easy and so yummy! Next time I will lower the sugar a bit, but it was delicious as is! I made a double batch and fixed up five varieties: plain, corn, corn and bell pepper, roasted corn and green chili, and roasted corn, green chili and cheese. The whole family loved them!
Delicious and easy…my 2 favorite things. Thank you for all your delicious recipes! They make my life so much easier! Baked mine in a cast iron skillet..
perfection!
Cornbread is so good baked in a cast iron skillet! Thanks so much for strain your review and comments! I’m so glad you found the cornbread delicious and easy!
This was delicious and extremely moist! Will definitely be making this again:)
I’m glad you liked the cornbread! Thanks for sharing!
The flavor!!!!! Wow!
I SURELY have missed cornbread.
NO BUTTER NEEDED.
They were so delicious. Moist, such delicious flavor!!!
For the cornmeal, I used Bob’s Redmill – Medium Grind cornmeal. I used for oil, what I have, Extra Virgin Olive oil, for the milk, I have Coconut milk. It TASTED AMAZING!!!!!
Not sure why, it was more crumbly than I would have liked it.
Would you know how to adjust for the crumbliness????????
Thank you so much for such as delicious recipe!!!!! ?
Could you replace the milk with water? Sometimes I don’t have milk in my fridge but I always like making this for meals.
I haven’t tried it but I bet it would turn out just fine. Thanks!
Excellent. Have made many many times. Often omit oil and use applesauce. Tonight I did that and used less sugar because my son is set on lowering sugar intake.
HI! I love this cornbread recipe and make it all the time. I’d like to make it for an upcoming event, ahead of time. Do you think it would be compromised by freezing it after baking? Thanks
No, it freezes well, I do it fairly often. Thanks!
Thank you so much for the inspiration. Unfortunately, almond milk is not a favorite in my home. So I instead have used a mixture of coconut milk and water. I also add just a pinch more salt. But each time I make vegan cornbread for my family, I am very grateful that I came upon your recipe. It’s sweet and decadent, almost like cake, and oh so delicious.
Thank you, so glad you enjoy it.
Getting ready to make this cornbread!
Super excited! Your recipes are great! Easy to follow!
Thank you for figuring it all out for Vegans ( and everyone else $
Thanks for your great review and kind words! I’m glad you are loving my recipes and find them easy! That’s my goal – easy and delicious! Happy cooking, Pamela!