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 love this recipe! Making it now.
Thanks!!
Hi Nora!
I was wondering if I could substitute almond milk for other milk?
Yes, any unsweetened and unflavored milk will work here.
Is the end result supposed to look watery or is it supposed to be thick ?
Do you mean the consistency of the batter? It’s not very thick, similar to cake batter.
Best cornbread I have ever had!!!
Wow, what a great compliment!! Thank you!
Tried it with a gluten free baking flour mix, Bob’s Redmill, and used 1/2 cup coconut sugar. It was very different from any cornbread I’ve ever made. More like a cake with a little chew to it, which was nice because a lot of vegan cornbreads crumble to pieces. My favorite vegan cornbread recipe so far.
This recipe sounds great. If I want to make it in a 9″ X 13″ pan would I need to double the recipe?
Yes, double it for a 9 x 13 inch pan.
Hi Nora
This looks delicious but I’m in Australia and can’t locate corn meal (only corn flour and polenta). Do you think either of these would work?
I believe corn flour is the same thing as cornmeal in Australia, so that would be your best option I think.
This is the best corn bread I’ve ever eaten! I made for my non vegan family and they said it was delicious and they couldn’t tell it was vegan. This is the second recipe I’ve made of yours (best vegan chocolate cake-made twice) both recipes are perfect! I usually find myself making excuses about why an animal free recipe is so different. No one would ever guess with these. Nora, You are so talented!! I will be searching your site for new recipes from now on before checking anywhere else!
Thanks so much for the great comment!!
Absolutely delicious. The BEST cornbread I HAVE EVER MADE, and super easy and simple too! Takes less than 5 minutes to mix all the ingredients together. Since we ran out of regular white sugar (quarantine struggles), I used 2/3 cup + about 2 tablespoons of coconut palm sugar, and added some yellow food coloring since my sugar made it brown. Amazing, my whole family loves this recipe.
I’m so glad to hear that everyone loved it!!
Simply the best cornbread, vegan or otherwise, we have ever had. Great recipe.
Best ever!!.. simple deliciousbread in 20 mins.. I used 1/2c sugar still sweet… I melted coconut oil in tin then poured out and dusted with cornmeal.. for savory I will use 1/4c sugar olive oil cumin and jalapeno and garlic powder… this is going to become my go to for sweet or savory bread for everything!.. gf vegan crispy perfect crumb.. thank you so much?⚘
You’re so welcome!!
I’d love to get the calories per ounce as am prediabetic and need know nutritional facts by ounce or even by grams. I plan to try to this as soon as I get the corn meal. Thank you if you send me the nutritional facts by grams. I will use oil as don’t want the extra sugar calories. Naomi Shapiro
I’m sorry, I am not a dietician or nutritionist, and can not provide such detailed information unfortunately.The nutrition facts I provide are an estimate only, calculated online. If you truly need such details, you can enter exactly the ingredients you use for the recipe by using an online tool, such as Cronometer.
I used almond milk, whole wheat flour, and a smidge of cinnamon. Baked into mini muffins. Extremely moist and yummy. Thanks for sharing this
You’re welcome!
Turned out very good and moist! Will make again, thank you so much!
You’re so welcome!
baking your cornbread now, I can not eat eggs. I tasted batter(lol) yum Thank you for sharing
You’re welcome!
Great recipe! It was gone by the 3rd day! Flavorful, moist and had a nice fluffy crumb! we loved it! Thanks!
You’re so welcome!
Oh my gosh!! Made this, this morning it was absolutely devine!! Excellent recipe !!
Thanks so much!
Awesome! So moist and delicious!
I just made these using applesauce and gluten free flour (I added xanthan gum) .Theses were so easy! I made them as muffins and baked for 15 minutes.
Best corn muffins I have ever eaten !
Thank you Nora!
You’re so welcome!
I need to use gluten free all-purpose flour as well. How much xanthan gum did you use?
Can I use Bob’s Red Mill whole grain corn flour (stone ground) instead of all purpose flour?
I’m not sure, but it might be okay.
This really is the best cornbread! It is moist and sweet, perfect really.
Thanks!
WOW! I just made this with GF flour and I’m so please with the way it turned out! Moist, light and fluffy and so easy! Thank you! The whole family (including Allergy Kid) loved it. This is definitely a go-to recipe for me from now on!
So glad to hear it!
How much gluten free flour did you use?..the same ?
Following…
Fabulous recipe… Thank you!!!!! The best corn bread I’ve made. I added diced jalapeños and it was perfect.
Your vegan cornbread recipe is my GO TO!!! It’s always so freaking delicious and moist—I will never make regular cornbread again. THANK YOU!
You’re welcome!
Delicious, affordable, and easy. Thank you!
This recipe is so delicious and moist. I swapped with whole wheat flour, oat milk, monk sugar and olive oil. I made twelve beautiful muffins! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
You’re so welcome!!
Absolutely perfect! Cornbread always sounds so good, we make it and it’s either too dry, too dense, just disappointing. This came together and cooked very quickly and was the best I’ve had in a LONG time! Thank you!
You’re welcome!