Vegan Cornbread Recipe (2024)

This fluffy, crumbly, easy vegan cornbread recipe is made in one bowl with a few basic pantry ingredients and is delicious as a side to vegan chili. Bonus, this egg-free cornbread recipe is also refined sugar-free with a gluten-free option.

Table of contents

Cornbread is one of the most popular Thanksgiving side dishes, we make it every time we make Vegan Pecan Pie and Vegan Strawberry Pie. So when the fall season is coming up, it’s a great time to make a batch of this delicious bread to serve as a side to any vegan curry.

Ingredients and Substitutions

To make this vegan cornbread, you need:

• Melted Vegan Butter or any light-flavored oil like light olive oil or canola oil.
• All-Purpose Flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour.
• Yellow Cornmeal – You can also use classic cornmeal but the bread won’t be as yellow.
• Unrefined Sugar – add 1/2 cup for a perfectly sweet cornbread or skip for a plain cornbread and add 1 teaspoon of salt instead.
• Baking Powder and Baking Soda – Essential for giving the bread its soft and airy texture.
• Dairy-Free Milk of Choice – Feel free to use almond milk, soy milk, or oat milk.
• Apple Cider Vinegar – You can also use white vinegar.
• Unsweetened Applesauce – This acts as an egg replacer and makes the bread moist and slightly sweet.

Allergy Swaps

If you have food allergies or want some alternatives to this cornbread recipe, I listed some options for you below.

• Sugar – Any granulated sweetener works in cornbread. It can be brown sugar, coconut sugar, or erythritol for a sugar-free option.
• Flour – Spelt flour or all-purpose gluten-free flour that contains gum works as a wheat flour replacement and makes vegan, gluten-free cornbread.
• Applesauce – You can swap apple sauce for one flax egg. Mix one tablespoon of flaxseed meal with 1/4 cup of lukewarm water and stir in the batter as an applesauce replacement.
• Yellow Cornmeal – There are many questions about which cornmeal should be used in cornbread. Originally, cornbread was made of yellow stone-ground cornmeal. It has a lovely yellow color to the bread and a grainy texture. However, if you can’t find yellow cornmeal in your store, you can swap it for white cornmeal.

How To Make Vegan Cornbread

It’s so easy to make cornbread and so rewarding to bring this homemade bread to the table as a comforting side to soup or curry.

1. First, preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line an 8-inch x 8-inch square dish with parchment paper. Lightly oil the paper to prevent the cornbread from sticking to the paper. Set aside.

1. For the batter, simply whisk almond milk and apple cider vinegar in a mixing bowl along with sugar and applesauce.

2. Then, fold in the remaining dry ingredients: yellow cornmeal, flour, baking soda, and baking powder.

3. Stir and pour the batter into the baking pan.

4. Bake the cornbread for 25 to 35 minutes at 400°F (200°C) or until it is golden brown on top and a pick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Cornbread should be fluffy, slightly dry, and grainy.

See Also

The Kitchen Wife: Vegan Mushroom Reuben Sandwich Recipe19 Easy Soup Recipes With Few Ingredients13 One-Pan Chicken and Vegetable Recipes That Cut Down on Cleanup TimeEggs fried in feta and chilli crisp oil (viral recipe)

5. To enjoy its best texture, immediately transfer the baked cornbread to a wire rack and cool down for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
6. Slice into 16 squares and serve as a side to any of your favorite vegan meal recipes.

Storage

Cornbread doesn’t have to be refrigerated. You can store the cornbread at room temperature on a plate covered with a clean kitchen towel and keep it fresh for 4 days.

Another option is to freeze your cornbread in zip-lock bags or airtight containers. Thaw the portion of cornbread at room temperature overnight and serve the next day.

Serving Suggestions

You can make this recipe with some added toppings. Just before baking your cornbread, stir in the batter some of the below ingredients for added flavors:

• Jalapenos – you can stir in 1/2 cup diced jalapenos in the batter or simply sprinkle slices on top of the batter before baking.
• Vegan cheese – stir any of your favorite plant-based cheese in the batter, from 1/3 cup t o1/2 cup.
• Nutritional yeast – a great way to add a cheesy flavor to vegan cornbread is to stir in or 3-4 tablespoons of nutritional yeast in the batter. Plus, Nutritional Yeast is 100% vegan-friendly and a good vegan source of iron.
• Apples and onions – peel and dice apples and fry in olive oil with onion. Stir in the batter just before baking!

If you made the plain cornbread recipe, you could serve it with some of the delicious vegan toppings below. All of them taste amazing with cornbread:

• Vegan Butter
• A drizzle of agave syrup, coconut nectar, or maple syrup.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Vegan Side Recipes

Below I listed some other delicious Thanksgiving vegan sides recipes for you to try with this cornbread recipe: