Deep South Buttermilk Cornbread
You may think this is a bold statement, but this Deep South Buttermilk Cornbread is the best cornbread recipe you’ll ever try. If you want the moistest, classic Southern cornbread, you need this recipe.
I got an email from a reader, Terri (who is originally from Georgia, go Dawgs!) telling me she made world-famous cornbread. I was intrigued. Then she told me that her husband said she made better cornbread than his Mama. I was stunned. Then she told me that her cornbread recipe included two cups of buttermilk. My jaw was hanging open.
Clearly, my life would not be complete without trying this buttermilk cornbread recipe. Fortunately, she graciously shared the recipe with me. Let me tell you my personal experience with this cornbread: everyone in my family gobbled it down.
That might not seem like a big deal until I tell you that before I made this, cornbread had not ever passed the lips of either of my children (they are weird). My husband (who has extremely strange aversions to staple Southern dishes despite being born and raised outside of Atlanta) even ate a rather large piece and came back for seconds.
I have never had cornbread so moist in all of my born days. I am flabbergasted and feel certain that no small amount of my existence has been wasted up until tasting this. Soft and unbelievably moist on the inside with that classic crunchy cornbread crust, I can’t wait for you to try and fall in love with this buttermilk cornbread recipe too.
So without further fuss, here is Terri’s buttermilk cornbread recipe!
What You’ll Need to Make Deep South Buttermilk Cornbread:
Ingredients:
- White cornmeal
- Buttermilk (or put a tablespoon of lemon juice in whole milk)
- Egg
- Baking soda
- Flour
- Salt
- Bacon grease (or melted butter)
- Shortening
How to Make Deep South Buttermilk Conrbread:
Preheat the oven to 450. Slather a cast-iron skillet with vegetable shortening (Crisco). If you really want to make this and don’t have a cast-iron skillet, you can use a cake pan. Do the same thing with it.
Stick the skillet (or pan) in the oven while it preheats so it will be good and hot.
Whisk your cornmeal, flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.
Add melted bacon grease (or melted butter).
Add your egg…
And buttermilk.
Like so. Now we’re going to stir it all up until it looks like this.
Now get your hot skillet from the oven (carefully) and pour in the batter. It should be hot enough that the batter sizzles when it comes into contact.
Place the delicious in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until you can’t stand the waiting any more!
Remove your Deep South Buttermilk Cornbread from the oven and turn it out onto a plate. Eat it hot with butter or honey.
Take a bite and see if you don’t yell out “Go Dawgs!”
Storage
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 1 week. Reheat it quickly in the microwave, oven, or air fryer.
- You can also freeze cornbread portions for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating as above.
Recipe Notes
- Remember to not overmix the batter. You just want to mix the ingredients together until the dry ingredients are just moistened and there are no big lumps (about 1 minute of whisking will do it). Overmixing cornbread batter can lead it to be tough.
- The key to Deep South Buttermilk Cornbread is preheating the skillet or baking pan, as that’s what gives the cornbread its crunchy crust.
- For sweet cornbread, you can add 1/4 cup of white sugar, brown sugar, or honey to the batter.
Recipe FAQs
What do you serve with Deep South Buttermilk Cornbread?
Skillet cornbread is such a deliciously versatile recipe!
- Serve it with butter and honey for breakfast.
- Substitue boring bread for sensational and serve it with your favorite chili, stew, or soup.
- Enjoy it the Southern way alongside your favorite BBQ meat, like Southern-style air fryer wings, crockpot pulled pork, tender beef ribs, or slow-roasted beef brisket.
- Make another Southern staple: red beans and cornbread.
- Use it to make other recipes, like crockpot cornbread dressing or cornbread salad.
- Serve it alongside other classic Southern side dishes, like collard greens, fried okra, mac and cheese, and green bean casserole.
Can I make Deep South Buttermilk Cornbread in advance?
Yes, you can definitely make cornbread up to 2 days ahead of time and store it, covered, at room temperature. I recommend serving it warm though, so quickly reheat it in the microwave, oven, or air fryer.
Check out these other scrumptious cornbread recipes:
Cornbread Chicken Pot Pie Made From Scratch
Jiffy Cornbread Casserole With Ham and Cheese
Jalapeño Cornbread Muffins with Cream Cheese
Homestyle Broccoli Cheese Cornbread
How To Make Hot Water Cornbread
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups cornmeal enriched white
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons melted butter or bacon grease
- 1 tablespoon solid vegetable shortening
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450.
- In a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, add a tablespoon of shortening and preheat.1 tablespoon solid vegetable shortening
- Sift together the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients (buttermilk, egg, and bacon grease/melted butter). Mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened.1.5 cups cornmeal, 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 cups buttermilk, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons melted butter
- Pour the cornbread batter into the now-hot prepared pan or skillet. Bake in the preheated hot oven at 450 for 20-25 minutes.
- Serve warm with butter.
Gosh….I thought all of us in the south made their cornbread this way…….
My only change is to melt the bacon grease in the iron skillet as it preheats.
Then pour the hot grease in the batter and stir before pouring into the hot skillet.
I have made this cornbread several times. I follow the directions exactly, and it comes out perfectly. My husband is crazy for it. Thank you for sharing such delicious and easy recipes.
I am so glad you like it Leslie!!
My Grandma my mama and aunts and all madecornbread with buttermilkcooked in a iron skillet. The recipe is the same.Cornbread is not cornbread in North Carolina if not made with buttermilk. Thanks for taking me back home. Our family reunion was the same,also home made icecream. Great food and good people, family and friends.My prayers for your book.God bless.
Thank you Liz!!
I’m originally from Georgia, and this blog makes me so happy and brings back great memories of my grandmother teaching me how to make cornbread. She always used an old tea cup with a broken handle for her measuring cup. She used the grease where she fried streak-o-lean which I can’t seem to find anymore in the stores “up north” here in Virginia. Streak-o-lean was the all purpose seasoning meat at our house. She used the buttermilk she “clabbered” over night in a big white enamel pot using a buttermilk starter and Cloverleaf dry milk. When I asked how much buttermilk, she’d say enough to make it look like “loose” grits. She didn’t use an egg, but her cornbread was fabulous, so dense yet so tender and delicious with either sweet or buttermilk and some raw onion on the side.
The cornbread wars in my family were nearly as intense as the who makes the best potato salad debates. My aunt insisted on the egg, and my rebellious uncle added a dollop of mayonnaise, an addition I urge everyone to try.
I really wanted to share or pin this recipe but alas as a die-hard AR Razorback fan I could not have the “Go Dawgs” under my name. I did make the cornbread and we loved it.
This is the way I have made cornbread for years. I was born and raised Georgia(go Dawgs). Don’t use the bacon grease any longer just vegetable oil or EVOO. Still just as good. Taught all my children how to make it also.
This northern gal will give this receipt a try but being from the north and not as sweet as ya’ll I’ll be adding sugar.