Nobody knows cornbread like my Mississippi auntie Rose. Her recipe is legit, and I’m passing it right to you. It’s perfectly moist, buttery, fluffy and absolutely undeniable served on your supper table boos. Whether you want a big ole slice for a snack or you are serving it along with greens and fried chicken, Rose’s Southern cornbread recipe is the only one you will ever need.
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Now let me start off by saying that this cornbread recipe is a work of genius from my Auntie Rose. She’s from Winona, MS and is one of my big mama’s throwing down in the kitchen daughters (my mama being the other one). At this point, she literally wings this recipe but I got her to the point where we were actually able to write it down (y’all know Southerners don’t follow no recipes!)
Amazing real deal cornbread recipes are hard to come by but this one is the one you need to try and keep in your recipe arsenal. This one is super moist and buttery with crispy golden edges and the perfect crumb. It’s also wonderfully light with its distinct, grainy cornmeal texture but it’s not overpowering. The texture is just perfect.
The Lowdown of This Cornbread Recipe
Cuisine Inspiration: Old school Southern vibes!
Primary Cooking Method: Baking
Dietary Info: Can be made gluten-free with ingredient swaps
Key Flavor: Savory, buttery and moist
Skill Level: Easy (No Sweat Fam!)
Textures on Textures, Flavors on Flavors
Melted butter and sour cream work together to create a bomb moist crumb that’s soft and tender. And that golden crisp crust is something to write home about!
Super Versatile
Perfect alongside a bowl of chili, under a pile of pulled pork, or just slathered with butter and honey the old school way.
Honoring Traditions with a Twist
This recipe pays homage to the classic Southern cornbread, embodying a rich culinary heritage in the best way with a slight ingredient remix from my auntie.
Ingredients you’ll need to make Southern cornbread
- Cornmeal: We ain’t using just any cornmeal. We use self rising cornmeal to add a nice lift creating a great fluffy texture.
- Flour: We balance out that classic cornmeal grit with some flour. However we want it to be true Southern cornbread so it has much more cornmeal than flour.
- Sugar: Listen, a lot of Southerners don’t want sugar in their cornbread but we add just a bit to balance the savory notes here. You won’t even really taste it. It just enhances all the essences a bit more.
- Milk: We use whole milk because it makes a huge difference in moisture. Don’t go for skim milk here. It’s too thin.
- Sour Cream: Now this ingredient might be a bit controversial but trust my auntie y’all. We replace classic buttermilk with sour cream, and let’s just say, it makes this cornbread melt in your mouth. Don’t knock it until you try it.
- Butter: We toss this into the mix to to give our batter some richness.
- Oil: We use this to grease up our hot skillet so we can create that unbelievable crispy crust.
How to make cornbread
What to serve with Southern cornbread
- Easy Does It: Y’all my fave way to eat cornbread is on its own, warm out the oven slathered in creamy salted butter.
- With Greens Y’all: This is legit a no brainer but whether you serve this up with collard greens or mustard greens, it’s the Southern way period.
- Soups and Stews: Make sure you have a giant slice of this next to a fat bowl of Southern chili, seafood gumbo, or beef stew.
- Bowls of Beans: My mama always made sure we had traditional cornbread with some red beans and rice, pinto beans and black eyed peas.
Recipe Substitutions
- Cornmeal: If you can’t find self-rising cornmeal, just add some baking powder and salt to regular fine or medium coarse cornmeal here.
- Sugar: If you wanna switch up this sweetener, replace with honey or maple syrup.
- Sour Cream: You can always replace with a plain greek yogurt or even buttermilk if you gotta have it.
- Vegetable Oil: Since we are greasing our skillet, you can also go super Southern and use bacon grease or lard for that country flavor y’all.
Recipe Variations and Additions
- Go Gluten-Free: Just swap out your flour with a 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour. The texture will change slightly but still have bomb flavor boos. Make sure your cornmeal also doesn’t have any traces of cornmeal even though it is naturally gluten-free.
- Make Dressing Y’all: Take this recipe along with my auntie’s chicken stock and make my southern cornbread dressing.
- Get Sweet With It: Add more sugar to the mix or some honey to make it more sweet than savory.
- Cheese It Up: Fold a cup or 2 of shredded cheese like cheddar or Monterey jack into the batter before baking up.
Expert Tips and Tricks for making the best traditional cornbread recipe
- Room Temperature: Make sure your sour cream, milk and eggs are room temp so they blend together into a perfect batter.
- Don’t Overmix: Don’t overdo the whisking y’all. As soon as it is combined, stop! Or you will end up with a dense tough cornbread boos.
- Grab a Cast Iron Skillet: If you want that irresistible crispy crust yet tender inside, this baby delivers. Plus it heats evenly each and every time.
- Sizzling Hot Pan: Here’s my trick! While you are prepping your batter, heat your skillet on the stove with a few drops of water inside. Once the water starts dancing, it is ready to go! Add your oil and get the most crunchy, buttery crust ever.
- Let It Rest: After you mix it up, let your batter rest for about 10 minutes so the cornmeal hydrates and soaks up all that goodness creating a better texture.
How to store & reheat cornbread
You can wrap up any leftovers in plastic wrap or aluminum foil tightly once cooled down. It should last at room temperature for up to 2 days.
To heat back up, add your leftovers to some foil and add to a preheated 350°F oven for about 10-15 minutes, or until nice and warm boos. You can also pop in the microwave wrapped in a damp paper towel. Heat for about 15-20 seconds and check until just warm.
How long will Southern cornbread last in the fridge?
You can wrap and store the same way and pop in the fridge. It will last for about 5-6 days.
Can I freeze it?
For sure boos. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap then add to a freezer safe bag removing all air. Make sure you label with the date. It can stay frozen up to 3 months.
Frequently asked questions
Of course boos. No biggie. Just grease a baking dish or cake pan and use instead.
Yep! You can store at room temperature a couple of days ahead of when you want to serve it. Pop in the oven for a few minutes to serve it warm but don’t overdo it and make it dry.
Yep if you want no sugar in it, you can definitely just leave it out.
Listen y’all, making cornbread is an art period. That’s why I’m giving you the best recipe to try. Make sure you follow all these steps for the best traditional Southern cornbread recipe you will ever try. No lies!
More cornbread recipes
- Fried Cornbread
- Jiffy Cornbread
- Corn Pone
- Mexican Cornbread
- Classic Corn Muffins
- Hot Water Cornbread
Southern Cornbread Recipe
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Ingredients
- 5 cups self-rising cornmeal mix Rose uses Pearl Milling Company
- 5 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 5 tsp granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk room temperature
- 6 large eggs room temperature and beaten
- 8 oz sour cream room temperature
- 1/2 cup salted butter melted
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and position a rack in the middle of the oven.
- To a large mixing bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour and sugar until combined.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk until combined then add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.
- Next whisk in the sour cream and finally add melted butter and whisk until well combined. Consistency will be slightly runny.
- Heat 1 very large 17-inch or 19-inch cast iron skillet or 2 9-inch cast iron skillets over high heat on the stove until scorching hot. Tip: Add a few droplets of water and once the water dances in the skillet, it is ready!
- Once ready, add oil to the skillet or skillets then remove the pan from heat.
- Pour cornbread mixture into skillet/s (oil will bubble) and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean (make sure not to overbake and dry out the cornbread too much) and is golden brown.
- Remove skillet from oven and let cool for 20 minutes before releasing from pan. Serve slightly warm or cool to room temperature if using in dressing.
- Allow cornbread to cool to room temperature.
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I have never seen a 17″ cast iron skillet! I have an old #12 Griswold and it only measures about 14″. That would be a lot of cornbread!! As suggested, I think I’ll cut it in half to use my #8 (10″) Griswold.
Looks great, haven’t tried it as it is just my husband and me. If I were to half the recipe, what size pan and does it change the cooking time?
Yes you can definitely halve this recipe and use just a regular 10 inch round pan and it should probably work.
I came searching cornbread recipes because I want some today with my pinto beans. It’s been quite a while since I have had a chance to make it, and I needed a refresher.
People can experiment once they get comfortable with the basic recipe. My mom was the best cook in our family. She certainly had the right to that honor, since she started cooking, keeping house, doing the family’s laundry, and taking care of her 3 younger brothers and sister, when she was very young. It was the Depression; her daddy was usually away from home earning a living, and her mom worked the fields with the older boys. So it was that Mama got started when she was only 5-7 years old!
The way she made it, and how she taught me to make it, is with equal parts flour and plain, non-self-rising cornmeal, and baking powder, rather than soda and buttermilk.
To me, the choice between baking powder and baking soda is a toss-up, and people can experiment as they get comfortable with the recipe and find out what they like best.
For me, when it’s almost all cornmeal, it’s crumblier than I like. Equal parts cornmeal and flour gives it more stability.
Also I use sugar but only a little. I don’t like it too sweet.
So maybe readers would like to try it different ways to find out how they/their family likes it best.
One other thing… I just don’t think anything but cast iron skillet makes *GREAT* cornbread. I like to put a bit of oil in it while heating it, and THEN, just a minute before putting the batter in the skillet, put a few Pat’s of butter in the skillet and let it melt before adding the batter. Unfortunately I don’t have a cast iron skillet at this point, so for now I have to use some other pan.
Love your site. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. ❤
Do you have recipe that cuts this in half that sounds like too much for two people.
I would actually use a recipe converter and cut it to 1/4 of the current recipe for a smaller size for just the two of you. You can then freeze the rest to enjoy later.
This isn’t corn bread it’s Johnny cake. Corn bread doesn’t have sugar or sour cream.
Where do you find self rising cornmeal
It should be at local grocery stores. Or there are homemade recipes for it as well.
So, I’m going to try Aunt Rosie’s recipe as I’m always looking for a great cornbread recipe. This one should work given the oil and sour cream…the last recipe I used incorporated creamed corn and it was pretty good. Will let you know the results
Sorry, I am 76 years old and my Mother lived to be 83 – we are true Southern women and have always cooked in the true Southern way – and neither of us have ever ever put sugar in cornbread. We never cooked our veggies with sugar either. Leave the sugar out and you got a pretty good cornbread recipe.
My family is entirely from Winona Mississippi. All “true” Southern women as well. And we make our cornbread like this. The South is not monolithic. Depending on your state and where you grew up, you could make cornbread any way!
I’m from Kentucky, and we have always used a little sugar in cornbread and vegs. I don’t like cornbread with out sugar.
Hi! Do you have any recommendations for recipes to make your own self rising cornmeal? I have been having a hard time finding it in stores but I have been dying to try this recipe 🙂
Yes I found this one online you can try to sub for: https://www.thespruceeats.com/self-rising-cornbread-mix-3057764
In your recipe above you stated to use a large 17″ cast iron pan. I have a 16″ cast iron, but that seems awful big. Was that a misprint and if so what size cast iron did you really mean Thanks. I am going to try this recipe as soon as I can get out after this pandemic to get the corn meal
Yes this is a big big recipe because we use it for cornbread dressing for the holidays. You can always bake a smaller amount for sure.