10 Cornmeal Recipes, From Cornbreads to Hushpuppies and Beyond

Cornmeal is a must-have in any pantry, as it adds a wonderful flavor and robust texture to many dishes. Here, we’ve highlighted several of our best cornbread recipes, including fritters, pancakes, casseroles, and a delicious Jamaican cornmeal porridge to round out the collection.

Southern-Style Unsweetened Cornbread

For many folks, whether living in the South or the Pacific Northwest, this is the One True Cornbread, baked in a preheated cast iron skillet with a batter made from little more than stone-ground cornmeal, eggs, and buttermilk.

Moist and Tender Brown Butter Cornbread

Many of us crave the sweeter cake-like style of cornbread prevalent throughout the Northeast and Midwest. To appease Northern palates, try this gilded version of Joshua’s basic recipe. Butter is browned in a skillet before the batter is poured in for a nuttier, toastier flavor.

Grill-Baked Skillet Cornbread

This cornbread achieves a wonderfully smoky and charred flavor by toasting the cornmeal, charring the corn and poblano pepper, and baking directly on the grill.

Scrapple

Whoever first turned cornmeal and butcher’s scraps into a breakfast meat deserves a prize of some sort. Rich with pork, this humble Pennsylvania-Dutch specialty is perfect with eggs.

Savory Bacon-Cheddar Pancakes With Corn and Jalapeño

Tired of the same old flapjacks? Try frying up some bacon and then adding corn kernels and minced chiles to the pan. Scrape half of the mixture into a cornmeal-buttermilk batter and fold in some cubed cheddar. Before flipping each pancake, spoon some of the remaining bacon-corn-chile mixture on top.

Sweet and Savory Corn Casserole

This bubbling skillet is chockfull of fresh corn, cornmeal, and plenty of flavor. Sautéed onion, red bell pepper, cayenne, fresh sage, and shredded cheese make this creamy corn casserole an instant classic.

Jamaican Cornmeal Porridge With Coconut and Condensed Milks

Infused with the flavors of nutmeg, vanilla, bay leaf, coconut, brown sugar, and condensed milk, this creamy Jamaican porridge is absolutely delicious.

Buttermilk Hushpuppies

These fried nuggets of cornmeal batter are a Southern classic for a reason. Crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside, they’re a perfect barbecue side.

Festival (Jamaican Fried Cornmeal Dumplings)

These long, oval-shaped fried dumplings are lighter in texture than hushpuppies. Sporting a crisp, golden crust and a tender, slightly sweet interior, they can be enjoyed as a snack or as an accompaniment to spicy, savory dishes.

Easy Skillet Tamale Pie With Cornbread Crust

If you’re inclined to serve cornbread and chili together, you might be interested in Kenji‘s take on tamale pie, an American classic that’s been around since the 1930s. A spicy filling of ground beef, onion, garlic, scallions, and cheese is topped with brown butter cornbread batter and popped in the oven until golden and crispy around the edges.