Martha White Southern Cornbread

by Sabrina Snyder

Last Update:

39 Comments

4 from 3 votes
12 Servings
Prep Time 12 minutes
Cook Time 28 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
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Martha White’s Southern Cornbread is an easy cornbread recipe. A classic homemade cornbread with buttermilk that isn’t too sweet! Try today!

This is the perfect Bread Recipe to go along with your favorite chili or soup. If you enjoy this try out my Skillet Cornbread or Cornbread Casserole.

A piece of homemade cornbread on a brown plate

Sabrina’s Martha White Southern Cornbread Recipe

Southern Cornbread is different from the cornbread you find in most restaurants, and I think that’s what makes it a fan favorite. It is not sweet but distinctly corn-flavored and generally used in stuffing recipes. The other great thing about it is that it tastes like what you’d want a real homemade cornbread to taste like, instead of a corn muffin.

Recipe Card

Dinner, then Dessert

Martha White Southern Cornbread Recipe

Martha White's Southern Cornbread is an easy cornbread recipe. A classic homemade cornbread with buttermilk that isn't too sweet! Try today!
Yield 12 Servings
Prep Time 12 minutes
Cook Time 28 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
A piece of homemade cornbread on a brown plate
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 1 large egg
  • 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
  • 1/4 cup oil , (or shortening)
  • 2 cups white cornmeal
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar , optional
  • 2 tablespoons butter , melted (optional)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
  • Grease a cast iron skillet with oil or shortening and put it in the oven.
  • In a large bowl add the egg, buttermilk, oil, cornmeal, baking powder and salt (sugar would be added here too if you want a hint of sweetness).
  • Whisk to combine.
  • Bake for 25-28 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Brush on melted butter when it comes out of the oven (optional).

Nutrition

Calories: 195kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 358mg | Potassium: 171mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 136IU | Calcium: 105mg | Iron: 1mg

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Note from Sabrina

What makes this cornbread special is that it uses white cornmeal, which is a Southern thing, while yellow cornmeal is more common elsewhere. White cornbread has a milder flavor, less sweetness, and a crumbly texture that pairs perfectly with savory dishes like fried chicken or chili.

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About this Recipe

Another positive for this homemade cornbread is that it makes a quick side dish. With just a few ingredients, you’ll have it ready to bake before your cast-iron skillet warms up! It is the perfect side dish for a casual weekday dinner or a large group gathering.

What to Pair With

Serve it with a spread of Cinnamon Honey Butter for even more amazing flavor. It would go perfect alongside tonight’s dinner of Slow Cooker Chili or Apple Sauce BBQ Chicken.

How to Store

  • Store: Cornbread can stay good at room temperature for up to 2 days or for up to 1 week in the fridge. Cover the baking pan tightly with plastic wrap or transfer leftovers to an airtight container to keep the cornbread moist.
  • Reheat: Place the cornbread pieces you want to heat up on a baking sheet and warm up in a preheated oven at 300 degrees. If you have dry cornbread, add water in a small heat safe dish, and place on the baking sheet next to the pieces. Tent everything with foil to trap the steam and make your cornbread moist again. 
  • Freeze: You can freeze your leftover cornbread for up to 3 months. Allow the warm cornbread pieces to cool before placing in a freezer safe container with parchment paper between the layers. Thaw at room temperature or reheat covered in a baking dish from frozen.

More Amazing Cornbread Recipes

A piece of homemade cornbread on a brown plate and pieces of cornbread stacked on eachother pin image

Photos Used in Previous Posts:

stacked corn bread
alt pin image

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Hi! I found this recipe about five years back and I use it for my chicken and dressing! It’s AMAZING. However, I haven’t made it in a few years, so I just wanted to check-in with you (I remember seeing this when I first found the recipe) about the ingredients listed as just corn meal with salt and baking powder (no flour). I’m assuming you meant to list a white self rising corn meal mix? And in which case you would omit the salt and baking powder since it’s self-rising? Just want to clarify! That’s how I have ended up making it and it was great!

    Reply

    1. We will revisit the instructions on this recipe to make sure they are clearly written. Thanks for asking Lacey!

      Reply

  2. I was really looking forward to this but something is off with this recipe. With 1T baking powder and 1t salt, this was too bitter and salty. Also would’ve helped to have weight measurements and to specify how coursely ground the corn meal /corn flour should be.

    Reply

    1. I’m sorry you were disappointed. Martha White Southern Cornbread is known for being super savory and salty not sweet. It’s a different type of cornbread.

      Reply

  3. Just made this and was a hit with my family.I didn’t have an iron skillet so just used a square cake pan and didn’t have to cook as long.Very easy to follow and great tasting.Thank you so much.

    Reply

  4. Not having grown up eating cornbread made by my mom or grandma I always felt unsure about making good cornbread. I had some white cornmeal that led to this recipe. My Alabama & Texas raised husband LOVED it. Reminded him of his mom’s and that’s all I need to hear. It was fast & easy to make. Why on earth I waited so long to make him so happy is beyond me. Thank you for a great recipe, it’ll be my go to now 🙂

    Reply

  5. Hi Sabrina. I hope you can answer my question. I bought a 5lb. bag of Martha White’s Bolted White Enriched White Corn Meal. I do not know what the word bolted means. I googled it and, well…I still do not know what the word bolted means. Do you know and do you think I would be able to use the bolted corn meal for this recipe? Thank you. Joan

    Reply

  6. Seemed like the batter was too soupy. I added another 1/3c of corn meal. Swapped the buttermilk for 1/2 and 1/2 (didn’t have any choice).

    Reply

  8. This might sound like a dumb question, but why do you list the step to put the skillet in the oven before pouring the mixture in? Is that a mistake? If not, how long do you leave it in until you take it out to pour the mixture in?

    Reply

    1. You want to put your cast iron skillet in the oven while it’s preheating so get it warm before adding the cornbread mixture. Once it’s heat to 450 degrees, take it out and add the batter and bake it for 25-28 minutes. Hope this helps clear things up.

      Reply

  10. Don’t really like to taste of it with buttermilk I really use regular milk and I don’t have a skillet that’s made of I cast iron so I would just use a regular pan to bake it in

    Reply

  11. Being from Texas, I love cornbread and Martha White is a must. As far as white or yellow cornbread….well…that has started many a fight! Let’s Eat!!

    Reply

    1. It’d be better to use yogurt or sour cream as a substitute since they’re both a dairy product that’s high in lactic acid.

      Reply

  13. We bought Martha White corn meal that is white. My husband would not eat it, it has no taste at all. What do I do with it??? Thank you.

    Reply

    1. Are you saying he didn’t like this cornbread or just doesn’t like white cornmeal at all? Sorry, just confused. If it’s the taste of the this cornbread, you can add extras to it to give it more flavor like jalapeño, cheese, etc.

      Reply

  15. Might have to try your recipe, I have always used white cornmeal, I am using Lamb’s since we have moved to Texas. I have always used some flour in mine, so we will see, Am making your chili as I e-mail you smell’s delicious. Love your recipes.Thanks.

    Reply

    2. I am a Southern gal from Kentucky and have made Southern cornbread for 60 years. As stated, our cornbread has not a hint of sweetness. Until I married, I didn’t know that cornbread could be made any other way besides with buttermilk. My mother-in-law made corn bread with sweet milk, and I soon developed the taste for corn bread made with sweet milk. That would be up to your taste. My mom would sometimes make cornbread flap jacks. She made these by dropping a few spoonfuls in the skillet in heated cooking oil, then turning them once they were browned on each side. These are delicious with homemade stew, soup. or chili. I am a country cornbread girl from way back. If you haven’t had country cornbread stir up a batch today!

      Reply

      1. Hello Rosella hope ur having a great morning and hope ur day goes great also reason I’m replying to ur post is cause I’m also from Ky and wanted to say there’s nothing better then a BIG BOWL OF BEANS, CORNBREAD, AND SOME FRIED TATERS. Now that is something that will fill you up and make you have a great nites sleep. Oh btw,
        GO BIG BLUE ALL THE WAY CAUSE IN KY WE BLEED BLUE! GO WILDCATS!!!! #BBN FOR LUFE
        God bless, again have a great day. Gig

        Reply

        1. Haha, a big bowl of beans is exactly why I was looking for a cornbread recipe. My gladiola mix has been in the pantry forever so I thought it would be nice to try it from scratch. I’m only 33, but I grew up eating beans and cornbread (in Texas), and I make it exactly the way my Mama taught me (learned from her grandmother) but we’ve always used a mix for cornbread so this should be interesting. Probably my favorite home cooked meal!

          Reply

  19. Mmm! I can imagine eating this with soup or a fresh salad, or sloppy joes…the list goes on and on! Delicious!

    Reply