67 Cornmeal Recipes, Including the Best Cornbreads, Corn Cakes, and Corn Puddings
Perhaps you’re staring at your cupboard, wondering what to make with all that cornmeal. Is cornbread too obvious? How about cornbread made with bacon fat and brown sugar? Corn muffins studded with fresh raspberries or blueberries? Or a cornmeal quick loaf made moist and flavorful with zucchini? Below you’ll find all these recipes using cornmeal and more.
You can use cornmeal beyond baked goods too. Our favorite recipes include cornmeal-crusted scallops for dinner, cornmeal-masa pancakes for breakfast, and a crunchy cornmeal pie crust filled with juicy nectarines for dessert.
Maybe you’re looking for cornmeal dumpling recipes? Or a fluffy corn cake? We have those too. Plus, the best cornbread dressing (a.k.a. stuffing) for Thanksgiving, citrusy cornmeal cookies, crispy cornmeal waffles, creamy corn puddings—basically, all the cornmeal recipes you could ever want.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich2/67Barley-Cornmeal Crust
The star of this cornmeal recipe is, of course, cornmeal—but the secret ingredient is grapefruit juice, which gives the crust sweetness, balances the richness, and adds a bit of tang. Try it with a juicy blueberry-nectarine filling.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Nathaniel James, Food Styling by Laura Rege3/67Skillet Dressing With Cornbread and Biscuits
This southern-style dressing (not stuffing) is made with torn cornbread and biscuits and hit hard with an earthy, fragrant combination of dried sage and black pepper.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Erika Joyce4/67Azafrán Soup With Spinach Greens and Yellow Cornmeal Dumplings
This fragrant soup is part of Enrique Salmón's lineup of weeknight American Indian recipes. It's flavored with azafrán (also called Native American saffron or safflower tea). You can use blue, white, or yellow cornmeal to make the puffy dumplings.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton5/67Masa Pancakes
These fluffy pancakes can be made with fresh masa or dried (masa harina). A touch of fine-grind cornmeal in the batter fortifies the sweet flavor of the masa.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Laura Rege6/67Crispy Scallop Salad
These crispy-but-tender scallops are double dredged in cornmeal that's been seasoned with Old Bay. After that, they're pan-fried and then set atop a salad of endive, oranges, and avocados.
Photo by Alex Lau7/67Skillet Cornbread With Chives
Have a cast-iron pan? Now's the time to use it. This buttermilk classic relies on all cornmeal, no flour, for its crumbly, sweet-and-savory body.
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Bill Clark8/67Cheesy Corn Casserole With Crunchy Cracker Topping
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson10/67Gluten-Free Crab Cakes With Snap Pea Salad
Photo by Eva Kolenko13/67Blue Cornmeal Pancakes With Blueberry Butter
Turns out coriander and blueberries are a match made in heaven—or at least in science. You know what else goes great with coriander? Cornmeal.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell14/67Cheesy Corn Spoon Bread
Photo by Gabriele Stabile18/67Skillet Cornbread With Bacon Fat and Brown Sugar
Keep strained bacon fat in a resealable container in your fridge for just this reason. Don't eat bacon? Schmaltz works just as well.
Photo by Kelsey McClellan19/67Blood Orange and Poppy Polenta Shortbread Cookies
Crunchy coarse cornmeal (or polenta) gives these citrusy shortbread cookies lots of fun texture that's further enhanced by a row of poppy seeds running through the center.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Anna Surbatovich, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson20/67Our Favorite Stuffing With Cornbread and Sausage
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Kat Boytsova23/67Golden Yellow Corn Bread or Corn Muffins
This slightly sweet take on an American favorite side dish comes from Indian Head Cornmeal and is one of our all-time favorite Back-of-the-Box Recipes.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Olivia Mack Anderson24/67Cornmeal-Crusted Chicken Cutlets With Zucchini Ribbon Salad
Courtesy Oxmoor House; Photo: Victor Protasio; Props: Thom Driver; Food Stylist: Margaret Monroe Dickey25/67Collard Waffles With Brined Trout and Maple Hot Sauce
Chopped cooked collard greens—not to mention the potlikker—go into the batter for these crispy cornmeal waffles. They make a fine dinner with brined and pan-seared trout and maple hot sauce.
Photo by Bobbi Lin27/67Classic Skillet Cornbread
Don’t expect something sweet and muffiny here. This rustic cornbread is sturdy and dry and meant to be dunked in chili.
28/67Arepas
Photo by Alex Lau, Prop Styling by Kalen Kaminski, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou30/67Cornbread Stuffing With Sausage and Corn Nuts
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Beatrice Chastka, Food Styling by Laura Rege36/67Spicy Cornbread Stuffing With Chorizo and Sweet Potatoes
Photo by Alex Lau37/67Cornmeal Hoecakes
Serve these thin cornmeal pancakes sweet with stewed fruit, maple syrup, and whipped cream, or savory topped with shredded slow-cooker chicken, scallions, and sour cream.
Photo by Steven Freeman38/67Skillet Corn Cake with Stewed Cherries
Baking this sweet corn cake in a cast-iron skillet gives it a crust that's hard to beat, but you can also use a round or rectangular cake pan with a little kitchen math.
40/67Corn Cakes
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, food styling by Anna Stockwell47/67Old Bay–Spiced Fish Sticks With Creamy Celery Root and Carrot Slaw
48/67Green Onion-Jalapeño Cornbread
Scallions and spicy jalapeños add savory flavor to this easy buttermilk cornbread recipe. Serve it as a side dish with a big bowl of vegetable soup.
Matt Armendariz49/67Bacon-Cheddar Muffins
A touch of rye flour adds hearty, robust flavor, to these cornmeal muffins, but if you don't have it you could substitute an equal amount of extra cornmeal.
%2520Linda%2520Xiao.jpg)
Romulo Yanes55/67Concord Grape Cornmeal Cake
If you don't have the patience to deseed a pile of flavorful Concord grapes, look for Thomcords, which will bring similar flavor to this delicious cornmeal snacking cake, without the pesky seeds.
Craig Cutler59/67Cornmeal Cake with Buttermilk Ice Cream and Rhubarb Compote
An addition of orange zest adds fragrant, floral flavor to this cake, while sour cream ensures it's moist and tender. Outside of rhubarb season, serve it with any stewed fruit you love, or a tangy citrus salad.
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Anna Stockwell63/67Indian Pudding
The name for this time-honored dessert probably is derived from the fact that it was prepared with cornmeal, which the early American settlers strongly associated with the Indians. It's great on a cold day when you want something warm, comforting, and sweet.
Photo by Michael Graydon & Nikole Herriott, Prop Styling by Kalen Kaminski, Food Styling by Rebecca Jurkevich64/67Cornbread Stuffing With Sausage and Collard Greens
Photo by Romulo Yanes65/67Crab Hush Puppies With Curried Honey-Mustard Sauce
This flavor-packed appetizer is made with instant cornbread mix and flavored with curry powder. Don't skip the piquant honey mustard dipping sauce—and if you can't find creole mustard, go for curry mustard to double up on the Indian-inspired flavor.
