The Best Vegan Buttermilk Gluten-Free Cornbread Recipe

Just the Best Vegan Buttermilk Gluten-Free Cornbread recipe out here, perfect for teatime or serving with Vegan Chili. Super easy to make, one bowl and one baking pan. It's moist and has just the right balance of sweetness and savory notes.

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We have found that this vegan gluten-free cornbread recipe can be stretched to the sweeter side, simply adding some extra sugar, and to the savory side, just adding some extra salt, without risking the texture or rising of the dough.

Every time we have our Vegan chili, we either pair it with some avocado and a bowl of brown rice or with this delicious vegan buttermilk cornbread.

Of course, pairing chili with cornbread is an all-times winning combination, so we go for this gluten-free cornbread when we don't mind waiting 25 minutes.

Why you will love it

1. Gluten-free. It's safe to eat for people with celiac disease or simply avoiding gluten.
2. Dairy-free. Lactose intolerant or vegan, you have come to the right place.
3. Egg-free. Egg allergies or vegan? We have you covered!
4. Adjustable and easily scalable. It's easily adjustable to the sweet or savory side. This vegan cornbread is a little sweet, but not overly so. It's not a savory Cornbread, though. I have turned it into savory cornbread just playing with the sugar/salt ratios with excellent results.
5. Moisture. It's very moist, with the perfect amount of puffy cornbread texture, without too much "grit" in them.
6. Easily made buttermilk. It's made with 2-ingredient vegan buttermilk in 5 minutes while you measure your dry ingredients.
7. Hassle-free. You just need one bowl and a baking pan, making it super simple: dump, mix and bake! Perfect every time.
8. Oil-free option. Easily make an oil-free version replacing vegan butter with apple sauce.
9. No waiting. You can eat it straight out of the oven, no waiting or setting time.
10. Last but not least... it always come out perfectly! Really, the only way to mess it up is to burn it, just set your oven to 25 minutes and you are garanteed getting it right 100% of the time.

Serve this Dairy-free Cornbread with this Vegan Chili, a dollop of fresh Guacamole, or fresh avocado dice for the ultimate treat!

This recipe is also one of our favorite fall season recipes, as it brings lots of flavors related to Thanksgiving and cozy gatherings.

Ingredients

This easy cornbread recipe calls for just a handful of staple ingredients.

• Gluten-free flour (or all-purpose, if you don't mind the gluten)
• Yellow cornmeal
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Vegan butter or margarine, or neutral oil
• Coconut sugar or organic cane sugar
• Salt

For the Vegan Buttermilk

• Unsweetened and unflavored plant-milk (almond milk, soy milk, and oat milk work well)
• Lemon juice or apple cider vinegar

See quantities and full instructions in the recipe card.

Instructions

Preheat oven. Set it to 400 ºF (200 ºC) and melt the vegan butter in a small sauce on low heat.

Make the buttermilk

Mix the dairy-free milk and lemon juice and reserve for 5-10 minutes, until it curdles.

Mix ingredients

Mix all the dry ingredients including the GF flour, cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder, coconut sugar, and salt. Optionally sieve the ingredients to avoid any clumps.

Then add and mix the remaining ingredients, including the melted vegan butter, and vegan buttermilk. Now, you have your gluten-free cornbread mix ready.

Prepare for baking

Oil the baking sheet using vegan butter or oil, then sprinkle some gluten-free flour to prevent the cornbread from sticking to the pan.

Pour the batter into a prepared pan and slightly shake the baking sheet, to ensure the batter is evenly spread.

Bake

Bake your vegan cornbread for 20-25 minutes. If you are unsure about how even the temperature in your oven is, I suggest two tips.

1. Place an oven resistant container with one cup of water at the bottom of the oven. The steam generated will ensure your gluten-free baked goods cook evenly.
2. Use your oven's fan mode if available.

Another great option to bake your delicious cornbread and reduce the baking time is using a muffin pan, instead of a baking sheet.

Variations

Gluten-free flour

You have several options to keep this vegan cornbread recipe gluten-free.

The Gluten-Free flour we are using is a mixture of garbanzo bean, sorghum, fava bean flour, potato starch, and tapioca flour. It works perfectly for making this GF cornbread and for all gluten-free recipes in general.

Alternative gluten-free flour options - you could also use oat flour, almond flour, chickpea flour to make this easy cornbread recipe.

We used gluten-free flour since we wanted to make a gluten-free vegan cornbread but if you don't mind the gluten in your flour, you can use either all-purpose flour or bread flour (strong, high gluten-content).

Cornmeal

If you don't like any grittiness in your cornbread at all, make sure to use fine cornmeal instead of medium-grind cornmeal. we are using Bob's Mill medium grind cornmeal.

Vegan butter

Any vegan butter or margarine will work. We have also used canola, grapeseed, and avocado oil (all neutral oils), in the same proportions. It will work.

Olive oil is also a good option. We like olive oil in all its forms, but keep in mind, that it will add its distinctive flavor.

Some people even use coconut oil, but I don't recommend it because, I can certainly taste the coconut in the cornbread, and that was not the flavor I was looking for, as we were aiming to get the flavor as close as possible to the traditional cornbread, which of course uses wheat flour, non-vegan butter, and regular buttermilk.

If you choose to use oil, instead of a good quality vegan butter, such as Earth Balance, you will miss some of the buttery flavors, but it is barely noticeable.

If you are vegetarian and don't mind using regular butter, go ahead. The same applies to milk.

Oil-free

You can make a vegan cornbread with applesauce instead of using any kind of oil if you prefer to prepare a healthier version.

Sweetness

If you like your cornbread sweeter, use an extra ¼ cup of coconut sugar, or organic cane sugar. We do this when we plan to have cornbread for breakfast with our coffee or teatime.

You can also simply add a little bit of maple syrup on top before serving.

You could use other types of sugar, but we wanted to keep this gluten-free cornbread also refined sugar-free.

Savory

If you prefer your gluten-free cornbread to be savory, add ½ teaspoon of salt and use ? cup of sugar. This is the recipe I use when aiming to remove most of the sweet notes but keep the cornbread essence.

Baking powder

If where you live, you can't find baking powder (yes, it happens! Here in Italy, baking powder is not used, but you can easily make your own in seconds!). Check how below.

Buttermilk

If you don't mind the buttermilk, which I strongly recommend, just use the same amount of dairy-free milk, skip the lemon (or vinegar) and add ¼ teaspoon of baking powder. It is excellent for vegan pancakes, vegan banana bread, or cornbread.

How to Make Vegan Buttermilk

Homemade Vegan Buttermilk is easy to make and only takes 5 minutes and 2 ingredients. You need almost any kind of plant milk (see notes below), such as soymilk and almond milk and you need something to make it curdle.

I don't recommend using rice milk as a dairy-free alternative, as it has a lesser protein content, thus it may not curdle as needed to make the gluten-free baked goods.

You can use either one tablespoon of lemon or lime juice or one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.

See our post, explaining the details and the best combinations to make the best vegan buttermilk, easily made with soy milk, almond milk, or even oat milk.

Tip: I don't recommend regular or canned coconut milk, as it can change the flavor profile of this cornbread recipe.

Let the vegan buttermilk mixture sit for 5 to 10 minutes until you see it looks thicker and you can see curdles.

It will only slightly curdle because the regular milk solids separate from the whey but in this case, plant milk doesn't have as much fat content as regular cows' milk, but it is ready to use.

Vegan buttermilk is an excellent resource in gluten-free vegan baking. We love using it in our Vegan Apple Cake, works wonderfully for making vegan banana bread, and vegan pancakes.

How to make baking powder at home

To make this DIY baking powder, simply mix

• 2 parts of baking soda
• 2 parts of cream of tartar
• 1 part of cornstarch (also known as Maizena).

This homemade baking powder can be kept in a closed Tupperware and use in the future. It keeps well in the fridge.

Make sure you use fresh baking soda and not the one that has been sitting in your fridge for months!

How to serve

This delicious Gluten-Free Vegan Cornbread pairs very well with hearty dishes such as this Vegan Chili or these Creamy Red Lentils.

Dice some avocado on top or add a spoon of freshly made Mexican Guacamole.

We love also having it for breakfast, during the weekend with freshly made coffee or Vegan Golden Milk.

Other delicious add ons we love to add on top are vegan cheese, brown rice syrup, agave syrup, maple syrup, and vegan butter.

Other popular and simpler options to serve this homemade cornbread recipe include thawed frozen corn, canned corn kernels, and baked beans.

Last but not least, of course, Cornbread is a staple in our Thanksgiving table, especially paired with our favorite Spiced Cranberry Sauce, Applesauce, and the never-ever missing pumpkin pie.

Storing

You can store this easy vegan cornbread covered at room temperature for 2 to 3 days or in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.

You can also freeze this egg-free cornbread for up to 1 month.

More easy baking vegan ideas

• The Best Vegan Pumpkin Pie
• Pangiallo Romano
• Healthier Pangiallo romano version
• Vegan GF Apple Cake
• Easy Vegan Bread Loaf
• Vegan Banana bread

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don't forget to tag a photo #ourplantbasedworld on Instagram. Cheers!

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Food safety

We sometimes take for granted that we have years (or decades) of cooking experience that the average visitor may not. Add to, or remove from, the list below with health and safety tips.

• Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food that previously touched raw meat
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Use oils with high smoking points to avoid harmful compounds
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice. See our full Nutritional Disclosure here.

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