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.
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-time winning combination, so we go for this gluten-free cornbread when we don't mind waiting 25 minutes.
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🤔 Why you will love it
- Gluten-free. Eating for people with celiac disease is safe, or simply avoiding gluten.
- Dairy-free. Lactose intolerant or vegan, you have come to the right place.
- Egg-free. Egg allergies or vegan? We have you covered!
- 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.
- Moisture. It's very moist, with the perfect puffy cornbread texture, without too much "grit" in it.
- Easily made buttermilk. It's made with 2-ingredient vegan buttermilk in 5 minutes while you measure your dry ingredients.
- Hassle-free. You just need one bowl and a baking pan, making it super simple: dump, mix and bake! Perfect every time.
- Oil-free option. Easily make an oil-free version replacing vegan butter with apple sauce.
- No waiting. You can eat it straight out of the oven without waiting or setting a time.
- Last but not least... it always comes out perfectly! The only way to mess it up is to burn it, just set your oven to 25 minutes, and you are guaranteed to get 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 many 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 complete 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.
- 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.
- 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.
You can also use an 8" round pan.
📖 Variations
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 all gluten-free recipes.
Alternative gluten-free flour options - you could also use oat flour, almond flour, and 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, make sure to use fine cornmeal instead of medium-grind cornmeal. We use 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 (affiliate link), 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 ⅓ 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 soy milk 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 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; it 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.
This recipe is also the base for making Cornbread dressing or stuffing.
We also love 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 on our Thanksgiving table, especially paired with our favorite Spiced Cranberry Sauce, Applesauce, Sweet potato apple crunch, and the never-ever missing pumpkin pie.
🥡 Storage
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 us @ourplantbasedworld on Instagram. Cheers!
📋 Recipe
Vegan Cornbread Recipe Gluten-free
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups gluten-free flour or all-purpose, or strong flour
- 1 cup cornmeal yellow, medium grind
- ½ cup sugar cane organic, or white granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅓ cup vegan butter melted, margarine, canola, and avocado oil
- 1 ¼ cup soy milk unsweetened, or almond milk recipe, soymilk recipe
- 1 tablespoon lemon juiced, or apple cider vinegar
FOR SERVING optional
- Vegan butter
- Maple syrup
- Vegan Chili recipe
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF and lightly grease an 8 x 10" pan (20 x 25 cm), 8 x 8" (20 x 20 cm), or a 9-inch (23 cm) round cake pan.
- Make the buttermilk. Measure out soy milk and add lemon juice. Set aside.
- Mix the dry ingredients.
- Add the wet ingredients. Stir until well combined.
- Pour into a pan. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the top looks golden and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Video
Notes
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. You may want to substitute organic cane sugar for a natural sweetener. I wouldn't suggest you do so. The cornbread's flavor and texture are compromised when using sweeteners like maple, agave syrup, and even coconut sugar. Yes, we have tried that. Notes: This is an adapted recipe from allrecipes.
Nutrition Facts
🌡️ Food safety
- 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.
Please note that some of the links here are affiliate links, and I will earn a commission if you purchase through those links. I recommend all of the products listed because they are companies I have found helpful and trustworthy.
Mahy says
It's been such a long time since I've made cornbread myself. Can't wait to get my hands on this recipe!
Gus says
We had a cornbread week, and enjoyed it so much with Vegan Chili! We have been making it for years, and now westarted making it gluten-free, to ensure all our guests could eat it and it is tuned out perfectly!
Anjali says
I couldn't believe that this cornbread was both vegan and gluten free!! It was light and fluffy and none of my dinner guests had any idea it was a different recipe than traditional cornbread!
Katherine says
Mmmm I love that this gf cornbread has the richness of buttermilk added!
Beth says
My family is so excited to have this with our chili tomorrow night! Cornbread is a must here and we are so excited to try your version! Looks so delicious and fluffy!
Claudia Lamascolo says
This was super delicious we served it with barbecued chicken and it was the perfect addition!
Amanda Wren-Grimwood says
I've never had cornbread but this looks like a delicious side dish. I have a gluten free friend so this is perfect.
Jess says
I am making chili this weekend and this cornbread will be perfect!!
Pam says
I'm so glad I found this recipe. Just in time for soup season!
Toni says
I love that this is gluten-free! Thanks so much for the recipe! A new favorite at my house!
Elena says
¿Cuqal harina de maíz? ¿La que se usa para polenta?
Gus says
exactamente! Con esa puedes hacerla!
Susan says
Me encanta el pan de maíz, especialmente dulce. Gracias por la receta sin gluten, porque la verdad siempre había usado harina de trigo.
Gus says
A nosotros también nos gusta mucho! Cuando viviamos en México lo comiamos todo el tiempo, y ahora lo empezamos a hacer nuevamente pero libre de gluten!
Emily says
I needed a gluten free cornbread for a family member who is gluten free and this recipe was a hit for her and everyone else who tried it! Thanks for such a great recipe!
Cara says
Totally delish! Such a great recipe, will definitely be making it again! The perfect option for people who need a gluten-free cornbread option. Love that it's vegan as well.
Gus says
I am glad you liked it, Cara! We love that this is a super easy recipe to make gluten-free without missing anything!
Heidy says
This Vegan Buttermilk Gluten-Free Cornbread was a fabulous tasting recipe! I enjoyed every bite and will be making it again soon!
Gus says
I am glad you enjoyed it Heidy! Thank you for you review!
Kris says
Tastes so much like the cornbread I grew up with! Thank you for another winner. 🙂
Gus says
Hey, that's so cool, I am glad this vegan cornbread revived some memories! Thanks for your review!
Natalie says
Wow, the texture is amazing. I can't wait to bake this cornbread. Never tried the vegan version before.
Shadi Hasanzadenemati says
This is absolutely delicious! I love that it’s such a crowd pleaser for the whole family
Yvie E says
I have been in the process of eating wfpb for a while now, but I was just informed by my doctor that I need to stay away from gluten. That came as a complete surprise to me. So this means that I have to change my whole way of thinking in regard to what I eat and what I use to prepare what I eat. And guess what? I love cornbread. I have eaten it all my life with all kinds of dishes, and it broke my heart to think that I wasn’t going to be able to eat a good piece of cornbread again— or for that part to eat cornbread at all. But I did a search for gluten free vegan cornbread, several times, and each time, Our Plant Based World came up. So, I bought some gluten free flour, I had everything else, and I made a cast iron skillet of your cornbread to go with my cabbage. I could tell by the way the batter poured into the skillet that I was on to something. When I put it in the oven my house smelled wonderful. When I touched it to check it’s doneness, it felt like “my” cornbread. When it was done, and I cut it and tasted it, I have to say I was well pleased. My husband said it was very good, and he wasn’t going to mind eating this on a regular basis. So, thank you guys soooooo much for such a wonderful recipe. I’m new to your site, but I am going to subscribe and cook up many more of your posted dishes. I gave you 5 stars, but it really translates 10. Thanks again.
Gus says
Hi Yvie!
First of all, a big thank you! This is the type of review that keeps us going. It was the first one we read today, as we are making coffee and a smoothie to start the day. I read your review up and loud for Joaquin, my husband, and his sister as we visit her and our nieces here in Tampa, FL. I have to say you brought a tear of joy to my eyes. I cannot tell you how much it means to us that you took the time to write such a beautiful and meaningful review.
We're so glad you and your husband enjoyed the recipe, it took us some time to develop it to perfection, and we'll keep making more Delicious WFPB and Gluten-free recipes for you to enjoy with your family and friends.
By the way, we just developed and shot a Cornbread stuffing recipe that we loved, and we are in the process of writing the post and editing the video. Stay tuned! We hope you'll continue to explore our recipes and find more that fit your needs. Thank you for subscribing, and we look forward to sending more great recipes your way! All the best! Gus & Joaco
Jonny says
That turned out real good, thank you!
Gus says
Hey Jonny, thanks for reaching out! I am glad you liked the results and thanks for the 5-star rating!
Lorraine says
Love the recipe! If I might give one constructive comment - it would be nice if the recipe printed on one page instead of 3. I like to print them out to use in the kitchen and 3 pages is unwieldy and wasteful. But I really love what you are doing!
Gus says
Hey Lorraine, thank you very much for your 5-star review! We are thrilled you liked the recipe, and we thank you for your constructive comment! We are all about zero wasting and were not aware of that. I just went into the recipe options and found some options to exclude notes, nutrition information, etc., from the printing format, so that should hopefully solve it! Thanks for the feedback, and if you happen to print another recipe, please let us know if that came out as you expected! Please keep coming back for more recipes! 🙂
Jw says
Is it meant to have vegan butter and the oils?
Gus says
Hi, this recipe only calls for vegan butter, no other oil or oils. It is a gluten-free recipe, not an oil-free recipe. For oil-free recipes, look for the OF Recipe Key or filter using the Oil-Free version on our recipe filtering tool. Merry Christmas!
Mary Jo says
I'm eating this lovely warm corn bread right now with my home made soup. So perfect on a snowy evening in Canada! I love this recipe. Thank you for all the hard work and patience that goes into developing recipes that are delicious and don't cause us discomfort!
Gus says
Dear Mary Jo,
Thank you for your kind words and we're delighted to hear you're enjoying our corn bread recipe! We really strive to ensure top-quality recipes that don't compromise on taste but are still healthy, that's our moto! And yes, there is a lot of the effort that goes into perfecting a dish, so it's wonderful to get such positive feedback from our readers.
We hope you have a few more cozy evenings, fantastic breakfasts, and wonderful outdoors activities, and be able to make a good companion with our recipes going forward.
Gus & Joaco