Vegan Skillet Jalapeño Cornbread

Incredibly easy, moist, and fluffy Vegan Skillet Jalapeño Cornbread! So delicious that you’d never guess it was healthy!

Your cornbread prayers have been answered.

Tell me about your relationship with cornbread. Every deep dark secret. Are you a super fan? Do you like a ratio of more cornmeal to flour? Are you from the South and loathe a sweet cornbread? Are you from the North and loathe a not sweet cornbread? Do you like it bejeweled with fun add-ins like roasty corn kernels and jalapeño bits and maybe some freshly grated cheddah?

This Vegan Skillet Jalapeño Cornbread is everything cornbread should be—super moist on the inside and crispy on the outside, corny (I like a higher ratio of cornmeal to flour for optimal corniness versus cakiness), and packed with flavor thanks to the jalapeños. Of note, this cornbread isn’t spicy; it’s more flavorful if that makes sense. The seeds and membrane of the jalapeño are removed here, so we’re left with all the yumminess and none of the heat. If you’re a spice fiend, by all means leave some seeds in. Not a fan of jalapeños at all? Leave em’ out! Juicy plump cranberries would be an amazing addition here if you’re feeling more sweet versus savory.

This Vegan Skillet Jalapeño Cornbread is made with vegan buttermilk and a flax egg, AKA almond milk curdled with apple cider vinegar plus flax seeds thickened with water. They make the perfect plant-powered substitutes for the typical eggs and buttermilk in classic cornbread recipes. I swapped out butter for coconut oil, which still has that same richness. Use refined coconut oil if you want no trace of coconut flavor. I used unrefined as I don’t mint the slight flavor. If you want to make this Skillet Cornbread recipe with a regular egg and melted butter, that will work just dandy as well.

Let’s talk dry ingredients! I used local whole grain yellow cornmeal from our CSA box which made this Vegan Skillet Cornbread extra amazing. Most cornmeal is degerminated and enriched meaning the nutrients of the outer layer of the corn are gone. Look for a whole grain cornmeal like this one. The ingredients should say whole grain corn, not degerminated enriched cornmeal.

For flour, I chose whole wheat pastry flour because it’s nice and light and still 100% whole grain, but all purpose or regular whole wheat flour would also work. If you have an all purpose gluten-free flour you trust, that should work just fine.

The beautiful crust of this Vegan Skillet Jalapeño Cornbread comes from pouring the batter into the piping hot cast iron skillet coated with coconut oil. The skillet gets nice and toasty while the oven preheats so you’ll hear a glorious sizzle when you pour in the batter. Bake for 20 minutes and voila! Buttery, moist, fluffy, perfect vegan cornbread. SHOCKINGLY GOOD!

I used this 9 inch cast iron skillet for this recipe. If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, you can bake this in a similar manner in a dark baking dish.

Holy moly, I’m so excited for you to face-plant into this cornbread! Preferably cornbread floating in a cozy pool of chili. Get at it!!