Bacon Cornbread
Buttery Bacon Cornbread is hearty, and delicious. A good old fashioned southern classic loaded with pieces of bacon and made with yellow cornmeal and buttermilk.
SAVORY CORNBREAD WITH THICK CUT BACON
This recipe for the best bacon cornbread is a savory, rib-sticking, traditional cornbread that is absolutely scrumptious. It’s a traditional crumbly style cornbread and although I think it’s tasty all by itself, I think it tastes best when served with the juices from cooked beans or from a roast!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
This is not a sweet cornbread at all. It’s a traditional, crumbly style cornbread. It is the perfect cornbread to eat with Soup Beans or Collard Greens. It will help sop up all those juices and compliments the flavors perfectly.
You can use your favorite brand of bacon. I think a thick cut, hickory smoked bacon works best but any will work.
Try to use coarse stone-ground cornmeal when possible for best results. For a lighter texture, ½ cup of flour can be used in place of cornmeal.
All bacon grease or all butter can be used in place of the half bacon grease/half butter combination that I use. The all bacon version can be a little strong. If you don’t use any bacon grease and just use butter, increase the salt to 1 teaspoon.
Yes you can substitute. Obviously, you’ll need to omit the baking powder and baking soda in this recipe since it is already included in self-rising cornmeal.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
- thick cut bacon
- yellow cornmeal
- baking soda
- baking powder
- unsalted butter
- buttermilk
- large egg
- salt
HOW TO MAKE BACON CORNBREAD:
Preheat the oven to 450F degrees. Add the bacon to a 9-inch cast iron skillet and cook until done, transfer the bacon to a cutting board and chop into small pieces. Reserve the bacon fat, but measure it out. If you don’t have at least 3 tablespoons, make up the difference with butter. Discard any bacon fat over 3 tablespoons. Transfer the now empty skillet to the oven to heat up.
In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, baking soda, and baking powder; set aside.
In a separate bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the butter, 2 tablespoons of bacon fat, buttermilk, egg, and salt.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently fold together with a rubber spatula.
Then fold in the chopped bacon pieces.
Do not over-mix, the batter will be lumpy.
Remove the skillet from the oven and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of bacon fat to the skillet and swirl until it coats the bottom of the pan.
Pour the batter into the greased skillet and swirl until the batter evenly covers the pan.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
Bacon Cornbread
Ingredients
- 4 slices thick cut bacon
- 2 cups yellow cornmeal
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 3 Tablespoons reserved bacon fat, slightly cooled and divided
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450F degrees.
- Add the bacon to a 9-inch cast iron skillet and cook until done, transfer the bacon to a cutting board and chop into small pieces.
- Reserve the bacon fat, but measure it out. If you don’t have at least 3 tablespoons, make up the difference with butter. Discard any bacon fat over 3 tablespoons.
- Transfer the now empty skillet to the oven to heat up.
- Remove the skillet from the oven and add the remaining 1 tablespoon of bacon fat to the skillet and swirl until it coats the bottom of the pan.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan comes out clean.
Notes
- All bacon grease or all butter can be used in place of the half bacon grease/half butter combination that I use. The all bacon version can be a little strong. If you don’t use any bacon grease and just use butter, increase the salt to 1 teaspoon.
- You can substitute with self-rising cornmeal. Obviously, you’ll need to omit the baking powder and baking soda in this recipe since it is already included in self-rising cornmeal.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
The Gold Standard in our house is “Does this taste like my sweetheart’s mom used to make?” By that standard, this recipe received five stars!!! Mom didn’t put bacon pieces in hers; so I saved the bacon to add to other dishes and just used the grease as called for. I’m sure adding the bacon would be amazing!
No one makes things as good as Moms do, right? I’m so thrilled this one meets the standard! Thank you!!