Vegan Southwest Skillet Cornbread

This Vegan Skillet Southwest Cornbread with green chile and corn is delicious and easy to make! It's the best ever cornbread: moist, not too crumbly, and it has just the right amount of sweetness. It's perfect with chili or soup and comes together in less than 45 minutes!

Jump to:

• Ingredient notes
• What is Kamut?
• How to make this Vegan Southwest Skillet Cornbread
• How to store
• How do I make my cornbread crust crispy?
• Top tip
• Variations
• Substitutions
• How to serve this Vegan Southwest Skillet Cornbread
• FAQ
• Related recipes
• Vegan Southwest Skillet Cornbread

This Vegan Southwest Skillet Cornbread recipe is a dairy-free and egg-free version with green chiles for extra kick and fire-roasted corn for even more flavor and texture. ​

Instead of egg, I used ground flaxseed meal, a vegan egg alternative that works well in this recipe. When ground flaxseed meal is combined with liquid, it thickens and binds the other ingredients, similar to what eggs do in a baking recipe.

Since several of my stew and chili recipes have southwestern inspired flavors, I thought I'd incorporate southwestern flavors into the cornbread. I chose canned green chili and frozen fire-roasted corn as additional ingredients to spice things up. I love the moist and flavorful result, and I know you will too!

To make this vegan cornbread, I mixed finely ground cornmeal with kamut flour for added fiber, protein, and minerals, fatty acids, and amino acids.

Ingredient notes

• Cornmeal: I use a good quality, finely ground yellow cornmeal. If you prefer more texture, you can use medium-ground cornmeal. If you like stone-ground polenta you can use it.
• Oil/butter: I use grapeseed oil which is a neutral oil; you can also use avocado oil or plant-based butter. If you use plant-based butter, melt it first, and reduce the amount of salt in the recipe if the butter contains salt.
• Plant-based Milk: I recommend using plain, unsweetened soy milk for this cornbread recipe. Because of its protein and fat content, it makes an acceptable substitute for dairy milk. Soy milk sours nicely with the addition of apple cider vinegar.
• Flour:  I love mixing the cornmeal with Kamut flour in this recipe. If you don't have Kamut, you can try all-purpose flour, whole-wheat pastry flour, or spelt flour. 
• Turbinado sugar: You can substitute this with organic cane sugar or coconut sugar.
• Frozen fire-roasted corn: I buy this since it's readily available. There is no need to thaw the frozen corn. You can use regular corn or fresh corn instead.
• Green chile: I've tried this recipe with canned green chile and with homemade frozen roasted Hatch green chile - choose whichever you can get!

What is Kamut?

Kamut is the Egyptian word for wheat, and it is a delicious, ancient whole grain. Kamut, or Khorasan, is ancient wheat that has not been hybridized nor genetically engineered. It does contain gluten, although some people with gluten sensitivity may be able to tolerate this ancient grain. It gets its name from the province of Khorasan in northeastern Iran. Kamut flour has an interesting history, and the Kamut name has been a registered trademark since 1990.

You may be wondering what Kamut tastes like. I enjoy the nutty and buttery taste of this flour, and it is light enough to use in recipes that call for regular flour or whole-wheat pastry flour; I've added it to sourdough with success. I store this ancient grain in my freezer to keep it fresh.

How to make this Vegan Southwest Skillet Cornbread

Assemble and measure all of the ingredients. This is called mise en place. It's a French culinary phrase for "everything in its place". It makes everything go much smoother when you set yourself up for success!

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Grease the 9-inch cast-iron skillet. I typically use shortening. You can use oil instead, such as avocado oil or grapeseed oil, or plant-based butter. If you use a larger skillet the cornbread will spread out more and will not rise as high.

• 1) Combine the ground flaxseed meal with the diced green chiles, including the liquid from the can, and set aside. I normally mix flaxseed meal with water, but in this case, it is not necessary since I am using the water from the can of diced green chiles. If using frozen Hatch chile, dice it, there is no need to rinse it or thaw it.
• 2) In a small bowl, combine the liquid ingredients. Mix the soy milk and apple cider vinegar to make the vegan version of buttermilk. Set aside for a few minutes and stir in the grapeseed oil plus the frozen fire-roasted corn.

• 3) In a medium mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients with a whisk to avoid clumps: yellow cornmeal, Kamut flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, and turbinado sugar.
• 4) Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients, plus the green chile and flaxseed mixture, and stir until just combined. Be careful not to overmix the batter.

• 5) Pour the batter into the greased skillet and even the top with the spatula.
• 6) Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. The top will turn golden and crack a little when it's done, and the edges of the cornbread will pull away from the sides of the pan.
• Let the cornbread cool for up to 20 minutes before serving.

How to store

This cornbread keeps at room temperature for 1 to 2 days.

Refrigerate this cornbread up to 1 week in an airtight container. Let it cool completely on a wire rack before covering with plastic wrap and placing in an airtight container.

Freeze it for up to 3 months by wrapping the cornbread tightly with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap, and place it in a heavy-duty freezer bag.

How do I make my cornbread crust crispy?

I love the texture of this cornbread with a slightly crispy crust due to the cast iron pan. However, if you like your cornbread edges to be crispier, place the greased cast-iron skillet in the oven while it's preheating. Prepare the ingredients and get the batter ready.

Get your oven mitts on and take the heavy cast-iron pan out of the oven, dropping a couple of tablespoons of plant-based butter in the pan. Swirl it around as it's melting and allow it to coat the bottom of the pan and the sides.

Then pour your batter in the skillet, making sure it's even across the top. Place the skillet back in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Top tip

Don't overstir the batter or the texture of the cornbread may change.

Variations

Spicy and Deluxe - To add some heat and take this cornbread to the next level, add fresh roasted (or frozen) green chile such as Hatch chile or poblano. The hotter, the better, although it's hard to know this ahead of time. Try my roasted Hatch chile recipe, you can use this recipe for other green chiles as well.

Kid-friendly - Omit the green chile. Mix the flaxseed with 6 tablespoons of water instead, or ⅓ cup of applesauce.

Substitutions

Kamut flour - Instead of Kamut flour, try all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, whole pastry flour, or spelt flour. Einkorn flour works well.

Turbinado sugar - use organic cane sugar (this is vegan) or coconut sugar.

Soy milk - you can use oat milk. Other types of plant milk may be too thin, sweet, and watery and may affect the taste of the cornbread.

How to serve this Vegan Southwest Skillet Cornbread

It's hard to resist eating this right out of the pan! A traditional Southern favorite with many variations, cornbread is the perfect accompaniment to chili and stews.

This cornbread with green chile goes perfectly with Vegan Butternut Squash Chili, Vegan Pumpkin Chili, or Sweet Potato and Bean Stew. It turns a bowl of soup into a meal!

FAQ

Related recipes

If you make this Vegan Southwest Skillet Cornbread, let me know what you think by ★ star rating it and leaving a comment below. You can follow me on Instagram and share your creation with me! Just tag me @resplendentkitchen and hashtag #resplendentkitchenrecipes.