Name: Vegan Southwest Skillet Cornbread
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed meal; 4 oz can diced mild green chiles; 1 1¼ cups organic yellow cornmeal (or medium grind); 1 cup Kamut flour; 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder; ½ teaspoon baking soda; 2 teaspoons fine sea salt; 2 tablespoons organic turbinado raw cane sugar; 1 ½ cups organic unsweetened soy milk; 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar; ¼ cup grapeseed oil; ½ cup frozen fire-roasted corn

Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

This Vegan Skillet Southwest Cornbread with green chile and corn is delicious and easy to make! It's moist, not too crumbly, and has just the right amount of sweetness. It's perfect with chili or soup and comes together in 40 minutes!

A traditional Southern favorite with many variations, cornbread is the perfect accompaniment to chili and stews. I noticed that I have several recipes for stews and chili, yet I have no cornbread recipe. It's time to fix that!

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 think 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.

Notes on Ingredients

Cornmeal: I use a good quality, finely ground yellow cornmeal. If you prefer even more texture, you can use medium-ground cornmeal. I don't care to use stone-ground polenta because I find the pieces too big and rough for the type of cornbread I prefer.
Oil/butter: I use grapeseed 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 or whole-wheat pastry flour.
Turbinado sugar: You can substitute this with organic cane sugar or coconut sugar.

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, and I used it in place of all-purpose flour in this plant-based cornbread recipe.

How to make this Vegan Southwest Skillet Cornbread

Start by preheating the oven to 350°F and 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!
Grease the 9-inch cast-iron skillet. I typically do this with shortening for my cast-iron skillet. You can use oil instead, such as avocado oil or grapeseed oil, or even plant-based butter. You can use a larger skillet; the cornbread will spread out more.
Combine the ground flaxseed meal with the diced green chiles, including the liquid from the can. 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. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the yellow cornmeal, Kamut flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, and turbinado sugar.
In a small bowl, combine soy milk and apple cider vinegar. This is a vegan alternative to buttermilk. Set it aside for a few minutes. Stir in the grapeseed oil, a neutral oil which tolerates high heat, plus the frozen fire-roasted corn. There is no need to thaw the corn. If it has a lot of ice crystals, rinse the corn first.
Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined. Be careful not to overmix the batter.
Pour the batter into the greased skillet and even the top with the spatula. 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.
Let it cool completely on a wire rack before covering with plastic wrap and placing in an airtight container.

How to store

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

You can refrigerate this cornbread up to 1 week 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.

What do you use to grease a pan for cornbread?

I use vegan shortening, which is what I typically use to grease the cast-iron skillet after any use.

What is the best pan to use for cornbread?

A 9-inch cast-iron skillet is the best pan to use for making this cornbread since it contributes to the slightly crispy crust. You can use another pan, like an 8-inch or 9-inch glass square baking dish, but you won't get the crispy edges.

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

Mix the flaxseed meal with canned green chile and let it sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. It makes a slurry, which is perfect as a replacement for egg in this recipe.

How to serve this Vegan Southwest Skillet Cornbread

This cornbread is the perfect addition to Vegan Butternut Squash Chili, and it turns a bowl of soup into a meal! Try it with these 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.

Vegan Southwest Skillet Cornbread