Dixie Cornbread With Buttermilk
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You may think this is a bold statement, but this Dixie cornbread with buttermilk is the best cornbread recipe you’ll ever try. If you want the moistest, classic Southern cornbread, you need this recipe.
I got an email from a reader, Terri (who is originally from Georgia, go Dawgs!) telling me she made world-famous cornbread. I was intrigued. Then she told me that her husband said she made better cornbread than his Mama. I was stunned. Then she told me that her cornbread recipe included two cups of buttermilk. My jaw was hanging open.
Clearly, my life would not be complete without trying this Dixie buttermilk cornbread recipe. Fortunately, she graciously shared the recipe with me. Let me tell you my personal experience with this cornbread: everyone in my family gobbled it down.
That might not seem like a big deal until I tell you that before I made this, cornbread had not ever passed the lips of either of my children (they are weird). My husband (who has extremely strange aversions to staple Southern dishes despite being born and raised outside of Atlanta) even ate a rather large piece and came back for seconds.
I have never had cornbread so moist in all of my born days. I am flabbergasted and feel certain that no small amount of my existence has been wasted up until tasting this. Soft and unbelievably moist on the inside with that classic crunchy cornbread crust, I can’t wait for you to try and fall in love with this buttermilk cornbread recipe too.
So without further fuss, here is Terri’s Dixie cornbread recipe!
What You’ll Need to Make Dixie Cornbread:
Ingredients:
- White cornmeal
- Buttermilk (or put a tablespoon of lemon juice in whole milk)
- Egg
- Baking soda
- Flour
- Salt
- Bacon grease (or melted butter)
- Shortening
How to Make Dixie Cornbread With Buttermilk:
Preheat the oven to 450. Slather a cast-iron skillet with vegetable shortening (Crisco). If you really want to make this and don’t have a cast-iron skillet, you can use a cake pan. Do the same thing with it.
Stick the skillet (or pan) in the oven while it preheats so it will be good and hot.
Whisk your cornmeal, flour, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.
Add melted bacon grease (or melted butter).
Add your egg…
And buttermilk.
Like so. Now we’re going to stir it all up until it looks like this.
Now get your hot skillet from the oven (carefully) and pour in the batter. It should be hot enough that the batter sizzles when it comes into contact.
Place the delicious in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until you can’t stand the waiting any more!
Remove your Dixie cornbread from the oven and turn it out onto a plate. Eat it hot with butter or honey.
Take a bite and see if you don’t yell out “Go Dawgs!”
Storage
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for up to 1 week. Reheat it quickly in the microwave, oven, or air fryer.
- You can also freeze cornbread portions for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating as above.
Recipe Notes
- Remember to not overmix the batter. You just want to mix the ingredients together until the dry ingredients are just moistened and there are no big lumps (about 1 minute of whisking will do it). Overmixing cornbread batter can lead it to be tough.
- The key to Dixie cornbread is preheating the skillet or baking pan, as that’s what gives the cornbread its crunchy crust.
- For sweet cornbread, you can add 1/4 cup of white sugar, brown sugar, or honey to the batter.
Recipe FAQs
What do you serve with Southern cornbread?
Skillet cornbread is such a deliciously versatile recipe!
- Serve it with butter and honey for breakfast.
- Substitue boring bread for sensational and serve it with your favorite chili, stew, or soup.
- Enjoy it the Southern way alongside your favorite BBQ meat, like Southern-style air fryer wings, crockpot pulled pork, tender beef ribs, or slow-roasted beef brisket.
- Make another Southern staple: red beans and cornbread.
- Use it to make other recipes, like crockpot cornbread dressing or cornbread salad.
- Serve it alongside other classic Southern side dishes, like collard greens, fried okra, mac and cheese, and green bean casserole.
Can I make Dixie cornbread in advance?
Yes, you can definitely make cornbread up to 2 days ahead of time and store it, covered, at room temperature. I recommend serving it warm though, so quickly reheat it in the microwave, oven, or air fryer.
Check out these other scrumptious cornbread recipes:
Cornbread Chicken Pot Pie Made From Scratch
Jiffy Cornbread Casserole With Ham and Cheese
Jalapeño Cornbread Muffins with Cream Cheese
Homestyle Broccoli Cheese Cornbread
How To Make Hot Water Cornbread
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups cornmeal enriched white
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons melted butter or bacon grease
- 1 tablespoon solid vegetable shortening
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450.
- In a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, add a tablespoon of shortening and preheat.1 tablespoon solid vegetable shortening
- Sift together the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients (buttermilk, egg, and bacon grease/melted butter). Mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened.1.5 cups cornmeal, 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 cups buttermilk, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons melted butter
- Pour the cornbread batter into the now-hot prepared pan or skillet. Bake in the preheated hot oven at 450 for 20-25 minutes.
- Serve warm with butter.
Nutrition
Cornbread has been my nemesis for my entire married life. It’s always too packy, too crumbly, too dry…etc. I have had to cheat and use Martha White (so embarrassing for a southern girl!) I’m so happy to report that your Dixie cornbread recipe was delicious! Moist in the middle, crispy on the outside. I’m thrilled, my family is relieved that they will not have to eat any more “experimental” recipes. Thanks so much!
Melanie,
You are welcome. I was pleased as punch to hear that you tried and loved Dixie cornbread. A dinner guest from Texas once told me “If cornbread is really moist, there is no need for butter on it” ….he ate two pieces w/out butter. Hooray!
So, no need for more experimental recipes for your family for cornbread, no more box mixes either.
All these recipes made me get up and make chicken and dumplings and candied sweet potatoes. Do have a recipe for a chili sauce you put on peas and cornbread. My grandmother used to make it and it would be a brown color and smelled really good. She had a white metal cabinet she would store her canned goods in, and you could smell the aroma on the outside, it must have had a spice in them. It had peppers,onions,tomatoes, and the rest I do not know. Any recipe would be yummy. Thanks for sharing your recipes.
Just found out today about your website and have enjoyed looking over all of your recipes. I am thrilled that you are using buttermilk in your cornbread. It seems that we just get use to eating what we grew up on. On another cooking website it seems that most people do not use buttermilk, but rather just plain milk. We have tried the plain milk and it is just not “what we grew up on”. Some people like sweet cornbread and that is fine, but we love just good old plain cornbread. Am looking forward to making this recipe tomorrow.
OK..I want to say THANK YOU Terry for this cornbread recipe!! I have never tried to make skillet cornbread before because all the ones I had tried were dry! Seeing that you used buttermilk in this recipe AND that it looked very easy to make, I decided to give it a try and BOY oh BOY…it is sooooooo good!! I even bought an new cast iron pan just for this recipe!! yep, I seasoned it beforehand…and my next use of it will be cream corn but as Christy says..that’s a whole other story!! I have more cornbread in the oven right now and making Christy’s crock pot chicken & dressing using your recipe!! Can’t wait!! thanks again Terry!!!!
I make “Southern” cornbread (no sugar) when my mama comes and visits and “Northern” cornbread (with sugar) for my family. My mama is originally from Tennessee (yes, we had a grease can on the stove!) and I now live in Nebraska ~ considered by a lot of Southerners to be Yankee territory instead of the Midwest!!
This recipe and a pot of peas and butterbeans ( mixed together) is a meal in itself! My baby looks in the oven, turns and says Oooo… my mama is making me cake.
Bacon grease! My mom was very fond of bacon grease ’cause her mama was from Kentucky and no doubt used it a lot. I have used bacon grease in my cornmeal muffins which certainly elevates them to an all new level!~! I just don’t buy bacon that often. But I am intrigued by this recipe even though it doesn’t have suger in it. Being Canadian it’s all I’ve ever known and it certainly soothes my aching sweet tooth. Also I’ve never used white cornmeal and can’t say I’ve ever seen any but I will find some and try the recipe and also now have a perfectly good excuse for buying bacon…hee hee. Oh yeah gotta find a suitable ‘grease tin’. *grins*
If all else fails, use a soup can!