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
Tried this cornbread last night. It was a big hit at our house. Will be making it again and again.
For those of you that live a little closer to the Mason Dixon line and find the idea of putting bacon grease in corn bread, I have an alternative. My Aunt Dorothy told me about this years ago and I have been adding a “heaping” (about two tablespoons) spoonful of mayonaise to my one and a half cups of White Lily Buttermilk Cornmeal Mix along with one cup of Buttermilk and a cup of water. No sugar in the cornbread for this hillbilly gal from Sevier County, TN (Dolly Parton’s hometown area). I don’t preheat my skillet either, I just slather the Crisco on thick with a paper towel, using about a handful of Crisco and pop the skillet into the preheated 500 degree oven. Cornbread comes out brown and crispy (must remove from skillet immediately after taking from oven if you like crunch.) The mayo contains oil and egg and makes the cornbread very moist.
Oooooooooh, Nanee, this sounds like a great alternative, because I love Mayo and am sure many others do too. I gotta use bacon grease for the added hint of flavor it brings but I thank you for giving us this great tip. ~high fives you for the no sugar in the cornbread style~
My mother in law used to make hers with mayo and sugar – it was really nasty to me – the wang that mayo gave + the sweet of the sugar….NOT my family’s southern cornbread.
My daughter had a Yankee boyfriend one time and when he came over and asked for syrup for his cornbread – well it was weird and almost insulting! LOL
Mmmm…sounds good. But no sugar in it? Still might try to make it without it. Thanks for your site!
~giggles~ No sugar in my Dixie Cornbread please. I like my Southern classics too much. Tell ya what April, you bring yours with sugar and I’ll bring mine to the table at the next Covered Dish Supper and folks can select their “style”, making Cornbread lovers unite. ~waves~
Cornbread with sugar in it is just for dessert, in my opinion.
What a marvelous tip! I never knew one could add lemon juice to milk instead of buttermilk. I have a question????????? Is there a rule of thumb for measuring the lemon juice to milk. Your recipe calls for 2 cups buttermilk soooooooooooo you would place 1T of lemon juice to 2 cups of milk? I am thinking about a cake which calls for buttermilk and wonder if I can use this same substitution?
You are the best! Thank you!
Lyndel,
Every time I’ve seen this substitution for buttermilk, it’s 1 T of lemon juice (or plain ol’ vinegar) per cup of milk. So, you’d put the 1 T of lemon juice in a one cup measure, and fill up with regular milk. Might have to let it sit for a little bit, too. It’ll thicken up pretty quickly, though.
Not entirely sure about using it in a cake, but I imagine it would work just fine.
Hope that helps!
Nothing better than hot, crusty cornbread right out of the oven, slathered in butter. I gotta make a pone of cornbread tomorrow night for supper for I’m gonna try this recipe with the flour and baking soda. Never have used this before. Just normally use 2 cups of Stivers cornmeal, 1 egg, 3 T heated bacon grease and 1 1/2 – 2 cups buttermilk. Cook at 425 for 20 minutes. If top not brown enough, turn on broiled and watch like crazy. When browned enough, quickly turn out onto plate or board. Don’t want to steam up that good crust. Alot of nights for supper I will cook a big pone of cornbread and my husband and I will crumble it up in a big bowl and pour in the cold buttermilk. Yum! Sometimes we’ll just drink the buttermilk with our pinto bean, coleslaw, fried ‘tater, vidalia onion, vine ripened tomatoes and cornbread supper. The colder the buttermilk the better. Use to buy the buttermilk by the gallon but can’t find it anymore. Only sells by the half gallon. Some convenience stores don’t even sell buttermilk at all. Shame on them, and us in the deep South. What are they thinking!
Loved the cornbread WITHOUT sugar. Just the way my Daddy’s family from Tennessee used to make it.
I made it again tonight and this has to be better then my mamaws and I am even using yellow meal who would have thought? Its so moist I LOVE it thanks 🙂
Tom are you from Tennessee? I am a VOLS fan myself and that sure sounds like a VOl fan talking :p lol
I am so glad you like the cornbread Noor!!
I am glad you liked it too! Enjoy!