This incredible Air Fryer Cornbread recipe comes together in just a few minutes with basic pantry staples. Perfect for fast dinners, breakfast or snacks, this from-scratch cornbread is a delicious treat the whole family will love. You’ll also find oven-baking instructions if you don’t have an air fryer.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Homemade cornbread is one of those delightfully easy dishes you can whip up in a flash. It goes with almost everything and only looks like it is hard to make. Can you mix together a few ingredients? Then you can absolutely make this incredible cornbread!
I used my beloved mini cast-iron skillet for this recipe, but you can also make cornbread muffins in air-fryer safe muffin liners like these.
What’s in This Air Fryer Cornbread?
- Cornmeal – basic yellow cornmeal is all we need here. I prefer using “finely ground” or things can get really crunchy, really fast.
- Dry goods – flour (AP or whole wheat), baking soda, baking powder, and kosher salt.
- Butter*
- Eggs – 2 big ones*
- Milk – I love the taste of buttermilk for this recipe, but your favorite milk (including non-dairy) will work here. Keep a stash on hand when you learn how to freeze buttermilk.
- Honey* (or maple syrup)
*If you’re looking for a vegan version, check out this Vegan Cornbread from Namely Marly.
What Do You Serve With Cornbread?
It’s delicious with this Butternut Squash Chili, Instant Pot Chicken Chili, Instant Pot Cowboy Beans, Air Fryer Fried Okra, Creamy White Bean Soup, and Chipotle Turkey Chili. I’ll also whip up a batch to round out “breakfast for dinner” with some Make-Ahead Scrambled Eggs, Baked Bacon, or Homemade Breakfast Sausage.
How Do You Make Cornbread From Scratch?
I’ll walk you through it here with pictures, but you’ll also find a printable recipe at the bottom of this post.
If you’re using a cast-iron skillet, go ahead and preheat it in the air fryer now.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl (this one is my favorite), combine the dry ingredients. Add in the wet ingredients (buttermilk, eggs, milk, honey/maple syrup), and stir until just combined.
Add a bit of butter to your preheated skillet, and swirl it around to coat. Spoon in the batter, and bake for 25 minutes. That’s it!
Pro Tips/Recipe Notes
- If you want to use whole wheat flour, add 1 tbsp of vital wheat gluten to the mix and increase the butter by 1 tbsp.
- To make it gluten-free, use a 1 to 1 gluten-free flour blend (like Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur) and increase the milk by 1 tbsp.
- Cornmeal is not the same thing as corn flour or masa. Only cornmeal will work for this recipe.
- You can make buttermilk by stirring 1 tsp of white vinegar into a glass of regular milk and allowing it to sit for 5 minutes.
- The texture of the batter will be better if you beat the eggs before adding it to the bowl.
- Allow the batter to sit for 5 minutes will let the baking powder do its thing and make lots of air bubbles. This will prevent your cornbread from becoming dense when baked.
- Store in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to three days.
- For a spicy version, drizzle baked cornbread with Jalapeño Simple Syrup or mix it with butter to make jalapeño butter.
Easy Air Fryer Cornbread {Vegetarian}
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 6 tbsp butter {melted} + 1 tsp for cast iron skillet
- 1 cup buttermilk {*see notes}
- 2 eggs {beaten}
- 1/4 cup honey {or maple syrup}
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat air fryer with cast iron skillet at 320 degrees F for 5 minutes.
- Melt butter in a small dish in the microwave and set aside to cool slightly.6 tbsp butter
- Combine dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.1 cup yellow cornmeal, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- Add buttermilk, beaten eggs, melted butter, and honey. Stir until just combined and let sit for 5 minutes.6 tbsp butter, 1 cup buttermilk, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup honey
- Remove the skillet from the air fryer with an oven mitt. Melt 1 tsp of butter in the skillet, swirling to coat the sides.
- Spoon batter into hot skillet. Reduce temp to 300 degrees F and bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- To make muffins: spray silicone muffin liners with cooking spray and fill 3/4th full with batter. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Notes
Shop this Post:
(may include affiliate links)
What size cast iron pan did you use in the air fryer?
It’s a very tiny one I was gifted a long time ago. I just went and measured it and it looks like it’s 5.5 inches across.
This was delicious. I used whole white wheat flour b/c that was all I had. Put in 2 mini loaf pans in the air fryer for exact time and temp listed. I might add a small amount of sour cream next time b/c it was just slightly too dense, but not enough to say it was anything but delicious!!
The sour cream addition sounds like it would be delicious!!
How would the proportions need to be adjusted if you are using a 10.25 inch cast iron pan in the oven. Since the pan you illustrate with fits in an Air Fryer (with basket dimensions 9″x9″ – as per the link you provided), I”m guessing your proportions are for a smaller pan.
The batch made enough cornbread for the pan AND a probably 6-8 muffins. It should fit the 10 inch cast iron with no leftover batter but the thickness might be a bit lacking.
Made these last week to have with broth we were having. Made them as muffins in silicone moulds, they were delicious, already planning the next batch but with cheeeeese. Really want to add some chilli but certain people in this household don’t like hot stuff…
I say you kick them out of the house! 🙂
So glad you enjoyed them!