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Home » Side Dishes » Jalapeno Cornbread

Jalapeno Cornbread

Created: October 9, 2020 Updated: December 23, 2021 by lyuba 22 Comments

9.9K shares
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Jalapeno cornbread from scratch tastes MUCH better than a box of Jiffy! It’s a simple bread with sweet and spicy flavors and goes very well with chili and soups. Sharp cheddar cheese gives this cornbread even more delicious taste. You’ll love this quick bread recipe!

3 stacked squares of cheesy cornbread with green chili peppers

Cornbread is a great traditional southern bread. It’s warm, comforting, and has a soft, crumbly texture. I love that it’s SO easy to make!

You can whisk it all together in a bowl and pop it in the oven. So fast and easy and it’s very versatile. Of course, it pairs perfectly with a bowl of soup or The Best Chili, but the uses for it don’t stop there!

It is delicious for breakfast with a cup of tea and some honey drizzled on top. It’s a great side dish for lunch and dinner. You can also chop it up, dry it out, and then use it to make cornbread dressing.

Types of Cornbread

There are several ways to make this tasty treat. Recipes for cornbread often have different ingredients and ways of making it, based on regional preferences. Each region also have strong beliefs about what should be included in cornbread and not.

For example, in southern parts of the U.S., you will usually find recipes where corn itself is the most prominent ingredients. Modern southern recipes would include flour and even sugar but that wasn’t always the case.

Southern recipes also prefer buttermilk while northern ones prefer milk. Northern cornbread recipes were also the ones to start sweetening it with sugar or syrup. 

And of course, what you use to bake cornbread is also a regional aspect. Southern cooks prefer a cast iron skillet while northern prefer a baking dish.

If speaking regionally, my Buttermilk cornbread recipe is actually a pleasant mix of southern and northern recipes.

Jalapeno cornbread has a southwest influence of adding spicy peppers to food. It has a very pleasant and strong flavor of jalapeno pepper but it’s not actually very spicy. Unless you include the seeds because that is what actually adds majority of heat to food.

squares of moist corn bread made from scratch

Jalapeno Cornbread

Similar to biscuits, this is a quick bread recipe, meaning there is no yeast in the ingredients. As a result, it is very quick and easy to make, just mix and bake. You can have a pan of warm cheesy cornbread ready to eat in less than an hour!

ingredients in small prep bowls to make a cheesy jalapeno cornbread recipe

INGREDIENT NOTES + SUBSTITUTIONS

This is not a complete list of ingredients. To see all ingredients, including amounts, refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

  • unsalted butter – Because the amount of salt in butter varies by brand, it is best to use unsalted butter. If all you have is salted butter, omit or use less salt in this recipe.
  • eggs – it’s best to use eggs that are at room temperature before you start making this recipe. Not only are cold eggs more difficult to incorporate into batter, but they also increase the baking time.
  • buttermilk – If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, it’s easy to make your own buttermilk substitute. Simply mix 1 tablespoons of white vinegar with enough milk to add up to 1 cup together. Then, let it rest for 5-10 minutes, until the milk thickens.

  • cornmeal – There are different varieties of cornmeal, ranging in texture from coarse to corn flour. For the best tasting jalapeno cornbread, use finely ground cornmeal. For more information, here’s a great article on the differences between types of cornmeal.
  • sharp cheddar cheese – It is always best to buy a block of cheese and shred it yourself. Bagged shreds contain cellulose, a chemical that prevents cheese from clumping. Unfortunately, it also prevents the cheese from melting properly and affects the taste.
  • jalapeno peppers – Jalapenos aren’t very spicy at all, but if you have a problem with spicy foods, you can either remove the seeds, or make sure to get young peppers. Young peppers have smooth, firm skin. Older peppers are spicier and have visible veins on the skin.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add dry ingredients to a mixing bowl and stir to combine.

Use a whisk to combine everything. This ensures that there are no clumps of flour in the mixture.

2. Add wet ingredients to the dry mixture.

Whisk wet ingredients together before adding the mixture to the bowl to make sure everything is mixed evenly but the batter is not overmixed.

adding eggs to cornmeal flour in stainless steel mixing bowl

3. Fold in cheese and jalapenos into the cornbread batter.

Be careful not to over mix the batter, as you’ll end up with dry jalapeno cornbread. Just use a mixing spatula or large spoon to gently fold the ingredients into the batter.

mixing shredded cheddar cheese and jalapenos into cornmeal batter in stainless steel mixing bowl

4. Spread mixture evenly into a greased baking dish.

cornmeal bread batter in square white baking dish

5. Bake, cool in the pan, then slice and serve!

pan of homemade cheddar cheese cornbread

Cheesy cornbread is delicious with any type of chili. Make a batch of turkey chili, or for a meatless meal, serve it with vegetarian chili.

If you made any of my recipes and shared them on Instagram, make sure to tag me @willcookforsmiles and #willcookforsmiles so I can see all the things you tried!

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PIN THIS RECIPE

3 stacked squares of cheesy cornbread with green chili peppers

Jalapeno Cornbread

Jalapeno cornbread from scratch tastes MUCH better than a box! It's a simple bread with sweet and spicy flavors and goes very well with chili and soups.
4.67 from 6 votes
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Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cornbread
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 9
Calories: 376kcal
Author: lyuba

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
  • 2 eggs room temperature
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 cup cornmeal
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp white granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese block
  • 2-3 large jalapeno peppers
  • 2 tbsp butter to rub the pan
US Customary – Metric

Instructions

  • Grate the block of cheese of a box grater and dice jalapeno peppers. (Discard seeds and membrane of the peppers if you want it less spicy. If you want more spicy, add the seeds.)
  • Pre-heat the oven to 375° and rub a 9×9 baking dish with butter all over the bottom and up the sides. Make sure to get the corners and folds well.
  • Combine dry ingredients in one bowl and whisk them well. 
  • Combine wet ingredients in another bowl and whisk until smooth. 
  • Slowly add dry ingredients into wet ingredient, whisking after each addition.
  • Fold in shredded cheese and diced jalapenos until it's evenly spread throughout.
  • Let the batter sit for about 10 minutes and spread it evenly in the prepared baking dish.
  • Bake for about 33-38 minutes. If the top is browning too fast, you may need to loosely cover the baking dish with aluminum foil for the last few minutes of baking. 

Make it in a skillet:

  • If you wish to use a cast iron skillet to cook cornbread, you can absolutely do it. I recommend using 10-inch skillet and check for doneness after 20-22 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 376kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 100mg | Sodium: 553mg | Potassium: 268mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 773IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 271mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @willcookforsmiles and tag #willcookforsmiles
titled photo collage - Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread

LYUBA

ABOUT LYUBA

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read more...

9.9K shares

Filed Under: Bread, New Year's, Side Dishes

All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.

Comments

  1. Jaya says

    October 23, 2020 at 11:20 am

    Hi Lyuba,

    Can I use yellow cornflour instead of cornmeal for this recipe?

    Thanks
    Jaya

    Reply
  2. LyubaB says

    October 28, 2020 at 10:50 am

    Unfortunately, you can’t use cornflour instead for this cornbread it will not cook properly and the texture would be a lot different. Cornmeal is a lot more gritty and thicker than cornflour.

    Reply
    • Jaya says

      December 31, 2020 at 11:56 am

      That’s a pity. Coincidentally I just took out a batch of buttermilk biscuits from the oven, made from your recipe. Has come out well. I’ve tried the cheddar jalapeno as well.

      Reply
      • LyubaB says

        January 4, 2021 at 10:13 am

        Oh, good! I am glad you liked it!

        Reply
  3. Don Cox says

    June 17, 2021 at 6:48 pm

    Can you use shredded cheese X

    Reply
  4. LyubaB says

    June 23, 2021 at 10:56 am

    Yes, that would work fine.

    Reply
  5. Katie Towles says

    December 11, 2021 at 6:49 pm

    4 stars
    Easy recipe. Texture is very good. However, very bland. I used serrano peppers and it had good heat. Just was missing something.

    Reply
  6. Maria Carr says

    May 18, 2022 at 2:28 pm

    5 stars
    Second time making this recipe. Turns out so good and flavourful each time! My family loves it. Thank you Lyubab. ❤️

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      May 23, 2022 at 10:18 am

      You are so welcome, Maria! Glad you like the recipe! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Amanda Pearn says

    September 19, 2022 at 7:56 pm

    5 stars
    Turned out wonderful! Very fluffy with a beautiful crisp top, just a bit salty, next time I will try .5 tsp!

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      September 20, 2022 at 12:30 pm

      Salt is such a hard thing to guess on how much since everyone’s tastes are different but I am glad you still liked it.

      Reply
  8. katherine eyre says

    October 3, 2022 at 4:42 pm

    5 stars
    By far the best and easiest cornbread I’ve ever made!! It was moist, delicate, slightly spicy, and we couldn’t stop eating it! The only modification I made was to use slightly less sugar.

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      October 4, 2022 at 10:05 am

      Wow! What an amazing complement! I am so glad you liked it! 🙂

      Reply
  9. Deb says

    December 18, 2022 at 8:18 pm

    Can this be made ahead of time or can it be frozen?

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      December 20, 2022 at 5:08 pm

      You can make it ahead of time and/or freeze it. I go over how in my buttermilk cornbread post and I will share the link below for you to go read for further instructions. Hope you like the cornbread! 🙂

      https://www.willcookforsmiles.com/buttermilk-cornbread/

      Reply
  10. Lisa says

    December 19, 2022 at 5:32 pm

    5 stars
    Currently eating our cornbread piping hot out of the oven. Absolutely delicious! I’ll definitely return to this recipe. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      December 20, 2022 at 3:34 pm

      Thanks, Lisa! I am so pleased you liked it!

      Reply
  11. Jeni says

    January 23, 2023 at 10:56 pm

    4 stars
    Great recipe.. a lil on the bland side but nice and spicy! .. loved the crunchie ends. I baked in 2 4” Cake pans. I will as a lil more sugar and top with honey butter.

    Reply
  12. Jeni says

    January 27, 2023 at 5:31 pm

    Can I make dough then hold off baking longer than 10 minutes? If so. How long can I wait to pop in oven so it comes out ok?

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      January 30, 2023 at 4:12 pm

      I would say no more then 15-30 minutes depending on how fresh your baking powder is but don’t wait too long or your baking powder won’t activate and it will ruin the texture of the cornbread.

      Reply
  13. Cheri Kennedy says

    February 8, 2023 at 10:56 am

    can I use almond flour instead of all purpose flour to make GF?

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      February 14, 2023 at 12:06 pm

      You could try it but it would be a very different texture.

      Reply

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Well, hey there!

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read More.

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