This cheddar jalapeno cornbread recipe makes soft, fluffy, comforting, warm, crumbly, cheesy, spicy, and not too sweet cornbread with loads of flavor. Cornbread is traditional southern bread made from scratch and it’s perfect side dish for soup and chili.
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Jalapeno cheddar cornbread
Classic southern cornbread can be easily made from scratch with handful of ingredients. Homemade version is so MUCH BETTER than boxed stuff, it’s ready in under an hour. If you are looking from quick instant bread this recipe is all you need.
Cornbread can be versatile and made according to your liking. Make it thick and fluffy or thin, make it sweet or spicy, keep it plain smooth or load it up with veggies, any way you make it, it’s guaranteed to be delicious! The soft crumbly texture of the cornbread is very addicting! I gobbled a few of these before dinnertime.
Jalapeno cornbread is slightly different than buttermilk cornbread. While buttermilk cornbread does have a wonderful flavor, it’s plain and simple cornbread. On the other hand, jalapeno cornbread is packed with amazing flavors from fresh jalapenos, scallions, and sharp cheddar cheese. Sharp cheddar gives the cornbread extra richness and tangy flavor.
Note this cheddar jalapeno cornbread is not sweet at all. It leans slightly towards the spicy bread version as I used fresh jalapenos with some seeds in it and used less sugar in the recipe. If you like mild heat, discard all seeds from the jalapeno and double the sugar mentioned in the recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¾ cup milk
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons sugar or maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 4 scallion, green and white part
- ½ to ¾ cup jalapeno, diced
- ½ cup cheddar cheese, grated or Monterey Jack cheese
- 1 tablespoon butter, to grease the pan
- Butter and honey to serve
Yellow cornmeal – you’ll need yellow cornmeal for the recipe. Polenta can be used too. Cornmeal gives the bread crumbly texture.
Note corn starch is not same as cornmeal and you cannot use corn starch in this recipe.
All-purpose flour– use all-purpose flour or plain flour. If you prefer to use self-rising flour, you must skip baking powder and baking soda from the recipe as self-rising flour already is mixed with baking soda and baking powder.
Baking powder and baking soda – this helps cornbread to fluff up and turn soft and moist.
Milk – I used plain milk. Feel free to use other milk like almond milk, oats milk, or soy milk.
Buttermilk – use full-fat butter. Buttermilk not only makes the bread moist, but also adds tangy flavor to balance out the sweetness and helps brown the bread.
Egg – use room temperature egg. Egg along with baking soda and baking powder makes bread soft and fluffy.
Sugar – use granular white sugar. You can substitute white sugar with maple syrup or honey too. Note I prefer spicy bread so the amount of sugar used in the recipe is less. If you like sweet bread feel free to double the amount of sugar mentioned.
Canola oil – use can use other types of oil like vegetable oil, olive oil, or any neutral oil.
Scallion – it’s optional but I highly recommend it. Scallion adds freshness to the bread and flavors the bread wonderfully.
Jalapeno – I used fresh jalapenos with some seeds on them. I prefer spicy bread, I used ¾ cup jalapeno. I also added a few jalapeno slices on top of the bread to make it look pretty.
IMPORTANT – please taste the jalapeno you use first and then decide on how much you would like to add. If you like spicy add the amount mentioned in the recipe. If you prefer mild heat, discard all seeds and use ½ cup jalapeno.
You can substitute fresh jalapenos with pickled jalapenos.
Cheddar cheese – sharp cheddar cheese adds extra richness and taste to the bread. Cheddar cheese can be substituted with Monterey jack cheese.
Highly recommend you use freshly grated cheese, pre-grated cheese from the supermarket are usually loaded with fillers and chemical which will alter the taste of the bread.
Butter – to grease the pan.
How to make jalapeno cornbread
First, preheat oven at 350F. Stick a 10inch cast iron pan inside the oven to heat the pan.
While the pan heats make the batter.
Wear gloves while handling jalapenos. Discard seeds and dice jalapenos. If you like it spicy, leave some of the seeds on. Also cut 2 to 3 jalapenos into thin slices, this will be used for topping, optional.
Slice scallions thin and use block cheddar and grate it fresh.
Whisk together dry ingredients – cornmeal, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt.
In another bowl add wet ingredients – milk, buttermilk, canola oil, egg and sugar. Whisk until combined.
Into the wet ingredients add dry ingredients, diced jalapenos, scallion, and shredded cheddar cheese.
Fold everything together until dry ingredients are incorporated into wet ingredients. Do NOT overwork the batter.
When the batter is ready, carefully remove the hot pan from the oven.
NOTE: cast iron pan will be HOT. Handle with utmost care.
Add butter to the hot pan so it coats the bottom of the pan. Swirl the butter to coat the pan evenly.
Transfer batter into the hot pan. Quickly spread the batter evenly.
Optional step – top the bread with a few jalapeno slices.
Return the pan to the oven and bake at 350F for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
Remove bread from the oven and let it cool for 15-20 minutes before you slice. It will be difficult and messy to cut hot bread.
It goes perfectly with soup and chili.
Serve bread sliced and topped with butter and honey and enjoy on its own.
Tips to make perfect jalapeno cornbread
- Perfect cornbread is soft and moist in the center with a slightly crispy outer. Cast iron pans are best for making cornbread.
- Use finely ground cornmeal to get a light, crumbly texture.
- Use full-fat buttermilk for rich, tangy flavor.
- Always wear gloves while handling jalapenos. If your skin is sensitive to heat, it will cause burning. Never touch your face or eyes after handling jalapenos, it can cause a severe burning sensation.
- If you have a problem with spicy food, you can either discard all seeds from jalapenos or reduce the amount used or use milder peppers.
- Do not add butter to the pan before heating it. Butter will burn in the oven. Always grease the pan after it is turned hot.
- Be careful while handling a cast iron pan after it’s heated. It will be VERY HOT!
- Rest jalapeno cornbread for 15-20 minutes before slicing to get neat slices.
How to serve
Cheddar jalapeno cornbread is great side dish for soup and chili.
You can serve this cornbread with salad too.
A slice of the cornbread topped with butter and honey is great to be devoured on its own. It’s addictively delicious!
FAQS
No. Corn starch is not the same as cornmeal and you cannot use corn starch in this recipe.
Yes, you can.
This jalapeno cornbread recipe makes slightly spicy bread, as I used ¾ cup jalapeno with some seeds, and not too much sugar is added to the recipe.
If you like milder bread, discard all seeds from a jalapeno, use ½ cup instead of ¾ cup and double the sugar to make spicy-sweet bread.
Replace milk and buttermilk with vegan milk like almond or soy milk. And use flax eggs instead of eggs.
Use canola oil to grease the pan in place of butter.
Jalapeno cornbread will keep for 3-4 days. Since it has jalapenos it must be stored in the refrigerator. Wrap the bread tightly in cling film and store it in airtight container.
Yes, you can. This recipe is great for making ahead and freezing. Tightly wrap individual slices of bread in cling film and store them in a zip lock bag.
It will freeze well for up to a month.
Defrost the bread overnight in the refrigerator and bake in preheated oven at 350F for 5-10 minutes until warm and serve.
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📋Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¾ cup milk
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons sugar or maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 4 scallion green and white part
- ½ to ¾ cup jalapeno diced
- ½ cup cheddar cheese grated or Monterey Jack cheese
- 1 tablespoon butter to grease the pan
- Butter and honey to serve
Instructions
- First, preheat the oven to 350F. Stick a 10inch cast iron pan inside the oven to heat the pan.
- While the pan heats make the batter.
- Wear gloves while handling jalapenos. Discard seeds and dice jalapenos. If you like it spicy, leave some of the seeds on. Also cut 2 to 3 jalapenos into thin slices, this will be used for topping, optional.
- Slice scallions thin and use block cheddar and grate it fresh.
- Whisk together dry ingredients – cornmeal, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt.
- In another bowl add wet ingredients – milk, buttermilk, canola oil, egg, and sugar. Whisk until combined.
- Into the wet ingredients add dry ingredients, diced jalapenos, scallion, and shredded cheddar cheese.
- Fold everything together until dry ingredients are incorporated into wet ingredients. Do NOT overwork the batter.
- When the batter is ready, carefully remove the hot pan from the oven.
- NOTE: cast iron pan will be HOT. Handle with utmost care.
- Add butter to the hot pan so it coats the bottom of the pan. Swirl the butter to coat the pan evenly.
- Transfer the batter to the hot pan. Quickly spread the batter evenly.
- Optional step – top the bread with a few jalapeno slices.
- Return the pan to the oven and bake at 350F for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
- Remove bread from the oven and let it cool for 15-20 minutes before you slice. It will be difficult and messy to cut hot bread.
- It goes perfectly with soup and chili.
- Serve bread sliced topped with butter and honey and enjoy on its own.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe Notes
- Perfect cornbread is soft and moist in the center with a slightly crispy outer. Cast iron pans are best for making cornbread.
- Use finely ground cornmeal to get a light, crumbly texture.
- Use full-fat buttermilk for rich, tangy flavor.
- Always wear gloves while handling jalapenos. If your skin is sensitive to heat, it will cause burning. Never touch your face or eyes after handling jalapenos, it can cause a severe burning sensation.
- If you have a problem with spicy food, you can either discard all seeds from jalapenos or reduce the amount used or use milder peppers.
- Do not add butter to the pan before heating it. Butter will burn in the oven. Always grease the pan after it is turned hot.
- Be careful while handling a cast iron pan after it’s heated. It will be VERY HOT!
- Rest jalapeno cornbread for 15-20 minutes before slicing to get neat slices.
Created by Jyothi Rajesh
Jyothi Rajesh is the founder of the food blog, Curry Trail. She lives in Bangalore, India and is the mom of two beautiful kids. Her passion is creating and sharing delicious and easy recipes for the home cook. She’s been blogging since 2007 and many of her recipes have appeared in both online and print publications over the years. Learn more about Jyothi Rajesh.
Comments & Reviews
Elsie S. Stewart says
I tried this recipe and it’s really good. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to try the recipe.