Skillet Cornbread

When I got into making Campfire Chili during our 2024 camping trips, I also started making this simple skillet cornbread, for Porter.

This cast iron skillet cornbread recipe starts out as a simple homemade corn bread mix. I don’t like to fuss with bringing any more individual ingredients out our camping trips than I need to, so I LOVE the convenience of these homemade cornbread mixes.

The nice thing about this mix is that it’s so versatile - you can doctor it up to make it YOUR favourite cornbread recipe!

Like a sweet cornbread? Add a bit more honey to achieve your perfect amount of sweetness.

Are you someone that likes adding a bit of sour cream to your cornbread for an extra moist crumb? Go for it.

Personally, my favourite variation is to make Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread - it’s the perfect side dish for that chili!

I do recommend making the cornbread mix as-is the first time, so you can judge what alterations you might want to make.

Anyway, however you doctor up the mix, this campfire cornbread recipe cooks up in a cast-iron skillet, and gives you a nice buttery crust with crispy edges.

It’s a good cornbread to snack on, or to serve with a hearty soup, stew, or chili.

Anyway, let’s take a look at what you’ll need, to both make the cornbread mix and use it!

Ingredients

This recipe uses simple ingredients, it shouldn’t be difficult to find what you need in almost any grocery store.

As always, I have some ingredient notes for you:

Corn Meal

Yellow Cornmeal is pretty much the gold standard for making homemade cornbread. Frankly, I think white cornbread would look a little weird, but maybe that’s just me.

That said, I wouldn’t doubt that white cornmeal would work in a pinch. If you try it, let me know how it goes!

All Purpose Flour

This recipe was developed using all-purpose flour. Bread flour would work, cake and pastry flour would give you a more soft & tender crumb.

You can substitute up to about ⅓ of the white flour for whole wheat flour, but any more than that risks changing the texture of the cornbread.

Due to the difference in absorption, too much whole wheat in a recipe intended for all purpose flour = dry cornbread.

Milk

You can use whatever kind of milk you want, but the choice of milk will have a bit of an impact on the final cornbread.

If you can handle regular milk, buttermilk is commonly used in cornbread. RVing means limited fridge space, though, so I don’t tend to have it on hand when camping.

You can add a teaspoon of white vinegar to the measured milk a few minutes before using it, for a decent approximation of buttermilk, though.

Whole milk will yield a slightly richer tasting cornbread than skin milk.

If dairy milk isn’t an option, you can use coconut milk, almond milk, etc. We tend to use unsweetened almond milk, when making ours.

Butter

I tend to use butter when making cornbread, because it has the best flavour.

That said, you can use vegetable oil for a moist cornbread at room temperature or colder. When you’re using butter, you definitely want to serve the cornbread warm

I personally wouldn’t use olive oil, just because the flavour of it will mute the flavor of the cornbread a bit.

Everything Else

Rounding out this recipe, you will need:

Large Eggs
Honey
Baking Powder
Salt

... I just don’t have anything to add, as far as these last few ingredients go!

How to Make Skillet Cornbread

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post, here is the pictorial walk through:

Homemade Cornbread Mix

Label a medium sized freezer baggie with “Cornbread Mix”, the ingredients under “To Use the Mix”, and any of the directions you’ll want to have on hand.

Measure the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt into the baggie. Seal, shake to combine, and allow to settle for a few seconds.

Re-open the baggie, gently press out any excess air and re-seal. Store in a cool, dark, DRY place until ready to use.

(Note: Making the mix ahead of time is optional. If you’re measuring everything as you’re making the cornbread, just measure all of these ingredients as “the dry ingredients”)

Get a low-medium fire going. You can cook this on a charcoal grill, a BBQ, or on a grill plate over a campfire, but aim LOW. It’s better to have a low fire and need to cook it longer, than to run too hot and burn it before it cooks!

Dump the cornbread mix into a medium bowl or large bowl, set aside.

Melt the butter in a 9-inch cast iron skillet or Dutch oven, then remove pan from heat.

Add most of the melted butter to the cornmeal mixture, leaving 2 Tablespoon or so of butter in the pan.

In a small bowl, combine milk, honey, and eggs. (You can shake these together in a medium mason jar). Add the wet ingredients mixture to the bowl of cornbread batter ingredients, stir until just combined.

Swirl the hot cast iron skillet to coat the bottom and sides with butter, then spread the cornbread batter in the prepared pan.

Cover the cast iron pan with a lid or aluminum foil, return to the grill. I HIGHLY recommend using a glass lid, so you can keep an eye on what’s going on, without having to lift it. Best to keep the hot air contained!

Cook for about 10 minutes (15 if your fire is really low), then remove from heat.

Note: The cooking time will vary wildly based on your heat source and pan.

Keep an eye on the cornbread - as it’s getting close to the point of needing to be taken off the fire, there will be a lot of condensation forming on the lid, the outer edge of the crust will start to get golden brown, and the yellow of the batter will intensify.

For best results, you want to take it off the heat when the bread is mostly yellow with golden brown edges - any further will char the crust.

WITHOUT removing the lid, allow the cornbread to continue cooking in the pan for another 5 minutes. (This lets the whole thing cook through, without burning!).

Uncover the cornbread, and check to see if it’s done. When finished, it’ll be between 190-200 F when an instant read thermometer is inserted into the center of it. Alternately, a toothpick or bitter knife inserted into the center will be “clean” when pulled out.

If it’s not quite done, return to the heat for another few minutes, the allow to sit for another 5 - without removing the lid. Don’t overcook it, or it will be dry!

Allow the skillet cornbread to cool slightly, before slicing and serving. Excellent served with a bit of butter and a drizzle of honey!

Alternative Baking Instructions

Use an oven-proof skillet if using this method!

Preheat oven to 425 degrees f.

Once you’ve got the batter in the pan, let it cook on the stove top for about 1 minute, then transfer your pan to the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes.

Leftovers

Once cooled to almost room temperature, leftover cornbread can be transferred to an airtight container and store in the fridge for about 5 days or so.

We live to wrap individual slices of cornbread in plastic wrap for storage. I find it keeps them fresher.

More Camping Recipes

Looking for great ideas to cook on a campfire, or in an RV? Here's a few simple recipes to start with!

Apple Fritter Bread Pudding
Apple Fritter French Toast
Banana Protein Pancakes
Beef and Root Vegetable Stew
Cabbage Roll Soup Mix [Just Add Meat and Water!]
Campfire Chili
Camping Breakfast Skillet
Camping Tacos, 2 Ways
Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread
Dutch Oven Pulled Chicken
Grilled Tuna Tacos
Campfire Haystack Cookies
Grilled Chicken Fajitas
Hobo Eggs
Jalapeno Cheddar Bannock
Mediterranean Chicken Kebabs
Hearty Campfire Beef Stew
Rosemary Maple Sweet Potatoes
The Ultimate S'Mores Board
Traditional Bannock

... But wait, there's more! Be sure to check out our other Camping Recipes, including Camping Desserts, Camping Snacks, Make-Ahead Camping Mix Recipes, and a ton of delicious Camping Main Dish Recipes.

Also, we had SO much fun designing gourmet jerky recipes for our camping trips, we started a whole new blog for them! Check out Dried & Tasty for all kinds of fun recipes to make in your food dehydrator!