Keto Cornbread

Keto cornbread is a real treat for anyone who is missing this classic food on a low carb diet. It is a recipe that I am happy to share with you because it is easy and quick to make, and so delicious to eat.

It’s a moist, and fluffy addition to your chili or soup bowl. Top it off with some butter and you have a nice snack or a delicious breakfast.

Since corn is one of those things that are high in carbs, you may be asking yourself: “How can we make something as good as real cornbread?” 

I was so surprised that there is an ingredient that actually makes this bread taste like corn without using any corn. It’s an extract that smells and tastes like corn that flavors up our recipe. 

The first time we used it in our keto cornbread we shared it with some friends for a taste test and they couldn’t tell that we didn’t use real corn. They loved it and so we decided to make it and share our recipe with you.

Is Cornmeal OK for a Keto/Low Carb Diet?

Cornmeal is NOT ok for a keto/low carb diet, it is way too high in carbs. That’s the reason that traditional cornbread is off limits. It is made from cornmeal which is flour that is ground from dried corn. ¼ cup of cornmeal has about 30 carbs. 

When you take out the cornmeal and replace it with almond flour, then you are on your way to creating a low carb cornbread recipe.

Is Cornbread Keto-Friendly?

Traditional cornbread is certainly not keto-friendly since the main ingredients are flour, sugar and cornmeal. One piece would be more than a day’s allotment of carbs.  

Our family loves cornbread, especially when we are eating chili or BBQ ribs, both of which are some of our favorite low carb recipes we have on the site.

Now we have made a keto cornbread recipe that makes a perfect fit with some of the foods we love to eat.

How Many Carbs are in Cornbread?

There are way too many carbs in cornbread for a low carb diet. A 1oz piece of regular cornbread has on average 20-30 carbs each. Yeah, way too many carbs if you are trying to lose weight or have health concerns. 

To rectify that problem, our keto cornbread recipe only has 1.4 NET Carbs per slice. Now you can enjoy low carb cornbread to go along with your chili, soup or whatever without worrying about the carbs.

How to Get a Corn Flavor without Using Corn?

Since we have been eating low carb foods and in turn making low carb recipes, I have learned that if you search, then you will find a lot of substitutes for high carb ingredients.

For instance when we made keto banana bread and low carb banana muffins we learned that we could use banana extract and still get that great banana taste.  

I’m not sure why I was so surprised when we found an extract that smells and tastes just like corn! It is called sweet corn extract and you will find it on amazon, and it’s amazingly similar to real corn. You only need a little since it has a very strong flavor.

What Ingredients are in Keto Cornbread?

• Eggs – Large size.
• Butter – Melted.
• Almond Flour – Use finely ground almond flour. We prefer the Kirkland’s brand from Costco. It is the best and it is a good price too.
• Swerve – Powdered. It has zero net carbs.
• Baking Powder – This helps the low carb cornbread to rise properly.
• Sweet Corn Extract – Real corn smell and taste to make low carb cornbread seem like it’s from corn.

Best Flour Substitute for Cornmeal

The most common low carb/keto flour to use is almond flour. It makes a great substitute for cornmeal in low carb cornbread because it has the best texture.

We love kirklands almond flour from Costco the best. It is finely ground and comes in at only 5 carbs per ¼ cup, as opposed to cornmeal that is 30 carbs for ¼ cup.

Sweetener Options

For sure, regular white sugar is too high in carbs so we need to replace it with another option. The 2 best sweeteners, in my opinion, are:

• Swerve – Powdered version, which gives the keto cornbread a smooth texture.
• Monk Fruit – Lankanto brand made from erythritol and monk fruit extract. 

Either one will give you just the right sweetness you need for cornbread.

Different Variations

Traditional plain cornbread is wonderful, but there are a bunch of other things you can add to your keto cornbread recipe to vary the flavor. Here are some of our favorites, try adding them:

• Scallions 
• Jalapeno
• Cheddar Cheese 
• Sugar-free Maple Syrup
• Sugar-free Jam
• Maple Extract
• Bacon
• Garlic
• Nuts

How to Make the Best Keto Cornbread from Scratch

We will now show you step by step how to make the best keto cornbread.

STEP 1: The first step is to preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

STEP 2: Get a square glass baking dish and line it with a piece of parchment paper.

STEP 3: Get a large bowl and add the eggs and melted butter. With a fork or whisk, beat them up well. 

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STEP 4: Now add the swerve. Whisk well.

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STEP 5: Now add the almond flour and baking powder and mix well.

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The keto cornbread batter will be kind of thick and lump free.

STEP 6: Evenly spread the batter into the pan.

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Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the color is golden. If it needs longer baking then check it in another 5 minutes.

When the cornbread is finished cooking, place the pan on the counter and let it cool.

STEP 7: Once the cornbread cools down, take it out of the pan by pulling it up by the parchment paper. Place it on a flat surface and cut it into square pieces. Now enjoy!

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Can I Make Keto Cornbread in a Cast Iron Skillet?

Some recipes for cornbread use a cast iron skillet to cook almond flour cornbread. If you do it will come out more crispy on the bottom and the edges, which some people like. 

I prefer it to be softer rather than crusty so that’s why we make it in a glass pan with parchment paper.

It only makes sense that if you make your keto cornbread in a cast iron frying pan it will be round so the pieces that you cut will be triangle/pie shaped. Personally I prefer my pieces to be square.

Can I Make Keto Cornbread Muffins with this Recipe?

Yes you can! It is really easy to convert this keto almond flour cornbread recipe into cornbread muffins. It’s just a simple change. Instead of pouring your batter into a baking dish, just pour it into a muffin tin. 

I would first line the muffin tin with muffin liners to avoid them sticking to the pan or use silicone muffin tin sprayed with a little non-stick coating.

FAQs & Best Tips

You may have some questions about making cornbread that we will attempt to answer. Here are also some tips that will assist you:

• Do not overcook the low carb cornbread.
• Make sure to line the glass baking dish with parchment paper so that it doesn’t stick to the pan.
• You can replace the butter with coconut oil or olive oil if you cannot eat dairy.
• Be sure to use almond flour that is finely ground. Our first choice is Kirkland’s from Costco.
• The best sweetener to use is powdered Swerve, because a granulated sweetener will make the cornbread more gritty, whereas the powdered form will make it smoother.
• Coat your pan with some bacon grease for extra flavor…yum.
• Making your cornbread in a muffin pan is also a good option.

How to Make this Cornbread Moist?

The more liquid ingredients, like butter or oil that you use, the more moist the cornbread will be. This is true especially if you add coconut flour to the cornbread, because it is a drier flour so you also need to add more eggs for moisture.

How to Make it Drier?

One way to make the cornbread drier is to add a couple tablespoons of coconut flour to the mix. It will soak up any excess butter or eggs and give your bread a drier texture.

Cooking it a little longer will also dry it out a little bit.

How to Use Leftover Cornbread?

Here are several good ideas for using leftover cornbread:

• You can make a breakfast sandwich with any of your favorite items such as bacon, sausage, egg, and cheese.
• Cornbread French Toast would also be a good choice, with no-sugar maple syrup drizzled over it.
• If you are looking for more of a sweet flavor, I love raspberry jam spread on top.
• And for dessert, a scoop of low carb ice cream on top. Or make a low carb strawberry shortcake using sugar-free sliced strawberries and low carb whipped cream.

Can I Make Cornbread Stuffing with this Recipe?

One of our favorite ways to use leftover almond flour cornbread is to make a turkey or chicken stuffing, using cornbread instead of stuffing mix.

Once you make up your corn bread then mix it in with your other ingredients. It is best to prepare the other ingredients first and then mix leftover cornbread with them. 

For my stuffing I like to brown up some Italian sausage, sauteed onions and celery. Then add leftover keto cornbread. I like it with a little corn bread but you can add as much as you like.

Other Diets This Recipe is Good For

• Paleo – All the ingredients are approved for paleo.
• Gluten-free – There is no gluten in our keto cornbread with our use of almond flour.
• Vegetarian – Most vegetarians eat butter because even though it’s from an animal, it is not an animal.
• Sugar-free – By using a zero carb sweetener the almond flour cornbread is sugar free.

Can I Replace the Eggs?

Egg replacements include chia eggs and flax seed eggs. Both are acceptable replacements except when using them the cornbread will not rise as much as when using eggs.

Can I Make it Dairy-Free?

Most recipes will work well when you need to replace the butter with something else. You can use any type of oil that you prefer to use instead of butter.

Our go-to substitute is usually coconut oil, which we feel works the best for our keto cornbread recipe.

What to Serve with Low Carb Cornbread?

You can serve a lot of things with cornbread, it’s a good compliment and goes with so many things, soups, chili…etc. You can find all of these recipes on our website.

• Keto Chili
• Creamy Keto Taco Soup
• Low Carb Chicken Soup
• Keto Beef Stew
• Cauliflower Cheese Soup
• Keto Pot Roast
• Low Carb Broccoli Cheddar Soup
• Turkey Dinner
• BBQ Ribs
• Broccoli Cauliflower Salad
• Pulled Pork

Make Ahead & Storing Options 

Making keto cornbread ahead of time is definitely possible. It is one of those foods that does not have to be served immediately after making it. You can store it for a week in the refrigerator if you place it in an airtight container.

How to Reheat Cornbread

It is easy to reheat the cornbread the next day. You can heat up one piece or the whole batch, whichever you choose to do. 

I like to put mine in the toaster oven for a few minutes on a low temperature, or you can lightly toast it. Some butter on top will be delicious!!

Can You Freeze Keto Cornbread?

You can also freeze leftover cornbread. As Long as you wrap it completely in an airtight container and then double protect it by putting the container in a ziploc bag. 

Or you can wrap the cornbread in a ziploc bag and then place it in an airtight container. You can freeze it safely for 3 months.

Tools to Use

• Baking Pan – 8 x 8 square -glass or metal.
• Parchment Paper – Used to line the pan with.
• Large Bowl – To mix the batter in.
• Large Spoon – To mix the batter with, and to transfer it into the baking pan.
• Knife – To cut the cornbread with.
• Spatula – To help remove the pieces from the pan.

Other Keto-Friendly Bread Recipes

If you are looking for other delicious low carb bread recipes then try some of these: 

• Keto Dinner Rolls
• Keto Cloud Bread
• Low Carb Hamburger Rolls
• Keto Bread
• Keto Zucchini Bread w/ Almond Flour
• Almond Flour Keto Banana Bread

All of them are low carb and will have your friends and family raving!

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