Every main dish shines more brightly when paired with delicious side dishes! If you are looking for more side dish recipes, try this Spicy Pasta Salad, it’s made with gouda, pepperoncinis, and pepper flakes. Or Creamy Mashed Potatoes, a great recipe that goes with everything.

A square of cornbread on parchment with a pan of cornbread and some sliced jalapeños.

Slightly Spicy Jalapeño Cornbread

Jalapeño cornbread takes classic comfort food and elevates it with bold flavor. Cornmeal gives the cornbread its hearty texture and natural sweetness, while the jalapeños add just a hint of heat to enhance, but not overpower, the flavor of the cornbread.

If you like you can add some shredded cheese into the mix, a good melty cheese like cheddar or pepper jack would work really well given this is a “spicy” cornbread. Adding a cup of freezer corn with give this recipe even more texture. And I can’t resist adding a pat of butter to the cut cornbread and topping it with a drizzle of honey.

Regular cornbread is good, this jalapeño cornbread is extra good! Pairs so perfectly with your favorite chilis, like this white chicken chili, Hawaiian baked beans or even soups like hamburger soup. And since it is made in a 9×13-inch pan, there is enough to feed a crowd

Jalapeño Cornbread Ingredients

Cornmeal: Use a regular grind cornmeal.
Flour: All-purpose flour is perfect here.
Sugar: Some white sugar add a touch of sweetness. If you prefer sweeter cornbread, bump this amount up to 2/3 cup.
Baking Powder
Salt
Eggs: Two large eggs helps bind everything together.
Milk: Use any type of milk, I like whole milk for the richness. You can make keep this dairy free and use unsweetened almond milk (add a little more oil so it doesn’t end up too dry).
Corn Oil: This creates a moist cornbread.
Jalapeños: Fresh jalapeños add a hint of spiciness. Just finely dice them to go in the cornbread and add some slices on top if you like.

All of the ingredients needed to make jalapeño cornbread.

How to Make Jalapeño Cornbread

Here are the basic instructions to make this cornbread. Check out the recipe card at the bottom of this blog post with full ingredients and instructions to make it.

Step one is combining all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. — **STEP 1:** Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 9×13-inch pan, set aside. Whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Step two is combining together all of the liquid ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. — **STEP 2:** In another bowl, whisk eggs, milk, and corn oil.

Step three is pouring the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. — **STEP 3:** Add wet ingredients to dry and stir just until combined.

Step four is a adding in the chopped jalapeños to the wet batter. — **STEP 4:** Fold in the chopped jalapeños (and cheese, if using). Let batter rest 5 minutes.

Step five is pouring the batter into a greased baking dish and topping with sliced jalapeños if you like. Then bake. — **STEP 5:** Pour into pan and top with sliced jalapeños if you like. Bake.

Cooking Tips and Tricks

Don’t use fine cornmeal, it will make this cornbread too cakey and coarse cornmeal may dry out the batter.
If you want a less heat, remove the seeds and the membrane from the jalapeños before chopping them up.
When combining the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stir until just combined. Overmixing the batter can result in a denser cornbread.

Recipe Variations

Add in cheese. Mix in 1 1 /2 cups of shredded pepper jack or cheddar cheese to the batter when you add the jalapeños.
Buttermilk. Use 1 1/2 cup of buttermilk and 1/4 cup of milk instead of all milk.
Use different peppers. You could mix in a can of hatch green chiles, use pickled jalapenos (reduce the amount of salt added), or use chopped serrano peppers for more heat.

A whole baking pan of jalapeño cornbread.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can cornbread be made without sugar? Yes, you could completely omit the sugar to make it unsweet cornbread.

Is this jalapeño cornbread spicy? It’s really not all that spicy, I would say it’s a mild heat.

How to Store & Reheat

How to store it? Let the cornbread cool and put in an airtight container. It should last about 2 days at room temperature or 5 days in the fridge.

How do you reheat? Pop a piece of cornbread in the microwave for a few seconds to re-heat.

How to freeze? Let the cornbread cool completely before wrapping it in plastic wrap and putting into an air tight, freezer safe container or zip bag. It can be frozen for 3 months, just be sure to label with the recipe and date. Thaw frozen cooked cornbread at room temperature until defrosted.