Zucchini Cornbread! A savory zucchini bread infused with Mexican spices, cornmeal, fresh corn, and sharp cheddar cheese, baked in a skillet. A cozy side to stew, soup, and chili. With a Video.
This savory Zucchini Cornbread is comfort food! Combining the last of summer’s bounty with homey nurturing cornmeal is perfect for embracing fall as the weather turns cooler here in the Pacific Northwest.
This cornbread recipe is a lovely accompaniment to soup, stew or chili for a hearty cozy meal. I love the crunchy crust that develops from baking in a cast-iron skillet. Looking for vegan cornbread? Try our Vegan Cornbread Muffins!
Or try our regular cornbread recipe!
Zucchini Cornbread Recipe | Video
How to make Zucchini Cornbread
Grate 2 cups of zucchini ( about 1 medium zucchini), salt it, to help it release moisture, then wring out with a kitchen towel.
Mix together the dry and wet ingredients to form a dough. Here I’ve added Mexican spices, fresh corn, and cheddar cheese.
Place it in a buttered skillet and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
When it comes out the house will smell heavenly.
Slice and serve warm.
We hope you enjoy this Zucchini Cornbread – another delicious recipe created by Tonia!
xoxo
More Recipes You’ll Love!
- Whitebean Chicken Chili Verde
- Instant Pot Chili
- Mind-Blowing Vegan Chili
- Vegan Cornbread Muffins
- Our Favorite Homemade Cornbread
Zucchini Cornbread Recipe
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: bread,
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: northwest
Description
This savory Zucchini cornbread is comfort food! Combining the last of summers bounty with the homey nurturing cornmeal. Perfect for embracing fall as the weather turns cooler here in the Pacific Northwest. This is a lovely accompaniment to soup for a cozy meal. I love the crunchy crust that develops from baking in a cast-iron skillet.
Ingredients
- 10 oz (about 2 cups) grated zucchini
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter ( 4 ounces)
- 3/4 cups cornmeal
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped (or 2 teaspoons dried)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 cup sharp cheddar, grated ( divided)
- 2 eggs, room temperature preferably
- 1/2 cup buttermilk (or sub full fat plain yogurt)
- 1/8 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
- 2 green onions, finely chopped
- 1/2 – 1 jalapeño, finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- In a 10” cast iron skillet, melt butter and set aside to cool.
- In a small bowl, mix together grated zucchini and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, oregano, cumin, paprika and 3/4 cup grated cheddar. Add the jalapeno, corn and scallions. Mix to combine well.
- In a separate bowl beat the eggs, add buttermilk and maple syrup. Pour the cooled, melted butter from the cast iron pan into the egg mixture, a little at a time, whisking as you go. You will be baking the cornbread in the nicely buttered skillet, so don’t clean it out! Brush sides with butter.
- Place salted zucchini in a cheesecloth or clean dish towel and gently squeeze out the excess liquid.
- Add the wet egg mixture to the flour/cornmeal mixture. Ever so gently fold in the zucchini mixing just to combine. It will be quite thick, more like dough than a batter. Carefully press into the skillet, smoothing just enough to even it out. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
- Bake on the middle rack for 35-40 minutes, until deeply golden and puffed.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 344
- Sugar: 5.5 g
- Sodium: 531.3 mg
- Fat: 18.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 10.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 35.2 g
- Fiber: 2.3 g
- Protein: 9.6 g
- Cholesterol: 92.5 mg
Thanks for the 🍁 in this week’s email newsletter! I am with my mom this weekend, but am absolutely making this cornbread and the Vegan Chili recipe when I get back to my home. Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to you🍁🥧.
thanks so much! Have a happy weekend with your mom.
Always a crowd pleaser! Get asked for the recipe a lot!
Great to hear Leslie!
This looks amazing. How can I make this gluten free? What gf flour will work well?
Thank you!
How about trying a blend like Bobs Red Mill? Someone did comment they used chickpea flour with good results!
Hi I followed the recipe and used coconut yogurt with 3 TB water..the bread didn’t come right..was crumbly. It tasted good, the flavors were nice. I am wondering what I did wrong. Any insights would be appreciated
Shoot! I’m not sure. I wonder if it could have been the coconut yogurt? Did you add the eggs and cheese?
Would someone actually pay $145 for a cast iron skillet? You can buy an 8-inch Lodge cast iron skillet, pre-seasoned, at your local hardware store for around 12 bucks American.
However, this is a great recipe to use some of the zucchini that you got on National Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day.
Haha! Yes Tomas, any cast iron will work great here! I actually use Lodge too- maybe I should change that link! 😂
BTW, I had 6 zucchini and a cornbread mix that I got in a food box, so I doctored up the cornbread mix with the grated zucchini, half a can of corn (also in the food box), some shredded Mexican 4 cheese blend, jalapeño, oregano, cumin and smoked paprika and it was wonderful. It went great with my homemade chili con carnitas.
Love it!!!
This was excellent! Thank you!
Great, glad you liked it!
Want to try this recipe but need GF for a celiac friend. Will Red Mill 1:1 work.
It should work just fine!
OMG I made this for the first time yesterday and it turned out perfect! I absolutely loved all the ingredients. Congratulations!
So glad you enjoyed this!
I haven’t made this yet, but due to dietary restrictions, I’m going to try to cut down on the fat and sodium. It looks like a really good recipe.
This recipe is amazing! This will be one of my new staples for soup or chili! Thank you Sylvia
Glad you enjoyed this one!
Will it be ok to omit the cheese?
I have not tried this without the cheese, so not completely sure here.
Good! Will make again. Four stars only because I am not a huge fan of cumin and it was a bit strong for me. Will use half the amount next time. Once the grating and chopping are finished, goes together quickly.
Great to hear!
Deelish and so happy to use some squash in this recipe! Well worth the many ingredients.
Just savoured this and i can truly say it’s now added to my comfort food list. Replaced butter with olive oil and plain flour with chickpea flour for healthier version but the result was equally good. Thanks for sharing x
Love it!
This looks and sounds delicious ! Do you think flax eggs would work?
I’m not sure- but would love to know too. If you try, will you let me know how it goes?
Any advice for making this dairy-free while avoiding using a lot of processed alternatives? Maybe olive oil (or a different fat) for butter? I can do yogurt or sour cream instead of buttermilk, but I’m not sure about the cheese — we have a dairy free cheese we like, but it doesn’t melt super well and I’m not sure it’ll be very good in this recipe. Any thoughts you have would be great!
I think the olive oil and vegan cheese would work fine! They have some now that melt great!
Absolutely delicious and easy to make. Really like the maple syrup ! Paired it with my husband’s homemade chili.
Hi Sylvia
All your recipe look amazing! Love to browse for now and plan for near future cooking.
Will make this week that gorgeous sounding
‘Corn bread’ with Pumpkin soup.
Soups Perfect!
Oh no! The biggest cast iron skillet I have is 8 inch. Any recommendations/modification ideas? I so want to make this!
Hi Karen, do you have a 9×9 inch square baking dish? Or 10 inch round cake pan?
Love this recipe! Had it for a savory “dessert” because the chili I made was done before the cornbread. I subbed 1/2 the butter with coconut oil and used less cheese due to picky eaters in my family. Your photo is gorgeous too. Thank you.
ps-1 stick of butter is 4 ounces.
This is delicious and wonderfully filling!
Holy Moly! This is the best cornbread dish ever!!!
I would love to try this. To make it GF which flour would you suggest using,l.
What about using a blend? Like from Bob’s Red Mill?
Made this to go with the Farmer’s Market Vegetable Soup and loved it. Even my husband loved it and he usually likes his cornbread without anything in it. Super delish!
So happy you liked it Lisa- Thanks for the comment – I really appreciate you taking the time.
Completely salivating ?
Can’t wait to try it.
Let us know what you think!