Yes, you can enjoy cornbread on the keto diet! Made with almond flour, it's tender, fluffy, and delicious, with just a hint of sweetness.
I add just a bit of cornmeal to the mixture for that authentic flavor we all love. Even with the cornmeal, a serving has just 3 grams of net carbs.
This keto cornbread is tender and fluffy. The combination of almond flour and a small amount of cornmeal makes it taste almost like true cornbread, albeit with a less pronounced corn flavor.
The small amount of cornmeal I add makes the experience as authentic as possible. This bread has officially joined my arsenal of "never feel deprived on the keto diet" recipes. It's one of those beloved foods that you think you'll just have to give up, but as it turns out, you actually don't.
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Ingredients
You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make this keto cornbread. The exact measurements are included in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:
- Eggs: I use large eggs in most of my recipes, this one included.
- Sweetener: I use stevia glycerite. You can replace it with a granulated sweetener.
- Melted butter: European butter tastes great, but any butter will work.
- Almond flour: I use blanched and finely ground almond flour. I don't recommend using a coarse almond meal in this recipe.
- Coarse cornmeal: Only ¼ cup (use gluten-free if needed).
- Kosher salt: I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt.
- Baking powder: Gluten-free if needed, and please make sure it's fresh and not expired.
Variations
Here are a few tasty variations on the basic recipe:
- Add ¼ cup of bacon bits and ¼ cup of finely chopped scallions. Omit the sweetener.
- Omit the sweetener. Add ¼ cup of grated sharp cheddar and 2 tablespoons of chopped jalapenos (wear gloves when handling jalapenos).
- This bread is also excellent with herbs. Omit the sweetener and add two teaspoons of mixed spices and herbs, such as garlic powder, thyme, sage, and oregano.
Keto Cornbread Instructions
Scroll down to the recipe card for detailed instructions. Here are the basic steps for making this recipe:
Whisk the eggs with stevia and melted butter.
Whisk in the almond flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder.
Pour the batter into a parchment-lined baking dish. Smooth the top out with a rubber spatula.
Bake until the bread is golden and set, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.
Cool for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack before slicing and serving.
Expert Tips
What Pan to Use
I use a small baking dish to ensure the bread is nice and tall. So, I use a rectangular 5X7-inch glass food storage dish. It's marked as oven-safe, and I bake with it often.
You can use a standard square 8-inch baking dish. The bread will not be as tall, but it won't be flat either. But don't use anything bigger than that, or the bread will be too flat.
If you use a smaller rectangular pan, you'll need to bake the bread for about 25 minutes. If you use a larger pan, 20 minutes should do it.
A reader recently emailed me that she successfully baked this bread in an 8-inch cast-iron skillet. So that's an option too.
Recommended Cornmeal
I typically use Bob's Red Mill coarse-grind cornmeal. I believe that with the very little I use here, a coarse grind has the biggest effect in terms of flavor and texture.
Note that this cornmeal isn't marked by the company as gluten-free, while their medium-grind cornmeal is.
Recipe FAQs
It's not. But in this recipe, we're using just ¼ cup of it divided between 12 servings. Each serving of this bread has 5 grams of carbs and 2 grams of fiber. So, while cornmeal isn't keto, this bread is.
That depends on the pan you use. When I use a rectangular pan, I cut the bread into 12 squares, as shown in the video below. When I use a square pan, I cut it into nine squares.
Yes. You can use two tablespoons of any granulated sweetener.
No, it doesn't. Made with almond flour and just a hint of cornmeal, it can't possibly be exactly like the real thing. But it's delicious and an excellent substitute for those of us on a low-carb or keto diet.
Serving Suggestions
This is such a versatile bread. I use it in several different ways. Here are a few ideas:
- This bread is really good with chili (try my no-bean chili recipe! It's excellent).
- It's the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving table - serve it with soft salted butter.
- I love it with sweet butter for breakfast with my coffee! My kids like to drizzle it with just a little honey. I sometimes use sugar-free honey.
- It goes well with BBQ dishes, such as these oven-baked ribs.
- And it's an excellent side for rich soups - try it with this vegetable beef soup.
Storing Leftovers
Once completely cool, you can keep the leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for up to 5 days. Warm them up in the microwave for 5 seconds per square. They also freeze well.
More Keto Bread Recipes
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Recipe Card
Fluffy Keto Cornbread
Ingredients
- 5 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon stevia glycerite (equals about 2 tablespoons of sugar)
- 6 tablespoons salted butter melted and slightly cooled (3 ounces), plus more for the pan
- 1 ½ cups blanched finely ground almond flour (6 ounces)
- ¼ cup coarse cornmeal (1 ounce) (gluten-free if needed)
- ¼ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt or ⅛ teaspoon of any other salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (gluten-free if needed)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of a small Pyrex baking dish (see notes below) with parchment paper and grease the bottom and the sides with butter.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the stevia and melted butter.
- Whisk in the almond flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder. If the batter is very thick and difficult to mix, add 1-2 tablespoons of water.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Smooth the top out with a rubber spatula.
- Bake until the bread is golden and set, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.
- Cool the bread for 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack before slicing and serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition per Serving
Made this Recipe?
If you made this recipe, please leave a comment sharing your experience with others. Thank you so much!
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Disclaimers
Cup measurements refer to the standard American cup, which is 240 milliliters. Most of my recipes are low-carb (or keto) and gluten-free, but some are not. Please verify that a recipe fits your needs before using it. Recommended and linked products are not guaranteed to be gluten-free. Nutrition info is approximate, and the carb count excludes non-nutritive sweeteners. Nutrition info may contain errors, so please verify it independently. Recipes may contain errors, so please use your common sense when following them. Please read these Terms of Use carefully before using any of my recipes.
K.G.
Thank you, thank you for this cornbread recipe! I was recently diagnosed with diabetes, so I'm consistently seeking recipes for my previous most-loved foods and just made 8 regular-size muffins using your recipe. I halved the ingredients for a "trial run" but didn't have coarse cornmeal, so I substituted with 3 tablespoons of Panko, plus 30 grams of pureed sweet corn. I also added a bit of onion powder. I love the texture and light corn taste; this will remain as one of my newly-discovered, low-carb recipes to make over and over! I do plan to add a little more pureed corn next time.
Vered DeLeeuw
I'm so glad you enjoyed this cornbread! Thank you for reviewing this recipe and sharing your tweaks.
Laura
Really has no sweetness! Using fake sugar, maybe could use more for some sweetness.
Vered DeLeeuw
Hi Laura,
Thanks for the feedback. Sweetness is a matter of personal preference. If you like your cornbread sweet, feel free to increase the sweetener.
Cookie
I'm confused and not good at math. I count 1/1/2 cup as 12.oz? but you have 6oz? I want to make tonight. please explain.
tk you
Vered DeLeeuw
Hi!
Dry measurements are different than wet. One and a half cups of Bob's Red Mill almond flour equals 6 ounces.
Linda Robertson
I substituted canola oil for butter (3/4 cup canola oil to 1 cup butter, so 4 1/2 tablespoons of Canola oil). Used 1 cup mozzarella cheese, jalapeños to taste. Very moist, and lower in saturated fat.
Vered DeLeeuw
Thanks for sharing your substitutions, Linda. 🙂
Valerie Freeman
I made this today and we had it with fried catfish. I halved it to make 6 servings, but I made muffins, and it made 10 of them in my small muffin pans. That is under 2 net carbs a muffin!. I like savory, so omitted the sugar, but I did add 1/4 teaspoon of sweet corn extract for flavor. The cornmeal added that cornbread texture, and the sweet corn extract added the corn flavor. Note, this bread did not have that almond flour mealy texture. The cornmeal defeated that for not a lot of added carbs.
This is now my go-to cornbread recipe! I might add a bit more sweet corn extract next time...
Thank you so much!
Valerie
Vered DeLeeuw
You're very welcome, Valerie! I'm so glad you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for sharing the changes you made.
Pat Hodgson
This was delicious!
Vered DeLeeuw
I'm so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Pat!
Joan
I tried this recipe, and it was delicious!!!
And trust me; I am truly a homemade-everything type of person…
Vered DeLeeuw
Yay! I'm so glad you liked this cornbread, Joan!