Cornbread

Native American food · Southern cooking · cornmeal · quick bread

Made from cornmeal. Cornbread is a type of batter bread that uses ground corn (cornmeal) as its main ingredient. It bakes up golden and crumbly, nothing like regular wheat bread.

Native American roots. Native American tribes like the Hopi, Hidatsa, and Choctaw have been making cornbread for hundreds of years. Each tribe had their own name for it, like naktsi among the Hidatsa people.

Creative flavor additions. The Cherokee and Seneca tribes made their cornbread extra special by mixing in chestnuts, sunflower seeds, apples, berries, beans, or potatoes. This turned cornbread into a complete meal.

Quick to bake. Modern cornbread uses baking powder to help it rise fast, which is why it's called a quick bread. You can have fresh cornbread on the table in less than an hour.

Popular in the South. Cornbread became especially beloved in Southern United States cuisine and remains a comfort food favorite there today.