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Blue Cornbread

By: Cassie Johnston / Updated: May 22, 2025 / Posted: September 26, 2014

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Recipe At-A-Glance

Blue cornmeal is sweeter and has a better nutritional profile than its yellow and white cousins. Try out blue cornmeal in this moist and tender blue cornbread!

Ready in 25 minutes

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Okay, I know. This bread looks weird. But please, pretty please, don’t let the weird blue color turn you off. Blue cornbread is something you absolutely need to make. And yes, it is totally different from regular yellow cornbread. And honestly, I think its pale blue color is actually kinda fun! It certainly is different from the run-of-the-mill yellow breads you find on the dinner table.

Blue Cornbread

If you’ve never worked with blue cornmeal before, I highly recommend seeking some out. Blue cornmeal is much sweeter than regular cornmeal, and it has an intense corn flavor. It actually tastes like fresh sweet corn, which I find absolutely amazing. Blue cornmeal is also nutritionally superior to white or yellow cornmeal. It has 20% more protein than yellow cornmeal and a much lower glycemic index, making it an even healthier option. Blue cornmeal rocks!

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Blue Cornbread

This recipe results in a crumbly but moist cornbread with just a touch of sweetness. I know in some circles it’s blasphemy to put sugar in cornbread, but I think just a touch goes a long to way to bringing out the natural sweetness of the corn. And then, of course, I go all crazy and drizzle the top with honey. Because cornbread without honey on top is just sad.

Blue Cornbread

This is my go-to cornbread recipe—with blue, white or yellow cornmeal. It turns out perfectly every time, and is highly adaptable. Add in some shredded cheddar cheese, minced jalapeño, or some crumbled bacon. Switch out the dairy ingredients for vegan options (I recently made this with soy-free Earth Balance, unsweetened coconut milk, and plain coconut milk yogurt, and it turned out perfectly). Bake it in a cast iron skillet or pour it into a muffin tin for the most tender and delicious cornmeal muffins you’ve ever had.

Enjoy!

Yield: 8 servings

Blue Cornbread

Blue Cornbread

Blue cornmeal is sweeter and has a better nutritional profile than its yellow and white cousins. Try out blue cornmeal in this moist and tender blue cornbread! Adapted from Daily Garnish.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup finely ground blue cornmeal
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup melted butter
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 2 cups frozen corn kernels

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda and salt, set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, eggs, butter, and milk. Pour into the cornmeal mixture and stir until just combined—do not overmix. Fold in the corn kernels.
  3. Pour the batter into a well-seasoned cast iron skillet or a square baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until the top is golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1 serving
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 223Total Fat: 8gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 64mgSodium: 294mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 9g

At Wholefully, we believe that good nutrition is about much more than just the numbers on the nutrition facts panel. Please use the above information as only a small part of what helps you decide what foods are nourishing for you.

© Cassie Johnston
Cuisine: American

Cassie is a holistic nutritionist, cookbook author, and all-around food lover. She grew up cooking dinner with her parents every evening, and her passion for home cooking has been strong ever since. Cassie is the author of two published cookbooks (Cooking with Greek Yogurt and Chia, Quinoa, Kale, Oh My!) and dozens of recipes published in major magazines and newspapers. Cassie has been sharing her award-winning recipes on Wholefully since 2010. She loves dark chocolate, homegrown tomatoes, motorsports, and anything that sparkles. She lives in Indiana with her family on a small homestead.

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25 Comments

    1. Hi Beth! We’ve only used blue cornmeal in this recipe, so we can’t say for sure whether your blue corn atole will work or not. Check your packaging closely, though, because they might not be the same. If your blue corn atole uses plain finely ground cornmeal, it could work. But if it’s finely ground masa or masa harina, that won’t work the same in this recipe. While they’re both made from corn, they’re not interchangeable in recipes! If the packaging says it’s nixtamalized corn, then it won’t work the same in this recipe.

      Reply

  2. Followed recipe exactly (without defrosting corn and with no sugar). Was still wet at 20 minutes from corn defrosting and needed another 10 or more minutes of bake time. I also think it is extremely bland without a small amount of sugar added. I would put your suggestion for sugar in the recipe itself and let people decide how much they want.

    Reply

  3. Usually for baking all ingrefients should be at room temperature. Wouldn’t adding frozen corn make the batter too cold before baking and have a negative effect on the final product. At least it may hamper the rising of the bread or muffins. Should the frozen corn be allowed to warm up before adding it to the batter?

    Reply

    1. Hi Art! We’ve never had any issues with this. You’re right that some recipes require all ingredients to be room temperature, but there are plenty (like this one!) that are less fussy. If you’re concerned, though, you can always let the corn come to room temperature!

      Reply

  5. I tried the recipe and was very disappointed. The bowl size for wet ingredients is wrong, the bake temp should be over twice as long or Temperature should be higher.

    Reply

  6. Prepared this exactly as directed with perhaps a little extra Colorado Olathe sweet corn. It was over the top, delicious. Corn meal from LaPlata, New Mexico

    Reply

  7. Trying this tonight…will sub sour cream for yogurt and add some cheese instead of corn kernels (using what I have in the fridge). Blue corn is known as ‘masa azul’ where I live (Tijuana, Mexico) and it’s our first time trying a recipe with it.

    Reply

  10. Ye gods.

    This is CORNbread. Do not use flour. This is a giant corn flavored biscuit and it is gross. Stop it!

    Corn is plenty sweet. It doesn’t need sugar and you wouldn’t either if you’d not diluted your cornmeal with flour.

    Sub more cornmeal for the flour and skip the sugar. Then you have cornbread.

    Reply

  12. I’m looking forward to trying this recipe! I absolutely LOVE cornbread and picked up some organic blue cornmeal at our local bakery today.

    Reply

  13. How fun! I’ve never seen blue cornmeal being used in a recipe before. It looks adventurous and fun, but even better – it looks DELICIOUS. Can’t wait to try out this recipe.

    Reply

  14. Looks intriguing! Blue corn meal has been added to the grocery list! I love the blue corn chips so now to venture on to the cornbread 😉

    Reply