History
Cornbread is Appalachian daily bread, unsweetened in the Tennessee tradition and baked in cast iron because that is what the region made. Lodge Cast Iron has cast skillets in South Pittsburg, 30 miles from Chattanooga, for over a century, and the town stages the National Cornbread Festival, whose 29th edition in April 2026 crowned another skillet cook-off winner. Every meat-and-three in Chattanooga serves a wedge or a muffin of it beside the greens.
Common allergens: Gluten, Egg
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 300g medium-grind cornmeal
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 450ml buttermilk
- 60g butter or bacon fat
Method
- Set a 25cm cast iron skillet in the oven and heat both to 220C.
- Whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking soda and salt; in a jug whisk the eggs into the buttermilk.
- Combine wet into dry with a few strokes; the batter should pour like thick cream.
- Drop the fat into the hot skillet, swirl until foaming, and pour the batter into the sizzle.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes until the top is set and the edge pulls from the pan. Turn out crust-side up and cut in wedges.
Tip from the editors. Tennessee style means little or no sugar; if the batter does not audibly sizzle when it hits the skillet, the pan was not hot enough.
Where to eat skillet cornbread
Skillet cornbread in Chattanooga
Featured by TableJourney as a signature dish of Chattanooga. See where to eat Skillet cornbread in Chattanooga or the Chattanooga signature dishes guide.
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