What Goes Good With Cornbread? 18 Best Ideas
Bread is more or less neutral flavored; therefore, it goes with everything, which is no news. However, that is precisely why the versatility of cornbread is so fascinating, as it is not only a type of bread but an entire meal in itself. Sweet-flavored with a grainy texture, cornbread is far from neutral, yet it pairs perfectly with countless dishes. So, what goes with cornbread?
Cornbread is an excellent pair to potatoes or mixed veggies from the veggie category. In the meat department, cornbread goes excellent with chicken and pork. Cesar salad and goat cheese salad are some of the best salad options for cornbread. Salmon, halibut, and tuna are the types of fish to combine with cornbread.
In the vast sea of options, you are bound to stumble upon some that are not that good. Therefore it is always handy to have some guidance and have that sea narrowed down to a specific example, if not for anything else, then as a pointer to where you want to go. In the following paragraphs, I will give you some ideas on combining cornbread best to enjoy it the most.
What Meat Goes Good With Cornbread?
The grainy texture and dense, yet light consistency, make cornbread the perfect ingredient to combine with meat. As absorbent as it is, you can use it as stuffing as well as a side for a meaty meal. When combining cornbread with meat, it is best to roast it, as cornbread tastes heavenly dunked in the meat’s natural juices.
Chicken
Chicken is the black blazer among meats, as it goes with everything. Cornbread works exceptionally well when used as chicken stuffing, as well as when had on the side.
If you decide to stuff your chicken with cornbread, crumble the cornbread in a mixing bowl and add herbal spices. Stuff the chicken with the mixture and bake as you would usually do. The cornbread stuffing will soak in the chicken juices turning into a creamy and delicious substance you will absolutely love.
You can also pop a few cornbread pieces on the grill, season them with your favorite spices, and have them as a side dish for your chicken meal.
Pork Chops
Pork chops go absolutely beautifully with cornbread. They are naturally fatty, releasing plenty of juice while roasting. Cook them as you would usually do and have a few cornbread pieces ready.
Once the pork chops are done, take the cornbread slices and line them in the pan to absorb as much of the juice as possible. Next, put the cornbread slices on a plate to set and combine your delicious pork chops with heavenly pork-chop-flavored cornbread slices.
Ground Meat
Ground meat is yet another excellent pair for cornbread. You can make your cornbread a part of the meal or have it on the side.
You can make meat-bearing cornbread slices. All you need to do is fry your ground meat, season it with your favorite spices and put one tablespoon of ground meat on one cornbread slice; make as many as you want.
Next, cover the meat with grated cheese, and pop the meat-bearing cornbread slices in the oven to bake for a few minutes until the cheese melts.
If you plan on having the cornbread on the side, combine it with meatballs in gravy. Soak them in the gravy and let them get every ounce of flavor.
What Veggies Go Good With Cornbread?
Cornbread goes with virtually all veggies, but there are those it goes exceptionally well with. The grainy cornbread texture goes with crunchy and creamy textures, and the cornbread sweetness calls equally for sweet or salty, or sour veggies. Finding veggies that don’t go with cornbread is the hard part, while finding the ones that do is no work at all.
Potatoes
When nothing else comes to mind, potatoes are always there to save the day. Fried, baked, boiled, or mashed potatoes and cornbread have always been and will be buddies. I recommend combining cornbread with roasted potatoes seasoned with salt, pepper, and rosemary.
However, if you prefer your potatoes cooked another way, feel free to play it safe and go wild experimenting. The cornbread crumbliness mashes with the potato creaminess (or crunchiness, in case you fry them) amazingly well, resulting in a delicious and somewhat rustic meal.
Mixed Veggies
If you have a bag of those delicious frozen mix veggies containing corn, broccoli, carrots, potatoes, and peas, or another combination of frozen veggies, feel free to pop it on a skillet and turn it into a cornbread love story.
All you need is some olive oil, as a pinch of salt and pepper, and you have the rainbow in your skillet in a few minutes. These veggies are easy to make and very delicious with very little effort.
You can also add some mushrooms if you want to or some cream to further enrich the veggies. Scoop the veggies off your plate with a slice of cornbread and enjoy.
Leafy Greens
Leafy veggies such as spinach, broccoli, arugula, lettuce, and kale are excellent cornbread pairs. You can have them fresh in a salad or steam them with your favorite seasonings. A piece of advice, though, is don’t steam the arugula, spinach, and lettuce, as their texture will be completely ruined.
Carrots
Mashed or roasted carrots are a godsend for cornbread. The carrot sweetness goes perfectly with the cornbread sweetness and gentility. You can also have them steamed, but I don’t recommend it, as mashed and roasted go incomparably better.
If you decide on mashed carrots, smear the cornbread slices with them and put some parsley on top. If your carrots are roasted, smear some melted butter on the cornbread slices and smash the roasted carrot on top.
What Fish to Serve With Cornbread?
Although cornbread isn’t famous as the perfect pair for fish, there are still kinds of fish that go great with it. Make sure you combine it with a more neutral fish and avoid the overly fishy kinds of fish.
Salmon
Whether poached, fried, or baked, salmon goes excellent with cornbread. The salmon’s soft, almost creamy texture complements the cornbread’s grainy texture, creating a totally new final result.
A little garlic, lemon, and parsley are always welcome for salmon, so feel free to add them to your dish. Even though salmon works in any shape and form, I recommend you have it poached when combining it with cornbread.
Halibut
Halibut is known as one of the tastiest fish types and one of the most versatile. Therefore, it goes great with cornbread, primarily because of its soft and refined texture. It doesn’t smell fishy, so it isn’t restrictive at all in terms of combining.
Although it works in many ways, the best way to cook halibut is to pan-fry it and serve it on a bed of greens. Add cornbread to this equation and get as close to heaven as possible.
Tuna
Tuna is one of those fish that goes with almost everything, from salads to pasta, to pizza. You can combine it with cornbread on the side or make the cornbread a part of the tuna dish.
If you have tuna pasta, you might want to crumble up a piece or two of cornbread to thicken the sauce. If you choose tuna pizza, you can add cornbread crumbs to crisp up the crust.
If you see fresh tuna, then grill a few cornbread pieces, season them with dried garlic and parsley and enjoy.
What Salad Goes Good With Cornbread?
Whether you combine it with a fresh vegetable salad, a cream salad, or even pasta salad, cornbread will do a great job.
Cesar Salad
A classic among salads, Cesar salad has croutons, among other ingredients. You need to substitute the croutons with cornbread crumbs, and you’ll get a nice, rich, and even creamier salad.
You can also bake or grill the cornbread slices, grease them up, season them with your favorite spices, and add them to the Cesar salad for some extra crispiness.
Bean, Peanut, and Spinach Salad
Pour the canned beans into a bowl and add the peanuts and chopped spinach. Salt to taste, and add olive oil and balsamic vinegar. These three ingredients go heavenly in a salad.
Toast the cornbread slices and smear them with salted butter for some extra character. You can drop a few drops of balsamic cream also if you have one handy.
The grainy cornbread texture and slight roughness from being toasted will go hand in hand with the softness of this salad. Taste-wise, they combine excellently, given that the cornbread sweetness mashes great with the sourness of the salad.
Goat Cheese Salad
Goat cheese salad is very versatile, so it is no wonder that it goes excellent with cornbread. The softness of the cheese and its particular flavor combine amazingly with the cornbread’s texture and its gentle, sweet flavor.
Since goat cheese salad usually has something crunchy and slightly sour, such as lettuce or arugula, it will further complement the cornbread texture and taste.
How to Serve Cornbread As Dessert?
Even though you may not imagine cornbread as a desert, it works this way too. You can rework it a little bit and turn it into an entirely new dessert, or you can spruce it up and serve it with something sweet on the side.
Cornbread Cream Pie
All you need for this dessert is whipped cream. Cut the cornbread into pieces and layer whipped cream and cornbread pieces. This will turn your regular cornbread into a decadent creamy pie in under five minutes.
When you add the last layer of cornbread, you can pour some chocolate cream on top and some chocolate sprinkles.
Cornbread and Blueberry Jam
If you feel peckish, but at the same time lazy, this is the perfect dessert idea for you. All you need to do is smear blueberry jam on the cornbread pieces, and you are done if you want to make your dessert seem fancier, add some berries and top them with honey and nuts.
Chocolate Cornbread Balls
This dessert transforms your cornbread into a delicious dessert in under ten minutes. All you need are chocolate and rainbow sprinkles.
Crumble your cornbread into a mixing ball. Melt the chocolate and when it is done, pour it into the bowl. Knead the cornbread and the chocolate and make balls with your hands when you have balanced out the chocolate and cornbread.
Roll the balls in rainbow sprinkles, and your dessert is ready.
What Drink Goes Good With Cornbread?
Depending on whether you combine your cornbread with sweet or savory, you should choose the drink accordingly.
Sparkly Water
Sparkly water goes for every combination. The neutral taste and bubbly consistency make sparky water a flavor intensifier, so expect a flavor explosion.
Coffee/Cocoa
If you combine cornbread with sweets, your drink is coffee or cocoa. The bitterness of either of these drinks will only intensify the sweetness of the dessert.
Eggnog
Eggnog should be your companion if you plan to serve cornbread as a snack. Eggnog itself can be a little bit heavy, so it won’t go well during a big family dinner. This also depends on what else you are planing to serve. That’s why it is the best option to save the cornbread for later and serve it along with eggnog as a snack.
