Easy Cracklin’ Cornbread is filled with tasty pieces of fried pork cracklings. This savory cornbread is crusty outside and moist inside. Easy to make with simple ingredients.
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DISCLOSURE (NOT SPONSORED): Pictured products are personal favorites I purchased and used to make this delicious recipe.
Although my favorite Hormel brand of pork cracklings are precooked before packaging, I fry in vegetable oil until crispy before adding to cornbread batter.
Never add uncooked cracklings to cornbread batter. They turn rubbery and taste bland in baked cornbread (my opinion).
Fried cracklings season the vegetable oil, turns it golden brown and fills it with savory flavor.
Fried cracklings add delicious savory flavor to the vegetable oil in which it is cooked.
The cornbread is baked in the seasoned vegetable oil. As a result, the bottom crust and edges are well seasoned with savory flavor.
Fried pork fat is famous for the hard edges called meat skins. Remove before adding to cornbread batter to protect teeth. Meat skins are very hard.
Press cooked cracklings with back of a spoon. REMOVE all rock hard pieces. Only add soft pieces of fried pork to cornbread batter. Never, ever add hard cracklings. Biting hard cracklings could crack or break teeth. Avoid.
I enjoy cracklin’ cornbread once or twice a month. Delicious with greens! Fantastic drizzled with honey or maple syrup… and served for breakfast.
Ever sprinkled crispy fried cracklings with hot sauce? Delish snack!
Pork should definitely be eaten in moderation to avoid high blood pressure issues. If you already have high blood pressure, check with your doctor BEFORE consuming pork. This is not professional medical advice. It is a friendly suggestion.
You’re invited to make some Easy Cracklin’ Cornbread Muffins.
If you prefer cracklings made with fresh pork fat back, check out my Cracklin’ Cornbread. Both are delicious!
How To Read & Follow A Recipe
Reading a recipe is an important life skill. It starts with knowing how to read a recipe’s ingredients, follow the instructions, prep ingredients, and knowing what equipment to use.
The following tips and strategies will help beginners or experienced cooks create a delicious dish as intended in the recipe.
Start with clean hands and organized kitchen. Wash hands thoroughly. Make sure kitchen and countertops are clean before making a recipe.
Create a relaxing environment. Play favorite music while in the kitchen. I love listening to classical or gospel music.
Read the recipe. Don’t just quickly skim it. Thoroughly read from start to finish. Visualize doing each step which will help you avoid missing a step.
If you see ingredient that you and your family don’t use for whatever reason, use a substitutions or omit the ingredient.
My recipes are packed with helpful tips like shortcuts and serving sizes which save time time and help with meal planning.
Pay attention to the order in which ingredients are prepped. For example, 1 cup of chopped pecans is not the same as pecans, chopped (measure whole pecans and then chop).
Know the assumptions. For example, when my recipe calls for “sugar,” use granulated sugar. If brown sugar is an ingredient, it will be written as such in the recipe.
Figure out the timing. Check the listed “prep time” and “total time” to be sure you have enough time to complete the recipe.
Look for hints, such as the words “meanwhile” or “at the same time,” which indicate two or more steps can happen simultaneously.
For example, my prep time doesn’t include bringing cold butter up to room temperature. Be sure to include in your timetable.
Watch Recipe Videos. If you’re a visual learner (like me), watch recipe videos. Perfect for when you’re learning a new skill or just want to see how a recipe is made.
Mise en place is a super time saver. This French cooking term translates as “putting in place.” It means prepping/measuring ingredients and chopping food before you start cooking. It’s the perfect way to get organized and avoid missing an ingredient or missing a step in the instructions.
Organize your tools and kitchen equipment. Mise en place isn’t just for ingredients. Before starting, make sure you have parchment paper, aluminum foil, measuring cups, measuring spoons, the right pans, mixing bowls, and other equipment.
Make notes in your recipe. Note any special prep instructions and highlight cooking times. Make note of ingredients omitted, favorite substitutions and creative twists. The notes will be very helpful the next time you make this recipe.
Enjoy!
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | 25 minutes |
| Servings |
servings
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- 3/4 cup processed/precooked cracklings
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 box (8.5 ounces) corn muffin mix
- 3 tablespoons self-rising white cornmeal mix
- 2 tablespoons sugar (optional)
- 2 medium eggs, beaten
- 1 cup buttermilk
Ingredients
|
|
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Use an 8" skillet (thick cornbread) or a 9" (thin cornbread). Spread cracklings in a medium-sized skillet.
- DISCARD all hard pieces of fried skin to protect teeth. KEEP soft, fork tender cracklings.
- Add 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Stir until evenly coated. Add cracklings.
- Stir constantly for 2-3 minutes until vegetable oil and cracklings are golden brown. Do not leave stove while meat is cooking.
- Turn off heat. Sprinkle salt over cracklings. Stir well. Slightly crush tender cooked cracklings with heavy spatula or spoon. Set aside.
- In medium-sized bowl, combine corn muffin mix, self-rising white corn meal mix, sugar (if using), egg, and buttermilk. Stir together until smooth. Small lumps okay.
- Use a large spoon to scoop fried cracklings from skillet. Leave 2 tablespoons seasoned vegetable oil in bottom of skillet.
- Stir together cornbread batter and fried cracklings until evenly combined. Set aside.
- Warm skillet with seasoned vegetable oil over low-medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. AVOID smoking hot.
- Pour in cornbread batter. Spread evenly around skillet with back of spoon.
- Reduce oven to 375 degrees. Bake 20-25 minutes OR until golden brown and knife inserted in center comes out clean.
- Serve hot.
How to substitute 1 cup of all-purpose flour for 1 cup of self-rising flour
INGREDIENTS
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
INSTRUCTIONS
Sift together in a medium sized bowl. Use 1/2 cup for this recipe. Store remainder in a zippered bag. Refrigerate until ready to use.
I love your recipes..
Thank you!
Hello. A couple questions,
1. After cooking the cracklings in vegetable oil, do I add the remaining juice to the corn bread batter? Wouldn’t that make it soggy?
2. I haven’t made this in at least 25 years. I recall vaguely from memory using bacon fat. Can I use bacon fat to grease my skillet for baking the cornbread? Will it also absorb and flavor the cornbread?
Hi Angela! Thank you for asking. You inspired me to update the recipe’s instructions.
1. Frying processed/precooked cracklings in vegetable oil will season it. Plus, the drippings will make it slightly thick. Pour cornbread batter into seasoned HOT vegetable oil. The baked cracklin’ cornbread will be full of flavor, but not oily. The bottom/side edges will be crusty and delicious!
2. Bacon fat is excellent! Fry bacon. Remove from skillet. Leave 3 tablespoons (remove extra) of bacon fat and small bits of bacon. Make sure bacon fat is HOT before pouring in cornbread batter. Baking in HOT bacon grease (or veggie oil) will thoroughly bake bottom crust and all edges. If oil is cool or cold, the cornbread WILL be greasy, soggy, gross.
Some cuts of bacon have LOTS of fat. After frying bacon, I pour grease into a heatproof container. Return 3 tablespoons of grease to skillet and warm until HOT. Add 3 tablespoons of leftover to cornbread batter, stir, pour in HOT skillet, bake. Refrigerate leftover grease for another use.
hi, my name is Tina, I have a question that I can not find the answer to , when I was young , my mother would cook cracklings , from the meat department ( now they only package HORMEL) , she cooked them in the oven, I remember eating them with salt…my mother , and father have both passed, I don’t know how she cooked it , when she put salt on them , (before or after cooking), or how long to keep them in the oven…do you know the method to do this?
Hi Tina! My local grocery store carries fresh cracklings and Hormel’s processed cracklings. Some online stores also carry fresh. Both are delish in my opinion. I always fry cracklings (fresh or processed) in veggie oil until crisp. Pat dry on paper towels. Season with salt. Sometimes, I’ll refrigerate until next day. To warm, I’ll scatter in one layer on ungreased cookie sheet, place in oven to heat them up. Never actually cooked in oven. I hope this helps. Merry Christmas!
I grew up where my father killed the hog. For a short answer I put them in the oven on broil low heat until they were crunchy. They burn fast.
Darlene, they do burn fast. MUST watch closely.
Love your recipe for cracklin cornbread. Have 2 questions: can I use my homemade cornbread recipe and add cooked cracklings to it and secondly I don’t have a skillet to bake it in, can I use my regular baking pan to bake my cracklin cornbread in?
Vee, you can add cooked cracklings to your homemade cornbread recipe. Regular baking pan will work. Make sure you add vegetable oil (or shortening) to pan and warm in preheated oven until oil is sizzling hot… BEFORE adding cornbread batter. Doing this will thoroughly bake bottom and side crusts. Enjoy!
This chef gave the SECRET to good cracklin’Cornbread. Fry those cracklins FIRST! This is the BEST I’ve eaten!!!
Hi Arneader! Thank you for the wonderful compliment. FRY FIRST is the key to making smack-a-licious cracklin’ cornbread.
Can cracklin cornbread be used to make stuffing?
Hi Deneen! Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. Cracklin’ Cornbread can be used to make dressing in a pan. Just make sure the cracklings are thoroughly cooked and crispy BEFORE adding to the mixture.
I have tried making crackin cornbread numerous times, but always come up with rubbery cracklins every time. Even when I have cooked fresh. I used to get cracklin cornbread from a local bar-b-q restaurant and never got a rubbery cracklin. What is the secret to have non rubbery cracklins?
Hi Darrell! I always fry the cracklings until they’re crisp. Drain on paper towels BEFORE adding to cornbread batter. They are slightly crisp and tender in the baked cornbread. Always delicious! I’ve tried adding “fresh/uncooked” cracklings to cornbread batter. They always come out rubbery. NOT tasty at all. I hope this helps. Thanks for visiting and please come again. Happy Thanksgiving!