The Pantry Staple That Belongs In Your Next Batch Of Cornbread

Some foods were born for each other. Peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs, and my personal favorite combination, a hearty bowl of chili with a side of moist, crumbly cornbread. A plain slice will do the trick, but the wonderful thing about chili's best pal is there are plenty of ways to jazz it up and make it stand out. A couple of appealing methods include adding maple syrup to give the savory side a touch of sweetness or you can use the nostalgic 3-2-1 Jiffy cornbread hack to incorporate a tangy tomato flavor. It typically only takes a common pantry staple or two to elevate the side dish, but according to Vivian Villa, a chef, product development specialist, and founder of Villa's Authentic Sauces, you might be overlooking an obvious ingredient that contributes an earthy element to your cornbread while also improving the texture.  

The next time you want to up the wow factor of the perfect side for your famous five-alarm chili, look no further than a humble can of black beans. "The addition of black beans would bring moistness and an earthy flavor to cornbread," Villa said. "Replacing some of the liquid in the recipe with the can liquid will bring additional flavor and moistness."  

However, emptying a can of black beans into the batter without giving them a little attention first might be a mistake. "Adding drained, coarsely chopped black beans to a cornbread recipe keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the pan while baking," she said. "It is best to gently fold them in after the batter has been made."

Using black beans to upgrade the flavor and texture of cornbread is a surefire way to boost its appeal, but why stop there? Villa recommended combining the legumes with complementary ingredients to raise the bar further. "Corn kernels, grated cheddar, cumin, and cilantro are a combination often found with black beans, especially in Tex-Mex cuisine," she said. "A classic cornbread recipe would be a hearty canvas for this flavor profile."

Still, there's more than one way to peel an orange, and Villa has some other ingredients up her sleeve that can take cornbread to the next level if Tex-Mex isn't the flavor profile you're going for. Among the additions to the batter Villa recommended were "corn kernels, pickled jalapenos, and diced tomatoes." You could also give cornbread a tangy zip by folding sour cream into the mix. Or lend it a visual wow factor by making it with a waffle iron (yep, that's a thing). There's nothing necessarily wrong with plain cornbread, but it really only takes a little imagination to create your own signature recipe that will make the dish unforgettable.