Family Favorite Holiday Recipes

Can You Freeze Cornbread? Everything You Need to Know

Baking and Cooking Tips· Christmas Breads· Food Information· Thanksgiving Dinner

Learn how to freeze cornbread so you can preserve its freshness!

If you’re wondering if you can freeze cornbread or not, you’re in luck with these tips and tricks for making the most of this delicious side dish!

a cast iron skillet of cornbread with two cornbread muffins in front. An overlay reads, "How to freeze cornbread"

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Do you plan on making cornbread soon? Maybe you’re planning for a holiday dinner and want to do some prep work ahead of time.

Or perhaps you’ve already made a batch, but you have a good amount of leftover cornbread you don’t want to waste.

Cornbread is an excellent side dish for a crowd. The flavor is always delicious, especially if you add a little butter or honey to it. 

Although I love homemade yeast rolls and crescent rolls, sometimes you just need an easy quick bread that doesn’t have to rise.

And homemade cornbread tastes amazing as an accompaniment for pulled pork, Appalachian pinto beans, or a bowl of traditional chili.

Whether you make a batch of this homemade skillet cornbread recipe or doctor-up a box of Jiffy cornbread, it’s super simple to whip up.

Depending on where you live in the USA, you may call cornbread by another name, such as hoecake, hot bread, johnnycake, hush puppies, corn pone, or even spoon bread. 

But no matter what you call it, it’s important that you know you can freeze cornbread. We’ll show you how!

a square slice of cornbread on a white plate, topped with a pat of butter and drizzle of honey

Does cornbread freeze well?

Since it doesn’t have a long shelf life at room temperature (usually just a couple of days), freezing cornbread is a good idea for avoiding food waste or for planning ahead.

The good news about cornbread is that it tastes amazing freshly baked or thawed out of the freezer. So yes, cornbread freezes well (as long as you do it right)!

For the best quality, you’ll want to avoid freezer burn by wrapping the cornbread well.

Once the bread is done and cooled off (don’t wrap corn bread while it’s still hot!), you can place it in plastic freezer wrap. You can single wrap it or double wrap it.

For best results, once you’ve wrapped it, go ahead and place it in a heavy-duty freezer bag. Once it’s in that plastic bag, label it, and then place it in the freezer.

It will last around 3-4 months just fine in the freezer. 

Can you freeze cornbread muffins?

Just like you can freeze cornbread, you can also freeze cornbread muffins.

The best way to freeze them is to take a cooled-off cornbread muffin, wrap it in plastic wrap (1-2 times), and then place each muffin in a larger freezer bag.

Separating each cornbread muffin and wrapping them individually before placing it in a large bag is the preferred method, which helps prevent the muffins from getting freezer burnt. 

a pile of cornbread muffins in a bread basket

Can you freeze cornbread dressing?

You can also freeze cornbread dressing. In case you’re wondering what cornbread dressing is, it’s similar to stuffing (in fact, some people call it stuffing, even if it’s not “stuffed” into a turkey).

Cornbread dressing is baked in its own dish. It’s made with crumbled cornbread and then there are other ingredients like onion, sage, and celery.

If you want to freeze cornbread dressing, I recommend that you prepare it up until the point of baking and then freeze the uncooked stuffing.

How to freeze cornbread dressing:

  1. Place the uncooked cornbread dressing into a pan that has been greased. 
  2. Put one layer of plastic wrap around the pan. 
  3. Take aluminum foil and cover the pan twice.
  4. Make sure you label and date your cornbread dressing, so you know what it is! 
freshly baked cornbread dressing in the pan

Can you freeze cornbread batter?

If you’d like, you can freeze cornbread batter. When you freeze cornbread batter, it actually creates denser bread.

If you’d like to freeze the cornbread batter, place it in a freezer-friendly shallow container or large freezer bag.

Once the frozen batter is thawed, you can pour it into the pan or baking dish and bake it just like regular cornbread.

How to Freeze Cooked Cornbread

Once you learn that you can freeze cornbread, you’ll see that there are lots of other kitchen staples that you can freeze and enjoy later.

Here’s the simple method for how to freeze baked cornbread.

  1. Wait until the cornbread has cooled down completely to room temperature. 
  2. Take the cornbread and wrap it with plastic wrap.
  3. Make sure the cornbread is wrapped tightly, then if it fits, transfer it to a gallon zip-top bag or other airtight container. If it doesn’t fit in a bag or container, double-wrap it with saran wrap.
  4. Place it in the freezer for later use.
cornbread in an iron skillet, with a wedge removed

How to Thaw Frozen Cornbread

Once you are ready to defrost the frozen cornbread, the rest is simple.

  1. Take the frozen cornbread out of the freezer.
  2. Place the wrapped cornbread in the fridge for it to thaw out overnight (this is the safest way to thaw). 
  3. Once it’s thawed, it can be reheated in the oven or microwave. Or, you can reheat individual slices if preferred.

How to Reheat Frozen Cornbread

Now that the cornbread is defrosted, you’ll want to reheat it. This is a simple process that anyone can do! 

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Place the pieces of thawed cornbread on a baking sheet (you can also do this with the whole thing, if you don’t want to cut into smaller portions).
  3. Cover the pieces or whole loaf with foil.
  4. You can then place the cookie sheet in the preheated oven and reheat for 10-15 minutes. 
  5. Once it’s done reheating, you can add your favorite toppings!
cast iron skillet of cornbread with two cornbread muffins in front of it

Benefits of Freezing Cornbread

Learning the easiest way for how to freeze cornbread can save you a lot of time later.

Batch cooking is a way a lot of families save time and money in the kitchen, and it’s a fabulous way to lower stress during the holidays.

This can be a great way to “cook once, eat twice,” if you make a double batch and freeze half for later. So next time you’re whipping up a batch, make extra cornbread!

If you choose to freeze cornbread, it’ll make enjoying cornbread that much easier. Don’t forget to label and date the cornbread, so you know when you made it and added it to the freezer. 

More Freezer Guides:

a skillet of cornbread, with a slice removed to a white plate, and a white bowl of chili in the background. An overlay reads, "How to freeze cornbread"