Boston Market Style Cornbread is crisp on the outside, but soft, moist, and sweet inside. It’s a cult favorite (and you won’t believe how it’s made!)

Boston Market style cornbread
This is the kind of recipe I most love to share with you, it falls into a category that might be called ‘fun’. It’s a recipe that is yes, delicious, and yes, easy, but also has that interesting, curiosity factor. My Instant Pot clotted cream, my 30 second homemade mayo, or my 2 ingredient cranberry butter also fall into that category, and this fabulous cornbread is definitely another. You’ll never guess how it’s made…
what is Boston Market cornbread?
Boston Market is a restaurant chain that’s been around since 1985. It started in Boston but quickly spread across the country. Although many have recently been closed, the chain is still around. While its emphasis was on rotisserie chicken and fresh sides, it was the fabulous cornbread that became a cult favorite. It’s got a crisp crust and a soft, tender, fluffy interior. Aka, irresistible.
what you’ll need to make it
Here’s where it gets interesting!
- a 15-ounce box of cornbread mix (I used Krusteaz)
- a 15-ounce box of cake mix, (I used Duncan Hines Signature vanilla)
- eggs
- vegetable oil
- buttermilk (you can also use regular milk)
- water
this semi-homemade cornbread is creative and utterly delicious!
Dyed in the wool Southerners, avert your eyes and come back tomorrow ~ you won’t approve of this soft, moist, sweet cornbread recipe. I get it, and no hard feelings ๐ But for the rest of you, omg you have to try this! Does it qualify as semi-homemade? Don’t know, but I’m going with it.
my thoughts…
- Honestly, I love it.
- The recipe makes a boatload (a full 9×13 casserole) of cornbread, which is perfect for a holiday table.
- The cornbread has a fluffy texture that’s lighter and moister than cornbread, but more substantial than cake.
- The outer crust has got the crunch of a classic cornbread.
- The flavor is a combination of corn and vanilla flavor that’s very pleasing.
- This is great if you’re feeding a crowd, and kids love it.
- It’s not any easier than making a big batch of cornbread, because cornbread is super easy to make already, but I do think it has its charms (if you can get passed the idea of using boxed mixes.)
- It won’t take the place of classic cornbread, but it’s worth trying, for sure!
so many ways to make cornbread…
- Hatch Chile Cornbread
- Perfect Cornbread Recipe
- Cornbread Muffin Mix Bake-Off!
- Pumpkin Cornbread
- The Best Maple Cornbread
- Sweet Vidalia Onion Cornbread
- Honey Jalapeรฑo Cornbread
Boston Market Style Cornbread
Equipment
- high sided 9×13 pan
Ingredients
Note: if you use different mixes than I did, use the ingredients listed for your products.
- 15 ounce boxed cornbread mix
- 15 ounce boxed vanilla cake mix
- 4 large eggs
- 2/3 cup mild vegetable oil
- 2/3 cup buttermilk, or regular milk
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F Lightly spray a 9×13 pan and line with parchment paper for easy removal (this is optional.) Note: it's important that your pan has at least 2 inch sides so it can accomodate the large amount of batter.
- Put both mixes into an extra large bowl (I use my stand mixer, but you don't have to) and whisk to combine well.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until well combined, but don't over mix. Small lumps are fine.
- Turn the batter into your prepared pan.
- Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without wet batter on it…moist crumbs are fine.
- Enjoy warm or at room temperature, but don't slice the cornbread before you're ready to serve or it can dry out.
Notes
- Make each boxed mix with the required ingredients. Mine are listed above, but yours may differ.
- My cornbread mix called for milk and I used buttermilk for extra flavor.
- Depending on the mixes you chose, you’ll get slightly different results.
- If you want to make a half recipe, use an 8.5 ounce box of Jiffy cornbread mix and an 8.5 ounce box of Jiffy yellow cake mix, and bake in a 9×9 inch pan.
This cornbread recipe is quick and easy because it uses boxed mixes. It bakes up high and sweet and looks great. But because of the vanilla cake mix it has a strong imitation vanilla taste that I didn’t care for in a cornbread recipe. Maybe a yellow cake mix would be a better choice.
Hi, is there anything I could substitute the cornmeal mix with such as polenta? Donโt think we can get it in the UK. Thanks.
P.S. love your recipes by the way. ??
Thank you! There was a cornbread recipe back in the ’80’s that my sister wouldn’t share and I know it had a box of Jiffy and a box of cake but never what the rest of the ingredients where (didn’t have the web back then). It was so good back then and this looks just as good! Now, I need to find the hot chili honey rabbit hole :-).
Have a great day, Sue!
So…I fell down the rabbit hole. I always do on your site??. I think I’ll make the pumpkin cornbread for Thanksgiving. My question is can I make the hot chili honey with fresh Jalapeรฑos from the garden? I’m happy to pick up a small bag of the dried one from the market if you think that would be better. Thank you for all your tested recipes.
You could use fresh peppers, but it won’t keep very well, so plan to use it soon after making. I love the idea of pairing the pumpkin cornbread with hot pepper honey, yum!
If we halved the recipe would we use only 2 eggs?
Yes.