How to make Crispy, Lacy, Fried Cornbread - Old-fashioned southern style recipe. Easy & delicious!

Crispy, lacy cornbread is so easy to make. You don't even need a precise recipe. You just need to understand the principles of how it's made. You're using regular corn meal, salt, and water. If you like sweet cornbread, you can also add sugar. Some people call this hot water cornbread, but we never bothered with using hot water to make this. It turns out the same with room temperature water.
The main thing to remember is make a batter that you like the taste of and then thin it out to make a crispy cornbread. The thicker the batter, the thicker (and chewier) your cornbread will be. The thinner the batter, the crisper and thinner the cornbread will be.
Learn how to make eastern NC style collards and cornmeal dumplings here: • How to Make Collards &...
More traditional, old-fashioned, southern recipes: • How to Make Collards &...

[@PWL1371]

I don't have to make this to tell you it's absolutely delicious. I was raised in the eastern part of North Carolina around Columbus and Brunswick County. This was the only corn bread we ate. My grandmother use used lard to cook it. Anytime you were there she always had it on the stove. Thank you for taking the time to make this video.

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

Amen to that! This is good eatin! Thank you so much for watching and taking time to comment, my fellow eastern North Carolinian!

[@barrywarren8623]

I can’t wait to try this it looks just like way my mother made it. Pitt County resident 💙

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

My family is originally from the Vanceboro area! I'll bet we're cousins. 😁

[@martynichols32]

Love crispy Lacey cornbread especially with greens, I'm from N.W. Florida. Mom & Dad were raised on farms. Have to fry regular cornbread for my sister, her preference.

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

It is some good stuff, and you’re right, especially with greens! 😃

[@thevictorianedge5465]

I have a few jars of my homegrown collards left from last year and this corn bread will be SOOOOO GOOD with it. Thank you again.

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

You're welcome!

[@thevictorianedge5465]

I saw this come up and thought YES!! I have been trying to mimic what I had earlier in life and have failed. And yes I had to go see where you are from and by George I'm from SE NC too!!!!!!! This had to be a cornbread thing around our parts. I used to love eating this. Thank you so much for this video.

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

You are most welcome! This kind of cornbread is SO GOOD! And you can make it so many ways once you learn the principles of it. Thank you for watching and taking time to comment! 😃

[@thevictorianedge5465]

I just bought a gallon bag of fresh ground corn meal from a farmer's stand this year. From Bladenboro area. I want to try using that in this recipe.

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

Oh, I'm sure that will be delicious! Another amazing way to make cornbread is to coat the bottom of your skillet with oil or lard and then mix up some thicker cornmeal batter, salted however you want, then spread that in the bottom of the skillet and bake until it's done and crispy. That will get you the thin baked cornbread with crispy edges like you see at some of the old BBQ joints - like Skylight Inn in Winterville. I'll have to do a video of that too.

[@breais]

Thank you for this!! My grandma used to cook this all of the time and it was my favorite with some collard greens. I’ve decided to cook it today with a meal while my mama is at work, and this really helped!

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

I'm glad you liked the recipe! Thanks for watching and taking time to comment!

[@digvijayparmar8349]

❤❤❤❤😂😂 things from Charlotte North Carolina happy 2024 and happy 2025 it's almost September Christmas will be in few more days and Merry Christmas to you all❤❤❤

[@cusebaby10]

I'm from New England and was looking for some Southern recipes. I have never heard of these before. They look and sound delicious! I definitely want to try making them. Thank you so much for sharing! Cheers! 🤗😘

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

I hope you enjoy these! We love them!

[@Godslittlegem]

Martin County, NC gal here. Thank you for the video! I grew up with my grandma making these and when I recently got married I asked her to explain how she made the mix and I just couldn’t get the grasp of it. I am so happy to find a nice visual on what the corn mix is supposed to look like! ❤😊

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

Aww! Martin County isn't too far north of where my people are from in the Vanceboro area. This is the best kind of cornbread and I'm glad my video helps you get that visual for how your grandmama made them. I hope you enjoy them!

[@Godslittlegem]

@@OldTimeKnowledge I definitely will! I moved to Michigan a few years ago so I have been craving her cornbread and her text messages just don't help. I wish I was close enough to home I could've just popped in and had her show me. She is gonna be really proud when I make them and show her I can do it!

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

She is going to be proud of you! She'll love knowing you're carrying on that tradition!@@Godslittlegem

[@cindyduncan7980]

Girl! I've never heard of lacy cornbread but this looks amazing!!

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

You should totally make some of this! It is crispy and so good - and it’s gluten-free!!! 😃

[@cindyduncan7980]

@@OldTimeKnowledge - I'm no longer on a gluten free diet but yeah - I need to try it!

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

@@cindyduncan7980 I didn’t know you were off the GF diet! That’s great because there are so many things with gluten that are so delicious!😋 If you make cornbread like this, remember this is not self rising cornmeal and just get your batter to a taste that you like and they will turn out great!

[@flowerpower2079]

Thanks for mentioning sugar. I'm from Texas and I was raised on sweet cornbred, so that's how I prefer it. Definitely need to try this recipe. Thank you for posting it.

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

Thank you for watching and taking time to comment! I like cornbread all different kinds of ways. Sometimes sweet sometimes not. Just depends on what I’m in the mood for.

[@Survivin2Thrivin]

Thanks for sharing this! I was @ Collard Valley Cooks channel & some of her commenters mentioned this Lacy Cornbread Fritters so I searched on KZbin & here you are. Directions are clear, concise & to the point. Appreciate it! Will try this & May God bless you

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

I’m glad you found this me. Thank you so much for taking time to watch and leave a comment. I hope you enjoy the recipe.

[@greg-nelsonlambert-vaca2446]

Ya you make it the right way, the other vid's I have seen they add all kinda things, the only thing different that I do is my batter is about half of the 2 kinds that you did and I make with hot water. I learned from my grandmother and my aunt in eastern North Carolina.

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

This is the best way! We have some good eatin’ around here in eastern North Carolina!

[@bobpugh6364]

Just ordered some corn flour, but I tried it with some stone ground yellow cornmeal and it was good, so I can't wait to try again with the corn flour like you used in this video.

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

I always use corn meal, but you can either use fine ground or medium ground.

[@sharonmckee2403]

Thanks for showing this

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

Thanks for watching and taking time to comment!

[@kennethunderwood1439]

just made this, but added some chicken bouillon for flavor, and a little more salt, my kids and I loved it a lot

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

I'm glad you enjoyed these! Never had them with chicken flavoring but I'm sure they're delicious! Thanks for watching and taking time to comment!

[@SomebodysGrandmother]

Nice, Thank you! I will make these soon!

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

I hope you enjoy them! 😃

[@dianestuckey9277]

I'm trying these

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

I hope you love them as much as we do!

[@pcsunbum]

You are brave pouring water over a pan full of hot grease. Might want to mix on the counter

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

Thank you for your concern

[@CarolAshley-c8c]

How high is your flame? What kind of oil are you using. I made these beauties and they were very good!

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

I usually start it between medium and medium high to get the oil good and hot, but I will turn it back if I need to. I hope you enjoy making these!

[@CarolynEichlet]

❤ Some People Call It Pore Mans Cornbread I Love It

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

We love this too! :) Thank you so much for watching and for taking the time to comment!

[@Dog_Pound]

That’s very similar to the way we do it down in South Alabama and Columbus Georgia But we just pan fry it we’re not deep fry it in the pan Cornmeal salt and pepper and water of course is all we used Cooked in a iron skillet with Crisco

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

I can’t remember the last time I bought Crisco. I sure have seen them fried that way though! 😁

[@miltandsandyslifeexperienc6174]

Can you or do you ever mix buttermilk with it instead of water?

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

I’ve never done that before and I’ve never known anyone to do that before with this particular type of cornbread. I think it would make a very different flavor end result. You can certainly try it though and see if you like it! Let me know if you do. 🙂

[@deborahjeffries3915]

Medium heat?

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

Thereabout, or a little above that. I think you'll just have to judge the heat coming from your own burners. You want the oil very hot, but not so hot that these burn as soon as they go in the pan.

[@donnacasey9641]

I would try starting off at 6/7 on electric and see how fast it starts browning on your 1st side in oil, then back down or slowly raise heat.

[@barrywarren8623]

I wished you had made mention were the position of the heat was so I can do the same as you.

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

Hmm... it can vary. I normally get the oil started at medium high but if it seems like it's cooking them too quick, I will back off on the heat.

[@jw77019]

Use a thermometer and keep oil between 350 and 365. If you don’t have basic adult living skills you may not want to deal with something as dangerous as frying.

[@alicefinn9222]

Is it gluten free

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

I don't think corn meal has gluten, so I would think it is gluten free assuming you buy pure corn meal and not the kind that has flour mixed in.

[@marystephens9150]

I don’t have a cast iron skillet, do you need one for this recipe?

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

No, you really don't need a cast iron skillet. Any frying pan will do as long as it's deep enough to hold some oil.

[@Oppenheimer1968]

Fried cornbread in Robeson County among the Native Americans.

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

Cornbread, grits, cornmeal dumplings, all kinds of delicious things made from corn that we love here in eastern NC

[@marystephens9150]

I tried this tonight and mine started ok then spread out and broke into hundreds of pea sized pieces. What’d I do wrong?

[@OldTimeKnowledge]

Hmm... if I had to guess, I'd think maybe your batter was either a little too runny, or it's possible you started trying to move the pieces of cornbread before they had really cooked on one side. You need to make sure your oil is good and hot before you start to fry these and then wait until they're pretty done on one side before gently flipping them over from the bottom.