• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Mary's Nest

  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Recipes and Videos
  • Shopping Guide
  • About
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

How to Make Hot Water Cornbread – Depression Era Recipe

Learn Depression Era Cooking techniques to save money and make good use of pantry staples and food storage.

July 1, 2020 By Mary's Nest 2 Comments

How to Make Hot Water Cornbread – Depression Era Recipe

Watch the How to Make Hot Water Cornbread – Depression Era Recipe video

Learn how to make Hot Water Cornbread with this Depression Era Recipe. Learning the techniques of Depression Era Cooking saves you money and makes good use of your pantry staples and food storage.

*Affiliates note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. My videos and blog posts may contain affiliate links to products and services. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission. It does not affect the price you pay.

Get Printable Recipe
View Favorite Supplies

Sweet or Savory Cornbread?

When I first moved to Texas, I was surprised by the cornbread that was served here. Being a Yankee from New York 😉 , I was used to eating a sweetly flavored cake with a light texture. But the first time I tried cornbread in Texas, it was a dense, savory bread with corn kernels. And it had jalapeños in it too! What a surprise that was!

Hot Water Cornbread

In addition to both the sweet and savory cornbreads, there is a third type of cornbread called Hot Water Cornbread. This recipe’s origin goes far back in history to the native people of the Americas, and it has had a lasting impact throughout history. Thanks to the recipe’s simple list of common and affordable ingredients, many home cooks prepared Hot Water Cornbread during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

A Variety of Preparations

If you talk to home cooks throughout the southern United States, each one will have their own unique recipe for Hot Water Cornbread. Some cooks will add a bit of sugar, while others will add a bit of flour—or sometimes both. Some will use self-rising cornmeal, while others will add a pinch of baking powder to their plain cornmeal.

And then there is the most simple of all recipes, which is a mixture of cornmeal, salt, lard, and of course…hot water! That’s what I share with you in my recipe video and printable recipe.

But whatever variation you use to make this cornbread, it will be a tasty treat that is tender on the inside and crunchy on the outside with a rich corn flavor. Eat the plain cornbread right out of the frying pan, or add a dollop of butter, jam, or maple syrup.

Watch Related Videos

Now that you know how to make Hot Water Cornbread, try your hand at more easy meals that use other pantry staples that most of us always have on hand.

  • Chicken Tortilla Soup – Ready in 10 Minutes! – Pantry Challenge
  • Homemade Stuffed Shells Recipe with 1-Minute Tomato Sauce
  • How to Make Salmon Patties – Quick and Easy Salmon Cakes Recipe
  • Best Sardines Recipe – A Delicious Way to Prepare Canned Sardines

If you would like to try a whole grain sweet cornbread, be sure to try my favorite skillet version. It’s foolproof and doubles the nutrition by using whole grains!

Cornbread Skillet Recipe Video
  • Cornbread Skillet Recipe – Whole Grain Sweet Buttermilk Cornbread

And if you’re looking for ways to reuse and regrow your kitchen scraps for future meals, watch the videos below to help you create a recurring harvest. Regrowing scraps provides you with fresh and nutritious ingredients for your modern-day or Depression Era recipes.

  • 10 Vegetables You Can Regrow from Kitchen Scraps to Create a Recurring Harvest
  • Planting a Kitchen Garden – Kitchen Scraps Garden Tour

Stay in Touch with Mary’s Nest

  1. Subscribe to My YouTube Channel for Traditional Foods Videos (Free) - When you subscribe, be sure to click on the notification bell that will let you know each time I upload a new video.

  2. Subscribe to Mary’s Traditional Foods Newsletter (Free) - Get a free eBook for signing up: How to Stock Your Essential Traditional Foods Four-Corners Pantry.

  3. Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy (Optional Paid) - For more detailed videos, live streams, and exclusive members-only perks, join my YouTube membership community.

I look forward to having you join me in my Texas Hill Country Kitchen!

Love,
Mary ♥
Print Recipe

Hot Water Cornbread – Depression Era Recipe

Learn how to make this simple cornbread that makes great use of your pantry staples and food storage.
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time30 mins
Total Time35 mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Americana
Keyword: Cornbread, Hot Water Cornbread, How Water Cornbread Cakes
Servings: 6 servings
Author: Mary’s Nest

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Cornmeal For variations, see Recipe Notes below.
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 2 tablespoons Lard
  • 2 cups Boiling water
  • Additional lard for frying

Instructions

  • To a large bowl, add cornmeal and salt and mix well.
  • To the cornmeal and salt mixture, add the lard and 1 1/2 cups of boiling water. Mix well until the cornmeal is fully saturated.
  • To create a loose "pancake" batter, slowly add the remaining water to the mixture until you obtain the desired texture.
  • Heat approximately 2 tablespoons of lard in a non-stick frying pan on medium heat. Once the fat is melted and sizzling, but not smoking, using a 1/4 cup measure pour 4 dollops ("pancakes") of the batter into the hot melted lard and fry each "pancake" for approximately 5 minutes on each side.
  • Once fried, transfer each "pancake" to a paper towel-lined plate.
  • Continue to fry all the batter in 1/4 cup dollops, adding additional lard to the frying pan as necessary, until you finish all the batter.
  • Serve warm plain or topped with butter, jam, or maple syrup. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

If you want to use Self-Rising Cornmeal, but do not have any, you can make it by taking 1 cup of cornmeal and to it add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and a 1/2 tsp salt. Mix well.
If you are using plain cornmeal and also want to add baking powder to the original recipe, you will 3 teaspoons of baking powder. 
If you want to add additional ingredients to the basic Hot Water Cornbread above, you can also add up to 2 tablespoons of sugar and up to 1/4 cup of all purpose flour. If you are using plain cornmeal and also want to add baking powder to the original recipe, you will need to add 3 teaspoons of baking powder. 
You can find this recipe and accompanying video at https://marysnest.com/how-to-make-hot-water-cornbread/
Copyright © 2020 Mary’s Nest, LLC, All Rights Reserved

Shop for items used in this blog post or video

Favorite Cooking Supplies

  • Glass Bowl Set
  • Scanpan
  • Cornmeal
  • Lard
  • Sea Salt

Amazon Shop and Shopping Guide

  • Visit Mary’s Nest Amazon Shop
  • Visit my Shopping Guide page
    Learn where I buy my beef bones, electric grain mills, sprouted grains, and more…and get special discounts for Mary’s Nest visitors, including from US Wellness Meats, Mockmill, Masontops, and Cultures for Health.

Recommended Reading

The books in this section help you learn more about cooking economically using pantry staples, food from your long-term storage, and your garden harvest.

Depression Era Cookbooks:

  • Clara’s Kitchen: Wisdom, Memories, and Recipes from the Great Depression
  • Depression Era Recipes
  • Hard Times Cookbook with Back to Basics Great Depression Cooking

️Vintage Recipes Series:

  • Old-Time Farmhouse Cooking: Rural America Recipes & Farm Lore
  • Secrets of the Great Old-Timey Cooks: Historic Recipes, Lore & Wisdom
  • The Lost Art of Pie Making Made Easy
  • Log Cabin Cooking: Pioneer Recipes & Food Lore
  • Aunt Barb’s Bread Book
  • A Garden Supper Tonight: A year of farm-fresh recipes from a vintage kitchen

Nourishing Traditions Series:

  • Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and Diet Dictocrats
  • Nourishing Broth: An Old-Fashioned Remedy for the Modern World
  • Nourishing Diets: How Paleo, Ancestral and Traditional Peoples Really Ate
  • Nourishing Fats: Why We Need Animal Fats for Health and Happiness

**Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor, a medical professional, a dietician, or a nutritionist. All content found on the MarysNest.com website, including text, images, videos, eBooks or eGuides, social media, or other formats, were created solely for informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or proper nutritional advice. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have watched in a video or read on this website. Use caution when following the recipe in this video. The creator and publisher of this video and website will not be held responsible for any adverse effects that may arise from the use of this recipe and method or any other recipe and method on this website or corresponding video channel.

Filed Under: Cornbread, Depression Era Recipes, Hot Water Cornbread, Hot Water Cornbread Tagged With: Cornbread, Depression Era Recipes, Hot Water Cornbread, Hot Water Cornbread Recipe

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lgriff says

    October 27, 2020 at 7:11 pm

    Delicious! I make mine with chicken or beef both in place of water ! Wow, so good served as Mary described! Thank you Mary for your great recipe.

    Reply
    • Mary's Nest says

      November 27, 2020 at 8:15 am

      Hi Lgriff,

      Thanks so much for your kind words. Great idea to use broth instead of water. I’m so glad you enjoyed the cornbread!

      Love and God bless,
      Mary

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Hi, I’m Mary

Mary's Nest with Beef Bone Broth Jar
...And I'm so glad you're here.

Do you want to be a Modern Pioneer in the Kitchen and be part of the Traditional Foods Movement? If so, you’ve found a home!

I'll show you how to create Traditional "Nutrient Dense" Foods, including Bone Broths, Cultured Dairy, Ferments, Sourdough Bread and More!

  • New to Traditional Foods?
  • Blog and videos
  • Shopping Guide and Discount Codes

Kitchen Academy

Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy
  • Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy for exclusive videos and live streams

Search

Recent Posts

  • How to Fight Rising Grocery Prices with New Foods
  • Master Recipe for How to Make a Medicinal Herbal Soup
  • Why You Need to Stock Up On these Top 15 Foods NOW for Your Prepper Pantry!
  • How to Make the Best Home Remedy for Colds and Flu
  • Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy 2023 Member Update

Archives

Categories

Amazon Links

Mary's Nest Shop
  • Mary's Nest Amazon Shop - Great ideas for:
    • • Bone Broth
    • • Kitchen Tools
    • • Cookbooks
    • • Baking Supplies
    • • Canning Items
    • • Food Preservation
    • • Self-Sufficiency
    • ...and more!

Food Links

Mockmill
  • Get 5% off your Mockmill purchase

US Wellness Meats
  • US Wellness Meats - Get bones for Beef Broth and more!
    (Note: Use promocode MARYNEST to save 15% off regular-priced items on your US Wellness Meats order.)

Let’s Socialize!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Footer

Mary's Nest Cooking School logo

Mary’s Nest

  • Home
  • Start Here
  • Recipes and Videos
  • Shopping Guide
  • About
  • Contact

Search

  • Privacy Policy

Subscribe to Mary’s Newsletter

Privacy policy

Copyright © 2023 · Mary's Nest, LLC, All Rights Reserved · Log in