Corn

Our 40 Best Corn Recipes of All Time

August  1, 2019
Photo by Rocky Luten

The best corn is butter-colored, honey-sweet, and as snappy and juicy as a cucumber. Unlike so much produce, which is readily available year round, corn is difficult to find outside of spring and summer. Which we’ll take. That makes us crave it all the more. Here are 40 recipes we want to make every corn season—including some cornmeal favorites we couldn’t bear to leave out.


Creamed

1. Angel Corn

This recipe can be made with fresh corn (hi, summer suppers) or frozen corn (hello, winter holidays). Ritz crackers make for an extra buttery, extra crunchy crust.

2. New-Fashioned Corn Pudding

Lots of corn pudding recipes lean hard on the sugar, but this one skips it altogether. Instead, there are savory ingredients like cheddar cheese, tangy buttermilk, and a shake of hot sauce.

3. Creamless Creamed Corn

Yep, no cream here. The Genius substitute is corn milk, that sweet starch that seeps out of corn kernels.


Soup

4. Corn Soup With Tofu Larb

Make corn stock. Blend that with sautéed corn, onion, and ginger. Meet your new go-to soup, ready for all the toppings.

5. Corn & Pistachio Soup

Corn, whole milk, and pistachios yield a lush, creamy soup. Serve it chilled, with pistachios and chives sprinkled on top.

6. 10-Minute Egg Drop Soup

“My maternal grandmother and her friends developed this recipe after migrating to America with the intention of reproducing Eastern flavors with Western ingredients,” writes Yih-Jen Ku. “Since then, it has been passed on to my mother and now to me.” And now to you.

7. Crab & Corn Chowder

Clams, step aside. Crab and corn are here. Old Bay, smoked paprika, and Worcestershire sauce keep this chowder ultra-savory.


Salad

8. Sriracha & Lime Corn Salad

Quickly sautéed corn and bell pepper, with a big squeeze of Sriracha and a handful of crumbled Cotija. Aspires to be served with grilled chicken.

9. Grilled Romaine With Corn & Creamy Anchovy-Garlic Dressing

Romaine has never felt so special. First, it gets charred and glazed with balsamic butter. Next, covered in warm corn and showered in a pow-pow anchovy-garlic dressing.

10. Tomato Salad With Grilled Corn, Feta & Hazelnuts

This is our test kitchen director Josh Cohen’s go-to salad during tomato season. Sweet corn, salty feta, and crunchy hazelnuts make it shine.

11. Tomato Salad With Corn, Summer Squash & Roasted Onions

And this is our co-founder Merrill Stubbs’s go-to salad during tomato season. Roasted onions and a smidge of honey bring out the corn’s natural sweetness.

12. Grilled Corn & Barley Salad With Tomato Vinaigrette

Corn salad becomes a meal in its own right, thanks to hearty barley and beans. Don’t hesitate to make extra tomato vinaigrette; it’s good on just about every other summer salad, too.


Skillet

13. One-Pot Corn, Tomato & Quinoa Pilaf

Inspired by the community-favorite Kale & Quinoa Pilaf, this recipe is a one-pot wonder.

14. Corn Fritters With Cheddar & Scallions

Fresh corn kernels, bound together with grated cheddar, and fried until golden-brown and crispy. What else do you need to know?

15. Sautéed Corn, Green Onions & Shiitakes

A foolproof side for grilled anything. Feel free to play around with the type of mushroom, or even swap in something else, like bacon.

16. Sweet Corn Polenta With Eggplant Sauce

Classic polenta is made with cornmeal. Yotam Ottolenghi’s version uses fresh corn instead, plus some crumbled feta for funky, salty creaminess.


Pasta

17. Linguine With Red Pesto & Corn

This red pesto starts with tomatoes and calls in fresh herbs, almonds, garlic, and olive oil. It’s a tried-and-true friend to sweet corn.

18. Pasta With Tomatoes, Corn, Squash & Ricotta

Here’s a no-fail formula: Toss hot pasta with seasonal produce and dollop creamy ricotta on top. This version features corn, summer squash, and tomatoes.

19. Elote Rigatoni

Inspired by Mexican street corn, this pasta includes chile-mayo, lime juice, cilantro, and enough charred corn for a whole ear per person (or more!).

20. Pasta With Corn, Slow-Cooked Tomatoes & Garlic Confit

You can make both the slow-cooked tomatoes and garlic confit in advance. Which means you can whip up this dish on a whim and act all, “Oh, this? It was no big deal.”

21. Summer Weekend Pasta

Bacon makes most things better, but especially corn, summer squash, and pasta. We love how the ear-shaped orecchiette hold the kernels of corn.


Meat

22. Skillet Chicken With Corn & Miso Butter

This whole dish comes together in one pan, but that’s not the best part: It’s the miso buttery lacquer on the chicken.

23. Corn Stew With Chicken & Sausage

A summery take on stew. Chicken thighs and andouille sausage make it rich and satisfying, while the corn, tomato, and basil keep it bright-eyed.

24. Corn Dogs

All of these things are a good idea: Skewer a hot dog on a stick. Make a buttermilk-cornmeal batter. Dip the hot dog in that batter. Deep fry it. Eat it. Don’t skimp on the ketchup.


Fish

25. Corn Husk–Smoked Salmon With Grilled Corn Salsa

Bonus points for using corn multiple ways. The husks turn into smoke (wow!) to flavor the salmon on the grill. And the kernels become a zippy salsa with ginger, jalapeño, and basil.

26. Jalapeño-Corn Soup With Grilled Scallops

Make a big batch of this soup and enjoy it all week long. For lunch, it’s great with bread or tortillas for dunking. And for dinner, it turns into a meal with some briny, crusty scallops on top.

27. Tuna With Warm Squash, Corn & Potato Salad

If you’ve never poached tuna before, our co-founder Amanda Hesser will show you the light. Here, it lives on top of a summer corn and potato salad.


Cornbread & Corn on Bread

28. Corn Muffins

A classic corn muffin with just enough sugar, lots of sour cream, and a few spoonfuls of bacon fat (yes, you can sub in melted butter if you want).

29. Double Corn, Quinoa & Cheddar Muffins

Cornmeal and quinoa flour team up in these cheesy muffins. If you’d rather not turn on your oven, you can grill the corn instead of roasting it.

30. Corn Cakes With Green Chile, Cheese & Lime Crema

A stack of these makes an A+ brunch or breakfast-for-dinner. For a lighter lime crema, feel free to use Greek yogurt instead.

31. Cheddar & Black Pepper Cornbread

Instead of getting melted, the butter here gets incorporated while cold, sort of like a biscuit or scone. The result is an extra fluffy crumb.

32. Cracklin’ Cornbread

Sean Brock’s classic Southern cornbread has no wheat flour and no sugar. A hot cast-iron skillet gives it that glorious crust.

33. Grilled Corn & Ranch Pizzas

Grilled corn, fresh basil, and an unshy amount of ranch dressing equals your new favorite pizza? Yes.


Condiments

34. Pickled Corn

The pickle you never knew you needed. Sprinkle on a Caesar salad, or potato salad, or a cheeseburger, or a taco.

35. Corn Ketchup

Repeat after me: Ketchup doesn’t need to be made with tomatoes. Sweet corn is ready to step up to the plate, with coconut milk to back it up.


Dessert

36. Corn Semifreddo

Corn semifreddo is a whoa dessert all on its own. But this recipe overachieves with a quick blueberry compote and rosemary shortbread.

37. Corn Ice Cream

Buttermilk, vanilla extract, and a big pinch of salt will turn you into a corn ice cream convert. Caramel sauce on top: highly recommended.

38. Corn Cream

A corn-infused cream to whisk into a cloud and plop on shortcakes of all kinds, especially tart blackberries.

39. Corn Cake

Cornbread is already round, so why not stack it up like a layer cake and frost it with vanilla buttercream? Should we? Of course.

40. Blueberry, Poppy Seed & Cornmeal Buckle

A berry-dense cornmeal cake, polka-dotted with plenty of poppy seeds. Serve with thick yogurt, crème fraîche, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

What’s your favorite corn recipe? Tell us in the comments!
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Emma was the food editor at Food52. She created the award-winning column, Big Little Recipes, and turned it into a cookbook in 2021. These days, she's a senior editor at Bon Appétit, leading digital cooking coverage. Say hello on Instagram at @emmalaperruque.

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