If you’ve got fresh corn lying around, you simply gotta make my mama’s Southern fried corn recipe boos. Fresh corn on the cob is shucked, scraped, and fried in a cast iron skillet with flavorful bacon drippings, sugar and a thickening liquid that makes it the most tender delish corn side dish ever. Simple, straightforward and down right fire, this fried corn recipe is a hit with anyone you serve it to boos.
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“This recipe is on point! I made it as a side dish for Sunday dinner and added fresh sliced tomatoes. A must keep recipe for future use.”
—SONYA
I learned how to make fried corn from my mama, and no one does it better if we are being frank. She would caramelize fresh corn kernels in a cast iron skillet with a little sugar, creamy butter, and bacon grease while drowning in a thickening liquid letting the corn soften and tenderize. The texture reminds me of creamed corn but with a little more Southern flair. My mama’s recipe is simple yet perfect. It lets the corn shine so you taste its wonderful flavor in every single bite.
The Lowdown of This Fried Corn
Cuisine Inspiration: Southern vibes
Primary Cooking Method: Sautéing & Simmering
Dietary Info: Can be made vegan or gluten-free with some ingredient swaps
Key Flavor: Sweet and savory with a delightful buttery richness.
Skill Level: Easy (No Sweat Fam!)
So Fresh Y’all!
Ain’t nothing like fresh corn when it is in season. It gives a burst of natural sweetness and juiciness, which enhances the overall flavor profile.
Quick and Easy
You can legit make this southern fried corn recipe in less than 30 minutes and in only one skillet. The most time you will spend will just be shucking and scraping that corn off the cob.
Beyond Versatile
You can serve this up at the cookout, weeknight easy dinner or summer Sunday supper. It goes with every dang thing.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Make this Fried Corn recipe
- Fresh corn: Fried corn tastes so dang on good when made with summer sweet corn.
- Self-rising flour: We stir this into some water to let that corn simmer up to an almost creamy texture like creamed corn.
- Sugar: We add in just a touch to increase the sweetness. You can use less if your corn is super sweet already.
- Seasoning: You gotta season that corn up boos. Salt and black pepper are all you need. Simple yet effective.
- Bacon drippings: Save your bacon fat left in the pan after cooking bacon like true Southerners do. It adds a salty, smoky, savory flavor to the corn.
- Salted butter: It gives the corn a rich, buttery flavor that’s so dang on good.
How to Make Fried Corn
What to Serve with Southern Fried Corn
- Southern Mains: I love me some fried corn served up with dishes like chicken fried steak, smothered pork chops, salmon croquettes and buttermilk fried chicken.
- Side it Up: Throw in some other bomb sides like some Mexican cornbread, fried okra, and glazed carrots.
- Summer Entertaining: Serve up this skirt steak with chimichurri, a delish baked potato salad, vinegar coleslaw and don’t forget the homemade strawberry ice cream.
Tips for Making the Best Fried Corn
- Grab Fresh Corn: Especially in the summer boos. That flavor will be poppin and you will get the best sweetness during this time of year.
- Don’t Shortcut the Flavor: The bacon grease and butter add so much richness. I highly recommend not trying to reduce it or swap it to make it healthier.
- Smooth the Flour: You want it lump-free so you don’t end up with lumps of gummy flour in the corn.
- Cast Iron Vibes: I love using my cast iron skillet to make fried corn but any will do as long as the corn has room to spread out and cook down with even heat.
Recipe Substitutions & Additions
- Vegetarian: If you need to make this vegetarian you can swap the bacon grease for more butter or your favorite oil. For Vegan, just remove that bacon grease and butter and use oil or plant-based butter.
- Gluten-Free: Swap the regular flour for your fave gluten-free flour blend. You can also use cornstarch with similar results.
- Add Garlic: Add fresh minced garlic to the pan with the melted butter and bacon grease to cook for 30-60 seconds before you add the corn. That aromatic essence just does something special boos.
- Spice it Up!: Add some chopped jalapeno or a sprinkle of cayenne pepper to add a bit of heat.
How to Store & Reheat
Transfer leftovers to an airtight container once the corn has cooled and pop in the fridge. When you want to serve it up again, return the leftover corn to a skillet with a bit of butter or bacon grease and cook over medium-high heat until reheated. You may need to adjust the consistency a bit by adding a splash of water if it seems too thick.
How long will fried corn last in the fridge?
It should last up to 3 days boos.
Can I freeze Southern fried corn?
Yep you sure can! Store them using the same method for the fridge but make sure to label with the date. Pop in the freezer for up to two months. Thaw it out in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Frequently Asked Questions
Make sure you check the kernels to ensure they are a beautiful yellow color that’s also plump. If you can’t check the kernels before grabbing it, check out the husk color. It should be bright green and fresh-looking. This will also give you a clue on that quality boos.
For the scraping, my mama does it a specific way. She starts on one side of the cob and cuts about a third of the corn off making tiny kernels then she goes in again another third of the way and finally does a last scrape all the way on the cob. Her method to the madness is she doesn’t like the kernels to be too large and she says it is juicier this way. You can totally do this or do it whichever way you like. If you like larger kernels, cut them that way. It’s totally up to you.
The closest corn to fresh is frozen corn. Since it’s frozen so soon after harvesting it usually keeps the same flavor and freshness.
If it still seems watery, keep on cooking until it has thickened up and the corn has softened. If it starts to get dry, add in a bit more water.
The flavor of fresh summer corn is undeniable. Sweet and salty with just a little crunch is all you need to hook up any dish you choose to serve this fried corn recipe with. This Southern fried corn is a testament to the beauty of simple old school cooking y’all. It for real proves that with just a few ingredients, a dish can give the wonderful flavors and vibes.
More Delicious Corn Recipes
Best Fried Corn Recipe
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Ingredients
- 12 ears fresh corn shucked
- 3 cups water room temperature
- 2 tbsp self-rising flour
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar or to taste if corn is sweet
- 2 ½ tsp salt or to taste
- ½ tsp black pepper or to taste
- 3 tbsp bacon drippings
- 2 tbsp salted butter
Instructions
- To begin, completely rinse and cut the kernels from the cobs of corn and add to a large bowl. Then add 3 cups of water.
- Next stir flour, sugar, salt and pepper into corn and water mixture. Make sure it is completely smoothly dissolved into the water.
- To a cast iron skillet, add bacon drippings and butter and heat over medium high heat. Once the butter has completely melted (make sure it doesn’t burn), pour corn mixture into hot skillet and continuously stir.
- Turn the heat down to medium. Cook approximately 12-15 minutes or until most of the water has evaporated and it has all thickened looking like creamed corn and the corn is tender and serve.
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This recipe is on point! I made it as a side dish for Sunday dinner and added fresh sliced tomatoes. A must keep recipe for future use.
Thank you so so much!
Delicious!!!
Thank you!!
Many thanks for sharing your recipe.
I have always loved fried corn, it reminds me of my Dad.
He made the best but we had a super small kitchen and so I never watched him cook.
I have a question.
When adding corn to skillet, do we add the 4 cups of water also?
Hi Frieda! Great question, yes you want to add the water in with the corn. Hope you enjoy!
My mother and I have been making this for over 70 years. I do exactly what this recipe says, except I put about two pieces of chopped up bacon in the frying pan and cook it up and leave it in the corn – – kicks it up a notch.
I love that idea! Thanks so much for sharing!
Very simple recipe, taste great
IT WAS DAMN GOOOTTT, Thank you ‼️‼️
If you save your bacon dripping whenever you cook bacon, your skillet won’t make the corn look gray. I have heard on another recipe site that cast iron can also make your corn look gray. We never used bacon grease for our corn because my Grandparents didn’t buy bacon. They raised pigs, and salt cured most of the meat and and ate some fresh then made sausage, and fried it then canned it. They didn’t have a smokehouse. But they cut and scraped the cob, and used butter and a little flour in it, plus water and cooked it on a very low flame. With biscuits it is like Heaven. My grandmother liked it in the morning with a pork chop for breakfast.
I tried this recipe it was so delicious will be cooking it again I give it 5 stars
Thanks so much, Sharon!
Fantastic!! Taste Just like my grandmothers!! Mission accomplished
Simple buy tasty recipe. Thanks for your good work!
This was delicious but mine didn’t look nearly as pretty as that. I cooked bacon in my cast iron skillet and kept 3 tablespoons of drippings but they made everything a bit brownish. Every picture I see of this dish has pretty yellow corn. How is everyone achieving this while including bacon drippings?
You can add a little water to keep the color and consistency Also turn the heat down so it doesn’t scorch or overcook the corn.