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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I’m trying this today!!! I love fried corn and so does my 10 year old daughter!!! I know it would be great because your instructions were so easy and simple to follow thanks alot!!!! Keep up the good work!!!
Creamed corn! Not country fried corn
Country fried corn , corn, scrap Cobb , bacon or country ham grease , butter ,
Salt&pepper , touch of heavy cream opt ….No water ..it’s fried corn , no sugar
it’s not sweet cream corn ! No flour …the heavy cream will thicken as will the milk scraped from the cobb.
Enjoy
This was SO amazing! Thanks for the delicious recipe!
I would like to try this using the frozen corn. How many cups should I use to replace the 12 ears of corn?
Hi Betty, you get about 3/4 cup of corn for each ear of corn based on some research I did.
The amount of water in this recipe seemed way too much. I had to cook it for quite some time to get it somewhat creamed. My corn may have been smaller though. The flavor was great. Reminded me of the same taste as corn soufflé which I love.
Thank you so much for the corn and green tomato recipe . I fixed it with the Salmon patties or Croquettes my son-in-law , daughter , husband and 4 granddaughters loved it all. I used some corn I had put up in the freezer, I was worried , but it was good there was nothing left.
Oh wonderful!!
I used the recommended amount of water, but added a bunch more time on medium high heat. Maybe 40 minutes, until the liquid reduced and started to fry onto the corn. Superb!!!
Also I added chopped carrots, onion and mild green Chiles to mine (from Arizona. 🙂
Oh that’s a wonderful idea!!!
Please omit the water. I actually made creamed corn using this recipe. It was still good but I wanted fried corn. I will use the recipe as a guide for next time.
Thanks Fay, I think it is definitely a preference thing. But I am so so glad you made it your own.
My best friend from Kentucky introduced me to Southern Fried Corn! And there is nothing like it! And I have not been the same since!
A few tips I learned from her makes it absolutely DELICIOUS!
The real secret is in how you cut the corn off the cobb to begin with (and NO! Frozen or can corn won’t do! It will NOT be the same! It must be Fresh! Still on the cobb!) When you cut the corn off the cobb you must “MILK” the cobb to get ALL the creamy white starch from the corn and the cobb! Scrape the cobb with a SHARP knife until there is nothing left but the cobb! That milk, along with the butter, the corn meal and sugar carmalize and that is what makes it heaven!
An iron skillet is a MUST! Begin with a HOT skillet! and add BACON DRIPPINGS and lots of BUTTER! (Unfortunately, no other fats will be the same, it changes the end result in terms of FLAVOR!)
Next tip: Add a some YELLOW Corn Meal to the flour mixture! (It helps the corn, butter & sugar, carmalize better as it cooks! and enhances the flavor of the corn! better than just flour alone! Flour alone, makes it more pasty.)
Add a little milk to your water, (I don’t remember using 4 cups however) stiring it in gradually, after the corn and flour/cornmeal mixture has been added to your hot bacon/butter. It should sizxle! Then turn your heat down! You must be very careful not to SCORCH this mixture, as it cooks, so make sure you keep an eye on the heat level, so make sure you DO NOT leave it! You must stir it constantly while it carmalizes. The extra time and effort will be worth the end result! One more thing: Be aware that scraping that cobb can get messy! You will have kernels flying all over the place, so do your scaping in a large bowl to catch all this. Good luck!
Way, way, way too much water. It’s more like creamed or steamed corn than fried corn.
Thanks so much for your comment. We personally like it a bit more creamed in our family.
My family also made it creamy served with fried fish …. YUM !
Love it! So glad you enjoyed it. We like it somewhat creamy as well.
Good reply Jocelyn, people just try to tell great professional cooks how to cook… By the way you are so cute.
Thank you so so much Marie!! You are too kind!
Excellent. Followed the recipe as written. Stirring with patience yielded a waterless and tasty dish. Local corn provided a crisp texture. Verge good. Thank you.