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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Brings back summer memories
This is awesome family loved it !!
Thank you for this recipe I can see and appreciate that we’re on the same page because this is how I make my fried corn but I do crumble up the bacon that I use to get the bacon grease into the corn too as well…..
Going to try this sounds like the one I use to make back in 1980s it was very good
This is truly the closest recipe to my mom’s. She always used flour because of how much butter she usef, and the milk that came from the corn and cob. Just love this sweet addictive stiff!!
Fried corn is infinitely better starting with Field Corn (Dent Corn), which has no sweetness, but can only be found fresh about two weeks each year — early June here in Texas with dates moving later as you go north.
How many cups of corn should the 12 ears yield? You stated tht frozen corn could be used in a pinch….how many cups?
About 3/4 a cup of corn kernels on each ear
Excellent recipe
This recipe was quick and easy. I use regular flour too. I used to also as a green pepper for flavoring. Jasz My dad used to make it when I was a girl and it felt like it took forever but this was quick and and children are it up! Thanks for sharing.
Don’t forget the color of the tuft of silks sticking out of the top of the corn. The darker the silks the sweeter the corn!
Thank you never knew that. I used frozen corn or can. Just made frozen corn have not made any fried corn in years . Still delicious