The cream corn deserves better. This recipe proves it.

ahsan65@gmail.comJuly 9, 2025

0 0 4 minutes read

The cream corn deserves better. This recipe proves it.

Why it works

“Melly” Make “extracts the best flavor of sweet summer corn in fresh summer while adding starch for a silky feeling.
A mixture of thick cream and sure that the richness and flavor is balanced.
The red pepper and the fresh parsley add color for a particularly festive side, evoking a famous “dive” from the Midwest.

I have a proposal, and the purists will not like it: it’s time to put the cream back in corn in cream.

Yes, it is true that the cans of “cream corn” of Gloppy on the shelf of the grocery store are without dairy products, just containing corn and its effluence (and often, added sugar). “Creathed” is a texture, not a list of ingredients.

And there is elegance to this simplicity! Long before the canned corn made its way to the shelves of the grocery store, indigenous cooks made a version with just corn and “corn milk” – this sweet and starchy suspension of grains and pulverized corn juice.

But increasing this corn milk with a little cream can give luxury to the dish, creating a velvety sauce that clings to each core of corn. You may be tempted to shed light on procedures with whole milk or half and a half, but I do not recommend this path – the result will look less like corn in cream and more to corn in a bowl of milk. Instead, I use an equal amount of thick cream and sure cream to make sure that each nucleus is coated with a silky starchy liquid that completes natural sugars of corn and starchs with a little acid punch.

Serious eats / Lorena Masso

From there, the dish is infinitely customizable – you can add alliums such as onions, garlic or green onions, cheese and all the fresh herbs you like. But for this recipe, I look at my inheritance from Iowa (it’s a corn recipe, after all), and suggesting that you adopt the flavors of a classic Midwest Party dip. You heard me: Party Corn.

If you go to a tailgate or a potluck in Iowa, there is a good chance that you will meet “Party Dip”, a flea dip made from sure cream that the Midwest Dairy Anderson-Erickson has sold since the 1960s.

You may naturally wonder: “What does a party look like?” And the answer, at least according to the ingredients of the container, is like arrows of onion, red pepper and parsley.

The flavor profile is a natural adjustment for corn – finely chopped red pepper calls for cabbage mackerel (a classic dish of Louisiana of corn and peppers) while the other ingredients – onion with anchorage, a little cayenne, an optional msg – at the buttock case without crushing the sweetness of fresh summer corn.

Whether you have corn in its own right or not, I highly recommend blitz at least a mixture cup in a mixer or with an immersion mixer to finish. Do not do too much – a few pulses will do the trick. You are looking for a suspension of crushed grains that will add texture and a last explosion of starch and sugar on the flat. This step is particularly important if you use frozen corn and you are missing corn milk.

The final touch is a strong pinch of chopped flat parsley, which adds a festive color and accidental freshness. There is a time and a place for simplicity. But this moment and this place are not summer in Iowa, where fresh sweet corn is a bad grass and a “party” is a flavor. This is your invitation to join.

The cream corn deserves better. This recipe proves it.

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2 tablespoons (28 g)) uncommon butter
1/2 AVERAGE yellow onion (4 ounces; 110 g), chopped
1/2 AVERAGE red pepper (3 ounces; 85 g), chopped
2 AVERAGE podsax
1 teaspoon Crystal Diamond Salt Casher; For table salt, use half as much in volume
1/2 teaspoon freshly black pepper
3/4 teaspoon Msg (optional)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
3/4 cup (175 ml)) thick cream
3/4 cup (175 ml)) sour cream
4-5 ears fresh cornswarming 18 ounces (496 g) frozen corn grains (see notes)
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsleyfinely chopped

On a large cutting board, hold each corn ep for vertical position and use a sharp knife to slice the cob grains using your favorite method. Do not worry about cutting each last piece of cob corn during your first pass, but you can get closer without meeting a lot of resistance. Transfer to an average bowl.

Serious eats / Lorena Masso
By working with a cob at a time, plunged on the bowl with corn grains, pass the back of your knife firmly on the surface of the cob to extract the “corn milk” – all the remaining juice or particles – directly in the bowl. All together, you should have about 1 book of grains and milk.
In a Dutch oven or a large sauce, heat the butter over medium-high heat until it is melted. Add the onions and red pepper and cook, stirring from time to time, until the peppers are soft and the onions are starting to become translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cayenne and black pepper and cook until they are flavored, about 30 seconds.

Serious eats / Lorena Masso
Add the thick cream, sure cream, corn, salt and MSG (if you use) and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the flavors have merged and the corn is tender and heated, 8 to 12 minutes. If the mixture starts to boil, lower the heat until the cream boils on the edges.

Serious eats / Lorena Masso
Transfer a cup of corn mixture by having a mixer (or a mixer jar, if you use an immersion mixer) and an impulse until the mixture is in the shape of a porridge but not completely smooth, 10 to 12 pulses. Go back to the pot and stir to incorporate. Season with salt and pepper to taste, if necessary.

Serious eats / Lorena Masso
Halan, add the parsley and stir well to incorporate before serving.

Serious eats / Lorena Masso

Special equipment

Dutch oven or large saucepan, traditional mixer or immersion mixer

Notes

Fresh sweet corn begins to lose his sugars as soon as he is chosen. For the best flavor, do it the day you buy the corn – and if you can’t, store your sweet corn in the refrigerator.