Skillet Creamed Corn
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Skillet Creamed Corn is a cream-style corn recipe that's made in less than 30 minutes in a cast iron skillet! Fresh corn kernels are mixed with butter and heavy cream in this classic southern recipe that will take you back to Grandma's house in a jiffy!
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Why You'll Love It
- Easy: fresh cream style corn made from whole kernel corn on the cob
- Great taste: amazing flavor that pairs well with all types of entrees and sides
- Resourceful: great way to use ears of corn from a summer garden
- Holiday favorite: perfect for an Easter ham or the star of your Thanksgiving table
- Make ahead: can be made in advance for busy holiday meals!
What is Creamed Corn?
To southerners, there's nothing better than cream style corn made with fresh corn on the cob. When mixed with heavy cream and blended with its own juices, it thickens without any flour to make a delicious gluten-free dish in less than 30 minutes!
You haven't tasted real southern cooking until you've eaten creamed corn out of a cast iron skillet. (ad) It's also not the holidays unless a large skillet of southern creamed corn is sizzling on the stove!
To make cast iron skillet corn, all you need are a few ears of fresh corn from the grocery store or garden. Add a few simple seasonings, and you'll create a buttery side dish with a creamy sauce that's loaded with southern-style flavor.
Skillet creamed corn tastes great with brown sugar glazed ham, macaroni and cheese and roasted broccoli. Some folks love to serve it over buttermilk biscuits! The bacon grease that's left behind in the skillet adds a ton of flavor to this perfect side dish that's a favorite old-fashioned southern recipe.
Equipment
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Ingredients
This easy recipe only requires a few ingredients that can be found in most grocery stores or markets.
Quantities are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this article.
- bacon strips, cooked and chopped
- fresh corn on the cob
- real butter
- small onion, chopped
- heavy cream
- garlic salt
- black pepper
How to Make Skillet Creamed Corn
Cook the bacon in a skillet and drain on paper towels. Let cool, then chop into small pieces. Leave 1 tablespoon of bacon grease behind in the skillet.
Shuck 4 cobs of corn and cut the corn off the cob into a large bowl with a sharp knife (yields around 4 cups). Put 2 cups of corn into a blender and pulse several times to break it up. Pour back into bowl.
In a skillet, melt a little butter over medium-low heat with the bacon grease. Saute' onion in butter for 2 minutes. Add all of the corn from the bowl to the skillet.
Pour heavy cream into skillet and stir over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until corn starts to thicken. Add garlic salt and pepper. Mix well. Sprinkle the bacon pieces on top as a garnish.
Storage and Freezing
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To reheat, simply place in the microwave in 30 second intervals until heated throughout. Or, warm on the stovetop in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
To freeze, place leftovers in an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Sometimes when adding cream and butter to a recipe, it will separate after freezing. If this happens, try adding more milk and stirring vigorously over the heat.
Variations
- Make this great side dish in a slow cooker and keep warm until ready to serve.
- Spice it up by adding cayenne pepper or diced jalapeño peppers.
- Use yellow corn for gorgeous color, or mix yellow and white corn for confetti corn.
- Add cream cheese or parmesan cheese to the corn mixture for extra creaminess.
- Use frozen corn or a canned version in the winter months, but fresh is always best and will naturally thicken better than other varieties.
What to Serve With Creamed Corn
Cream style corn is the perfect side to go with pork tenderloin and whole roasted chicken. It tastes great alongside yellow squash casserole and fall-off-the bone barbecue ribs! I like to serve it with calico baked beans, smoked meatloaf and sweet pickled onions!
My grandmother knew how to make the best creamed corn! Granny Mac always planted a huge garden, and served greasy cut-short beans, garden tomatoes and roasted potatoes with her homemade cream style corn. Gigantic cat head biscuits or cornbread rounded out the meal.
Recipe FAQs
This creamed corn recipe doesn't include any flour (or gluten), so it is definitely gluten-free. The cream style corn in a can that you buy at the grocery store might add gluten to the ingredients, so check labels carefully.
The old fashioned way of making this recipe includes creaming half of the corn, either with a knife (which is how they did it in the old days), or with a blender. The pureed corn contains has a high starch content which thickens the dish without the need for flour or cornstarch. You can also leave out the cream for a dairy free option.
Silver queen corn is a southern favorite, but you can also use whatever is fresh and in season at the farmer's market or grocery store. I like to use a mix of yellow and white, which is called bicolor.
Traditional creamed corn doesn't add any thickeners like flour or cornstarch and is generally made in a skillet with simple ingredients. Corn pudding contains eggs and usually flour or cornstarch to make it set up like a pudding.
Absolutely! Cream style corn tastes amazing when added to your favorite cornbread recipe! It makes the cornbread really moist and delicious...almost like a slice of cake.
More Southern Sides
Planning a barbecue or holiday event? Add these popular southern sides to your menu!
- Sweet Corn Casserole
- Southern Corn Pudding
- The Best Squash Casserole
- Taylor's Collard Greens
- Southern Fried Green Tomatoes
Recipe Card
Skillet Creamed Corn
*See notes in blog post for detailed tips, photos and instructions.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Cook the bacon in a skillet and drain on paper towels. Let cool, then chop into small pieces.
- Reserve 1 tablespoon of bacon grease in the skillet.
- Shuck 4 cobs of corn and cut the corn off the cob into a large bowl with a sharp knife. Yields about 4 cups.
- Place 2 cups of the corn into a blender and pulse several times to break it up. Pour pulsed corn back into the bowl with the other corn kernels.
- In a skillet, melt butter with the bacon grease over medium-low heat. Sauté onion in skillet for 2 minutes.
- Add all of the corn from the bowl to the skillet.
- Add heavy cream and stir over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until cream starts to thicken the corn (along with the juice).
- Add garlic salt and pepper. Mix well.
- Sprinkle cooked bacon pieces on top of the corn in the skillet.
- Serve hot.
Notes
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To reheat, simply place in the microwave in 30 second intervals until heated throughout. Or, warm on the stovetop in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
- To freeze, place leftovers in an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Sometimes when adding cream and butter to a recipe, it will separate after freezing. If this happens, try adding more milk and stirring vigorously over the heat.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is an auto generated estimate.
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Pinning, Pinning, Pinning!!! Creamed/fried Corn alllways reminds me of my Grandmother who passed away in 2019 at the age of 93, and is terribly missed. I also just started Following you on Pinterest! Be Blessed Debi!
Awesome! Our grandmothers really knew how to cook didn't they? 🙂 Mine loved making creamed corn.