This Creamed Corn recipe has tender sweet corn coated in a creamy sauce topped with golden Parmesan cheese. It’s a classic holiday side dish.
Creamed corn was one of my dad’s favorites when I was growing up. This homemade version is often served at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter but can be used for a weeknight dinner as well.
What This Post Includes
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Once you realize how easy it is to make cream corn, you’ll never buy canned cream corn again! This creamy corn recipe comes together in minutes with simple ingredients and is the perfect side dish for so many things. Plus, you can add whatever seasoning you prefer and can even make it cheesy if you want.
Creamed Corn Ingredients
With only a few simple ingredients, you can make homemade creamed corn that everyone will love! This rich, creamy side dish will become a must-have at holiday dinners.
- Butter: You’ll use the butter to make a roux for the cream sauce.
- Flour: We used all-purpose flour in an equal amount to the butter.
- Milk: The whole milk helps thin the roux.
- Heavy Cream: The heavy cream adds fat and creaminess to the sauce.
- Sugar: We added granulated sugar to sweeten the creamed corn.
- Salt: A little salt adds a lot of flavor. Each person can season their serving with additional salt if needed.
- Pepper: We chose white pepper because it doesn’t show up as much, but black pepper could be used as well.
- Onion Powder: We also added a little onion powder for extra flavor.
- Corn: This recipe calls for two packages of frozen corn. But you can also use fresh corn cut from the cob or drained canned corn.
- Cheese: We topped the creamy corn with Parmesan cheese to add flavor. You can skip the cheese if you prefer.
How To Make Creamed Corn
To make creamed corn, you start by making the cream sauce, add the corn, and end with toasting the cheese under the broiler.
Cream Sauce: Melt the butter in a saucepan and whisk in the flour. Cook the flour, stirring constantly, for two minutes. Then, whisk in the milk, heavy cream, granulated sugar, salt, and white pepper. Bring them to a boil stirring constantly.
Corn: Add the thawed corn and stir to coat with the sauce. After that, continue cooking the creamed corn, stirring constantly, until it is heated through.
Broil: Transfer the corn to a casserole dish, top it with the parmesan cheese, and toast it under the broiler.
Make Ahead and Storage
Make Ahead: You can make this side dish ahead of time, cover the pan, and store it in the fridge overnight. Place it on the counter while the oven is preheating. Then, bake it in the oven at 350˚F for 20-25 minutes or until heated through.
Storage: Allow the leftovers to cool and then cover the pan or transfer the contents to an airtight container. Store in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Cream Style Corn
You can also use this recipe to make traditional cream corn which is a delicious, much-improved, homemade version of the cream style corn you get in a can from the store.
- Prepare the recipe on the stovetop as directed.
- Skip adding the parmesan, don’t put it under the broiler; simply serve it as it is.
Other Ways To Make It
There are several things you can add to make other variations of this recipe. Here are a few variations to try.
Cheesy Creamed Corn
Stir 4 ounces of softened cream cheese and 1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese into the sauce.
Mexican Style
Saute diced peppers, minced onions, and diced jalapenos in the melted butter before adding the all-purpose flour when making the sauce. Then, follow the rest of the recipe as directed.
Bacon Creamed Corn
When making the roux, use two tablespoons of butter and two tablespoons of bacon fat. Then, stir in 1/2 cup of crumbled bacon after removing the corn from the burner.
Frequently Asked Questions
Canned corn is corn kernels with water and salt. Creamed corn is corn kernels in a sweetened cream sauce.
You can add four ounces of softened cream cheese to the cream sauce mixture in this recipe.
The cream in cream corn is a sauce made of butter, flour, milk, heavy cream, salt, and pepper.
The sauce is thickened with all-purpose flour.
Cream-style corn is made by stirring sweet corn into a simple creamy sauce. It only takes a few minutes to make!
More Corn Recipes
- This Corn Casserole is also known as corn pudding.
- Classic boiled Corn on the Cob is our favorite!
- Corn Fritters are bite-sized pieces of fried dough with corn inside.
- This Bacon Fried Corn is a quick, flavorful side dish.
More Side Dishes To Make
- Broccoli Casserole is one dish everyone can agree on!
- Green Bean Casserole is a must at holiday dinners.
- Glazed Shredded Carrots go well with chicken, beef, pork, or fish.
- Serve creamy Mashed Potatoes with homemade gravy!
Creamed Corn
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper or use black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- 24 oz frozen corn, thawed two 12 oz packages
- ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Cook while stirring for 2 minutes. Whisk in the whole milk, heavy cream, sugar, salt, pepper, and onion powder until smooth. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.
- Add the corn and cook while stirring for 2-3 minutes, until the corn is hot. *see note one
- Pour into a 1 ½ quart casserole dish and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Broil for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is golden brown.
John Patterson says
We used to make a corn dish with bread ,crackers and corn but forgot how much of each ingredient