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This easy creamed corn recipe is perfectly rich, buttery, and uncomplicated to let the natural sweetness from the corn shine. It’s the best version you’ll try!
You may also like my Easy Creamy Corn Pasta and Creamy Corn Chowder next.
Why you’ll love it
Cream style corn is perfect for an anytime side dish. It’s equally great for the holidays or as a BBQ side during corn season. You can’t really go wrong with butter and cream, in my opinion. I kept sneaking bites of this classic side dish while it was cooking!
I prefer my method since it’s definitely the easiest I’ve tried. You don’t need fancy ingredients to make good creamed corn, and it adds a comforting and creamy pairing to pretty much any main course, much like my Creamed Spinach or Creamed Peas.
What you’ll need
- Butter and flour – to make a quick roux for thickening it up
- Half-and-half – for that luxurious creamy quality
- Garlic powder – it’s a little additional savory flavor boost
- Cayenne – Just a pinch gives it that extra something-something. It won’t make the dish spicy or anything!
- Corn – I use frozen since it’s ultra convenient and frozen at the peak of ripeness. If using fresh corn, I’d use 8 ears or so. If using canned corn (I prefer frozen to canned), I’d try 2 (15 fluid ounce) cans or whatever’s closest to the frozen corn amount. Be sure to drain the cans well.
Helpful tips
- The key to success with this recipe is to let the corn simmer away long enough and at a low enough heat. That gives the sauce some time to thicken up and for the corn kernels to plump up nicely.
- If you want to add even more thickness/change up the texture a bit, take about a cup of the cooked creamed corn and blend it up, then add it back to the pot. Or use a stick blender right in the pot to blend some of it up.
How to make creamed corn
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Make a roux with butter and flour in a fairly large pot. Whisk in the half-and-half and seasonings until very smooth, then add in the corn and bring it to a gentle boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has reduced to your liking and the corn is plump. Season generously with salt & pepper to bring out the flavors.
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- I used a Le Creuset Dutch oven to make this recipe.
- Use a wire whisk to make sure everything is perfectly smooth.
- This is my favorite cooking spoon for stirring it up. It won’t scratch your pans.
Substitutions and variations
- Want it spicy? Add more than a pinch of cayenne, or chop up some jalapenos and add them.
- Some recipes for creamed corn add in some extra sugar. I don’t do this. If you do like your creamed corn even sweeter, feel free to add a teaspoon or so, but I really don’t find it necessary.
- You may use heavy cream instead of half-and-half. It’ll likely thicken up faster, so you may need to adjust the heat and cooking time a bit (but this dish is best cooked low and slow, so keep that in mind).
What to serve with creamed corn
- It goes with so many weeknight mains. Try it with my Easy Baked Pork Tenderloin or Easy Baked Chicken Breast. It’s great with my Easy Meatloaf too or Garlic Butter Steak Bites. Or baked ham during the holidays!
- Cream corn is a favorite during summer BBQ season. Pair it with my Easy Grilled Pork Chops or this Crockpot BBQ Chicken.
Leftovers and storage
- Store leftover creamed corn in the fridge for a few days in a covered container.
- For reheating this recipe, reheat it on the stove on low heat, stirring occasionally, or in the microwave in 30-second increments (stir in between).
- I don’t recommend freezing it.
If you made this creamed corn recipe from scratch, please leave a star rating and review below! You can also find me on Instagram.
Easy Creamed Corn
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- Pinch cayenne pepper
- 5 cups frozen corn
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a pot over medium-high heat. Add the flour and cook it for a minute or so, stirring nearly constantly.
- Whisk in the half-and-half, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Make sure that there's no lumps.
- Stir in the corn. After about 10 minutes, it should start to bubble. Once it's bubbling, turn the heat down so it's simmering gently.
- Cook the corn for another 15-20 minutes or until the sauce has reduced and the corn is nice and plump. Keep an eye on it, and stir it occasionally.
- Add salt & pepper as needed (I'm pretty generous with the salt).
Notes
- Here in Canada I buy a (750g/26.5 oz.) bag of frozen corn for this recipe (it equals 5 cups). If using less corn, add a bit less half-and-half (this recipe is pretty forgiving!).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This recipe was originally published on February 4, 2019. It’s been updated with new photos and better instructions but is the same great recipe!
After I make this on the stove, can I keep warm in a crockpot to make room for another dishes being made on the stove? If so, what temperature?
Hi Ally! Yes that should be fine. I’d put it on the “keep warm” setting.
I took the creamed corn to a family party and everyone LOVED it!! I used fresh corn, I didn’t have half and half so used 1 cup heavy whipping cream and 1 cup milk instead. Definitely will be making it again.
Wonderful!!! 😀
This was a good quick recipe. I did add 2 tablespoons of Sugar at the end (we like our creamed corn sweet). Two thumbs up!
Thank you!!
I had an abundance of fresh corn and needed to convert ears into cream style corn for a different recipe! I weighed everything out in grams and ended up using about 4 to 5 ears for your recipe. It was delicious!! I only used about 1 cup of half and half as opposed to 2. I think because the corn was fresh it was more liquid-y. I will be using this recipe again next harvest season!!! Delicious!!
I’m so happy it was a hit!! 😀 Thanks for your review!
Haven’t tried it yet the recipe looks easy and I’m sure my husband will love it in going to cook for dinner tonight 😋
Hi Debby! Hope you two love it. Let me know how it goes!
I use this recipe to turn my abundant stash of canned corn kernels into creamed corn for fritters and it is perfect! I use 1-2x 440g cans (depending on how *corny* I want the fritters) in place of the frozen corn and use a stick blender once cooked until it is around half blitzed/half chunks.
So easy to adapt this to suit your needs.
Thanks for the recipe!
You are very welcome!
How can I make this gluten free?
Maybe use a cornstarch slurry at the end instead of the roux?
I’m in Canada a 750ml bag is just over 3 cups .. .not sure I understand your version
Hi! I physically measured it out when I was developing this recipe. It’s 750 grams, not ml. Indeed if it was liquid it would be 3 cups but it’s not liquid. The volume of corn takes up more space. Just like if it was 750g of something larger than corn like bowtie pasta, for example, it would be even more than 5 cups.
I tried making this with dinner tonight, absolutely terrible!🤢🤮🖕
What did you not like about it?