Sweet and Buttery Basil Corn
This Basil Corn is my favorite way to turn a “nothing in the pantry” kind of night into a side you’ll wanna have with every meal. It’s a 15-minute wonder you can whip up right quick that takes a plain old bag of frozen corn and smothers it in a rich, herb-infused butter sauce that’s thickened just enough to stick to your ribs!
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- ✅ Recipe Name: Sweet and Buttery Basil Corn
- 🕐 Ready In: 15 minutes
- 👥 Serves: 6
- 🥣 Main Ingredients: Frozen corn, Butter or margarine, Dried basil, Corn starch, Salt, Sugar
- ⭐ Why You'll Love It: This Basil Corn is my favorite way to turn a "nothing in the pantry" kind of night into a side you’ll wanna have with every meal. It’s a 15-minute wonder!
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Garden-Fresh Flavor Without the Garden Work
I’ve spent plenty of summers shucking ears of corn until my thumbs were sore, and while nothing beats fresh sweet corn off the cob, life doesn’t always give us the time for that. This basil corn recipe is my little secret for getting that “farmer’s market” taste using a bag from the freezer!
Most folks think of Italian recipes or a complex pesto recipe when they hear basil, but when you add it to sweet corn with a pinch of sugar, it creates a savory-sweet profile fine as frog’s hair! It’s buttery, it’s aromatic, and it’s a great recipe when you need a side dish that’s more than veggies in a bowl.
I’m very much a corn gal, so it feels like my duty to let you know about my Easy Creamed Corn, Summer Corn Salad, and Baked Corn on the Cob With Herb Butter recipes!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Frozen corn
- Butter or margarine
- Dried basil
- Corn starch
- Salt
- Sugar
Tips for the Perfect Basil Corn
- Don’t Overcook: When you bring the corn to a boil, remove it from the heat immediately. You want the corn to be tender-crisp, not mushy!
- The Whisk is Your Friend: When you heat butter and cornstarch in your sauce pot, keep it moving. You’re essentially making a quick herb-filled roux, and you want it to be bubbly and smooth before it hits the corn.
- Fresh vs. Dried: This recipe calls for dried basil because it stands up well to the heat of the butter sauce. However, if you have fresh basil in your garden, you can stir in some thin strips (chiffonade) of basil leaves right before serving for a bright pop of green.
- Check the Grocery Stores: If you can’t find frozen corn, drained canned corn works too! Just skip the boiling step and go straight to the sauce!
How to Make Basil Corn
1. Prep the Corn
Pour your frozen corn into a large pot and cover it with water. Set it over medium-high heat. As soon as that water hits a rolling boil, take the pot off the stove. Drain the corn thoroughly in a colander.
2. Make the Basil Butter Sauce
In a separate small sauce pot over medium heat, add your stick of butter, cornstarch, salt, sugar, and dried basil.
3. Simmer and Blend
Stir the mixture constantly as the butter melts. You’re looking for it to become well-blended and just start to get “bubbly.” This ensures the cornstarch is activated so your sauce will be silky, not watery.
4. Toss and Coat
Pour that warm, fragrant basil mixture over your drained corn. Give it a good stir until every kernel is glistening.
5. Season and Serve
Taste a spoonful (carefully!). If it needs a little kick, a crack of black pepper or a tiny pinch of pepper adds a nice depth.
Serve it warm!
Storing and Reheating
This corn is easy as pie to store. Put any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, I recommend putting it back in a small pan over medium heat with a tiny splash of water or milk to loosen the sauce back up. A quick zap in the microwave works too, but the stovetop keeps that “buttery-smooth” texture best.
Serving Ideas
Basil corn plays just as well with a fancy holiday spread as it does with a paper plate. I love serving it alongside Butter Roasted Chicken or Maple Glazed Pork Chops, but it’s also the perfect “something green” (well, herby green!) to tuck next to Southern Dressing With Cornbread and Homemade Mashed Potatoes With Evaporated Milk come Thanksgiving.
If you’re heading to a cookout, try it with a Smoked Burger Recipe or some Crock Pot Pulled Pork, and if you’re just looking for a well-rounded plate, you can’t go wrong pairing it with Easy Roasted Potatoes or Grilled Asparagus.
Ingredients
- 28 ounces frozen corn
- 1 stick 1/2 cup butter or margarine
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Pour corn in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and remove from heat immediately, draining the corn well.
- In a sauce pot, place the stick of butter, corn starch, salt, sugar, and basil.
- Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the butter is completely melted and the mixture is well blended and bubbly.
- Pour the mixture over the corn and stir to coat well. Serve warm!
I was also raised to fix more than one side dish with a meal. My mama said you had to have a meat, green veggie and a starch. For years my family endured my attempts at fixin a balanced meal while being a working mom. Canned veggies are just not appealing to little boys (or grown men).
For dinner last night we had meatloaf and boiled new potatoes in butter. I asked my husband if I should open a can of green beans and he said, “Why?” Everyone ate and they were happy! That’s all a mother can ask for!
I can’t wait to try the Basil Corn. I bought two basil plants and thought, “What am I going to do with all that basil?” Now I have something new to try!
Hey Christy, I have a question?? Can you just warm the corn up in microwave with out all the water and then just put the good stuff on it? OR wait new thought how abouts just cookin it all in same pot I don’t cook/boil my frozen corn. I normally (who said I was normal ~grin~) just add butter & crn to micro safe dish an hear er up Think it might work this way? Let me know a.s.a.p. I have corn in freezer and need to be fixin supper soon before church tonight.
Thanks
Mel
That’ll sure work! long as you give your corn long enough to cook. I’d do the butter sauce in a separate dish on a different cycle though, so you can get it good and hot and get that cornstarch dissolved in it. You may end up with lumpy sauce otherwise. You could, of course, cook your butter sauce first, then add your corn and cook it. Maybe thaw it beforehand to cut down on cooking time in the sauce. Just a thought! You’re brilliant, btw.
I was raised in a home where mother put one meat (usually red meat), at least one green veggie and one starch on our plate every dinner. If the garden was in high production, we ate plates of whatever was fresh from that garden, too. Daddy’s tomatoes were GIGANTIC and in the height of the season he brought in 5 gallon buckets every day for weeks!
Now I try to put out this kind of plate for my family of 4 every night.
One thing that helps us not to waste food is I bought a good stack of those plastic containers that have compartments. When dinner is over, I make lunches for my hubby and myself with the leftovers. The trick here is to call them ‘planned-overs’; sounds better that way.
Enjoyed your thoughts today. I have found that when I compare what others have to what I have is when I tend to get unhappy. There will always be folks with more this, prettier that, faster cars and bigger houses. Everything I have I came by with good, honest work. I inherited little more than my mother’s three-legged Jack Russell terrier (her last joke on me!) and I am proud of my accomplishments and my mistakes-they make me who I am.
Christy…thank you for the reminder…somedays we all need those and today was mine..Basil corn sounds so good I will try it tomorrow. I am a newcomer to your site and I have so enjoyed it. I have passed it on to everyone I know. Thank you for giving me the joy of cooking!!!
Hi Christy,
So I am sitting here working at my computer, smelling baby back ribs baking… and instead of thinking about work, all I can think about are side dishes. And then magically, your email appeared!
This sounds wonderful!
Tracie
Christy, one of my son’s best friends mother was not much on cooking when he was coming up. He’s had supper at our house many times over the years. When I first “adopted” him, he sat in the kitchen and watched me cook one night. After we ate, he came in the kitchen again. He said, “you didn’t do anything fancy, just sort of threw things together, right, mom?” I laughed and said, “pretty much. I learned how to cook from scratch from my momma.” He said, jokingly, “what is this scratch, and where do you buy it so I can buy a LOT for my mom.”
Although they don’t always tell us when they’re younguns, the things we do for ours gets noticed, and appreciated. Just like we appreciate you sharing your heart and life with us!
Hugs from Dallas-
Mama Jane
Christy,
You are so right! I recently had the revelation that if I romanticized my marriage in the same way I enjoy novels, or hearing others’ love stories, then I have a much deeper appreciation for my husband and our life together. After all, it is our own little romance!!
Thanks for sharing. You verbalized so well what I have been experiencing!
Nikki