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!
Just went to the store to get and came home to make it for dinner. I had fresh basil and it is so good.
Well, my dad was the y0ungest of a family of 14 children. They were farmers and used horses to farm so they were used to putting on big spreads. Most of their foods being homegrown esp meats. We only had 3 kids but being a hard working farmer we continued having big meals. We lived in the North so mostly started with potatoes and then decided what to serve with them. Now I cook for my grandkids and their parents so that is 6 total. Somehow this generation thinks it is fine to be very picky about what they eat. Not sure how that happened but it is not only in my household. I usually make more than one side to provide everyone with something they will eat. The kids always want some form of noodles and that is just not good for me to live on so I push a couple of vegetable sides. Greens when possible. I also love beans and my dinL refuses to eat those at all. Compromise.
On the rainbows, I have a grown daughter who was diagnosed 4 yrs ago with bipolar disorder. She tends to be on the depressed side. Altho with medication she is stable her life is a struggle and she is always worrying about money. Usually she calls me at bedtime very low and I try very hard to get her to see the positive and get a laugh or two out of her. I don’t like her to be so dependent on me but she is doing much better and working almost full time so I am hopeful. Just yesterday I gave her your speech about joy being a choice and telling her the story of your little grey donkey. Perfect for her since she always loved Eeyore the epitome of depression. I agree with you and try very hard to be positive and choose joy! I live for the day when my daughter can do this consistently and I don’t need to hear a litenany of depressing things right before I go to sleep. Keep up the good work!
Your Mama is so smart! I love basil and have been using it in my green beans for years. Never thought about corn though. Think I will try it.
I used to have to cook for 8 people in my household, and now it is just me–it presents quite a challenge.
I used to have an upright freezer then which at nearly all times had about 40 or 50 pounds of ground beef, about 30 pounds of chicken and 20 or so pounds of pork chops and a couple of roasts.
I still bought that way even after everyone was gone. Then when I had to throw most of the meat away because of freezer burn, I gave the freezer to my brother and started buying in MUCH smaller quantities.
Life goes full circle.
Anyway, even though I have to cook in much smaller quantities, I will make this for myself, and definitely will add it to the Sunday Dinner menu when the kids are at home.
Have a beautiful day!
Good Morning Mz Christy!! I’ll take a pair of your glasses as long as you accept a pair of mine, LOL. I love reading your posts, always a great way to start my days for sure! Thats one reason I love your book so much, so many great stories that I think of it as a book not a cook book, LOL. I have lived all over the States, (long story for later), I have been blessed to live in many beautiful homes, (not so beautiful on the outside but so warm and comfy on the inside). Now I am truly blessed to be sharing a home with my Mom, my best friend and our 4 dogs!! We hope to be able to buy a home in the next year, we talk all the time about my dream kitchen, but when it comes down to it.. having my own kitchen will be a dream come true!! Plus a must have is a garden area!! Love my flowers and I have a bit of a green thumb so tomatoes and all the other veggies I can put in will be on our dinner plates for sure!!!! Thanks for all that you do!!!!! (((HUGS)))) <3
Morning dear Christy…you are a blessing! What a wonderful post (as usual)!! Thank you for the reminder to put on those rainbow colored glasses and take a good look in our mirrors! I declare..please compile your, what I call,”Christy’s soap box isms” into a book! So up lifting!
I am bountifully blessed and as always…Bountiful Blessings to you! Love you!
I have been blessed by your post so much this morning .And might I add what a lovely Spring morning it is!!! You are so right how we invision the “grass being greener” in someone elses yard and really we all still have the same weeds. But even those weeds have a beauty. It’s so wonderful to have a great cook, and even though I’ve never met you, a friend in you! And I love you too!
Christy, I just made the basil corn and as soon as I tasted it, it broght back memories of eating it at my grandmother’s house. I never knew this was how she made her corn. I just knew I loved it! Thank you!