Fresh Fried Corn (Shucking, Silking, Cooking, and Freezing)
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
An easy but nonetheless scrumptious Southern side dish, learn how to make buttery fresh fried corn from start to finish.
Lay out a table with every dish imaginable, absolutely everything under the sun, and if there is fresh fried corn on that table, you’ll know where to find me.
There is nothing in this world like the flavor of fresh corn, shucked and cut off the cob and cooked up in a skillet. No matter how hard companies may try (and I do appreciate their efforts), no frozen corn kernels or canned corn can even come close. The taste is night and day, as if it were two different vegetables entirely.
When we were little, shucking corn was a family affair. Mama would put a few buckets on the front porch and we’d each get our own brush and then everyone would set to work. We’d shuck a few bushels (at least) and she’d set to cutting it off the cob and cooking it up for everyone. I remember being able to have all the corn we wanted at dinner but it seems now that I’m grown and have my own family, I can never have such bounty. No matter how much I make, we always want more.
Today I’m going to talk you through how I make my fresh fried corn recipe from start to finish. We’re going to shuck them together and cook them together. It’s a Southern Plate family affair! My Southern fried corn is so simple but so good. All you need is margarine, salt and pepper, and a skillet. I’ve included some serving suggestions below because this side dish goes perfectly with so many Southern dishes.
Alright, grab your corn on a cob and let’s go!
Recipe Ingredients
- Fresh corn
- A stiff brush (a dish brush works fine)
- Margarine or unsalted butter
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Bacon grease
- Water
How to Make Fresh Fried Corn
Shucking the corn
First, peel back the husks on your ear of corn.
Like so.
Remove what silks you can with your hand.
Then take hold of all of the husks at the base and…
Break it off.
If kids are watching, you should make a big GRRR sound when you do this and act like you are straining really hard. It will impress them, honest.
Here is our almost ready ear of corn. There are a few silks left on it that we need to get at though.
Silking the corn
If you take your stiff brush and just brush against the directions of the silks, that should do the trick. You may have to grab a few and pull them off.
If a few end up in your corn, the world won’t end. In fact, you won’t really notice because once you taste this, I doubt you’ll find time to draw breath again until you are done devouring as much as you can possibly fit onto your plate. But maybe that’s just me. 🙂
Here is our corn. It wants to be cooked. It wants us to eat it. And it wants to make us happy.
Good corn.
I am using eight ears and it was enough for four of us to have generous helpings. However, I could have used 16 ears and we would have eaten all of that, too. I know I keep going on and on about that but I’m stressing a point here.
Did I mention how much I love fresh fried corn?
Cut away the corn
Take each ear and stand it up like so. Run your knife blade down the side to cut the kernels off.
HOWEVER, you don’t want to cut them off right at the ear, you want to leave a bit of the kernel bottom on the ear for the scrapings. The scrapings are what is going to give our fried corn its body. So basically, try to cut about 3/4 of the kernel off but leave the rest.
Mama likes to place her ear of corn in the center of an angel food cake pan and then cut the kernels off and scrape it. The center of the pan helps hold the ear and the kernels and scrapings fall right into the pan below. I would do this if I ever actually used an angel food cake pan enough that I didn’t have to go hunt it down when I wanted to shuck corn. Angel food pan = tube pan.
Kernels cut off, ready to scrape!
See how all of the little holes in the cob are filled? In the next picture, you’ll know what I’m talking about better.
Take the blade of your knife and scrape down the corn cob. See how the holes are empty now?
We’ve gotten all of that good pulp out of there.
If you have stuff all over your hands as I do, you’ve done well!
Here is our corn all ready to go!
I know this smells good but you don’t want to eat it now. This is due to reasons that I do not feel the need to document on a food blog. Trust me on this.
Cook
Corn
First.
Cooking the fresh fried corn
Now, in a large skillet, put about two tablespoons of butter or margarine and a tablespoon or so of bacon drippings.
Add your corn and about a 1/2 cup of water.
How much water you end up needing is really dependent on your corn. Some corn will be starchier and need more, some corn will be thin and actually need thickening. For my corn here, I actually ended up needing a cup of water. If your corn ends up looking a little thin, you can stir in a tablespoon of corn starch or flour in with two or three tablespoons of water (mix it up pretty well) and then add that to your corn.
Salt and pepper to taste.
This is always a very personal thing. I am using about 1/2 tsp of pepper but if you prefer more peppery corn, by all means, add more!
I added about 1/2 tsp of salt too. These are good starting points but most people add more.
In general, if you are preparing a meal for guests you should always under-season and then allow them to season their food to their personal taste.
Bring that to a bit of a boil and then lower the temperature of the stove eye to allow it to just simmer.
Stir it often and cook for about 30 minutes.
Yum, YUM, YUM!!
I could just dive into a vat of this, I swear.
Storage
- Store the cooked corn leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Quickly reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
- If you want to freeze for later, just cook about halfway through and then cool and place in freezer bags or containers and label. Thaw when ready to use and cook for half an hour just as described above. It will last up to 8 months in the freezer.
Recipe Notes
- Here are some variations on this fresh fried corn recipe:
- Add 1/2 a yellow onion (finely chopped) and 1/2 a bell pepper (finely chopped) to the skillet 2 minutes before you add the corn.
- For heat, add a finely chopped jalapeno or chipotle pepper. Another option is to sprinkle the dish with a dash of cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper flakes.
- For added flavor, sprinkle your corn with some Cajun or Creole seasoning (I love Tony Chachere’s).
- Before serving, sprinkle with freshly chopped parsley, basil, green onion, or chives.
- For extra sweetness, add a spoonful of granulated sugar (adjust according to taste).
- Enhance the bacon flavor and add cooked and crumbled bacon bits to your skillet fried corn.
Recipe FAQs
What do you serve with fresh fried corn?
This is a versatile Southern side dish, so you can serve it with so many main meals:
- Burgers (check out my meatloaf burgers).
- Pulled pork
- Pork chops with velvet cream sauce
- Southern fried chicken
- Grilled chicken tenders
- Crockpot beef ribs
- Southern fried catfish
Can you use frozen corn or canned corn instead?
While this recipe definitely tastes best with fresh corn, you can use frozen corn or canned corn if you’re in a pinch. Just make sure it’s thawed, well-drained, and patted dry before adding it to the skillet. You may also need to adjust seasonings according to taste.
You may also want to check out these corn recipes:
Superfast Corn Succotash Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 fresh ears of corn
- margarine or unsalted butter
- salt and pepper
- water
- bacon grease
Instructions
- Shuck and remove silks from the corn. Cut kernels off the cob with a sharp knife, leaving about 1/4 of the kernel. Scrape cobs clean with the blade of the knife.8 fresh ears of corn
- Place about 3 tablespoons of butter and a tablespoon or so of bacon grease in a skillet. Add corn and corn pulp. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add 1/2 cup of water (more if needed).margarine or unsalted butter, salt and pepper, water, bacon grease
- Bring to a slight boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to simmer and continue cooking and stirring for about 30 minutes.
- If you are wanting to freeze for later, just cook about halfway through and then cool and place in freezer bags or containers and label. Thaw when ready to use and cook for half an hour just as described above.
Nutrition
Delicious! I love fried corn, it was one of my favourites as a kid. I just love how it’s so sweet.
Me too!! Oh I can’t WAIT for you to come to the states!
Oh my goodness, it’s really only about another 4.5 months! I can’t believe it. Time flies.
Corn sure does look good. That dinner Ann mentioned with the fried corn, biscuits and tomatoes would send my daddy into pure bliss.
When Dad would grow corn out on our little farm, Shucking the corn always freaked me out. There was something about that corn silk that just sent shivers up my spine. Got over it though.
We had a Piggly Wiggly next to the church. We’d always call it “The Pig”. It was replaced and renamed for 20 years but we still call it that.
Oh yeah.. I almost forgot.. I got a new lawnmower for my birthday.. Woohoooo!
Happppppppy Birthday, BillGent!!! What kind of cake did you have?
BILL!! YOUR BIRTHDAY????????????????????
WHEN WAS IT?? DID WE MISS IT????
uh oh…
~goes to look for a few green switches~
Yes.. it was missed. It was on the 12th. I waited.. then cried, but just a little. I wasn’t going to let this tragedy send me back to be a whimpering drunkard in the crawl space hugging my Winnie the Poo plush animal like I used to..
Tis ok now.. I’m strong YES! I’M STRONG! I will survive.. and..and.. You are forgiven.. sorta..
I’m new to this site but I already love it. I’m a Texan and this is the kind of stuff we eat here also. I’m in southeast Texas and our family get togethers revolve around food!
Hey Debbie!!
Welcome to Southern Plate!!!! I do hope you find some things you like here, it sure is great to have you!!!!
I was in Texas once and loved it. We all have the same accent!!!
People there are nice as they come!
Gratefully,
Christy
Oh, I love fresh corn! Our corn always seems to blow over in a summer thunderstorm just when it’s tassling and it never fully recovers. I don’t know if it’s that the soil is loose, that the garden isn’t sheltered well enough from wind, or if we just have bad luck with corn. But we usually salvage enough to throw a few of our own ears on the grill with chicken or burgers. Mmmm … it’s so, so good.
My brother caters at big festivals and such and he sells grilled corn on the cob. Folks pull back the shucks, pour squirt butter all over it, salt it, and walk around moaning in delight!
I hope your corn has better luck this year!!!
Gratefully,
Christy
ever tried keeping the husks and putting it in the microwave?? WOW!! it “steams” the corn and it is very juicy!! corn silks just fall away from the cob! just have some butter close by when you take it out of the microwave and a little salt…ma o man!! I never have corn on the corn any other way these days!!
The best corn on the cob ever.
I’m sure you will be able to tell that I am not from the south by this comment, so I will tell you now that I am in the north. Every year I freeze 100 quart bags of corn. If you ask people in the north, they will tell you to parboil the corn while on the cob,plunge it in ice water, then cut it off to freeze. I have questioned this many times, since trying to cut corn off a hot cob, is not a fun process. (The cobs stay hot for a long time, even in ice water.) I cannot wait to try it your way! Not only does it sound wonderful, the thought of not burning my fingers is delightful! Corn season is July and August, so I have a while to wait, but I will let you know how it turns out. Thank you for sharing the secrets of the south!
I am SO GLAD you posted this!! I had no idea and I find it fascinating to know how others cook it!
That is similar to how I put up tomatoes but I imagine corn would taste entirely different put up that way (not different from tomatoes, that is a given. I mean different from the way we put it up – gah, need more coffee so I can make sense!)
So glad you posted this!!!
Thank you!
Gratefully,
Christy
My Momma fixes her corn this way and it is FANTASTIC. I didn’t know folks really ate the stuff in the can by itself. We just used it in recipes. My husband must have been dropped on his head as a child because he doesn’t really like corn but when I get a craving for it, I have some that I helped Momma put up last year in the freezer that I cook for myself. I am so glad you are educating folks on how to cook corn this way so that I don’t seem like the country bumpkin! Love your site!
Hey Jennifer! If you’re a country bumpkin, come on around and put yer feet up on my porch! I’ll be filling tea glasses soon for our big old bumpkin get together!
I reckon bumpkin’s are as good a folks as any, but a might better than some! ~laughs~
Thank you for reading!
Gratefully,
Christy
My step-dad always called them eyes too. He said it was a South thing. The first time I heard him call them that was when he called maintenance to fix the “eye” on the stove. The repairman had no idea what my dad was talking about!
Hey Heather, I never knew until today that all people did not call them “eyes”. Since moving to northeast Pennsylvania, I am STILL trying to remember to call “buggy’s” a “shopping cart” and “tennis shoes” are called “sneakers” here. People looked at me like I had three heads whenever I spoke in the first year…. toooo funny.
~pushes ahead of everyone to give Terri a hug~
in SW PA we say buggy’s and tennis shoes… haha we also say yinz though. haha
back on topic: reading the post I was like what’s the brush for. haha we’ve never used a brush to get the silk off the corn, most of it has come off pretty easy and sticks to your clothes and everything else. haha But I still enjoy shucking corn. haha
Hey Amanda…what is “yinz” and what kind of ointment do ya’ll put on it?
also..is your SW Pa right up against Maryland state line or something (as locals here are stunned & silent at any buggy/tennis shoe references)?
Christy….I NEEDED that hug!! Thanks gobs. Gotta go buy some corn.
haha our yinz is like your ya’ll.
we’re a good 60 miles or so from Maryland. I can’t tell you why we say what we say how we say it. haha say that ten times fast. :p All I know is my parents called them a buggy and tennis shoes and so do I.
The yinz thing had me, too! I was out shopping with Miss Katy and I read that comment and it was all I could do not to dart into a dressing room so I could log on and ask!
Thanks for the cultural lesson!!!
Gratefully,
Christy
Another Southernism that baffles the Yankees is that every fizzy beverage is a “Coke” no matter what brand or flavor it is.
Amen! When we go out to eat, I’ll say I want a “Coke”, then they say, “Will Pepsi be all right?” I pause a second and say okay (I thought it was all the same):\ Can’t get used to “Pop” or “Soda”. I was born and raised in Indiana but my parents are from Kentucky.
Yeah…they just overcomplicate things.
Carbonated beverage- Coke!~!
My favorite coke is diet dr pepper.
~grins~
I really don’t see whats so hard to understand about it! 🙂
We always called them soft drinks – no matter what kind, if you ordered a “coke”, it was a “co-cola”