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My Corn Pudding is soft, silky, light, and crowd-pleasing. This recipe has no cornbread mix or flour, making it perfect for a gluten-free side dish.
Want more yummy sides packed with flavor? Try these: Homemade Cranberry Sauce, 5-minute Turkey Gravy, Southern Green Beans, Garlic Mash Potatoes, Southern Baked Mac and Cheese, Collard Greens, and Black-Eyed Peas.
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Now one main thing you will realize that's missing from my recipe for corn pudding is creamed corn and canned corn.
I'm not a fan of creamed corn; it's too watery and never cooks right.
I despise creamed corn because it reminds me of slop that you feed to pigs. Plus, as a kid, my dad made this creamed corn stew that makes me nauseous in my stomach as I type this.
The creamed corn stew wasn't horrible. It just reminded me of a pig pin.
With that being said, I made a faux creamed corn by blending the majority of the ingredient in the food blender and stirred in some heavy cream at the end. The final results are a buttery, creamy corn pudding that would make your grandmamma proud.
Corn Pudding Key Ingredients:
To make this remarkable corn pudding, you will need the following key ingredients:
Frozen Sweet Corn
Using frozen sweet corn grantees, we have the freshest corn year-round. Be sure to thaw 24 hours before making the corn pudding.
Eggs
If the word pudding is in the title, eggs are in the recipe. Eggs will give our corn pudding light and fluffy texture.
Baking Powder
Not common, but the baking powder will help our crust brown and give our corn pudding a better overall texture.
Masa Flour
I love using masa flour. It has a superior corn flavor compared to cornmeal. It is readily available in the supermarket either masa flour can be found near the flour or Latin section.
Buttermilk
Most corn pudding recipes use sour cream to add a tang to the recipe. I love buttermilk tang, so we're going to use that instead of sour cream or crema.
Heavy Cream
Adding heavy cream to a corn pudding is the second untraditional ingredient, but we have to use it since we're not using canned cream corn. The heavy cream gives the final dish body creaminess and a lovely texture.
Corn Pudding Ingredients
If you're going to make an outstanding corn pudding, you need the right ingredients.
- Frozen corn
- Onion
- Eggs
- Buttermilk
- Raw cane sugar
- Baking powder
- Masa flour
- Savory Cajun Seasoning
- Black pepper
- Cayenne
- Unsalted butter
- Heavy cream
I do not use a muffin mix or jiffy cornbread mix in my corn pudding recipe. We are making corn pudding, not cornbread. A proper corn pudding only has a small amount of flour or starch to give the pudding texture.
How To Make Southern Corn Pudding
Corn pudding is easy to make, and here's what you'll need to make this excellent corn pudding.
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350°F. Turn on the heat to medium high. In a large cast iron skillet, add 6 tablespoons of butter, once melted add the corn, onions, bell pepper and celery, cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until vegetables are translucent.
Step 2: In a small bowl combine sugar, savory seasoning, salt, black pepper, and cayenne. Season corn with seasoning mix half way through cooking and at the very end.
Step 3: Transfer half of the vegetables to a food blender with the eggs, buttermilk, baking powder, and masa flour in a food blender. Pulse 10 times until it resembles creamed corn. In large bowl combine pureed corn and remaining corn.
Step 4: Pour corn mix into a 9 x 13 buttered casserole dish. Stir in heavy cream and bake for 50-55 minutes, until corn pudding, is golden brown, with a slight wiggle. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.
How To Store Corn Pudding
The corn pudding can be made 24 hours in advance and baked the next day. Corn pudding doesn't freeze well. I recommend placing any leftover in an airtight container in the fridge for 5 days. You can reheat it in a 350°F oven for 8-10 minutes.
Corn Pudding Mix-Ins:
If you're looking for a way to add your personal touch to this recipe. Here are some ingredients you can mix in your corn pudding:
- Bacon (turkey, pork, beef)
- Cheddar Cheese
- Gouda Cheese
- Cotija Cheese
- Green Chilies
- Jalapenos
- Rotel (drain before adding in)
- Red Bell Peppers
- Garlic
- Cajun Seasoning
- Green Onions/Scallions
- Cilantro
Corn Pudding Recipe Tips & Tricks:
Here are some of my top substitutions, tips and tricks to help you make this dish:
- Using a food blender gives the recipe a similar texture that resembles canned cream corn.
- Cooking the corn first adds flavor and helps break down the starch in corn. This creates a better flavor and digestion.
- Have fun and add some jalapenos and cheddar to make a jalapeno and cheddar corn pudding.
- If you don't have masa flour, you can swap all-purpose flour or cornmeal.
- Feel free to swap out the raw cane sugar for agave, honey, or maple syrup.
- If you don't have raw cane sugar, you can swap it out for granulated sugar.
- You cannot swap out baking soda for baking powder. Using baking soda will give your corn pudding a non-pleasing texture because baking soda needs an acid (lemon juice or vinegar) to activate it.
- You can use ½ cup sour cream, whole milk, or milk of choice to swap for buttermilk.
- Feel free to swap 1 ½ teaspoons of Cajun seasoning for Savory Cajun Seasoning. Savory seasoning is low in sodium, so I use it more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about corn pudding:
Corn pudding is a custard corn casserole that differs from a classic corn casserole. It usually includes whole kernel corn, canned cream corn, butter, sour cream, and flour mixed and baked in a baking dish. It can be served savory, sweet, cold or hot.
In short, the difference between these corn casseroles is technique and temperature.All of them are classified as corn casserole and top holiday side dishes. They use the same ingredients, baked in a casserole dish in the oven. Here's the difference between them.
Corn pudding uses minimal flour/starch to thicken the mixture. It's a custard-based recipe. Typically you use less flour (cornbread mix) to bake at 350 degrees to keep the eggs from overcooking (curdling). Corn puddings use between 4-6 large eggs.
Corn casserole is a cornbread base dish that uses jiffy or another muffin mix to give the dish that tastes like wet cornbread. Typically corn casserole is baked at 400 degrees. You can bake this one at a high temperature because of the cornbread base. Corn casserole use between 2-3 large eggs.
Corn soufflé is an egg white based recipe that relies on the eggs whites being whipped to a stiff peak and folded in the corn mixture. You bake the soufflé at the same temperature as the corn pudding. And use the same amount of eggs as the corn casserole. In short, the difference between these corn casseroles is technique and temperature.
Corn is high in fiber which helps lower cholesterol levels and fight obesity. Corn also contains niacin, thiamine, vitamin B6, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, and manganese.
Masa flour is cornmeal which is coarsely ground corn kernels that have been soaked in slaked lime. Masa has more corn flavor than cornmeal and finds its use in an assortment of cornbread’s, tortillas, tamales, and corn pudding recipes.
In a one-pound bag of frozen corn, there are about 7 to 8 cups of corn kernels. One ear of corn equals 1 cup of corn kernels. For this corn pudding recipe, you would need 16 ears to equal two pounds of frozen corn.
Corn pudding pairs well with recipes such as grilled pork chops, pecan-crusted catfish, and broiled salmon.
More Delicious Corn Recipes
- Moist Southern Cornbread
- Sweet Potato Cornbread
- Charred Mexican Corn Pizza
- Smoked Gouda Corn Grits
- Vegan Corn Mushroom Bisque
Corn Pudding is the perfect side dish, and I'm not just saying that because it has my name in it. It pairs well with a wide variety of Thanksgiving dishes like turkey, green beans, or sweet potatoes.
But you can also serve this creamy corn pudding as a main course for Friendsgiving – either on its own or topped with bacon, chives, and sour cream. You can even whip it up ahead of time to take it to your next potluck, where they will be sure to please all palates!
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📖 Recipe
Corn Pudding
Ingredients
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 tbsp. softened
- 2 lbs. thawed frozen corn
- ½ medium onion chopped medium
- ½ green bell pepper chopped medium
- 2 celery stalk chopped medium
- 4 tablespoons raw cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon Savory Cajun Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne
- 5 large eggs
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ cup masa flour
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Turn on the heat to medium high. In a large cast iron skillet, add 6 tablespoons of butter, once melted add the corn, onions, bell pepper and celery, cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until vegetables are translucent.
- In a small bowl combine sugar, savory seasoning, salt, black pepper, and cayenne. Season corn with seasoning mix half way through cooking and at the very end.
- Transfer half of the vegetables to a food blender with the eggs, buttermilk, baking powder, and masa flour in a food blender. Pulse 10 times until it resembles creamed corn. In large bowl combine pureed corn and remaining corn.
- Pour corn mix into a 9 x 13 buttered casserole dish. Stir in heavy cream and bake for 50-55 minutes, until corn pudding, is golden brown, with a slight wiggle. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.
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