Fried Corn

5 from 7 votes

This fast, easy fried corn recipe has just 5 ingredients. It's delicious as a side dish on its own, or thrown into all your summer salads.

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Total Time20

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 147kcal

Author: Kaitlin

Ingredients

3½ cups corn kernels (from 4 medium ears of corn)
2 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
¼ teaspoon salt (or to taste; I often just use 2 small pinches of coarse flaky salt)
¼ cup water

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

You can start with fresh or frozen corn. If using whole ears of corn, here’s my method for easily cutting corn off the cob: shuck the corn, removing all the husks and silk strands. Snap off the green “stem” at the bottom too.
Cut each ear in half crosswise. This makes it such that the kernels don’t have as far to fall and won’t scatter all over your countertop and onto the floor. With the corn positioned vertically on a flat side, use a sharp knife to cut the kernels off the cob, slicing down and around the cob until you’ve removed all the kernels. Get as close to the cob as you can without actually cutting into it. You want individual kernels, not corn “ribs.” Set aside the kernels.
Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add the butter, let it melt partially, and add the corn. Stir to coat the corn in the butter, then season with the smoked paprika, pepper, and salt. Let the corn fry in the butter for 3 minutes.
Add the water, and let the corn steam in the water for 1-2 minutes. When the water has cooked off, let the corn brown for another 3-4 minutes over medium-high heat until it gets some nice color on it. The starch from the corn should form some caramelized bits. Make sure to scrape all that up when you transfer it to a bowl! You don’t want to leave any of it behind.

Video

Notes

Enjoy this corn as a side dish, or add to salads warm (not piping hot, or your salad greens will wilt) or cold! We love it warm.

Nutrition

Fried Corn by The Woks of Life. Recipe URL: https://body-goals.fit/fried-corn/%3C/em%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-79885":{"type":"food","name":"Fried Corn","slug":"wprm-fried-corn","image_url":"https:\/\/thewoksoflife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/salad-corn-15.jpg","rating":{"count":7,"total":35,"average":5,"type":{"comment":7,"no_comment":0,"user":0},"user":0},"ingredients":[{"uid":1,"amount":"3\u00bd","unit":"cups","name":"corn kernels","notes":"(from 4 medium ears of corn)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"450","unit":"g","unit_id":5264}},"unit_id":5265,"id":5833,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"3\u00bd","unit":"cups","timestamp":1774155797000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"3\u00bd","unit":"cups","unitParsed":"cups"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"450","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"uid":2,"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","name":"butter","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"30","unit":"g","unit_id":5264}},"unit_id":5259,"id":386,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","timestamp":1774155797000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","unitParsed":"tablespoons"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"30","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"uid":3,"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"teaspoon","name":"smoked paprika","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"","unit":""}},"unit_id":5268,"id":426,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774155797000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"\u00bd","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"uid":4,"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"teaspoon","name":"cracked black pepper","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"","unit":""}},"unit_id":5268,"id":5834,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774155797000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"uid":5,"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"teaspoon","name":"salt","notes":"(or to taste; I often just use 2 small pinches of coarse flaky salt)","converted":{"2":{"amount":"","unit":""}},"unit_id":5268,"id":260,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"teaspoon","timestamp":1774155797000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"teaspoon","unitParsed":"teaspoon"}}},{"uid":6,"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"cup","name":"water","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"60","unit":"ml","unit_id":5271}},"unit_id":5269,"id":332,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"cup","timestamp":1774155797000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"\u00bc","unit":"cup","unitParsed":"cup"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"60","unit":"ml","unitParsed":"ml"}}}],"originalServings":"4","originalServingsParsed":4,"currentServings":"4","currentServingsParsed":4,"currentServingsFormatted":"4","currentServingsMultiplier":1,"originalSystem":1,"currentSystem":1,"unitSystems":[1,2],"originalAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"currentAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0}}}