I’m just going to do it. I’m jumping right in with the Thanksgiving dinner sides this week, starting with a classic that graces so many people’s Thanksgiving table — creamed corn. My slow cooker creamed corn makes it super easy to make, just toss everything into the slow cooker and let it all just hang out and simmer until the flavors come together and the cream cheese sauce thickens right up. The best part is since we’re making this in a crockpot, you save on oven space! I’m super finicky about creamed corn. I mean, as the name implies, you need some variety of ‘cream’ and ‘corn.’ But a lot of times, I’ve noticed when people make a stove-top version of the recipe, they often start with a blonde roux, consisting of butter and flour. And though that may work for some, it’s not my thing. I find flour-based creamed corn tastes like gum paste. The taste and texture is claggy! For me, a few cubes of cream cheese, a splash of heavy cream, and a generous sprinkling of parmesan thicken up the creamed corn sauce naturally without having that gritty texture that sometimes comes from making a butter and flour-based roux. It also makes it a heck of a lot easier to reheat leftovers or to freeze them! The flour-based sauce often changes once it cools in the fridge/freezer. For me, corn is the center of all comfort food. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I was born in the corn state. I’ll always use it in my chicken pot pie soup and chicken corn soup, sometimes I’ll throw it into my tater tot hot dish, essential for zucchini corn chowder, esquites nachos, and it’s the star of my Mexican corn dip. But one thing is for sure, good slow cooker creamed corn is the actual epitome of comfort food. I if made properly, I could eat it straight from the bowl with a spoon! Also, I use garlic in my creamed corn recipe. Am I a rebel, or what?
What do you need to make crock pot creamed corn?
Butter: we’ll use butter to saute the onions on the stovetop before transferring the ingredients into a slow cooker.Sweet onions: You can also use yellow or white onion for this recipe. I prefer to use the milder sweet onion because it works so well with the corn.Whole corn kernels: whole yellow sweet corn or white corn kernels work. You can use fresh corn, canned corn, or even frozen corn. Just be sure to thaw the corn and drain the excess liquid before using it.Heavy cream: or whipping cream works well for this recipe. The main difference between these two ingredients is their fat content. Since we’re not using any type of acid for this recipe, you can easily use these two ingredients interchangeably without sacrificing flavor!Sugar: just a bit of sugar to bring out more of the sweetness from the corn. You can omit this if you didn’t want to use it.Seasonings: garlic powder and dried thyme add just a hint of flavor. You could also swap the dried thyme for rosemary if you’d like. You can add as little or as much of the garlic as you’d like. We love all things garlic here, so I use a hefty pinch!Bay leaf: They add depth of flavor. This is an ingredient that I find is unique to my creamed corn recipe. The natural bitter taste of bay leaves helps balance the sweetness of the corn and adds a beautiful herbal and floral note.Cream cheese: adds a creamy texture to the corn as it slowly cooks in the crockpot. This dish would be excellent for Christmas with your favorite roast too!Grated parmesan: adds cheesiness and a delicious nutty flavor to the crockpot creamed corn.
How to make slow cooker creamed corn:
I hope you’ll give my simple slow cooker creamed corn a try! I’ve played around with this recipe tons, so it’s easily customizable. Sometimes I’ll add in a chopped jalapeño for a little heat. Sometimes, I’ll add a bit more sugar. Other times I’ll omit the salt and season it with ranch seasoning instead. So many ways to play around with this recipe!
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
herb roasted thanksgiving turkeythe best green bean casserolegarlic butter brussels sproutsthe most amazing cheddar mashed potatoeshomemade cranberry sauceroasted garlic focaccia
