Corn pudding is a staple at southern Thanksgiving tables, but honestly, it’s a great side dish any time of year! This rich corn casserole is made with sweet corn, cornmeal, eggs, cream, and cheddar, and then baked to perfection. And even though our corn pudding recipe is made 100% from scratch (no boxed cornbread mix or canned creamed corn), it’s still incredibly easy and it will definitely leave you wanting seconds. ;)
What is Corn Pudding?
Corn pudding is essentially a corn casserole made with sweet corn, cornmeal, and cheddar cheese baked into a custard made with eggs, cream (or half and half), sour cream, and seasoning. The texture is a bit like stuffing or dressing, in that it is soft, moist, and scoopable. While the ingredients may look similar to cornbread, corn pudding is far more rich and moist.
Ingredients for Corn Pudding
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this corn pudding recipe:
- Corn: We used frozen sweet corn for convenience, but if you happen to have an abundance of inexpensive fresh corn, you can boil it or roast it, slice it off the cob, and then add it to the casserole.
- Half and Half: This creamy mixture is the base for the custard. If you don’t have half and half you can use a 50/50 mix of whole milk and heavy cream, or just whole milk, although that won’t be quite as rich as the half and half.
- Eggs: Eggs combine with the half and half to create the rich custard. They firm up when baked, giving the pudding its scoopable texture.
- Cornmeal: Cornmeal gives body and structure to the pudding, so it’s not just a milk custard, but half-way between a custard and a cornbread in texture. Use yellow cornmeal for the best color.
- Sour Cream: Sour cream adds moisture, richness, and even more flavor to the corn pudding.
- Cheddar Cheese: Cheese gives the pudding depth of flavor and makes it extra rich!
- Sugar: A little bit of sweetness contrasts the savory pudding in all the right ways!
- Seasoning: The pudding is seasoned simply with a little salt, pepper, and a dash of cayenne pepper for sparkle. It’s not enough cayenne to make it spicy, just to give the pudding some personality!
What to Serve with Corn Pudding
Corn pudding is a classic side dish served on Thanksgiving, but it’s also great the rest of the year paired with dishes like Pulled Pork, Baked Beans, or BBQ chicken. It’s a classic American comfort food that goes with any stick-to-your-ribs meal!
How to Store Leftovers
Leftover corn pudding can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 days (if you don’t eat it all first!). Or, once chilled in the refrigerator, you can divide it into single-serving portions and freeze for up to three months. Allow frozen corn pudding to thaw completely in the refrigerator first before reheating in the microwave. Just be careful not to overheat the corn pudding as it can cause it to get a little watery.
Corn Pudding
Servings 8 (about ¾ cup each)Ingredients
- 4 cups frozen sweet corn (thawed), divided ($1.67)
- 1 cup half and half* ($0.75)
- 3 large eggs ($0.32)
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal ($0.24)
- 1/2 cup sour cream ($0.63)
- 1/4 cup sugar ($0.09)
- 2 tsp salt ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided ($2.49)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Place 2 cups of the thawed sweet corn in a blender with the half and half, then blend until mostly smooth.
- Add the blended corn to a large bowl with the remaining 2 cups of corn, the eggs, cornmeal, sour cream, sugar, salt, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Whisk the ingredients together until evenly combined.
- Fold 1 cup of the shredded cheddar cheese into the pudding mixture.
- Pour the pudding into a greased 2 quart casserole dish, then top with the remaining 1 cup of shredded cheddar.
- Bake the pudding for 50 minutes, or until the outer edges are golden and the center jiggles just a little when you shake the dish. Let the corn pudding cool for about 10 minutes before serving.
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Notes
Nutrition
How to Make Corn Pudding
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Add 2 cups of thawed frozen corn to a blender with 1 cup half and half. Blend the mixture until mostly smooth. Reserve the remaining 2 cups of thawed corn for the next step.
Add the blended corn and half and half to a large bowl with the remaining 2 cups of corn, 3 large eggs, ½ cup yellow cornmeal, ¼ cup sugar, ½ cup sour cream, 2 tsp salt, ½ tsp cayenne pepper, and ¼ tsp black pepper. Whisk these ingredients together until evenly combined.
Fold 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese into the corn pudding batter.
Pour the corn pudding mixture into a greased 2 quart casserole dish, then top with another 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.
Bake the corn pudding in the preheated 350ºF oven for 50 minutes or until the outer edges are golden and the center only slightly jiggles when you shake the casserole dish. Allow the casserole to cool for 10 minutes after removing from the oven, then serve.
This was good, but it was too salty for us, and we’re not afraid of salt. I saw the amount of salt in the recipe and thought it looked a bit high, but wanted to try the recipe as written first. Maybe the brand of cheese I used (Tillamook) is just saltier than some other brands, but I would definitely cut down the salt overall next time, and maybe use a bit less cheese. As others have said, I think this would also be good with some jalapeño or diced green chiles, and possibly some green onion, to give it even more depth. A good recipe that I’ll just tweak for our tastes next time. Thanks, Beth!
My family enjoyed this recipe; it was a fresher counterpoint to the version with all the cans and boxes. The cayenne pepper was way out front for us; I might scale it back a bit on the next round. Thanks so much!
Delicious! Made it for Thanksgiving and everyone loved it
I recently tried making Corn Pudding following a recipe I found, and it was a delightful surprise! The dish turned out creamy, slightly sweet, and had a wonderful balance of flavors.
This is always my favorite dish during the holidays, but it’s not always offered at the table. Now, I can make my own corn casserole every year. Love it!
Can I use canned sweet corn instead of frozen?
That would change the recipe quite a bit so I’d need to test it first before offering a solid answer.
This is one of my all time favorite recipes on this website!!! I particularly love that it doesn’t use canned cream corn, which is a no-no in my kitchen. I have used your method for blending corn with half&half as a sub for the canned stuff ever since you first published this–brilliant! The frozen kernels taste fresher. Sometimes I add sauteed diced onion and/or diced green chilies.
Oooh, I love the diced green chile idea!
Can this recipe be made a day ahead and baked the next day?
It surely could!
Could you make this in a crock pot?
I’m not sure, I’ve never tried a recipe like this in a slow cooker.
Beth. The Corn and Cheddar Pudding is so freaking delicious!!!! I followed the recipe, but used a whole block of sharp cheddar cheese. I added some chopped green onions for added freshness. My sister and I served the corn pudding with some fried pork chops. I’m looking forward to making this recipe again very soon. Thank you so much, Beth!!! :-)
I made this last night as part of a vegetarian dinner with roasted fingerling potatoes and a garden salad and it came out perfectly. I was skeptical of it going in b/c it was so liquidy but it turned out just like the picture! I followed the instructions exactly. Next time I might add a can of drained green chilies or a chopped and seeded jalapeno. I will definitely make this again!
Hi Beth, no worries about the comment, I realize this is a busy time of year. And thanks for the tip about the milk, I ended up making a big dish of this (doubled the recipe!) for Friendsgiving and it was a big hit! One of my friends said it was a little more like a quiche than a pudding; I didn’t really know the difference, but they liked it just the same. Definitely putting this one in the success list.
I’m so glad it turned out well!! Happy holidays!
Hi Beth, I’m sorry if this comment sounds pushy at all, I’m really just curious, but I’m the one who left the question yesterday about what kind of milk would go best with this recipe and if almond milk would be OK, and I see it was approved, but without an answer. Does that indicate it doesn’t really matter? Either way thanks so much for your site, it’s been a godsend for me. :)
Hi Taylor, if you’ve left a comment before then all your comments after that will be automatically approved. :) I just hadn’t gotten to reading through the comments for the past couple of days yet. Sorry about that! I really think whole milk works best for this recipe because you need the fat in there to make the custard-like texture of the pudding. I think almond milk would be too watery.