Bacon Jalapeno Creamed Corn is a crazy good side that’ll have everyone asking for seconds! Serve it with all your favorite meals!
If you’re currently thinking, “Hey Julie, isn’t creamed corn that weird runny stuff you buy in cans at the store?” Stop it! Stop it right now. Forget that canned cream-style corn and let’s realign your perception.
This creamed corn recipe is everything creamy, rich, and decadent you could ever hope for corn to be. It doesn’t hurt that there are bacon and jalapeno in the mix too. One bite and you’ll be hooked. Promise.
When I shared the easiest Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe ever, I promised you all the recipes for the best side dish EVER too. So here it is!
You will probably want to eat the whole dish by yourself and not even tell your family about it so there’s more for you.
Don’t do that. It’s a stomach ache waiting to happen, and you don’t want that. Just sayin’.
But you should totally have seconds before it all gone!
Creamed Corn Ingredients
I make this creamed corn with cream cheese. It makes it super rich and cream cheese goes great with bacon and jalapenos… as we’ve all learned from jalapeno poppers. 🙂
- Bacon
- Sweet onion or yellow onion
- Jalapeno pepper
- Garlic
- Sweet corn
- Cream cheese
- Heavy cream
- Sugar
- Salt & pepper
Nothing fancy, but OMG you are not going to believe how delicious this cream cheese corn recipe is!
How to Make Creamed Corn
- Start by cooking your bacon. Skip the oven and cook it in a large skillet over medium heat until it’s nice and crispy. Then transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to cool. Once it’s cool enough to touch, chop the bacon on a cutting board.
- Now take the leftover bacon grease and pour all but 2 tablespoons out of the skillet. Then add the onion, garlic, and jalapeno to the bacon grease still in the pan. Sautee the veggies for about 5 to 8 minutes until the onions become soft. Be sure to stir everything often so the garlic doesn’t burn.
- Next, you’ll add the corn to your skillet. If you’re using fresh corn, cook it for 7 to 8 minutes. If you’re using canned corn, it only needs 3 to 5 minutes.
- After that, reduce the burner heat to low and add in the cream cheese, heavy cream, sugar, salt, and pepper. Give everything stir and then cook until the cream cheese has melted and the creamed corn thickens up. Use your spoon to help break up and smush the cream cheese to get it to incorporate into the sauce faster.
- Once the cream cheese is melted in, you’ll add half of the bacon into the skillet. Stir the bacon in with the creamed corn until it’s well combined.
- It’s done! Transfer your creamed corn into a serving bowl (or leave it in the skillet if you like) and top it off with the rest of the bacon.
Can you substitute canned corn for creamed corn?
They’re not the same thing, so no you can’t.
However, for this recipe, you can use fresh or canned corn to get things started. I like using fresh corn when it’s in season, but canned corn will work just fine too. No judgment here.
Mike has days where he’s not into the whole jalapeno cream corn thing. When that happens, I just leave the jalapeno out. The corn is just as delicious.
I totally vote for using jalapenos every time though!
More corn recipe you’re going to love!
- Southern Fried Corn
- Creamed Corn Casserole with Peppers
- Corn-Mango Salsa
- Chicken & Cornbread Casserole
- Skillet Sloppy Joe Cornbread Casserole
- More side dishes
Bacon Jalapeno Creamed Corn Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 strips bacon
- 1 medium sweet onion peeled and diced
- 1 jalapeno seeded and diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 6 ears sweet corn shucked and kernels cut off
- 8 ounces cream cheese cut into small pieces
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Cook bacon until crispy in a large skillet over medium heat. Remove the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of grease from skillet. Once the bacon has cooled, crumble it into small pieces.
- Add the onion, garlic, and jalapeno to bacon grease in the skillet. Cook until the onion begins to soften, about 5 to 8 minutes. Be sure to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the skillet.
- Add corn to your skillet and cook for 7 to 8 minutes until corn is tender. (If using canned corn, cook for 3 to 5 minutes.)
- Reduce the heat to low and add the cream cheese, heavy cream, sugar, salt, and pepper to the skillet. Stir often until cream cheese has melted and the creamed corn has thickened.
- Stir in half of the crumbled bacon, saving the rest for garnish. Check the seasoning and add more salt and pepper to your taste.
- Transfer the creamed corn to a serving bowl and top with the remaining crumbled bacon.
Notes
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.
niki c says
this recipe is fabulous! i have made it so many times and always gets rave reviews and never lasts long! When i have no fresh corn i defrost frozen sweet or white corn and also use a can of no salt corn and you cant tell the difference! Hats off to you for sharing the recipe!
Mary Anne McKown says
First – delicious!!!!!!!!
Second, can you make this ahead and reheat?
Julie Kotzbach says
You sure can. It’s better fresh, but still yummy reheated.