Corn Fritters with Cheddar & Scallions
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Every summer we spend a week in Lake George with Ben’s parents. We stay at place called Stepping Stones, an idyllic spot equipped with fully stocked cottages, but even so, I always arrive with the essentials: a chef’s knife, a peeler, a salad bowl, and … a dozen cookbooks, half of which I never open, but which I feel I must bring anyway.
What can I say? Cookbooks = my security blanket.
A few summer’s ago, I brought Deborah Madison’s Local Flavors, which immediately inspired me to make her corn fritters with aged Cheddar, which I then wrote about on Food52. I made them again recently and was reminded by how much I love them: they are loaded with corn!
As Deborah Madison says, these fritters are “all corn, not just a few kernels suspended in batter.” And though Cheddar may sound ordinary here, its sharpness complements the sweet corn so nicely, and it browns beautifully, too, creating a crisp, golden exterior.
A Few Corn Fritter-Making Tips:
- Make a test fritter. A test fritter enables you to adjust the seasonings and consistency before you fry up the entire amount of batter.
- Adapt the recipe as you wish. I love Cheddar in this recipe, but Madison recommends a number of others, including goat, feta, and Gouda. For herbs, if you don’t like cilantro, use parsley or chives.
- Make them gluten-free. To make these gluten-free, use oat flour or other gluten-free flour in place of the all-purpose flour.
- Spice it up. As written, these fritters are flavored pretty minimally with scallions, herbs and cheese. If you like heat, a diced hot chili, splash of hot sauce, or pinch of crushed red pepper flakes would all be welcomed here.
Corn Fritters with Cheddar & Scallions
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 24-28 small fritters
Description
Adapted from Deborah Madison’s Local Flavors
The batter can be made ahead and chilled in the fridge. Be sure to give it a good stir before frying.
If you don’t like cilantro, feel free to omit or to use another herb or more scallions. Most recently I made a half batch with 8 scallions and no cilantro — it was delicious.
Recipe halves well. For a half recipe, I find 1/2 cup of flour to work well.
Ingredients
- 6 ears of corn, shucked
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 4 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro or more to taste, see notes above
- 1 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack (about 6 ounces)
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
- kosher salt
- freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- neutral oil, such as grapeseed, for frying
- fresh lime, sour cream, or hot sauce for serving, optional
- Sea salt, such as Maldon, for finishing
Instructions
- Make the batter. Slice the tops of the kernels off the corn, then reverse your knife and press out the milk. (You should have about 3 cups of kernels.)
- Transfer the kernels and milk to a large bowl. Add the eggs. Add the scallions, cilantro, or other herbs, cheese, corn kernels and, and the flour. Season with at least 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and pepper to taste. Use your hands to mix everything together very well. Grab a golfball-sized amount of batter and squeeze it in your hands. If it barely holds together, sprinkle some more flour into the bowl. Mix well, and test again—batter will not hold together the way a meatball will; it will be kind of pasty, and the only way to know if it’s ready for frying is to make a test fritter.
- Make a test fritter: In a large sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat. Lightly oil your hands. When the oil in the pan begins shimmering, pinch a golfball-sized amount of batter out of the bowl and carefully drop it into the oil. Reduce the heat to medium. The mound of batter will look pyramidal or gumdrop-like in shape. Gently flatten with a spatula or a fork. After about a minute, check the underside to ensure it is lightly browned. Flip the fritter, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes more or until evenly golden. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate, season with sea salt, and let cool briefly. Taste. If fritter needs more salt or pepper, add more to the bowl. If the fritter did not stay together at all, sprinkle in some more flour. Mix well.
- Fry the fritters: When fritter batter is cooperating, fry up the remaining batter in the same manner as the tester fritter, adding a thin layer of oil to the pan with each batch. Warning: Please be careful while frying. Keep your heat at medium to medium-high and beware of exploding corn kernels—every so often, one comes flying out of the pan—and splattering oil. If you have one of those spatter guards, use it.
- Serve with fresh lime, sour cream, and/or hot sauce if you wish.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: fritters, corn, cheddar, scallions, deborah, madison
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
39 Comments on “Corn Fritters with Cheddar & Scallions”
As far as I’m concerned, Deborah Madison can do no wrong. I can’t wait to give these a try. Happy Summer!
Right?! Agreed.
Absolutely delicious! Thank you for the recipe.
★★★★★
Yay!
This is such a great way to make use of summer corn! I had about half the recipe for dinner (with arugula dressed with balsamic vinaigrette), saving the rest of the batter over night to dry up for breakfast with over easy eggs (it saved very well, though I added about an extra tablespoon of flour to soak up the extra liquid that emerged over night). Thank you for the recipe!
LOVE this idea so much Caitlin: food fritters + eggs sounds heavenly. Great to know the batter keeps well overnight, and nice work adjusting with more flour. Thanks for writing 🙂
Our family loved these! I used sunflower oil for frying. They came together well on the first try so didn’t need to add extra egg or flour. Instead of my hands, I used a large ice cream scoop to transfer the mix to the frying pan. A great recipe for leftover corn on the cob!
★★★★★
Smart re ice cream scoop! Love the idea of using leftover corn on the cob, too. The cooked corn probably splatters less too 🙂
hi – looks great with the suggestions to spice it up. A question whether your are using the corn as ‘raw’ or cooked? There’s no indication so I’d assume raw but wanted confirmation. Thanks!
Hello! Sorry for the delay here … the corn is raw.
made these last night and wow – were they delicious. I halved the recipe and threw in a diced jalapeño (try it – you’ll love it). I needed more flour than the recipe called for – but probably because my southern husband has trained me well in how to milk corn. :). Served with sour cream and lime and OMG.
Thank you for yet ANOTHER winner. Using the remaining corn and leftover Cobbs to make corn soup today!!!
★★★★★
Yay!! So happy to hear this, Anne 🙂 🙂 🙂 Will definitely try a jalapeño. And I’ll work on my corn-milking game 🙂 🙂 🙂
I love corn fritters and these seemed like a different riff on them. They are GREAT! Had some leftover batter. Made fritters for lunch topped with little cherry tomatoes fresh from the garden and some feta cheese.
★★★★★
So happy to hear this, Katy! This all sounds so delicious. Also hi: I LOVE Healthy Living Market. I don’t get there enough.
This is absolutely awesome! Easy and delicious?! Yes please!
★★★★★
Made this tonight in the air fryer and the whole family ate it all. I didn’t have fresh corn and used frozen corn; still worked like a charm.
So happy to hear this!
I love corn fritters. We usually make it using Gram Flour (Chickpea Flour). This is a great twist too. Will make soon. Thank you.
★★★★★
Oh I love this idea, Preeti! Will try chickpea flour next time. Great idea for someone looking to make these gluten-free.
I just happened to catch your instastories today making these and by happy-stance had everything I needed to make these corn fritters myself. Wow. They were DELICIOUS! Very glad I did a test fritter because after finding it didn’t hold together as well as I’d like, I added a sprinkle more flour – and then every last one of them turned out perfect. Thank you for always sharing such simple yet delicious recipes!
★★★★★
So wonderful to hear this, Amanda! The tester fritter is so key … I should have mentioned that in the Insta-story … I always hope people click over to the recipe for more details. Thanks so much for writing!
I would NEVER make this again. I got burned so many times by popping corn kernels. It’s dangerous and you end up with some dried up old corn pucks. Seriously not worth it, and you very much undersold the danger of the oil and kernels.
★
Sorry this didn’t work out for you KMC. I thought my warning was pretty boldly stated.
These were very tasty! We had them with salted lime sour cream like you suggested and that really complemented them!
★★★★★
So great to hear this, Susanna! Salted lime sour cream sounds amazing!!
These were delicious! We had them with salted lime sour cream, as you suggested and it was such a delicious complement! Thank you for this recipe!
Haha ☝🏻 Oops on the double post. 😂🙃
Double post is great 😍😍😍😍😍
Sweet and crispy, my favorite snack! Thanks!
★★★★★
Delicious! I swapped the flour for chickpea flour, so that along with the 4 eggs in the batter made these sufficient for dinner on a salad. I used a bag of corn instead of fresh.
★★★★★
Wonderful to hear this, Nisha! And great to hear the bagged corn worked out well. Thanks for writing!
I had come across these on your IG stories and haven’t stopped making them since – today I tried baking them (I didn’t feel like cleaning the hob post-fry) and they REALLY turned out. I just lined a baking tray with peanut oil and plopped them in, baked for 15 minutes on 180C and flipped and baked for another 20 minutes. Perfect!
★★★★★
Oh I LOVE this!! I am constantly broiling anything that calls for pan-frying in an effort to make things easier, and I can’t believe I’ve never thought to do that with these guys … I will try your baking method soon! Baking would solve the exploding corn kernel situation, too 🙂 🙂 🙂
do you think you could us king arthur gluten-free flour and get a good result? these fritters are so good, i want to be able to make them for my gluten-free friends!
★★★★★
Yes, absolutely! I’ve heard from a number of people recently who have been making these zucchini fritters who have used almond flour and other gluten-free flours in place of the wheat flour and have had great success. Go for it!
Hi! Thank you for supplying all of us with recipes and, more importantly for me, ideas for food combinations that I can actually wrap my head around!
I followed the fritter recipe the first time I saw it (a couple of years ago?).
Very good results!
My personal change is adding freshly ground coriander to taste – as you say, a test run is always a good idea to check your seasoning!
★★★★★
My pleasure, Mary! Thanks so much for writing, and thank you for your kind words. So glad you like these corn fritters… I love them, too!
Love the idea of freshly ground coriander here — such a nice flavor.
I love this recipe. To reduce the spattering and the amount of oil absorbed, I make these on a well oiled waffle iron. Crisp on the outside from the high heat and still wonderfully corny and creamy on the inside.
★★★★★
This is so smart! I cannot wait to try the method … and to NOT have corn exploding at me 🤣