Easy Frozen Sweet Corn season is finally here! This is a step-by-step recipe for how to freeze sweet corn and have delicious, sweet corn all year long! That is another pleasure from summer that I enjoy, eating corn on the cob. Yum!
To me that is another pleasure from summer that I enjoy, eating corn on the cob. Yum! To me that is another pleasure from summer that I enjoy, eating corn on the cob. Yum!
Growing up in Iowa, where the tall corn grows, we ate fresh sweet corn with many meals when it was in season. My mom would trade fresh rhubarb for feed bags and feed bags of sweet corn. It was a family affair to sit in the front yard and husk the corn. Once that part of the project was done, then we went inside and cooked the corn on the cob to be frozen on the cob. My siblings and I preferred to eat it on the cob.
I still clean and freeze corn, but I do it a little bit differently than my mother did. But I still freeze the corn simply because I have not found a canned or store-bought frozen corn that compares to frozen sweet corn. I buy my sweet corn from someone local. It gets husked outside. It helps keep the mess out of the house. If it’s not to buggy out, I will even cut the corn off the cob outside. Clean-up is a breeze with a garden hose.
How many ears/dozen to get?
You can do a smaller amount of corn or a year’s worth. I try to freeze enough for the next year. So, when I freeze corn, I do 6 dozen, and it takes about 4 hours.
One of the challenges that I had was how many ears of corn to get. An easy figure is you will get about 6 cups of corn per dozen ears. If the ears and the kernels are large you can get about 7 cups. I never worry about too much corn. I also figure 1/2 cup of corn per serving. So that’s about 1 ear per person.
Now how often do you eat corn with your meals? Once a week, once every two weeks?
For a family of 4 people that has corn once a week you will need 208 ears or 17.3 dozen. We are a family of 2 and we have corn about every other week, and I like to serve it at Thanksgiving and Christmas with my family. So those days I cook a larger amount. I like to freeze about 6 dozen for us.
Since this keeps well frozen for about 1 1/2 years, if I froze too much the previous year, then I do a little less this year. If I run out of corn early, it works out OK. Because I do like to have some meals of fresh sweet corn when it’s the new season.
Husking and Cutting the Corn from the Cob
I prefer to husk the corn outside in the morning if possible. It is so much easier to clean up outside than from in the kitchen and the morning is cooler. My husband and I both husk the corn together over the garbage can and we put the husked ears into a clean tote or basket.
Now to cut the corn from the cob. I do this outside too, if the bugs are not too bad. I would have an extra tote, or the garbage can beside me to dump the cobs in.
I use a 9×13 pan that I hold the cobs in and using a sharp knife cut the kernels off. The 9×13 pan helps keep the kernels in the pan. Once the pan is getting full, I put the corn into a big pot or container.
Cooking the Corn
I measure 9 cups of corn and put it into a Dutch oven pan, add the water, salt and sugar. The sugar is optional. Sometimes the corn I get is naturally very sweet and it does not need any. Other times it could use a little boost to the sweetness. The amount of sugar in this recipe is enough to boost the sweetness without it tasting like you added sugar. Then it’s too much. You can omit the sugar completely too.
Over medium heat, cook the corn and the ingredients, stirring it occasionally. Once the corn turns a deep yellow and it is hot, it is done.
Cool the corn before bagging it.
Bagging the Corn
I will figure out how many cups I want per bag and using a measuring cup put that amount in each bag. I will remove the excess air as I seal the bag. Then I will lay them flat and place them in the freezer.
The corn is ready to eat immediately if you’d like.
To Serve the Corn
Once you’re ready to serve the Easy Frozen Sweet Corn, it just needs to be heated up on the stove or in the microwave. It’s very quick and very easy. You already did all the work!
This corn is a great side dish with quick easy meatloaf and baked potatoes. That meal is so easy, it’s a weeknight meal at our house. Another great meal to serve the corn with is Chili Lime Chicken Breasts or Honey BBQ Pork Chops.
Happy Cooking!
P.S. Please check my Facebook page Joyful Little Things, or my Pinterest page Joyful Little Things for more recipes.
Frozen Sweet Corn
Equipment
- 1 Dutch oven pan
- 1 Knife
- 1 9x13 Pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup Water
- 1 tsp Salt
- ⅛ cup Sugar Option
- 18 Ears Sweet Corn - yields approximately 9 cups of corn Husked and cut off the cob
Instructions
- Husk the corn.
- Cut the corn from the cob by holding the ear in a 9x13 pan and cut the kernels from the cob using a sharp knife. The 9x13 pan helps reduce the mess.
- Put 9 cups of corn into a Dutch oven pan.
- Add the water and salt.
- The sugar is optional. If your corn is very sweet it is not needed, but if you would like it to be a little bit sweeter add the sugar. You can adjust the amount of sugar to your tastes and to the level of sweetness of the corn.
- Cook over medium heat until the corn turns a deep yellow color, and it is hot. This will be about 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and allow it to cool.
- Once cooled, measure the corn and put it into a resealable bag. Burp out the excess air and seal. Lay flat in the freezer to freeze. I figure on ½ cup of corn per serving.
- This keeps frozen for up to 1½ years.
