Scalloped Corn

Scalloped corn is sweet golden corn cradled in a fluffy homemade custard with just the right amount of smoky bacon and a golden bread crumb topping.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword corn casseroles, corn side dishes

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 5

Servings servings

Calories 411kcal

Author Kathleen

Ingredients

3 large eggs lightly beaten
1 cup half-and-half
4 tablespoons butter melted
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon onion minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (16-ounce) package corn, fresh or frozen thawed and drained
1/4 cup fresh soft bread crumbs
2 slices bacon cooked and crumbled

Topping:

1 cup fresh soft bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter
pinch dried thyme

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Spray a 1 1/2 quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the eggs (3) and half-and-half (1 cup) until combined. Stir in the next eight ingredients. Pour into prepared baking dish.
In a small mixing bowl mix the bread crumbs (1 cup), 2 tablespoons melted butter, and a pinch of thyme. Sprinkle evenly over corn casserole.
Bake casserole in the preheated oven until top is golden brown and knife inserted in center comes out clean, about 55-65 minutes.

Notes

Corn: I like to use yellow corn for this recipe because that’s what my family always used. You can make it with white corn if you prefer a sweeter flavor dish.
- Lots of recipes use canned cream corn and canned whole-kernel corn, but mine only uses whole-kernel corn. I think the dish tastes better that way. Of course… I love using fresh corn whenever I can, and obviously scalloped corn with fresh corn is preferred when corn is in season. But using frozen corn is a perfectly acceptable and delicious substitute.
Onions: Cut the onions very small. It will create a better texture and mixture of flavors.
Sour Cream: Lots of people love serving this dish with sour cream. That is not my favorite way of serving it, but it’s certainly popular. If that is how you would like to serve this scalloped corn recipe, by all means, go for it.
Give It A Rest: Scalloped corn also needs to rest for 10-15 minutes when it comes out of the oven. This gives it time to thicken properly before serving. Since it holds up so well in the fridge, you can make the whole dish the day before and reheat it at serving time.
Breadcrumbs: I prefer to use homemade breadcrumbs for this recipe. I find the store-bought ones are too finely ground and the flavor isn’t nearly as good. Many times, store-bought works just fine but they just don’t cut it for scalloped corn recipe.
- Homemade breadcrumbs make a fantastic full-flavored topping for this dish while also acting as a thickener. Here's how to make breadcrumbs:
  1. Toast a few pieces of sandwich bread.
  2. Tear each piece of toast into large chunks.
  3. Place the chunks directly into the bowl of the food processor.
  4. Process the toast, using one-second pulses, until the crumbs are about the size of grape nuts.
  5. Season with salt and pepper.
Change the Topping: To be honest, I had a really hard time deciding what topping I should make for this post. There are just so many different topping combinations that I love with this scalloped corn recipe. I chose this topping because its simplicity compliments the dish well and the ingredients are always on hand.

- Here are a few other ideas for toppings:

1. 1. Cracker - To make scalloped corn with crackers, use a cup and a half of cracker crumbs mixed with two tablespoons of melted butter. Just use a plain cracker (like a saltine or a Ritz). The Ritz crumb mix is my fav… Avoid strong-flavored crackers (like cheese crackers). Then add 1/2 cup cracker crumbs to the corn mixture as well.
  2. Panko - Use one and a half cups of panko breadcrumbs. Mix in a cup of shredded parmesan and a fourth cup of melted butter. Then add 1/2 cup Panko crumbs to the corn mixture as well.
  3. Cheese - Add one cup of shredded cheddar cheese to the top of the corn, then top the cheese layer with the breadcrumb or cracker crumb topping. Cheddar is the classic cheese that goes well with corn, and I would not recommend straying too far from cheddar in your choice of cheese.
    - However, if you want to add more cheese (as I’ll often do) you can definitely do that. The more cheese, the better I say!

Nutrition