I include corn in black bean dip / refried beans. Puree together 2 cups cooked black beans, a tomato, an onion, juice of one lime, corn, chili powder, cumin, hot peppers, and a bit of salt if there is none in the beans. Then cook over medium heat to reduce.
10 Tasty Ways to Use Canned Corn
Photo: R-Z
Canned corn is super affordable even when it isn't on sale. When it gets marked down to less than fifty cents a can, it's time to stock up for the long haul. Here are ten tasty ways to use up those cans you have sitting in the back of your cupboard.
Sex up your salsa.
When I was cruising the aisles at the nearest Super Target the other day, I noticed a particular type of gourmet salsa and nearly picked it up. It was your basic organic tomato salsa with the addition of corn kernels and black beans. Since I had all three of those things back home, I decided to make my own for significantly less money. It was such a hit with the hubster, I'll be doing this more often to be sure.
Side salad ingredient.
I'm sure there are other recipes out there, but I whipped up one last week based on a basic idea from a friend. Quinoa and black bean salad. Since I had extra canned corn and a few other ingredients such as cilantro and jalapenos, I decided to get creative. Those ingredients plus a lime juice, sea salt and olive oil dressing made for a protein rich dish we enjoyed as a side with dinner, and for lunch for a couple of days afterward.
A cheesy, crowd pleasing side dish.
Whether you bake up a batter style casserole or go for the spicy cheese and corn in the crock pot option, cheesy corn side dishes are usually a hit when cooking for kids and adults alike.
Budget friendly shepherd's pie.
Toss it in with some browned ground beef, onions and an additional can of creamed corn and top with seasoned instant potatoes. Bake it off in the oven and serve with a crisp green salad.
Superior soup ingredient.
Not only can canned corn jazz up chowders and bisques effectively, it's also great for broth based soups when you are running short on fresh ingredients and need something else to round it out. Toss on some sophisticated soup garnishes and you'll be dining in style.
Put some in a meal muffin.
They can be made with cornmeal or homemade biscuit mix, but meal muffins are a great way to add pizazz to brown bag lunches or beef up main courses of thinner broths and purees. Add in corn or leftover chopped cooked broccoli, and extra chopped meat from last night's dinner such as chicken or ham.
Pan roasted as a sassy side dish.
Toss in some zippy seasonings and mix in some fresh chopped herbs when you're done to take canned corn from hum drum to hubba hubba. Consider this with a Tex Mex dinner theme, or with fried chicken and a greener vegetable.
Green salad add-in.
I'm big on choosing salad ingredients with oomph. Corn certainly has that and makes for a healthy filling option when trying to transform salads into meals. As with the salsa, black beans pair nicely with this option for a taste of the Southwest that will leave you feeling satisfied.
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Jazz up the cornbread.
I like to add in canned corn, jalepenos, crushed dried red pepper and shredded cheese when I'm serving cornbread with a meal. It takes it to the next level flavor wise, and makes an excellent side to crock pot chili. Again, if you're having it with a thinner and less hearty soup, sassing it up with canned corn and other ingredients will ensure your hungry eaters leave the table full.
Fritters.
Not exactly low calorie considering the oil and syrup, but an affordable day time snack or after dinner treat nonetheless. Corn fritters are great way to please company and family alike while keeping the grocery budget on track.
These are my top ten picks for using canned corn on the home front. Other budget ingredients that can go the distance menu wise are canned fruit, surimi, canned salmon, peanuts, frozen spinach, pumpkin and potatoes. Related Readings: Meals in Ten Minutes or Less, Simple Side Dishes, Healthy Convenience Foods and the Versatility of Peanut Butter.
Do you have any tasty recipe ideas for canned corn you'd like to share?
This post was submitted to Wanderlust and Lipstick's Wanderfood Wednesday. Stop by to see other food related posts and photos.
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Is another great dish.
One form is using ground sausage that you cook and drain and mix with cream style and regular corn.
One of my favorites though is to take real spicy Keilbasa style sausage and cut into small rounds...fry it up and then fry chopped onions and peppers in the drippings and then add all of it to a mix of cream and regular style corn. Serve up and sprinkle with grated cheddar or put in a casserole, top with prepared corn muffin mix (instead of making muffins) and bake.
Those both sound interesting folks, thanks!
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Wow great ideas, what good ways to save money!What about other canned products, any ideas for grean beans or peas?
Hi Stephanie,
Glad you liked it. Other than the canned fruit article linked to above (Linsey's piece), the only other canned food article I can think of is this canned pumpkin recipes post. Oh, wait. I just remembered this piece that Paul Michael wrote about canned spam.
Since you asked though, I'll have to put my thinking cap on about other canned vegetables.
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Right now in Minnesota (a little earlier for points south) fresh sweet corn is so cheap it's almost free - 28 ears for $4 last week. That means sweet corn at every meal and plenty left over for the freezer.
I'll have to try your baked corn side dish idea - we eat a LOT of salsa with corn, and cornbread & beans in the winter time. YUM.
You're right. This post was more about using the canned stuff, but when it's in season, the fresh stuff goes for a song and is SO tasty. Thanks for the reminder.
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It contains BPA. Choose glass jars and bottles instead of cans, especially when buying soda, preserved vegetables, or soup. Or opt for frozen vegetables over canned.
BPA testing in canned food.
We contracted with a national analytical laboratory to test 97 cans of food we purchased in March 2006 in three major, chain supermarkets in Atlanta, Georgia; Oakland, California; and Clinton, Connecticut. The lab tested 30 brands of food altogether, 27 national brands and 3 store brands. Among the foods we tested are 20 of the 40 canned foods most commonly consumed by women of childbearing age (NHANES, 2002), including soda, canned tuna, peaches, pineapples, green beans, corn, and tomato and chicken noodle soups. We also tested canned infant formula. The lab detected BPA in fifty-seven percent of all cans.
Independent laboratory tests found a toxic food-can lining ingredient associated with birth defects of the male and female reproductive systems in over half of 97 cans of name-brand fruit, vegetables, soda, and other commonly eaten canned goods. The study was spearheaded by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and targeted the chemical bisphenol A (BPA), a plastic and resin ingredient used to line metal food and drink cans. There are no government safety standards limiting the amount of BPA in canned food.
More than 100 peer-reviewed studies have found BPA to be toxic at low doses, some similar to those found in people, yet not a single regulatory agency has updated safety standards to reflect this low-dose toxicity. FDA estimates that 17% of the U.S. diet comprises canned food; they last examined BPA exposures from food in 1996 but failed to set a safety standard.
As a child, that was the way I was usually served it as well. Now that I'm watching calorie intake more, I tend to lay off the butter. But it sure is tasty that way, no doubt.
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An easy chowder recipe is leftover diced ham, 1 can regular corn, 1 can creamed corn, and diced potatoes. Throw it in a crockpot in the morning with a bay leaf and lots of freshly ground pepper. (We make a vegetarian version of this with a meat analog.)
Annie, I'm loving the simplicity of that chowder idea. Sounds like it could also easily be stretched with milk to feed a few more, if necessary.
Marla, thrilled you enjoyed the verbage.
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You have an awesome blog here! Just wanted to personally thank you for linking to our blog with the Easy Cheesy Corn Bake! Feel free to drop by and say hello anytime!
Best,
Love My Philly
Thanks for stopping by, I Love Philly. It was my pleasure to include such a tasty option in the corn round up. Thrilled as well that you are enjoying Wise Bread. Stopy by and see us again some time.
Check out my various projects and services at Itinerant Tightwad. I also have a monthly education newsletter.
In bigger cities and in Mexico, street vendors take grilled corn and dunk it in butter and slather in mayo. Then, they roll in parmesan cheese or crumbly queso and top with chili powder. They either serve it like that or they make it "neat"..cut it off the cob and serve in a cup with a spoon. Make Mexican corn like the street vendors do. It's not an every day dish...(butter and mayo) but it's great for company or to jazz up a boring meatloaf. Just drain a few cans of corn and toss in a casserole dish, add a few pats of melted butter and a few tablespoons of mayo. Mix in salt, pepper, chili powder (or paprika for those with less spicy tastes) a few squeezes of lime and pamesan cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake until bubbly! Delicious!
Or make cowboy caviar. Mix different beans, a can or two of corn, a can of tomatoes, diced chilis or jalepenos, a chopped onion and black olives. Pour Italian dressing over the top and let it sit for at least a few hours to overnight. Serve alone or with tortilla chips. Cheap and very tasty.
Great tips, Lia! Thanks for sharing them. I'm eating less dairy these days, but do still indulge occasionally and that baked corn dish shoulds DELISH!
We get through soooo much canned corn in my household. Thanks so much for all these wonderful new ideas. The Cheesy Corn Casserole and the Corn Fritters will both make delicious naughty treats. :D
Another thing I just can't resist pointing out (sorry!) is that Shepherd's Pie is made with Lamb, not beef (The clue is in the name!) The similar beef dish is called "Cottage Pie".
