Roasted garlic creamed corn is the flavor upgrade you never knew you needed. Sweet corn kernels join with Parmesan, onion, and a generous helping of easily-roasted garlic for a perfectly creamy, thickened-just-right creamed corn. Breathe new life into your Thanksgiving table with this make-ahead holiday side dish.
Like many things (instant pot collard greens, air fried green tomatoes, banana pudding...) it took moving to the South to get into creamed corn. For one I never really saw it on restaurant menus and to be honest, I'm having a hard time even remembering it gracing our Thanksgiving menus.
That last part is probably because I was too busy inhaling chestnut stuffing, but still. Not a whole lot of creamed corn in my memory bank.
Down here though, creamed corn is a side dish option all over the place, and I've learned that a) I really like it, and b) the thicker the better.
Per usual I take a step away from the traditional and load my creamed corn up with roasted garlic. With a MUCH mellower, deeper flavor than plain garlic, It adds just enough of a more complex, fancy-ish flavor without swerving away from why people love creamed corn in the first place. It's a secret ingredient that has a big impact.
Note: This recipe was slightly updated in November 2025 from its original publish date in 2017. The pictures got a refresh, the yield was scaled up (hello, holiday crowd!), and I've added onion and Parmesan.
Recipe Ingredients
Roasted Garlic: Brings a rich, complex flavor with far less bite than raw garlic. It complements so many things and won't overpower the somewhat subtler flavor of corn. All of the steps on roasting garlic are shown below and included in the recipe card.
Corn kernels: You'll need 32 ounces (a little less than six cups), whether it be canned or frozen. My favorite is the frozen super sweet corn from Trader Joe's - in fact I prefer it to fresh cobs in shrimp corn chowder!
Flour: An essential part of the roux that thickens creamed corn nicely. I mush/cook it into the butter and onion for a few minutes before adding liquid as this helps the raw flour taste cook off.
Cream & Milk: I like to go a little heavier on the milk vs. cream in my creamed corn. This will lighten things up slightly at the trade-off of taking a few extra minutes to thicken up. I find it worth it, especially if blending a portion of the creamed corn at the end, as it'll become plenty thick.
Sugar: Just a little bit amplifies the corn's natural sweetness for a more well-rounded flavor.
Parmesan: A perfect way to add a subtle umami note to make the flavor more complex. Pecorino Romano, my favorite hard Italian cheese, is another great option and one I use if I have a wedge available.
Salt & Pepper: Some added during cooking, but it's important to take a taste and add more at the end before serving. I like to go heavy on the freshly-cracked black pepper.
Make-Ahead Options
There are two ways you can get a jump-start on this one: roasting the garlic and preparing the entire dish.
Roast the garlic, mash it into a paste, and refrigerate it in an air-tight container for 1-2 days to speed up day-of prep. No one needs to clog up their oven with roasting garlic on Thanksgiving morning.
Otherwise, creamed corn is a good candidate for preparing fully ahead of time and reheating thoroughly over low heat just prior to serving.
Prep the Roasted Garlic
If you'd like alllll the details, you can visit my roasted garlic post to learn even more, but the steps will be in the recipe card at the bottom of this post, too.
- Peel all but the innermost layer of garlic skin from each head, then slice off just enough of each head to expose the cloves. Place on a sheet of aluminum foil, drizzle the cut surfaces with olive oil, then wrap snugly.
- Roast the packet in a small baking dish (just in case any oil leaks) at 400°F for 40 minutes, give or take, or until the cloves are soft and turn a deep golden-brown.
- Once cool enough to safely handle, squeeze out each roasted garlic clove into a bowl.
- Mash with a fork until a thick, somewhat smooth paste forms. Use this paste as an ingredient when making creamed corn.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Once you have your roasted garlic paste ready, the creamed corn comes together fairly quickly.
- Step 1: Sauté onion in butter over medium heat for 3-4 minutes.
- Step 2: Stir in the flour and cook for 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Step 3: Add corn kernels, mashed garlic paste, milk, cream, and sugar.
- Step 4: Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until close but not quite thickened to your liking. Stir in the Parmesan.
- Step 5: For a thicker consistency, remove one cup of this creamy garlic corn and carefully blend it before stirring it back into the pot. You can also give it a few blitzes of an immersion blender to keep the dishes count lower. Taste and add more salt and pepper to your liking before serving.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- Thickening the creamed corn just enough. This garlic creamed corn will thicken up further once the Parmesan is added and when a portion is blended, so take care not to overly simmer and thicken it before you reach those steps.
- Use your preferred variety of corn. I'll be honest, I'm not a corn snob here and have used both canned sweet corn and frozen and thawed corn, so use what is convenient and available for you. Canned corn is my go-to for easy skillet roasted corn, a healthy everyday corn side dish favorite.
- Use as many roasted garlic cloves as you like. Roasting garlic cloves SERIOUSLY mellows garlic's bite so it's nowhere close to adding the same number of raw cloves. When it comes to roasted garlic I like to measure in heads, not cloves.
More Thanksgiving Recipes
Did you enjoy this recipe? I’d love for you to leave a star rating and a comment review in the recipe card below!
Roasted Garlic Creamed Corn
Ingredients
For the roasted garlic:
- 2 whole heads of garlic
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
For the creamed corn:
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- Half of a medium onion finely diced
- 3 Tablespons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt more to taste at the end
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper more to taste at the end
- 32 ounces (scant 6 cups) sweet corn kernels either fresh, canned, or frozen/thawed/drained
- 1 ½ cups milk 2%, whole, your preferred
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ cup finely-grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano
Instructions
To roast the garlic:
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove all but the innermost layer of garlic skin from the head and slice off the top quarter-inch or so of the garlic head to expose the tops of each clove.
- Set the garlic on a sheet of aluminum foil. Drizzle olive oil over the cut side of the garlic, making sure that the oil gets down into the nooks and crannies between the cloves.
- Wrap the garlic well in the aluminum foil and place in the oven in a baking dish. Roast for 40 minutes, or until the cloves are deep golden and very easy to insert a toothpick or tester into. Set aside, then once cool enough to handle, squeeze the roasted garlic out of the cloves into a bowl and mash into a paste with a fork.
To make the creamed corn:
- Melt butter in a medium/large sauté pan set over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes, then sprinkle in the flour. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring periodically, then season with salt and pepper.
- Add the corn kernels, roasted garlic paste, milk, cream, and sugar and stir. Cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring often, until the creamed corn is just under your desired thickness.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the Parmesan.
- Carefully transfer one cup of the roasted garlic creamed corn to a food processor and pulse until mostly smooth, or you can partially blend the creamed corn with an immersion blender. Add the blended corn back into the saucepan and stir to combine. Taste to see if you'd like to add more salt and pepper, then serve while warm.
Notes
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Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
Food Safety and Nutrition Disclaimer
Islandgal1950 says
Alyssa,
Would you happen to have a good recipe for cornbread dressing that is moist and simple? Please....no strange stuff like oysters or weird trash! Just a good basic southern recipe! Thanks
Alyssa says
Hi there, I don't have my own tried and true cornbread dressing recipe, but I'm thinking of giving this one a try: https://spicysouthernkitchen.com/southern-cornbread-dressing/ <--it looks to be traditional and spiced just right. I love cornbread in stratas/breakfast bake recipes, so I've had a nagging craving for a full on cornbread dressing. Let me know which recipe you settle on!