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I’m a good midwestern girl, and I love my corn. Drive anywhere within even ten minutes of my house, and you’ll see corn growing in fields all summer long.
I adore a good grilled ear of corn topped with cilantro butter and salt. I enjoy roasting corn and making the only pasta salad I truly enjoy. Corn chowder remains one of my favorite soups.
I found some early corn and wanted to make something delicious and light with them, but I had no good ideas. I finally decided to try something completely new to me: corn fritters.
Why corn fritters? Well, you know I love trying new things, and this recipe looked and sounded delicious.
I loved that corn fritters happen to be naturally gluten free, and the few ingredients made it quick to pull together. Couple this delicious, sweet tasting corn in a savory dish with a little tart Greek yogurt? This is my jam.
Honestly, I planned to top my corn fritters with some homemade pico de gallo or guacamole. I planned to, I swear.
Once I made these adorable fritters, however, I took a couple photos then picked one up and took a bite. Just for a little taste test.
Before I knew it, my husband and I had finished the entire platter. As delicious as they would have been topped with guac or pico, they tasted fab all on their own.
They look like little pancakes, and the yellow shines through these corn fritters thanks to the corn, corn meal, and yellow of the egg yolk. Contrast that with the green from the scallion, and yum!
Making Corn Fritters Pro Tips
Keep the heat at medium. Cooking them hotter browns the outsides without fully cooking the center of your corn fritters. It’s tempting to turn the heat up to cook them faster, but resist.
On the flip side, don’t turn the heat down too much. Lowering the heat results in the outside of your corn fritters not getting crispy and absorbing more oil.
Add oil as you go. While you cook the corn fritters in a nonstick pan, the oil helps create a better crust for the corn fritters.
I tried a couple corn fritters without oil, and they ended up with a smooth surface like a pancake and not the crispy fritter outside I wanted. You don’t need much oil, but it makes a difference.
Spread your fritters gently. When adding the corn fritters to your pan, make sure they are slightly flat (a half inch tall) versus being mounded like cookies. This ensures your corn fritters cook through entirely without burning the outside of the corn fritters.
Use your widest spatula to flip them. A large spatula ensures you can pick up the entire fritter easily to flip it.
They are slightly fragile when you first flip them, so a smaller spatula risks breaking it or having it not flip fully. You can fix both issues by manually manipulating the corn fritters after flipping them, but why not just make it easy and use a wide spatula?
How to Make Homemade Corn Fritters
Are you more of a visual learner? Check the video tutorial for exactly how to make these treats.
Gather all your ingredients to start and portion them out. You need two bowls – one to mix the batter and one for whipping your egg whites.
Once you separate your eggs, save them for another recipe. I made lemon curd! Wait to whip your egg whites until you’ve mixed the remaining ingredients together, however.
Shuck your corn, and slice off the kernels. Depending on the size of your ears, you generally need part of a second ear to get enough kernels, which go in the first bowl.
Save the ears and extra kernels to make a corn chowder later.
Chop your scallions, and add them to the bowl, as well.
Separate your eggs. One yolk goes into the bowl, while you want to place all three whites in a separate bowl to whip up later.
Add cornmeal, Greek yogurt, two tablespoons of olive oil (the third you use for cooking the corn fritters), and salt and pepper to the corn bowl. Stir the ingredients in the corn bowl together until mostly homogeneous.
Then whip up your egg whites in that second bowl until they form soft peaks. You want them to come together but not dry out.
Add about a third of the egg whites to your corn mixture and fold in to combine. This loosens the batter a bit to better incorporate the remaining whites.
Add whites in two more batches, carefully folding each addition carefully with a spatula to avoid losing the airiness of the beaten whites.
Heat a nonstick pan on medium heat, then add a teaspoon of oil. Swirl to coat.
Add heaping tablespoons to the pan, being sure they don’t touch. While the corn fritters don’t expand as they cook, you want room to easily flip them.
Cook 2-3 minutes until golden brown on the bottom, then flip and cook the other side.
Once cooked through, place on a covered plate to keep warm. Repeat, adding additional oil as needed. Serve immediately alone or topped with pico de gallo or guacamole.
Have you ever made corn fritters?
Looking for more fun appetizer ideas? These are some of my favorites:
- Semi-homemade chicken empanadas
- Spinach artichoke dip
- Spring vegetable bruschetta
- Bacon wrapped dates
- Boozy bacon cheddar bites
- BBQ bourbon little smokies
- Roasted tomatillo salsa
- Brazilian cheese bread
Corn Fritters
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups corn kernels
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 3/4 cup full-fat Greek yogurt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 3 eggs whites and yolks separated
- 1 scallion finely chopped
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Separate eggs, saving all three whites in a separate bowl. Keep one yolk for this recipe and save the other two yolks for another recipe.
- In a large bowl, combine corn, cornmeal, yogurt, 2 tablespoons of the oil, one egg yolk, scallion, salt, and pepper. Mix just until combined.1 1/4 cups corn kernels, 1/2 cup cornmeal, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 3 eggs, 1 scallion, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add one-third of egg whites to batter and fold gently to loosen batter. Add remaining whites in two additional batches, folding egg whites gently into corn mixture.
- Place a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon of the oil. When hot, spoon four heaping tablespoons of batter into the skillet to make four fritters. Cook until golden brown on the bottom, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip gently and allow to cook for about 2 more minutes.
- Transfer to serving dish and cover to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter, adding oil a teaspoon at a time, as needed.
- Serve immediately alone or topped with guacamole or pico de gallo.
Video
Notes
- Add oil as necessary with later batches of fritters to ensure you end up with the desired crust texture. Use a wide spatula to flip fritters more easily without breaking them. While fritters don't expand, be sure to leave enough space between them in your skillet to easily flip them.
- For more tips and tricks, be sure to read the full article above.
Nutrition
This site uses an online source to provide nutrition estimates as a courtesy. If you need exact values, please calculate yourself.
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These look so yummy – I have never made fritters before!
Izzy | Pinch of delight
I hadn’t made corn fritters either, but these were SO good!