When it comes to corn on the cob toppings, it's hard to go wrong with butter, but we know there are countless other possibilities. What's your favorite way to eat this summertime favorite? Do you dress it up with spices, cheese, or other condiments?
Growing up, we often ate corn on the cob with a smear of miso or umeboshi paste; it may sound weird but the combination of the sweet corn and salty or tangy toppings is really satisfying. Momofuku's miso butter would probably be amazing, too.
Pictured above is the street fair favorite, Elote (Roasted Corn), which is served with toppings like mayonnaise, Cotija cheese, chile powder, and lime.
Do you eat corn on the cob with any interesting or unusual toppings? Or are you a purist who shudders at the thought?
Related: 5 Ways to Liven Up Corn on the Cob
(Image: Joanna Miller)
Floral Drink Dispen...

salted butter, lots of it.
elote-style. the more toppings, the better!
Just tried smoked paprika (with butter and salt) for the first time last week - WIN!
Nothing! Leave it alone :)
salsaaaa.
Butter and salt only please.. tried a few "fancy" combos.. hated em all.. Just give me my butter and salt :)
Definitely a purest, butter and salt..or just salt.
I really believe the best flavor comes from grilling corn on the cob...that doesn't count as an extra ingredient does it?!
Oh just salt and butter. That's it! I like to really taste my corn, especially when the Olathe stuff comes out here in Colorado... it's only for a little while, and it's the sweetest, juiciest corn you'll ever eat!
I always add butter, fresh lime juice, chile powder & cilantro. yum.
We grilled corn last weekend for the first time ever - roll it around in olive oil, salt & pepper, and grill. Yummytastic. Now I think of it, a little squeeze of lime might have been a tasty finisher, too. Must try that next time.
(Short answer: salt, pepper, and either butter or oil)
If it's sweet white corn: nothing.
If it's the bigger kernels you get in South America: queso fresco. yumm
Butter & Jane's Krazy Lime Pepper! I don't remember what inspired me to try it once, but it's so good!
Friend introduced me to bacon salt on corn last week- a little goes a long way but it was pretty good!
Butter and Old Bay!
elote man style! HONKA HONKA HONKA HONKA HONKA! (that's his horn - not to be confused with the paletero bell jingle)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3388/3617709313_5a202735a8.jpg
Little butter, lots of Old Bay and a quick roll in feta. Its to die for.
My husband and I have lately been eating grilled corn dressed in olive oil, salt, and pepper. The extra caramelizing of the kernels is just delicious against the salt and the bite of pepper. The oil pretty much just holds the seasonings on.
Try it with the green tabasco. SOOO good!
I use just good old butter, salt and pepper but my husband LOVES corn with butter, mayonnaise and parmesan cheese. We even have a man who occasionally walks around with a push cart selling that exact concoction. Whenever he hears the corn man, he runs out the door like a kid running for the ice cream truck.
Pre-vegan days I would get corn from a street vendor that was super good (mayo/butter, Parmesan cheese, and cayenne pepper). And grilled in soy sauce and garlic wrapped in foil is my current favorite.
But I will eat corn just about anyway it comes, I have been known to eat it raw with nothing on it at all (oh the joys of homegrown corn).
butter, salt, cholula and lime. Yum!
Chili powder, lime, and season salt on grilled corn on the cob...yum! ;o)
Just made some tonight with butter, miso, sesame oil, pepper. Was very happy with the way it turned out. Hummm... I think there may be a piece left for a snack!
I like mine with some Goya adobo - partial to the cumin kind.
Otherwise I'm a butter, salt and pepper girl.
But nothing tops the pure unadulterated sweetness of a truly fresh cob from the market or garden. Cooking isn't necessary.
I am from Iowa, and sweet corn is an almost daily staple in the diet from mid-July through August. Not living there nor visiting in the summer is torture - solely because I miss the stuff. Terribly. ( I will gladly accept ears shipped overnight!) I love the stuff, and it really doesn't taste as good from anywhere else. Nothing beats a dozen ears out of a farmer's truck...
Butter (and salt if you must...) But that is all.
Really, we should be talking about how we eat it: typewriter (across the ear) or spin the ear as you nibble, and go in sections! I'm a typewriter, myself :)
Sweet white corn doesn't need anything, but I'll butter it a little because butter corn = beautiful happy deliciousness
Butter and furikake mix.
butter and salt typewriter
salt, red chilli powder and a hint of sugar - mix it all up and then dip a lemon into the mixture and rub it on the corn. Top it with a little butter if you please. Delish. This is how corn on the cob is sold in the monsoons in Bombay, without the butter though.
If the corn is really good, nothing but salt. I don't understand why people put anything on it.
But I have to admit that I want to try butter & Old Bay seasoning if it isn't so good. That reminds me a bit of Frogmore Stew.
Just the thought of putting mayo on corn makes me a little queesy.
Just use butter and salt. Lots and lots of butter. Enough salt to make the anti-sodium crowd blanche, but no more.
@learnbydesign I'm a spinner. :)
I used to wait tables and this girl told me to take the corn, leave the husk on, tear out the silk and then cover the corn in butter and salt, and then take fresh basil leaves and cover the corn, wrap it back in the husk, and grill it. ZOMG.
Basil Corn a Tomato Basil pie = heaven
that's Basil Corn PLUS Tomato Basil pie...
my version of Mexican corn: corn grilled in the husks with salted butter then lightly covered with a mixture of mayo, fresh squeezed lime, cholula chili lime hotsauce, and chili powder before being rolled in crumpled cotija cheese.
I recently tried Frank's hot sauce and lime. Fantastic!
Just butter and pepper please!
just butter and chili powder. I recently got my mom turned on to the combination, and now she's an addict as well. Your first hit's free, mom!
@purplefoodie: My boyfriend and I do something similar - lime wedges dipped into coarse salt and chili powder, rubbed on the corn. Yum!
Tried some corn at a Chicago WhiteSox game a while back...not quite as "healthy" as they promote but it was the best corn I've ever had. In fact, I think this just gave me an excuse to fire up the grill tonight.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dudchenko/3559734671/