How to Freeze Fresh Sweet Summer Corn

If you are a corn lover and wish you could have sweet corn year-round, I have great news! You can. Just follow along for tips on how to cut corn off the cob and freeze fresh corn.

You can freeze a lot or a little fresh corn, depending on how much you want throughout the rest of the year. Frozen sweet corn is a perfect, easy side dish on its own, or you can add it to other dishes that call for corn.

I sometimes use it in place of canned corn when I make corn pudding, my Easy Black Bean recipe, salads, salsas, soups like Black Bean Taco Soup, and risotto. When I make Zucchini Corn Pasta, I often buy extra ears of corn for freezing corn kernels.

What you’ll need to freeze fresh summer corn

• The freshest corn on the cob you can buy. I let my fav
• Sheet pans otherwise known as a rimmed baking sheet for stacking the shucked corn.
• Clean dish towels
• Extra freezer space
• 2 sauté pans to blanch the corn in a single layer.
• Large colander: You’ll need a colander to place the blanched corn in. I run cold water over the corn to cool it. You can also use an ice bath to cool the corn.
• Kitchen tongs for removing the blanched corn on the cob from the boiling water and placing it in the colander or ice bath.
• Cutting board
• Sharp 8 inch chef’s knife for cutting the corn kernels off the cobs

Shuck the corn on the cob

My children sometimes grumble about all the shucking, but they have developed their own tradition within the tradition – setting aside all the ears of corn that contain random yellow kernels (Silver King corn has white kernels) to cook for dinner that night.  

We gather around some large trash cans and shuck away while chatting and listening to music. This year we listened to Caroline’s Broadway playlist.

Lots of fun!  Have some trays on hand to stack and transfer the shucked corn to the kitchen.

How to Freeze Sweet Corn Off the Cobb

Once all the corn is shucked, we set up to blanch the corn, cut it off the cobs and fill the bags to freeze fresh corn.

First, we place a couple of pots or sauté pans on the stove that are big enough to hold about 4-6 ears of corn each in a single layer. We fill each about halfway with water and set the heat to high.

We also fill a tea kettle and keep that hot to add to the pots as water evaporates after we’ve blanched a couple rounds.

Expert Tip: Dampen a clean dish towel and lay it on the counter where to you want to cut the corn. Place your cutting board on top of the damp towel. The towel is there to keep the board from traveling around the counter while you’re cutting!

Ask one of the corn huskers to write the date on plastic quart-size zip top freezer bags with a Sharpie.  Each bag will hold the corn kernels from 4-6 ears.

Expert tips:

• Use a damp paper towel or clean dish towel to wipe any corn or liquid from the corn off the bags to prevent them from sticking together once they’re frozen. Stack the filled bags on top of one another. And place them in the freezer.
• Save the water you used for blanching the corn cobs. Allow it to cool, and then place it in freezer-safe containers. Remember to label and date it. You’ll have lots of delicious corn stock to use in place of veggie stock. I like to use it in place of water or veggie stock.

The Easiest Way to Freeze Fresh Corn

You can buy a few extra ears of corn next time you buy it to cook with dinner.  I do this often when I make Zucchini Corn Pasta. After dinner, cut the kernels off the leftover ears, put it in a plastic ziplock bag, date it and stick it in the freezer.

How to Cook Frozen Sweet Corn

Over the course of the year, once corn season has come and gone, we’re  so thankful we took a weekend afternoon freezing corn.  It takes only a couple minutes to defrost in the microwave. Then I place it in a saucepan with some salt and some water or milk.  

Place a lid on the pan. Bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil gently for 5 minutes. You have corn that takes you back to summer and takes only a few minutes to cook.  

What a Job!

I won’t forget the time my father-in-law told us about one of his jobs as a child growing up in Eastern North Carolina. Because he was always so tall, he had a job walking through the rows of corn and opening the pods (anthers is the actual term) on top of the stalks to distribute the pollen they contain.

Who knew there was ever such a job?!  And a little plant biology – the pollen fertilizes the silks. There has to be a fertilized corn silk for each kernel of corn to develop on the cob. Fascinating! 

Freezing Fresh Corn is a Family Tradition

Since Caroline (14) was 4 months old, we’ve gone to Lancaster, PA to freeze fresh corn.  Why Lancaster you’re wondering? My husband’s parents live there.

And the fresh, sweet corn we get each summer is out of this world.  It’s incredibly tender and sweet. It’s well worth the trip!  

Each year, my mother-in-law finds where to get the summer’s best-tasting corn. We find a weekend that works for both of us.

She orders the corn, and off we go—our empty cooler ready to fill with bags of frozen sweet corn.

Our family’s annual freezing corn fest provides an opportunity for a low-pressure exposure to food which is a great way to support picky eaters.  It’s another family tradition and an opportunity to gather multiple generations.  And it’s also FUN!  

Every year we get 10 – 11 dozen ears to freeze fresh corn to enjoy until the next summer, when we’ll do it all again. You don’t have to get this much!  

Here’s Caroline eating fresh corn on the cob when she was around 14 months old.  She has always loved it!  I put the corn on the tray and she decided whether or not she was going to pick it up and try it.  

She knew exactly what to do!  She had seen us eat corn on the cob, and children have an innate sense of how to feed themselves.  

I hope my children grow up to think about our annual freezing corn fest the way Anna reminisces about blackberry picking.  

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