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Spicy Corn Fritters

Spicy Corn Fritters

What would be your dream diet? You know, the diet in which you could really eat anything you wanted, and as much as you wanted. If you asked me at dinner tonight, I would have to say, spicy corn fritters. Yep, the corn fritter diet. (Haven't you heard of it?) Just pile 'em on. One bite of freshly made fritters made with farm fresh corn, dipped in a sweet chili sauce, and nothing else seems even remotely appealing. Of course, a few weeks of nothing but corn fritters and you're on the road to pellagra, but one can dream, can't one?

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Spicy Corn Fritters Recipe

Ingredients

Dipping Sauce

  • 3/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons red chili pepper flakes
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 large clove garlic, minced

Fritters

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 cups of corn kernels, (see steps for cutting corn from a cob) cut from 3 large cobs (or frozen corn, defrost and drain first)
  • 4 large scallions or green onions, finely sliced (about half a cup)
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
  • Grapeseed, canola, or peanut oil (a high smoke point oil) for frying

Method

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1 Make the dipping sauce by combining all of the sauce ingredients into a small saucepan. Cook on medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to medium high, let boil for 5-10 minutes or so, until the mixture becomes somewhat syrupy. Remove from heat and let cool. The sauce should continue to thicken as it cools. If it becomes too thick, you can add a little water to it to thin it out a bit.

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2 Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, ground coriander, and ground cumin in a medium bowl. Add egg, lemon juice and water. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add the corn, onions, and cilantro. Stir until just combined.

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3 Heat a large frying pan on medium high heat. Add enough oil to generously coat the bottom of the pan. When oil is hot (shimmering not smoking), spoon about 2 heaping tablespoons worth of fritter batter into the pan to form one fritter, patting it down with the back of the spoon as soon as it is in the pan. Work in batches. Leave about 1/2 inch between the fritters in the pan. Let cook about 2-3 minutes on each side, flipping the fritters when they are nicely browned on one side. When browned on the other side, remove the fritters to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess fat.

Add oil as needed to keep the bottom of the pan well coated. Note that the fritters will likely splatter a bit as you are cooking. So, either use a screen splatter guard, or wear long sleeved clothes while you cook.

Makes approximately 16 fritters. Serve immediately with the sweet chili dipping sauce.

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48 Comments

The Corn Fritter Diet? Finally, a diet I can live with.

Sign me up :)

Posted by: jonathan on August 13, 2007 5:44 AM

Mmm, I wish I'd seen this before doing my weekly grocery shopping! Next week I'm going to make these as an accompaniment to broiled salmon with roasted tomato sauce.

Posted by: Caroline on August 13, 2007 8:07 AM

Thanks Elise, I guess it's corn fritter time of year again!

Posted by: vanessa on August 13, 2007 11:47 AM

On another note...
You probably won't die of pellagra on a diet of corn fritters. They have eggs which are rich in tryptophan which your body converts to niacin which prevents pellagra (a lack of niacin). So eat all the corn fritters you want.
:) I plan to eat many, they sound yummy!

Posted by: ScienceNerd on August 13, 2007 12:19 PM

This looks like the perfect recipe for summer corn. Yum!

Posted by: Amy on August 13, 2007 1:39 PM

Unbelievable recipe! My wife is a corn fanatic and I will be trying these very soon.

Seriously... I tell her what's for dinner and she always says : "Can we add corn to that?"

Posted by: Noah Oliphant on August 13, 2007 2:10 PM

LOL, ScienceNerd. Completely forgot about the tryptophan factor. Okay, now we can eat them with complete abandon. :-)

Posted by: Elise on August 13, 2007 3:13 PM

This recipe sounds great. The fritters just keep getting better and better.

Posted by: Daniel on August 13, 2007 3:50 PM

Can I substitute baking soda for the powder? I doubt it but I don't have any baking powder on hand but have everything else to make the recipe.

Thanks!

Posted by: Nai on August 13, 2007 4:08 PM

I adore the corn fritters at E & O Trading Company, but I haven't ever tried to make my own. Yours look amazing! Maybe I'll have to give it a try...

Posted by: Jennifer Jeffrey on August 13, 2007 6:50 PM

I often use corn starch and baking soda instead of baking powder, last time I checked the baking powder container the three ingredients listed were corn starch, calcium somethingsomething, and sodium bicarbonate... I assume the calcium whatever isn't too important :P

I'm thinking this looks pretty easy to make in bulk, and I have an office pot luck coming up. Some stipulation in the details suggests I need to know the ethnicity of the food I make. Where would a corn fritter have originated? :)

p.s. I've never posted here before but I love the blog; fantastic stuff, great food! Thanks so much.

Posted by: Mark on August 13, 2007 8:50 PM

I love these, I made them for my family tonight and they were a hit! My dipping sauce did not thicken, any idea why?

Thank you for this recipe. Will be making them again.

Posted by: Hanane on August 13, 2007 9:06 PM

Ever since my ability to eat corn on the cob fell prey to a chipped tooth, I've been looking for ways to enjoy corn off the cob. These fritters look delicious.

Posted by: lydia on August 13, 2007 9:11 PM

Mark, I think the cornstarch in the baking powder is added to prevent clumping. I know that's why they use it in powdered sugar..

Posted by: Katherine on August 14, 2007 6:40 AM

You're really frittering away, aren't you! Sorry, I couldn't resist! ;) I'm going to give these a whirl with the farm fresh corn I'm scoring tomorrow. Thanks, Elise.

Posted by: Sarah on August 14, 2007 9:32 AM

I picked up a good tip from either Cook's Illustrated or Cook's Country (can't remember which), which called for some corn kernels cut from the cobs and some grated off the cobs, plus scraping the cobs with the back of a knife for good measure.

Posted by: Kristina on August 14, 2007 11:28 AM

I was wondering if the recipe would work if is baked instead of fried.. would anyone know?

Posted by: Anuja on August 14, 2007 11:38 AM

You really got me with these, Elise. They are already saved to my recipe file and I'll make them for my beach night crowd tomorrow. Thanks!

Posted by: Christine on August 14, 2007 12:08 PM

Oh, yum! We made these tonight, and they were really delicious -- and easy. Omitted the coriander and cilantro and added a dash of cayenne pepper -- served 'em with chicken with artichokes and mushrooms. Really, really, really nice.

Posted by: Elizabeth on August 14, 2007 3:36 PM

Where do you sign up for this diet? These fritters look great, and now I am going to have to try them (no frittering away the pounds on this diet, though!)

Posted by: Deborah Dowd on August 14, 2007 7:06 PM

That's my kinda diet Elise. I love corn fritters with salsa, guacamole and sour cream.

Posted by: barbara on August 14, 2007 9:37 PM

I made this 3 days ago and am making it again tonight...delicious and easy!

My sauce didn't thicken either but it didn't really matter..the taste is yummy. However, I think I'll make about half the amount...and since I didn't have rice vinegar, I used a combo of apple cider and red wine vinegars...still yummy!!

Posted by: Steph on August 15, 2007 3:57 AM

I made these last night, but wasn't crazy about the sauce. They thickened to be like caramel and was sticky. The recepie looks better than it is.

Posted by: anna on August 15, 2007 5:28 AM

I wonder if there is a way to make these gluten-free (I have a daughter with Celiac Disease and she LOVES corn). Would substituting corn starch or potato starch flour for the regular flour work? I have a feeling rice flour wouldn't bind well enough.

Posted by: Sarah on August 15, 2007 11:49 AM

Hi Sarah - I think rice flour will work as a substitute. Reid's Indonesian corn fritters (see link in recipe) use rice flour. You might also try a gluten-free flour mix. Bob's Red Mill is makes an excellent gluten-free mix which we use.

Hi Anna - You can add a little water to the sauce to make it less thick.

Posted by: Elise on August 15, 2007 12:27 PM

Not sure exactly what my perfect diet would be but I'd certainly like some of these in it! They look so wonderfully crispy.

Posted by: Wendy on August 15, 2007 2:07 PM

These sound incredible....Except that I can't go near Cumin. Knowing that Cumin and Corriander are likely to provide a taste combo, can anyone think of something that might work in lieu of Cumin? Thanks in Advance, and thanks to Elise - your blog is the bestest!

Posted by: Geoff on August 17, 2007 5:09 AM

These were DELICIOUS. I made them for me and the fiance last night, and he loved them. One warning about the sauce ... it didn't look "syrupy" enough, so we kept boiling it down for another 3 to 4 minutes. What I didn't realize is that it really thickens up once it sits for a while, and had to be really thinned down. My mistake, of course - but a warning to others who might take descriptions literally. LOVELY overall - will definitely make again.

Posted by: Amber on August 19, 2007 7:35 PM

I made a gluten-free version of this:
posted here
but, I wish I had cilantro and onion. next time!!
this was delicious, thanks!!!!

Posted by: jill on August 20, 2007 12:37 PM

I made just the fritters over the weekend and served them as alongside gazpacho. It was delicious, a perfect combination. I might make them even spicier next time and serve with some guacamole!

Posted by: Kate on August 20, 2007 1:39 PM

I made these fritters tonight. I'm now in love with a spicy corn fritter. Yummy!

Posted by: Stacy on August 20, 2007 3:50 PM

I made these fritters last night and they were delicious! I realized too late that I did not have any scallions so I substituted some chopped red onions and it worked quite well. I think next time I will make it even spicier with some cayenne or chopped jalapeno peppers (my husband and I are South Asian so we love things spicy!). We ate these with sour cream rather than the sauce in the recipe.

Posted by: Dev on August 24, 2007 8:30 AM

I laughed when I read the last posting - I made these last night as well - also no scallions, substituted onions - and I added a little jalapeno and cerrano chile. I used red corn instead of yellow from our garden. They were FANTASTIC - quite the hit. The sauce was great too - and so EASY to make. I think I will use it for other recipres.... Thanks!

Posted by: Lisa on August 25, 2007 12:59 PM

Made these, LOVED these. So fantastic, thanks for yet another great recipe.

Posted by: beth on August 28, 2007 9:53 AM

Made these last weekend and they were just terrific! The frying is a bit labor intensive, but well worth the effort. I doubled the recipe, thinking we'd have some left over, but they were so good that our dinner guests devoured them all!

Posted by: Amy on August 28, 2007 10:29 AM

These were absolutely delicious! My husband wants me to add some chopped chile peppers to the fritters next time.

Posted by: Christine on September 11, 2007 6:25 AM

These are ridiculously good corn fritters!

Posted by: Ingrid Blum on January 20, 2008 12:14 AM

Oh! These fritters make my family roar like lions! "we want more" is all I hear!

Posted by: Betsy on April 5, 2008 10:52 PM

Is there a way to make these without the egg? What could be substituted?

Thanks!

Posted by: Christy on June 17, 2008 10:10 AM

I made this today and we LOVED IT!! Thank you for posting this wonderful recipe.

Posted by: Nabeela on August 24, 2008 9:45 PM

These fritters are great!! I served them with a mayo/lime juice & zest/garlic/red onion/pepper salsa. I use the low fat mayo and so it is pretty low in cals. This is also delicious on pork and as a substitute for tartar sauce on fish......

Posted by: Katrina on October 2, 2008 5:28 AM

Forgot to add that I also fried the corn fritters in PAM, for less calories yet. If you keep the lid on the frying pan, they don't dry out at all and are wonderful without the grease!!!

Posted by: Katrina on October 2, 2008 5:32 AM

These sound/look great. I plan on making them tomorrow night as a side with burgers. Can you suggest an alternative dipping sauce with these?

If you have a favorite dipping sauce, use that. I don't have one other than this one to recommend, but if you use a different sauce that you like, please do tell us about it. ~Elise

Posted by: athina levesque on May 27, 2009 4:05 PM

Elise, I was resistant to use your recipe for the dipping sauce, but then I thought, you've NEVER steered me wrong- with any recipe- so I went ahead and made the fritters tonight, with the suggested sauce...why would I ever doubt you? The sauce was delicious, and a wonderful compliment to the fritters.I can't imagine another sauce working as well with them.Thanks again for another wonderful recipe!!

Posted by: athina levesque on May 28, 2009 6:48 PM

These are so delicious and the sauce is a perfect complement. I made large fritters and placed broiler salmon on top and the sauce over the fish. Seriously good stuff!

Posted by: Beth on June 10, 2009 10:18 AM

This is one recipe which I've tried at different ocassions and has been a hit every single time. The sauce is delicious and a great compliment to the fritters.

Posted by: SChristian on July 31, 2009 11:47 AM

Had these for lunch today and they were great, especially the dipping sauce. Subbed white wine vinegar b/c I was out of rice wine vinegar and red onion for scallions but still thought it tasted great, will def make these again, they're so easy to whip up.

Posted by: Andi on August 15, 2009 12:51 PM

Made this for dinner tonight, out of desperation, because the corn I bought 2 days ago was tasteless by the time I cooked it this afternoon. Went to your site which I have used before. They were a HUGE hit...the men in the family were especially happy. What would have been a corn on the cob disaster was turned into a delightful side to bbq spare ribs with all the trimmings. Thanks, Elise, you're a dinner saver!

Posted by: Patricia on November 1, 2009 5:43 AM

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