This is a foolproof method for boiling corn on the cob, giving the size of pot to use, amount of water, timing for how long is needed, plus a little something extra that makes it the tastiest corn on the cob out there!
This is how my mom boiled fresh corn on the cob at her restaurant and everyone always raved about it. In fact, they’d ask why her corn was so much sweeter than any they’d ever had before! The answer is that she had a secret ingredient added to the water. And also, she knew the exact timing required to get the corn kernels plump and juicy, but not overcooked. Now, I’m sharing my mom’s secrets with you!
Scroll down to learn how to make the tastiest boiled corn on the cob, or click here to jump down to the recipe.
- Video: Boiling Corn On The Cob
- Main Points For Boiling Corn on the Cob
- Type of Pot To Use For Boiling Corn
- How Much Water To Use When Boiling Corn
- What If My Pot’s Too Small For All That?
- Do You Add Salt To The Water?
- How Much Sugar To Add To The Water?
- How Long To Boil Corn on the Cob
- Dry Off That Corn
- Corn on the Cob Toppings
- Other Ways To Cook Corn on the Cob
- More Corn Recipes
- Podcast Episode: How To Boil Corn On The Cob
- How to Boil Corn on the Cob Recipe
Video: Boiling Corn On The Cob
Main Points For Boiling Corn on the Cob
This is a long post. You can read everything, or go down to the recipe, or, here are the steps and most important details for boiling corn on the cob:
- You need a pot big enough to fit the shucked cobs and lots of water so the cobs can bob and spin.
- You’ll bring the water (without the corn in there) to a boil over high heat.
- Carefully add 2 tablespoons of sugar per 3 cups of water. Do not add salt. Stir.
- Add the corn cobs and cover the pot. Bring the water back up to a boil still over high heat.
- Then drop it down to a good simmer (probably medium heat) and cook uncovered for exactly 5 minutes, stirring every 45-60 seconds.
- Transfer the corn to a paper-towel-lined plate to dry it off. Then add butter and salt and eat.
Type of Pot To Use For Boiling Corn
The pot I use to cook corn is 5.6 quarts. In general, a wide pot that is 5-6 quarts in size will be good for 4-8 cobs of corn.
What’s important is that you use a pot that is just a bit wider than the length of your cobs of corn so that they can fit comfortably. It also needs to be deep enough that all your corn could be submerged in water.
To check if your pot is big enough, put your shucked cobs into it and see if they fit comfortably with room around them and above them to spare. They can be piled up, but it should still be loose. If you wiggle the pot, the cobs should easily move around.
How Much Water To Use When Boiling Corn
The idea here is that you want enough water that the corn cobs could be submerged. I say “could be” because they float, so they won’t be fully-submerged, truly. But you want them as submerged as possible. You’re basically giving them some space to move in the water. If they have a bit of space, they will spin and bob as they cook, and therefore cook more evenly. If they can’t move, they won’t cook as evenly. The cobs that float to the top will be partially out of the water and won’t move and turn to cook the tops.
To see if you have enough water, put the uncooked shucked corn cobs into the pot and fill it with water. Push down on the cobs if necessary to make sure that it covers them. If all the corn is submerged when you push down on it, then you have enough water. Take the corn out of the pot though because you want the water to boil without the corn in there.
To give you a more specific idea, for 6 cobs of corn in a 5.6 quart pot, you’ll need 12-14 cups of water.
What If My Pot’s Too Small For All That?
Don’t worry. It’s going to be okay. I have solutions for if your pot isn’t big enough to fit the length of your corn cobs and/or to be deep enough so your corn can fit comfortably.
- If you don’t have a pot that’s wide enough to fit the length of your cobs: break them in half.
- If you don’t have a pot that’s big enough to fit the corn comfortably: Every 45-60 seconds while the corn is cooking use tongs to move a cob (or half cob) from the bottom of the pot to the top.
Do You Add Salt To The Water?
No, you do not want to add salt to the water when cooking corn on the cob. The salt will cause the kernels to toughen. We want tender-crisp, juicy, and flavorful kernels. You’ll add salt at the end before eating, but not while simmering your corn.
How Much Sugar To Add To The Water?
The secret ingredient for boiling corn on the cob that I learned from my mom is sugar. You add sugar to the boiling water. That sugar adds extra sweetness to the fresh sweet corn and makes it taste even sweeter and fresher. It’s pretty magical.
You’ll add 2 tablespoons of sugar per 3 cups of water. As mentioned, the big pot that I use to boil corn holds 12-14 cups of water, so I add a half of a cup of sugar to that. It may sound like a lot, but you aren’t actually consuming that much sugar. It’s sweetening the water and getting a little into the corn, but most of it will get drained away when you pour the water down the drain. But still, I can’t wait for you to taste how sweet and tasty this corn is!
How Long To Boil Corn on the Cob
You boil corn on the cob for 5 minutes. No more and no less. I see numbers all over the place, even as much as 20 minutes! But that makes corn way too soft. Five minutes is the sweet spot, literally. The corn turns that deeper bright yellow color in that time, the kernels are tender and juicy, but not squeaky like uncooked corn. It’s just plain perfectly cooked.
Now, to be clear, what you do is to bring the large pot of water to a boil WITHOUT the corn in there. Once it’s boiling, carefully add in the sugar. I say carefully because, as you can see in my video, if you add it quickly, the pot can sputter pretty crazily. Then stir the sugar in just to make sure it has dissolved.
Then, with the water still boiling and your pot still over high heat, add in your cobs of corn. They will cool the water down a bit. Depending on how many cobs you have and how much water you have in there, they can actually cool it down quite a bit. Put the lid on the pot and keep it over high heat until the water comes back to a boil.
Once the water is boiling again, drop the heat down to a moderate simmer. You want it still bubbling but not like crazy. And then this is the point when you set the timer for 5 minutes now. Keep the lid off at this point and just bop a corn cob every 30 seconds or so causing them all to bob. That causes them to spin a bit, which will make them cook more evenly.
As mentioned above if your corn fits in the pot pretty tightly and isn’t bobbing and spinning, here’s what you do: Use tongs to bring a cob from the bottom up to the top every 45-60 seconds. That will keep everything moving and shifting so that it all cooks more evenly. You do not need to change the timing.
When your 5 minute timer dings, take the corn out of the pot immediately. I use kitchen tongs for this.
Dry Off That Corn
Honestly, I forget to do this all the time. But it’s a good idea to dry off the corn after it comes out of the water. If you’re going to slather it in butter right away, and there’s water on the corn, the butter won’t stick to the corn as well.
So, the best thing to do is to line a plate with paper towel. And when you use tongs to take the corn out of the pot of water, transfer the corn to your paper-lined plate. Turn it over once so the other side dries too, and then get the next corn cob out of the water.
Or, just give the cobs a good shake as you pull them out of the water. Most of the water will come off then, and the rest is mostly going to evaporate off because it’s pretty hot and steamy.
Corn on the Cob Toppings
While the corn is still hot, you want to slather it in butter. Just plain butter is great, of course. Even better is some delicious garlic butter. This is my favorite, best-ever garlic butter recipe. But I’ll tell you, even better than that is this flavored butter that I designed specifically to go with corn. It’s butter that has flavors that are known to pair well with corn, like bacon, cilantro, and a bit of chipotle mixed in. So seriously good.
If your butter or butter mixture doesn’t contain salt, be sure to add a sprinkle of salt to the corn as well. That counters the sweet flavor of the corn and really brings it all together. Add the salt after adding the butter. That way, the salt will stick better to the corn, as opposed to being washed away by the butter.
If you want something even more exciting to put on your corn, you can do it Mexican style by making Elote, Mexican Street Corn. Here’s my Elote Recipe. But basically, you slather the cobs in something creamy like mayonnaise that you’ve mixed with some tasty flavorful ingredients. That creamy layer then acts as a glue for some tasty cheese, usually cotija cheese or queso fresco, that you crumble up and sprinkle on there.
Other Ways To Cook Corn on the Cob
Here are some of my other favorite ways to cook corn on the cob.
- Microwaved Corn on the Cob (yes, really! It’s so quick and easy and turns out really tasty. Perfect for a busy weeknight)
- Grilled Corn on the Cob
- Air Fryer Corn on the Cob
More Corn Recipes
If you love veggies, here are some of my favorite vegetable side dish recipes, and this is my collection of over 100 Side Dishes, including veggies, lots of potatoes, summer salads, and so much more. And, because I know you love corn, here are some of my favorite corn recipes linked to right here for you:
Podcast Episode: How To Boil Corn On The Cob
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this corn, along with some other great tips, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
PrintHow to Boil Corn on the Cob Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
This fool-proof method gives you sweet and tender corn every single time.
Ingredients
- 12–14 cups water
- 6 cobs of corn
- 1/2 cup sugar*
- 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter (optional)
- 3/4 tsp. salt (optional)
Instructions
- Measure the water into a wide 5-6 quart pot or Dutch oven.** Cover it and bring it to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, shuck the corn by removing all the outer leaves and all of the silk. Trim off the corn stem ends, if desired.
- Once the pot comes to a boil, carefully stir in the sugar.
- With the pot still over high heat, use tongs to add the cobs of corn to the pot. Cover the pot, but stir occasionally until the water comes back up to a boil. Reduce heat to medium so that the water has a good simmer, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
- Line a plate with 3 sheets of paper towel. Use tongs to transfer the corn to the paper-lined plate, turning the corn over so that it is blotted dry on all sides. Once all of the corn has been removed from the pot and blotted, remove the paper towel and discard it.
- If desired, distribute and spread the butter evenly all over the cobs of corn and then sprinkle with the salt.
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Notes
*You actually want 2 tablespoons of sugar per 3 cups of water. So, if you’re using more or less water in your pot, adjust the amount of sugar added. Note also that the nutritional information below includes all of the ingredients. For this recipe, that information will show that there are a lot more calories than are actually going to be consumed because most of the sugar will stay in the water and will not end up in the corn.
***If your corn fits in the pot too tightly to stir, every 45-60 seconds, use a pair of tongs to move a corn cob from the bottom of the pot to the top. That will keep everything moving and cooking more evenly.
**If your pot isn’t wide enough for the corn to fit, you can break the cobs in half.
David Shipp says
If you are cooking fresh picked corn, picked the same day, adding sugar would be sacrilege.