This cheesy corn dip is so addictively delicious that everyone always asks me for the recipe. It has a base of sour cream and cream cheese and is super-easy to make.
This corn dip is cheesy, creamy, and full of great Tex-Mex taste thanks to the peppers and seasonings. Cheesy Cream Cheese Corn Dip may have a lot of c‘s but complicated isn’t one of them. The dip mixture comes together in about 10 minutes and can be served hot or cold. Bring on the tortilla chips and let’s get dipping.
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
Video: Making Cheesy Corn Dip
What Is Cream Cheese Corn Dip?
This quick dip recipe combines cream cheese and sour cream, along with corn, peppers, cheese, and spices.
The cream cheese mixture used for the base is based on my Classic Taco Dip recipe. That’s why it’s so addictively good. The corn adds a really nice freshness to the whole thing though, enough that I want to add a layer of corn to my taco dip now!
Type of Corn To Use
Whether the corn kernels are yellow, white, or peaches and cream does matter for this recipe. Beyond that, you can use frozen corn, fresh corn from cobs, or canned corn. Here are the amounts of corn you’ll need and other information about what to do for the different types.
Frozen Corn: The recipe calls for 2 cups of frozen corn, thawed. You’ll measure the corn before defrosting it. After it has thawed, you will have about 1 and 1/2 cups of corn.
Canned Corn: One 15 ounce can of corn, once drained, is about 1 and1/2 cups. So that one can is all you need to make this recipe. Just be sure to drain it well since it can be a bit watery and that will make the texture of the dip a bit less thick. Pour the can into a fine mesh sieve and let the can drip in there for a few minutes, then stir it and let it sit for a few minutes more.
Fresh Corn on the Cob: You can get about 3/4 of a cup of corn from 1 cob of corn, so you’ll need two cobs. The corn needs to be cooked before you add it to the recipe. It’s easiest to cook the corn on the cob, cool the cobs, then cut the corn off. Here are my favorite ways to cook corn on the cob:
Ingredient Substitutions
There are several substitutions you can make in this dip recipe to suit your own preferences and/or what you have on hand.
Cream Cheese: The dip is best with regular cream cheese, but you can use a reduced fat version, if you’d like, and the texture of the dip will still be the same. If you’d like to omit the cream cheese, you can double the sour cream instead.
Sour Cream: The dip is best will full-fat regular sour cream, but you can opt for a lighter version and the texture of the dip will stay the same. You can instead substitute Greek yogurt for the sour cream, if you’d like. Another alternative that I really love is to use pureed cottage cheese. Simply combine it with the soften cream cheese and then put it into a food processor and puree it until smooth. You may need a little drizzle of water to get it really smooth.
Corn: See the heading above which gives more info about what type of corn to use. If you’d like to skip the corn, you can use an extra two bell peppers making this into a bell pepper cream cheese dip.
Seasonings: My recipe calls for a combination of cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, smoked paprika, and salt. This can easily be swapped for a tablespoon of taco seasoning. Or feel free to omit any of the spices that you don’t like.
Jalapeños: I like to use fresh, but you could use jarred pickled jalapeño slices instead. Canned diced green chilis would work here too. You’ll want about 1-2 tablespoons of the pickled or canned peppers. For the slices, give them a chop before adding them.
Cheese: Sharp Cheddar cheese is my go-to for this cheesy dip. It just has a really nice, strong, cheese flavor. But pepper jack or a Mexican cheese blend would also be tasty.
How To Make Cheesy Corn Dip
To start, you’ll want to let the cream cheese sit out and soften a bit so it’s easier to mix. If you forgot to take it out of the fridge, take it out of its packaging and put it on a microwave safe plate. Cut it into 4 or 5 pieces. Then put it in the microwave and use the defrost function, or 50% power (power level 5) for 5 seconds at a time until the cream cheese has softened.
Once the cream cheese has softened, use an electric hand mixer to beat it together with the sour cream until it’s smooth and combined. Or you can do this in a food processor. Or, as shown in the above video, you can just stir it all in a bowl until smooth.
Add in the spices and stir until well mixed. Stir in your cheese, corn, bell pepper, jalapeños, and green onion and then transfer to your serving bowl.
Can I Serve This Corn Dip Hot?
Yes, you can! I’ve made this both ways, hot and cold, and while I preferred eating it cold, it also makes a delicious hot dip. (Love that melty cheese!)
Mix up the dip and then heat in the microwave for one minute. Stir, then continue microwaving for one minute at a time until heated through.
Serving Cream Cheese Corn Dip
Whether you serve this corn dip hot or cold, you’ll need things for dipping, of course. I love it with tortilla chips, but pretzels and crackers work well too.
Want more veggies? Scoop up the dip with carrots, celery sticks, or red pepper slices. Tell me in the comments how you’re serving it.
More Delicious Dip Recipes
You can browse all my amazing appetizer recipes, but if you love dips as much as I do, you’ll want to bookmark some of the following.
- Classic Spinach Dip in Bread Bowl
- Jalapeño Popper Dip
- Nacho Dip Recipe
- 3-Ingredient Sausage Dip
- Homemade French Onion Dip
Podcast Episode: Making Creamy Corn Dip
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this dip, along with some other great tips, by clicking the play button below:
Cheesy Cream Cheese Corn Dip Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Mix
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
This cheesy corn dip has a base of sour cream and cream cheese and is so easy to make. I love the corn flavor and bit of spice.
If you’d like to serve this dip hot, see post above for instructions.
Ingredients
- 1 cup sour cream
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1 tsp. cumin*
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. chili powder
- 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
- 2 cups frozen corn, thawed**
- 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped
- 1–2 fresh jalapeños, seeded and finely minced***
- 1/4 cup green onion
Instructions
- Into a large bowl measure the sour cream and cream cheese. Use an electric hand mixer to beat it all together until smooth.****
- Add the cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, smoked paprika, and salt. Beat until evenly colored.
- Stir in the Cheddar, corn, bell pepper, jalapenos, and green onion. Transfer to dip bowl.
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Notes
*Instead of the cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, smoked paprika, and salt, you can use 1 tablespoon of taco seasoning, which is equivalent to half of a 1 ounce packet.
**This is equivalent to one 15 ounce can of corn. Drain the corn well and then use it. If using fresh corn on the cob, you’ll need 2 cobs. Cook the corn (see above for info about cooking corn) and once it has cooled, cut it off of the cobs and use it in the recipe.
***You can use jarred pickled jalapeño slices instead. Mince them up and use 1-2 tablespoons.
****Or you can use a food processor, or do this by hand with a wooden spoon and a big bowl.
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