Grilled Corn with Spicy Calabrian Chile Butter

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 4 servings
  • Total: 55 min (includes soaking time)
  • Active: 25 min
This is one of Molly’s go-tos in the summer months, when corn is sweet and fresh. The compound butter adds counterpoints of spice and richness. Plus, the butter is quite versatile, so you can use it to bump up the flavor of dishes such as grilled chicken and steak too.
Advertisement

Ingredients

Spicy Compound Butter:

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives, plus more for sprinkling

1/2 teaspoon paprika

4 whole Calabrian chiles in oil, patted dry, stemmed and finely chopped

Zest from 1/2 lemon

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Corn:

4 ears yellow or white corn

4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Flaky salt and freshly ground black pepper

Grated Pecorino Romano cheese, for sprinkling

Directions

  1. For the spicy compound butter: In a small mixing bowl, combine the butter, chives, paprika, Calabrian chiles, lemon zest and some salt and pepper, mashing it together with a fork. Place on a sheet of parchment paper and form into a log. Seal the ends, like a candy wrapper, and set aside at room temperature (if you won’t be using the butter for a while, then refrigerate and remove 30 minutes before serving the corn).
  2. For the corn: Carefully pull the husks back from the corn and remove the stringy silks. Tie the husks with butcher’s twine or with a piece of the husk. Then, submerge the corn in a roasting pan of water to hydrate the husks (to prevent burning on the grill), for at least 30 minutes before grilling.
  3. Preheat a gas or charcoal grill to medium-high heat. Or, heat a grill pan on the stovetop on medium-high heat.
  4. Pat the corn dry and oil each ear with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil to fully coat.
  5. Grill the corn, turning occasionally, until the kernels are slightly charred on all sides but still plump, 7 to 10 minutes total. Remove from the grill. Butter each ear of corn, while hot, with 2 tablespoons of the spicy compound butter. Season with flakey salt, black pepper, freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese and chives.

Let's Get Cooking!

Sign up for the Recipe of the Day newsletter to receive editor-picked recipes,tips and videos delivered to your inbox daily. Privacy Policy

Thanks for subscribing to the Recipe of the Day newsletter. Check out all our other great newsletters from Easy Recipes, Healthy Eating Ideas and Chef Recipe Videos.

We're sorry, there was an error signing you up. Please try again later.

Advertisement

dbclaudio

I've made the calabrian compound butter several times for cookouts this summer and everyone loves. I can't comment on the corn process because I just shucked, broke in half and grilled. After allowing to cool for a few minutes, placed in ziplocks with the butter to melt, using tongs to serve making it less messy.

See All Reviews