Nantucket Corn Pudding is a must-make recipe for Thanksgiving dinner! Creamy baked corn pudding, topped with buttery, cheesy crumbs.
Nantucket Corn Pudding is a traditional recipe that was popular with the original colonial inhabitants of New England – and today, it’s a classic side dish still served at many Thanksgiving dinners around the United States.
There are so many different recipes for corn pudding – and most modern day versions (like today’s Nantucket Corn Pudding) use whole corn kernels, rather than a porridge made with ground corn or corn meal. Back in the 17th century, the savory corn meal porridge was called ‘Hasty Pudding, and the sweet corn meal porridge was called ‘Indian Pudding.’
We found this Nantucket Corn Pudding recipe in this cookbook – and my husband Jack and I absolutely loved the golden and savory, buttery cracker and cheddar topping that was piled high on the creamy, flavorful corn pudding.
If you can find it, this Nantucket Corn Pudding is best with fresh whole corn kernels cut off the cob. But fresh corn isn’t often readily available during the Fall season, so a good quality drained canned sweet corn is a good alternative. (Frozen corn kernels may also be used, but we’ve found that the texture of frozen corn tends to be a little rubbery, so we’d highly recommend using canned as the best alternative to fresh corn.)
You may also like these other Corn recipes:
- Corn and Bacon Casserole
- Slow Cooker Creamed Fresh Corn
- Pumpkin Corn Pudding
- Zucchini Corn Risotto
- Grilled Corn and Jalapeño Salad
Nantucket Corn Pudding
Nantucket Corn Pudding is a must-make recipe for Thanksgiving dinner! Creamy baked corn pudding, topped with buttery, cheesy crumbs.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 50 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
- Category: Side dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: New England
Ingredients
- 8–10 ears fresh corn on the cob, or 5 cups canned corn, drained
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup half and half
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- Few grinds fresh nutmeg
- 3/4 cup crushed oyster crackers, divided (crush the crackers, then measure). Also see note above
- 3 tablespoons melted butter, divided
- 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- Paprika
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Cut corn from cob if using fresh corn and scrape right down to the cob saving the liquid that scrapes off with the corn kernels. You should have about 5 cups. Set aside. (Alternately, drain 5 cups of canned corn.)
- Butter a 9” round or square 9 X 2 ½“ deep casserole dish.
- In a large bowl beat eggs, half & half, salt, pepper and nutmeg.
- Add corn, ½ cup of the cracker crumbs and 2 tablespoons of the melted butter.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
- Sprinkle all of the cheese over the top.
- Mix the remaining cracker crumbs with the remaining butter and sprinkle over the top.
- Dust with a little paprika.
- Bake 45-50 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. The edges will be crispy and the center a bit loose.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
The original Nantucket Corn Pudding recipe calls for ‘pilot crackers’, ‘hard tack’ or oyster crackers. We’re fairly certain pilot crackers and hard tack (a simple flour and water biscuit) aren’t available at the supermarket, so oyster crackers are what we used. (They worked great in this recipe!)
Do you cover when baking?
Hi Teri – We don’t but if you find that your corn pudding is browning too much, you can put a piece of foil over the top.
That was a hit at Thanksgiving, so thank you for sharing
You’re very welcome Gege!
Soooo gooood
Thanks Martha!
I left off the cheese and sprinkled sugar on top instead . This made it like a dessert . So good .
Thanks for the suggestion Carol!
Dying to try this but….. I dont see how the cooking time and size ofcasserole bowl or 9×13 can be the same when the recipe is TRIPLED… yes, the ingredients changed but instructions and cooking times DID NOT… what gives? What are the tweaks? Longer cooking time?…Anything else?
Hi JP – Sorry for the confusion – our recipe card plugin gives you the option of doubling or tripling the ingredients list, but as you noted, it doesn’t change anything in the instructions. (That would be a great technical enhancement for sure!) There wouldn’t really be any other tweaks other than a larger pan and a bit longer cooking time given the volume. We’ve never made the recipe in such large quantities (we’re home cooks) so can’t give you specific timing guidance for large-scale/commercial preparation. If you are using a large pan – similar to what you’d use in a steam table or chafing dish – it would take longer but maybe not three times as long. Hope that helps.
There really wasn’t much more than a corn flavor, and was kind of dry and just bland… maybe I did something wrong?
Sorry you were disappointed April – the corn you use will make a difference (I’d suggest canned over frozen if fresh isn’t available) and it shouldn’t have been dry – perhaps watch your baking time and take it out of the oven once it’s set but don’t over cook it. Hope that helps!
Pilot Biscuits are available online
Thanks Lois!
Can I make ahead?
Hi Ronnie – I’m not sure if you mean bake ahead and reheat or mix and bake just before serving. You can prep ahead of time, but hold off on sprinkling the top cracker crumbs (step 7) until you are ready to bake it so they don’t get soggy. (Also take it out of the refrigerator ahead of time so that your casserole is close to room temperature before baking.) You can also bake ahead and reheat – but freshly baked is always best. Hope that helps!
could you use canned hominy?
Hi Dawn – Jack and I don’t cook very much with hominy…I think it could work. Please let us know how it comes out!
I made this for Thanksgiving last year…I have to deal the recipe this year!
So glad to hear that Mary! (We love it too!)