You Only Need 4 Common Ingredients To Make Corn On The Cob 10X Better

Nothing screams summer like corn on the cob. It's an essential summer side whose sweetness pairs perfectly with all the savory cookout favorites, from burgers and dogs to barbecued chicken. In fact, you should throw corn on the cob on the grill next to your proteins to likewise instill some smoky char and complement their sweetness. However, smokiness isn't the only way to upgrade corn on the cob. You only need four common ingredients to take corn on the cob to the next level.

In her recipe for grilled corn on the cob, Tasting Table recipe developer Miriam Hahn brings a wealth of rich, savory flavors to simple corn on the cob with a garlic butter blend consisting of butter, garlic, parsley, and salt. To make the dressing, Hahn simply melts a stick of butter slowly over the stove or in the microwave. As the butter melts, she dices the parsley and presses the garlic through a garlic press to create a paste-like consistency. If you don't have a garlic press, you can run a few cloves of garlic over the smallest holes in a box grater or use a microplane. Add the garlic, parsley, and salt to the melted butter, stirring to combine. She uses half the garlic butter mixture to brush over the corn before grilling so that it'll begin to infuse as it cooks and pours the rest of the garlic butter over the cooked corn right after pulling them off the grill.

Butter is a common accompaniment to corn on the cob as a slather of butter brings dairy richness to enhance the sweet and savory flavors of the corn. But butter is also a vessel for infusing other delicious flavors, and Hahn's recipe uses spicy garlic and earthy parsley to round out the richness of the dairy. A garlicky, earthy corn on the cob is an elegant upgrade that'll pair well with almost any other dish. You can also bring even more flavors to this melted compound butter. For example, you can put an Italian twist on Mexican street corn by following a brush of garlic and parsley butter with a coating of shredded parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese. Spice things up a bit with red pepper flakes. Double the garlic butter in Hahn's corn on the cob recipe to use for other grilled veggies, from zucchini to shishito peppers.

If garlic, parsley, and salt aren't the ideal trifecta for your corn on the cob, you can still use melted butter as a liquid base for all kinds of other corn on the cob seasonings. Spike melted butter with lemon pepper or Cajun seasoning to pair with a grilled fish dinner. If you're abstaining from dairy, you can purchase a plant-based butter; our favorite vegan butter brand is Miyoko's creamy European style plant milk butter. Of course, you can always use mayonnaise as a seasoning base.