If you've been looking for the perfect Instant Pot side dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter, you've found it here with this homemade Instant Pot Creamed Corn! This creamy comfort food uses heavy cream (not cream cheese) to get a signature texture that gets rave reviews from the Holiday table. The perfect vegetable side dish, and made easily from scratch using the pot-in-pot method.
Once the Fall weather hits, I start dreaming about Thanksgiving. To be fair, lest you think me some kind of insane person, Canadian Thanksgiving takes place in October, long before Halloween. So, while many of you in America will be celebrating in November, we've already enjoyed our yummy Thanksgiving Dinner up North. And good thing for you, because I can share with you some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes!
This Instant Pot Creamed Corn is perfect for serving up at any Fall or Winter meal, but is especially delicious when served as part of your Thanksgiving or Christmas spread. It's creamy, easy, and made with frozen corn kernels! Unlike many Instant Pot versions of creamed corn, this version is made with heavy cream instead of cream cheese. This makes for a pleasantly creamy result, without that signature cream cheese tanginess. From scratch taste, directly out of the Instant Pot!
In order to cook the corn kernels alongside the heavy cream, we use the pot-in-pot method (also known as PIP).
What is the Pot-in-Pot method?
The pot-in-pot method (also known as PIP) for the Instant Pot is when you use a smaller, heat proof pot or bowl inside of your Instant Pot. This is a great method for cooking foods that would otherwise get a burn notice, cooking side dishes to your main Instant Pot meal (like rice), OR replicating a water bath cooking method (like for cheesecake).
We use it for this Instant Pot Creamed Corn to avoid getting a burn notice with the relatively low liquid content, as well as the use of heavy cream. While heavy cream is generally stable in the Instant Pot, it's not completely predictable, so using the Pot-in-pot method yields the most consistent results.
Ingredients
- Corn: You will need about 4 ½ cups of frozen corn kernels. You do not need to thaw them beforehand.
- Heavy cream: This creates a lovely creamy texture, and is safe to heat under pressure in the Instant Pot.
- Butter: Just a touch of added butter adds a lovely flavor to this delicious Instant Pot creamed corn!
- Milk: This is to add additional creaminess, and combines with the flour to create a thickener after cooking.
- You will also need: flour, granulated sugar, salt, and pepper.
How to Make Creamed Corn in an Instant Pot
Add the corn kernels to a heat-proof and oven safe bowl that fits inside your Instant Pot with a handled trivet. I used an Anchor hocking bowl, but Pyrex works well too. Many people have used a 3 quart Instant Pot insert for this method as well!
Pour 1 cup of water in the bottom of your 6 quart Instant Pot, or 1 ½ cups into the bottom of your 8 quart Instant Pot and set aside.
Add the corn kernels to the heatproof bowl, then add in the heavy cream, salt, pepper, sugar, and melted butter. Stir well to combine the ingredients well.
Tear off a portion of aluminum foil and fit it tightly around the top of your bowl. Repeat so that there are at least two layers of aluminum foil. Pinch the edges to seal tightly.
Place your bowl on top of a handled trivet and lower it into the Instant Pot. Ensure the foil stays tucked around the bowl, and place the lid on your Instant Pot.
Set the valve to "sealing" and cook on manual pressure for 5 minutes.
Allow your creamed corn to do a natural release for 10 minutes before switching the valve to "venting". Once all of the pressure has released, the pin will drop, indicating it is safe to open the lid.
Carefully remove the lid from the Instant Pot and use the handled trivet to lift the bowl from the Inner pot.
Place the trivet on a heat proof surface, and remove the foil from the bowl. Stir the contents well.
Turn your Instant Pot to the "sauté" function, pressing the button until it selects the "more" option. Add the contents of the bowl back to the inner pot of the Instant Pot.
Add ¾ cup of whole milk to a small bowl, and whisk in 2 tablespoons of flour until smooth. Pour into the Instant Pot with the creamed corn.
Stir or whisk the creamed corn over high until thickened, about 10-15 minutes. Once your creamed corn is thickened, remove the inner pot from the element inside the Instant Pot and transfer your creamed corn to a serving dish.
Serve immediately, or store and reheat to enjoy at another time.
Substitutions
Gluten free: Substitute the 2 tablespoons of flour for 1 tablespoon of corn starch mixed with 1 tablespoon of cold water. Whisk to make a slurry and add it to the Instant Pot along with the milk to thicken your creamed corn.
Recommended Equipment
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, they are one in the same! But within the category of cream-style and creamed corn come a great variety of preparations. Originally, creamed corn meant corn on the cob that had the kernels cut off, and then a knife ran over the cob to extract all the milky pulp, making for a thickened and "creamy" corn dish. The modern creamed corn however, often does include the use of heavy cream or cream cheese to give it an ultra creamy texture.
Yes, and no. While the original creamed corn does NOT contain cream, most modern renditions include the use of cream, as well as other ingredients like sugar, flour, and butter.
Any heat-proof AND oven-proof dish can be used with the pot-in-pot method. The safest and most sure way is to a use a smaller, 3 quart Instant pot insert inside of your 6 or 8 quart Instant Pot.
What to Serve with Creamed Corn
- Roast chicken
- Roast turkey
- Glazed ham
- Mashed potatoes
- Scalloped potatoes
- Glazed carrots (see my slow cooker version)
- Rolls
- Pumpkin Pie
- Apple Pie
- Apple Turnovers (see my air fryer version)
More yummy Instant Pot recipes:
- Instant Pot Hamburger Helper
- Instant Pot Cream Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Instant Pot 5 Ingredient Mac and Cheese
- Instant Pot Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls (coming soon)
- Instant Pot Spinach and Artichoke Chicken - Pressure Luck Cooking
Instant Pot Creamed Corn
Ingredients
- 2 10oz packages frozen corn kernels (4 ½ cups)
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
For Thickening
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
Instructions
- Add the corn kernels to a heat-proof and oven safe bowl that fits inside your Instant Pot with the trivet. I used an Anchor hocking bowl, but Pyrex works well too.
- Pour 1 cup of water in the bottom of your 6 quart Instant Pot, or 1 ½ cups into the bottom of your 8 quart Instant Pot and set aside.
- Add the corn kernels to the heatproof bowl, then add in the heavy cream, salt, pepper, sugar, and melted butter. Stir well to combine the ingredients well.
- Tear off a portion of aluminum foil and fit it tightly around the top of your bowl. Repeat so that there are at least two layers of aluminum foil. Pinch the edges to seal tightly.
- Place your bowl on top of a handled trivet and lower it into the Instant Pot.
- Ensure the foil stays tucked around the bowl, and place the lid on your Instant Pot. Set the valve to "sealing" and set on manual pressure for 5 minutes.
- The Instant Pot will beep twice: once it has come to pressure, and once the cook time is through. Once the cook time is through, it will switch to warm and begin counting up as it does a natural release.
- Allow your creamed corn to do a natural release for 10 minutes before switching the valve to "venting". Once all of the pressure has released, the pin will drop, indicating it is safe to open the lid.
- Carefully remove the lid from the Instant Pot and use the handled trivet to lift the bowl from the Inner pot.
- Place the trivet on a heat proof surface, and remove the foil from the bowl.
- Stir the contents well.
- Turn your Instant Pot to the "sauté" function, pressing the button until it selects the "more" option.
- Add the contents of the bowl back to the inner pot of the Instant Pot.
- Add ¾ cup of whole milk to a small bowl, and whisk in 2 tablespoons of flour until smooth. Pour into the Instant Pot with the creamed corn.
- Stir or whisk the creamed corn over high until thickened, about 10-15 minutes.
- Once your creamed corn is thickened, remove the inner pot from the element inside the Instant Pot and transfer your creamed corn to a serving dish.
- Serve immediately, or reheat and enjoy at another time.
Notes
Nutrition
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