The Corny Retro Side Dish That Looks Boring But Is Packed With Flavor

Scalloped corn may have an unprepossessing appearance, but you know there's more to a dish than its looks when multiple parts of the country claim it as their own. Some swear the dish has Midwestern roots, while others call it a Southern cooking classic; it's also possible that it originated in New England. No matter where it came from, it's pretty tasty stuff.

The name "scalloped" refers to food cooked in a creamy sauce and topped with breadcrumbs -– scalloped potatoes is another well-known dish made with this method. With scalloped corn, cracker crumbs (either Ritz-type or saltine) are a popular breadcrumb substitution and were called for in a recipe published in 1907's "The Milwaukee Cookbook." While this early recipe used fresh corn, later recipes, including one from the 1915 publication "A Text-book of Cooking," list canned corn among the ingredients. (If you'd like to make scalloped corn this way, here's our ranking of the best canned corn brands.)

Both of these early 20th-century recipes bake the corn in milk, but others make use of different dairy products. Some call for cream, others use condensed milk, and there are even scalloped corn recipes made with béchamel sauce. For extra richness, cream cheese may also be added to the mix. Any of these alternatives will make the corn juicy, rich, and flavorful, while the crumb topping adds a nice crunch.

Even though the old-fashioned kind of scalloped corn may consist of nothing more than corn cooked in a dairy-based sauce — maybe seasoned with a little salt and pepper and topped with breadcrumbs or crackers — new-fashioned recipes can be anything you want them to be. For starters, you could add some cheese. Grated Monterey jack, Swiss, sharp cheddar, or other types of semi-hard cheeses all work well in the casserole, while parmesan can be added to the crumb topping.

Meat, too, is a fantastic addition to scalloped corn. One of the best uses for bacon, after all, is to add smoky, savory flavor to mild, starchy vegetables such as corn. Diced ham or cooked, crumbled chorizo is also quite tasty. You can opt for something other than crackers or breadcrumbs for the topping, too, swapping them out for crushed chips, pretzels, or even chicharrones.

It's also possible to add cornbread mix to scalloped corn, transforming it into more of a pudding-like dish. Another idea is to make it into a Mexican elotes-inspired casserole with the addition of ingredients like lime juice, Tajín, cotija cheese, and chiles. With its solid base of corn, creamy sauce, and crunchy topping, scalloped corn will be delicious no matter how you tweak it.