I love a good cheesy dip. There’s also a popular Korean dish influenced by American cooking called corn cheese. It is cheesy and gooey, super melty. Very delicious. Inspired by this dish, I made this Southwestern cheesy corn dip. It has some spice and kick from roasted jalapeno peppers, and is creamy from cream cheese and heavy cream.
This Southwestern cheesy corn dip would be a lovely addition to a potluck or holiday party. It is certainly a crowd pleaser. Just be careful. It can be addictive.
What chile peppers should I use?
You can use jalapenos or Serrano chilies for this recipe. Every chile has a different spice level, and serranos tend to be spicier than jalapenos. Serranos are smaller and slimmer than jalapenos, but both are a forest green color and both add loads of flavor to a dish.
Can I use canned or frozen corn for a Southwestern cheesy corn dip?
This dish is best when you use fresh corn on the cob. However, frozen corn or unsalted canned corn would also do the trick. I would avoid salted canned corn because it has a very canned taste that is hard to mask.
Using Aromatic Vegetables in Cooking
I highly recommend using aromatic vegetables in almost every dish that you cook. They form the foundation of flavor for almost any dish, especially soups and dips. You have to build flavor in every stage of cooking and a good saute or roast on aromatic veggies is one of my go-to techniques for infusing my dish with flavor.
The aromatic vegetables I always use are:
- garlic
- onion
- green onion
- carrots
- celery
- ginger (for Asian cooking)
If you lack a certain aromatic vegetable, you can try to use spices in your cupboard, such as garlic salt, celery salt, onion salt, or the non-salted granulated versions of these spices.
For more Southwestern and Latin-inspired dishes, check out my Mexican Albondigas.
Southwestern cheesy corn dip
Ingredients
- 1-2 jalapenos
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 tbsp oil
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 sweet onion diced
- 1 bag frozen corn
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 bunch green onion
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 6 slices pepper jack cheese
- 2 tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano grated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to broil. Place in jalapeno and red bell pepper to roast for 7-8 minutes each side. When the skin is blackened on the peppers, turn it over to allow the other side to blacken. Then place peppers into a covered bowl to allow to steam at least 15 minutes.
- After peppers have steamed, remove the skins, stems and seeds. Optional: leave in seeds of jalapeno for more spice. Roughly dice jalapeno and red pepper.
- Heat a large pan on high heat. When pan is hot, add in oil. Saute onions for 10 minutes. Then add garlic, corn, roasted red pepper, and roasted jalapeno. Saute another 3 minutes, then add green onion.
- Add heavy cream, cream cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano, and pepper jack cheese to the corn mixture. Season with garlic salt and black pepper.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Transfer corn mixture into an oven-safe casserole dish and top with extra pepper jack cheese and Parmigiano Reggiano. Cover loosely with foil.
- Then bake corn mixture for 20 minutes until bubbly, then remove foil, and allow to bake another 5-7 minutes until cheese is golden brown.
- Remove from oven and serve with tortilla chips or crackers. Enjoy!
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