Grilled corn on the cob is a quintessential BBQ side dish! But what's the best way to grill it? In the husk or without the husk? I'll answer that question today (there's pros and cons to each method), I'll show you how to grill corn perfectly, and then I'll share a simple farm-to-table-style corn salad recipe - it's the best side dish!
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How to buy fresh corn on the cob
And then, since I'm going to have so much grilled corn leftover today, I thought I would walk you through a super easy, farm to table style corn salad with juicy tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, and a whole bunch of fresh herbs. I've got a lot to show you today, so let's dive in. When you buy corn at the market, the husk should look fresh and bright green, and the harry silks or tassels at the top should be golden in color.
You can always pull the husk back a little bit at the market to make sure the corn kernels are nice and plump, but I do most of the shucking when I'm at home. So, to remove the husk, just grab a portion from the top and peel it down towards the bottom, repeating this until all sides of the husk are at the bottom.
And then, you just snap the bottom right off. You might have a few stringy bits of silk on the cob, and you can peel those off, but if you're grilling the corn naked straight on the grill, they're gonna burn off anyway.
How to grill corn - in the husk and without the husk
So, you really don't need to worry about them. No matter if you're grilling the corn with or without the husk, you'll want to preheat your grill to medium high heat. If you're removing the husk, rub or brush a little bit of avocado oil or other high heat oil all over the corn cob.
Not only does this enhance the flavor, but it helps to prevent it from sticking to the grill. If you plan on grilling the corn in the husk, you really don't need to do much of anything except remove any loose outer leaves and tear off any extra-long silks or tassels at the top as they'll just go up in flames anyway. And while some people soak the corn that's in the husk in water, I found it has a negligible effect. So don't think it's worth the time. I just add it straight to the grill.
In terms of timing, the corn in the husk will take about 15 minutes to cook and the corn without the husk will take about 10 minutes to cook.
And you'll just want to rotate the corn every few minutes with tongs for an all over char as I've been doing here. At this point, it's been about 10 minutes for the corn without the husk. So I'll remove that and keep grilling the corn in the husk for another five minutes until it's pretty blackened and charred on the outside. All right, so let's talk about the pros and cons of each method.
The corn in the husk is essentially steamed on the inside. So the kernels will be juicy and plump, and have a slight smoky flavor.
This is similar to grilling corn in aluminum foil, but I didn't add that as an option as the end result is so close to grilling in the husk, so I figured, why waste a whole bunch of foil? The corn grilled without the husk cooks faster and has a much more smokey, charred flavor with those delicious grill marks. It won't be quite as juicy, but the flavor will be off the charts.
The corn without the husk, you can eat right away. But if you grill with the husk, you'll have to wait a few minutes for it to cool so you can peel it. And then, as you can see, it does create a bit of a mess.
Though, I would normally peel this straight over a trashcan. So, which is my preferred method? I'd say 80% of the time I grill without the husk because I'm all about the most robust smokey flavor. Though, if you're celiac, like I am, grilling in the husk is the perfect solution for public grills to eliminate any gluten cross-contamination.
Top grilled corn on the cob with butter, salt, and pepper before serving
Grilled corn on the cob doesn't need much to be tasty. I just add a simple pat of butter, and a sprinkle of a sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. And that, my friends, is how you grill juicy, fresh corn on the cob.
But before I chow down on this entire piece of corn, let me show you how to make a fresh corn salad, which is the ultimate summer side dish.
How to make an easy corn salad recipe
You'll need four grilled corn on the cobs. And I'll just quickly toss a few more on the grill. And once those are cool enough to handle, hold the corn upright and use a knife to shave off the kernels. There's lots of tips and tricks that you can find online to do this, like shaving the cob in a bowl or in a Bundt pan to catch all of the kernels.
But to be honest, I just do it on top of my cutting board. The goal is to shave as much of the corn kernels off as possible, but it certainly doesn't have to be perfect. And once that's done, transfer all of the corn to a large mixing bowl. Next, slice up one cup of cherry or grape tomatoes. I like to quarter the tomatoes, but you can just slice them in half as well if you prefer larger chunks.
And then, add those to the bowl. One of the most refreshing vegetables during the summer is, of course, cucumber. And it's perfect in this corn salad. You'll need one English cucumber, which are those cucumbers normally wrapped in plastic at the market, at least in the US, as they have more fragile skin.
But they're fragile skin also means they don't need to be peeled. So just slice an quarter the cucumber, and then add it to the bowl. Now, normally I'd say you need half of a medium red onion, but this gigantic red onion was honestly the smallest one I could find this week. So I'll be adding a little less than half today, but you get the idea. Finally, dice half or about half of the red onion, and then add it to the other ingredients.
And when it comes to herbs for this salad, you can choose your favorite tender herbs including cilantro, parsley, basil, dill, mint, and tarragon. They all work just fine and help to give it that fresh farm to table vibe. Today, I'm adding cilantro and parsley as I have both of those in my fridge. And you'll need a quarter cup total of chopped herbs, no matter which ones you choose.
For the dressing, it's incredibly simple. It's just two tablespoons of olive oil, two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, half a teaspoon of kosher salt, and a quarter teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. And I was so excited to dig into this salad, I accidentally started stirring before adding the salt and pepper, but here you go. And that's it.
That's how you make the best grilled corn salad. To serve it up at a party or barbecue, just transfer it into a pretty serving bowl. And if you do dairy, it tastes amazing with a little crumbled feta on top. I hope you guys found this article on grilling corn helpful, and I can't wait to see you whip up this corn salad recipe.
It's definitely one to have on repeat during the summer months. And with that, I'm going to dig in and I will see you guys again in the next article.
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