Shoepeg Corn Casserole
Made with whole-kernel white corn, cream cheese, and green chiles, this slightly spicy shoepeg corn casserole is rich and creamy crowd pleaser.
By Yankee Magazine|Sep 03 2021|
Shoepeg Corn Casserole
Photo Credit: Aimee TuckerMade with whole-kernel white corn, cream cheese, red pepper, and green chiles, this slightly spicy shoepeg corn casserole is rich and creamy crowd pleaser.
Ingredients
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
2 12 oz. cans whole-kernel shoepeg corn (or whole-kernel white)
1 4 oz. can chopped green chiles with juice
1/2 cup finely diced red pepper
1 1/2 cups Ritz cracker crumbs (about 1 sleeve)
Instructions
Combine cream cheese and butter; mix with corn, chiles, and red pepper. Place in a 8″ square pan (no exceptions – if you use a different size the consistency will be wrong), top with the Ritz cracker crumbs, and bake at 350° until bubbly, about 15 minutes.
You might want to mention covering mixture with ritz crumbs before baking. I f that is in fact what they’re for.
Hi there. Thanks for pointing that out! We’ve added the line “top with the Ritz cracker crumbs” to the step just before baking.
Is this dish really from New England? Sounds like a southern dish to me. I was born and raised in NE and have never heard of shoepeg corn and I grew up on a farm with a farmstand. Never ever encountered green chilis in any traditional dish from here either. The recipe sounds good, just not of New England roots. But maybe I’m the only one who thinks so.
Silver Queen is a modern white corn, only in season about 2 weeks in New England as it’s a longer growing to harvest variety. Shoepeg is an old OP variety, I believe it’s a more Southerly corn because of it’s longer ripening time. Unlike most corn Shoepeg kernels don’t lineup in neat rows, they are hodgepodged any which way all around the cob. Like any white it’s quite sweet, if you date back to eating field corn, before the Butter n Sugar types and Super sweet hybrids. I still love the white corns when available. They are nicely sweet but have that real corn flavor. The creamed corn recipe is all over but everybody has their own version. In NE it is yellow corn, baby Lima beans +/- chopped pimentos, a cream sauce and salt & pepper. A little sprinkle of parsley on top for garnish. But I’ve seen many different recipes for it. To each their own.????????????
Delicious casserole and perfect for any dinner. I drain the corn first as my crowd likes it a bit creamy. I believe you could use other types of canned corn, but the whole kernel of the shoe peg corn makes this perfect. It is a five star recipe in my book.
One reader comments that she drains the corn. The recipe doesn’t say. Do we want the liquid from the corn as well as the juice from the chilis or did you do the test recipe with drained corn?
Don’t ever remember green chili in Vermont or RI.
I’m with Judith; I’m born and raised New England, Never heard of Shoepeg or green chili in any of our dishes. Love the fact that you put cream cheese in this casserole. I usually use creamed corn with onions; topped with Ritz.
I’m from Mississippi, we eat this casserole all of the time during the holidays. You may have a go-to corn casserole, but if you do try this one, it will make you glad that you did.
do a similar one in a cornbread/corn casserole
Do you have a recipe for this but in cornbread casserole? Thank you
I have a recipe for Baked Corn that uses corn muffin mix.
1 15 oz can whole kernel corn, drained
1 15 oz can creamed corn
1 box corn muffin mix
1 stick butter, melted
3 eggs, beaten
Combine all ingredients in an 8×8 baking dish
Bake 35 – 40 minutes at 350 degrees.
We bake it for about 15 minutes then sprinkle the top of the casserole with shredded cheese and crumbled fried onions (the crunchy kind used in Green Bean Casserole) then continue baking for the remainder of the baking time.
So, do you need the juice from the canned corn? Can I use frozen whole kernel corn?
No I use frozen corn out of season. I use frozen baby lima beans too. I do use some small chopped red pimentos from a can, but fresh red bell pepper is ok. I whip up a medium white sauce, flavored with onion & garlic powder to taste, & you can add some sweet paprika or summer savory if you like. Just a bit. Put in a covered casserole and sprinkle with paprika and parley to garnish. Bake at 350° until hot and bubbly. Top each serving with a tsp of sour cream if you like.
Medium white sauce
I forgot to add, I’ve never used crumbs. My Mother didn’t use them often, and our neighbor lady, I learned to make this from, never did either.
What is the name of your recipe?
Chili’s in a New England recipe? We don’t do spicy up here! Maybe the recipe without that part. I have heard of shoepeg corn.
shoe peg in can in Walmart in florida
Shoepeg corn is WHITE, you can also get frozen. It’s wonderful for folks who have a hard time digesting corn…..no side effects, no lower tract problems, no stomach ache……..
Thabk you
I’m Hoosier born, Hoosier bred & when I die, I’ll be Hoosier dead, but I now live in Texas. This is very much like my mom’s corn casserole (known in the Indiana & the rest of the Midwest as “scalloped corn”) but the green chilis make it more Texas than anything else.
I cracked up hearing all the NewEnglanders exclaiming This is not a traditional New England dish!! Hooray for all the new or updated globally inspired dishes…
Even in New England, a Mexican or Italian restaurant occur. A great change of pace…
I am from New England. Never did we use the spicy peppers. Maybe pimentos or chopped red peppers.
I would love to make this with cornbread as a casserole if anyone has recipes, I’d appreciate it.
Thanks in advance.
Can we use Gluten Free crumbs instead for this recipe????
Everything I read on this site seems to have Gluten in it.
Some of us cannot do Gluten in our food. Celiac Disease.
As MaryAnn mentioned above, Shoe Peg corn is an Open Pollinated variety, “Country Gentleman” predating modern hybrids, with long (irregularly arranged as she points out) kernels that cut well off the cob and stay whole. Most modern corn is GMO but Country Gentleman is definitely not so white corn in a can is not only gluten-free but almost certainly non-GMO. Earlier comment about adding gluten when wheat Ritz cracker crumbs are added, possibly could substitute fluffy rice grains for the Ritz crumbs, rice is gluten-free and non-GMO.
Yikes! Hard to swallow all the bickering if this a New England recipe and the debate about corn….I’m exhausted from reading all the reviews. What REALLY blows my mind is not one person mentioned the heart clogging amount of butter (with a sprinkle of cream cheese) used in thin recipe. Trust me, I’m no health nut but I’ll be standing by with the heart paddles! Hey, if it rocks your socks go for it!