Pimento Cheese Creamed Corn

By Todd Martin November 8, 2024 6 mins read 51 Views

One of my favorite Thanksgiving side dishes is savory, creamed corn. This recipe takes it up a notch by adding a touch of smoky flavor and pimento peppers to create a tasty holiday side to serve alongside your smoked turkey, ham, and roasts.

This dish comes together in about one hour with only a few ingredients, making it the perfect side dish for your holiday table. You can also prep it the day before and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to fire up the smoker.

Pimento cheese creamed corn

When you think of creamed corn, you may think of a sweet corn dish that often comes from a can. While I love sweet creamed corn as well, I much prefer a savory version – especially when preparing it on the smoker.

If you’re looking for a sweeter corn dish, be sure to check out our Smoked Three Cheese Corn Pudding!

Ingredients you’ll need

Corn – fresh, frozen, or canned corn can be used. I typically like to use frozen corn because it provides the best flavor with the least amount of work.
Pimento peppers – you need jarred pimento peppers for this recipe. If you can’t find pimentos, red bell pepper will work as well. To add a touch of spice, you can also swap the pimentos for jalapenos or serranos.
Milk or cream – to get the right consistency, you’ll need milk or heavy cream.
Cream cheese – cream cheese is what gives this dish a creamy texture and nice cheesy flavor.
BBQ seasoning – any BBQ seasoning will work. I used the Blazing Star BBQ Pork’N rub for this dish because it has a touch of sweetness and spice that pairs perfectly with corn.

Equipment you’ll need

Smoker or pellet grill – this recipe works on any smoker, charcoal grill, or pellet grill as long as it can maintain a steady temperature of 325°F. I smoked this on my Masterbuilt Gravity XT smoker.
Charcoal or wood – I used Kingsford charcoal for this recipe, but any charcoal you prefer will work fine. If you are using a smoker or pellet grill, I recommend using a mild wood such as oak or pecan so that you don’t overpower the flavor of the corn.
Baking dish – as long as it is oven-safe. I like to use a disposable aluminum pan because it makes clean-up much easier!
Large spoon or spatula

How to make pimento cheese creamed corn

1. Prep

This dish is easy to prepare and can even be prepared a day in advance if you want to save time.

I like to use frozen corn for this recipe because I find that frozen corn has the best flavor all year round. If you are making this while corn is in season, then feel free to use fresh corn instead. If you prefer canned corn, then that works fine, too, but keep in mind that canned corn will be a bit more salty than frozen or fresh varieties.

Add the corn to an aluminum pan or baking dish.

Dice up the pimento peppers. They don’t need to be perfect, but you want to make sure they’re diced to about the same size as a kernel of corn.

Add the diced pimento peppers to the baking dish, then pour the milk over and sprinkle with the BBQ seasoning.

Mix everything together with a spoon until well combined.

Place the block of cream cheese right on top of the corn/pimento mixture and sprinkle the remaining BBQ seasoning over the cream cheese. You don’t want to mix this in just yet.

Now it’s ready to hit the smoker!

2. Smoke it

You can use any smoker, pellet grill, or charcoal grill for this recipe as long as it can maintain a steady temperature of 325°F for about one hour.

I smoked this on my Masterbuilt Gravity XT. It’s a gravity-fed charcoal smoker with an integrated fan, so it makes cooking just about anything a breeze. For the fuel, I used Kingsford charcoal briquettes.

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Kingsford Original Charcoal Briquettes

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If you are using a wood smoker or pellet grill, I recommend choosing a mild wood like oak or pecan. Bolder woods like mesquite or hickory can overpower the corn’s flavor, so you definitely want to stick with something a bit milder for this recipe.

Once your smoker is preheated to 325°F, just place the pan of corn on the smoker and let it smoke for about 45 minutes.

3. Finishing touches

Once your corn has been on the smoker for 45 minutes, the cream cheese should be nice and soft. At this point, you can grab a large spoon or spatula and give it all a good mix. The cream cheese should melt down into the corn and you just want to stir it up until it’s a nice, even, creamy consistency.

To finish it off, place it back on the smoker for another 5-10 minutes, and then it’s ready to enjoy!

What to serve with pimento cheese creamed corn

While I typically serve this dish on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, it tastes good all year round. I love to serve it as a side dish for all types of smoked meats, such as brisket, ribs, smoked turkey, and twice-smoked ham.

Here are some of my favorite recipes to pair alongside your pimento cheese creamed corn: