Cajun Corn Maque Choux
Maque Choux is a classic Cajun recipe of corn and peppers sautéed in bacon grease until softened and spiced with a blend of Cajun seasonings. It’s an outstanding Southern side dish.
If you’re looking for a fantastic corn side dish recipe that will knock everyone’s socks clean off, look no further than Maque Choux. This. Stuff. ROCKS.
It’s a classic Cajun side dish that is jam packed with flavor and will easily compliment whatever you’re grilling or cooking up. At it’s core, it is a corn dish made fabulous with Cajun seasonings, bacon, onion, peppers and that last final touch – a bit of heavy cream.
Just be careful. If you serve this, it just might outshine whatever you’re serving it with.
OH BABY!
Let’s talk about how we make it, shall we?
Maque Choux Ingredients
Get your ingredients together, including 4 slices bacon, 3 cups corn (about 4 ears worth), 1 medium yellow onion, 1 red bell pepper, 1 jalapeno pepper, 1 tablespoon Cajun seasonings, and ½ cup of heavy cream (or use chicken stock for a more traditional version).
How to Make Maque Choux – The Recipe Method
First, cook up your bacon in a hot pan about 8 minutes, until the fats render and the bacon is mostly cooked through and starts to crisp up.
Next, stir in 3 cups of corn, 1 chopped onion, 1 chopped bell pepper, and 1 chopped jalapeno pepper along with the Cajun seasonings.
Cook them up, stirring a bit, until the vegetables cook through, about 20 minutes or so.
Finally, stir in a half cup of heavy cream and simmer the whole dish for about 2 minutes. Remove it from the heat and serve it up.
About the Peppers
Traditional Maque Choux is made with bell peppers only, but I’ve included a jalapeno pepper in the mix to add a bit of a heat element. Cajun food is definitely “spicy”, but it isn’t typically “hot”. You can easily incorporate other chili peppers to up the heat factor.
See our list of chili pepper types for some choices.
This is definitely a dish that will satisfy your inner chilihead.
Do I Need to Use Cream?
The heavy cream is delicious, but if you’re looking for a lighter version, you can use crema instead, or a mixture of the two.
Also, you can use chicken stock for a much lighter version. It will still taste great.
Changing Up the Recipe
You can include other peppers as mentioned, as well as swapping out the cream for stock or other lighter creams, and you can easily include others of your favorite vegetables, like garlic, tomato and celery.
Add chopped chicken to turn this into an easy one-pan dinner. Diced ham would be a nice addition as well.
I would totally eat this for dinner. Just don’t forget the hot sauce! Go with a good Louisiana style hot sauce.
Enjoy!
Check Out Some of Our Other Popular Cajun Dishes
- Cajun Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
- Cajun Pasta with Shrimp and Smoked Sausage
- Shrimp Creole
- Cajun Shrimp
- Creole Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
- Mike’s Spicy Gumbo
- Seriously Awesome Jambalaya
- Hoppin’ John
- Dirty Rice
- Boudin Balls
- Black Eyed Peas Recipe
Try Some of Our Other Popular Corn Side Dishes
- Mexican Corn Dip
- Grilled Corn and Sweet Pepper Salad
- Charred Corn Salad with Hatch Green Chiles
- Jerk Rubbed Grilled Corn on the Cob
- Calabacitas
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #ChiliPepperMadness on Instagram so we can take a look. I always love to see all of your spicy inspirations. Thanks! — Mike H.
Maque Choux – Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon chopped
- 3 cups corn about 4 ears worth
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 red bell pepper chopped (medium sized, about 1 cup)
- 1 jalapeno pepper chopped
- 1 tablespoon Cajun seasonings
- ½ cup heavy cream or use chicken stock for a more traditional version
- Hot Sauce for serving
Instructions
- Heat a large pan to medium heat and add the bacon. Cook the bacon until it becomes nice and crispy, about 8 minutes.
- Stir in the corn onion, peppers and Cajun seasonings. Cook until they soften up, stirring often, about 10 minutes.
- Add the heavy cream (or chicken stock). Let it warm for about 2 minutes, stirring a bit, then remove from heat.
- Serve!
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