Corn Stock
Make the most of your leftover corn cobs by making this homemade corn stock. Use it as a base for your soups, stews, curries and so much more.
It has a subtle, fresh flavor and works great as a swap for vegetable stock in almost all recipes. I love making a big batch of my low sodium vegetable stock whenever I can, and this one is another favorite that I turn to every time I have extra corn cobs.
Putting fresh produce to use is my favorite thing to do. Every time I spot some ripe and juicy tomatoes, I buy them in bulk to make my tomato passata, jars of fire roasted tomatoes and my favorite oven dried tomatoes.
This time, I found some fresh corn on the cob, and after using them for my corn milk recipe, I was left with the bare corn cobs, which worked out wonderfully as the base for this stock!
Quick Look: Corn Stock
- 🔪 Prep time: 5 minutes.
- ⏲️ Cook time: 1 hour.
- 👪 Servings: 8 cups.
- 📋 Main ingredients: Corn cobs, onion, garlic, celery, black peppercorns, bay leaves, fresh herbs.
- ♨️ Cooking method: Simmer → strain → cool → use or store.
- ⭐ Difficulty: Very easy.
- 🥣 Serving ideas: Use as a base for Napa cabbage soup, chowders, risottos, polenta, pasta sauces, or to cook rice and grains for extra flavor.
Summarize & Save This Content With AI
Jump to:
What's So Great About the Recipe?
- If you're someone who loves making the most out of food and never lets leftovers go waste, you're going to love this recipe.
- Making it is ridiculously easy- you'll need just a few simple ingredients and minutes of kitchen time.
- It's perfect to batch-make over the weekend and store for months- just like vegetable bouillon cubes.
Recipe Ingredients
Corn cobs: You'll need corn cobs, with the corn stripped off.
Aromatics: Just the classics- onion and garlic. I love using Air Fryer roasted garlic for a smoky depth.
Spices: I used some black peppercorns and a couple of bay leaves to add some flavor to the corn stock.
Herbs: Fresh cilantro and thyme, for the aroma.
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- You can also add other vegetables and vegetable scraps to add some nutrition, flavor and color to the stock. Carrots, celery, fennel, tomatoes, mushrooms, leek, ginger and scallions are good choices.
- You can chop up the veggies roughly and add them to the stock or reserve their peels in a freezer safe bag in the freezer to use for whenever you're making the stock.
- For brighter flavor, add a pinch of lemon zest or orange zest to the stock towards the end.
How to Make Homemade Corn Stock
Step 1: Add all the ingredients to a large pot with water over medium heat and bring it to a boil. Then, turn down the heat and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
Step 2: Take the pot off heat, allow the stock to cool down and strain everything using a fine mesh strainer.
💭Top Tip
If you have larger cobs, break them into two or three pieces and then use them for the recipe.
Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe
- If you use only a few corn cobs at a time, you can freeze them for later! Just transfer them to a freezer safe bag and freeze, and once you have enough bare corns ready, you can use them to make this stock.
- Another great idea is to use those extra corn to make grilled corn that you can use for a ton of recipes.
- I didn't add salt into this stock to keep it low sodium, but you can totally choose to season it if you want to. I love using my homemade herb salt, garlic parsley salt and jalapeno salt for that kick of flavor.
- Experiment with other additions to the stock. Herbs like rosemary, oregano and parsley are great for that subtle flavor. You can also add other spices like cumin and coriander seeds if you want a bit of an earthy flavor.
- For a deeper flavor, allow the stock to simmer for an hour on low heat and then strain the veggies and spices.
How to Use Homemade Corn Stock
This versatile corn stock can be put to use in lots of different recipes. I love using it as a base for my soups and stews in particular. I love using it to make my Tom Yum Gai and cilantro chicken soup. You can use the stock in almost any recipe that calls for the use of vegetable stock.
You can also use it whenever you're cooking grains like quinoa or rice- like turmeric garlic rice. And guess what? This stock can actually be a great poaching liquid too. Use it to poach your salmon or chicken.
Troubleshooting & FAQs
A bit of cloudiness on the top is totally okay, and that happens when you boil veggies. You can skim it from the top if you don't like it, or use a cheesecloth to strain the liquid.
You can use up the corn stock immediately or store it for up to 5 days in the refrigerator. Use a mason jar or any glass jar like I did, with the lid on.
You can also freeze it for up to 3 months in a freezer safe container or souper cubes. Make sure you let the stock cool down completely first and then use it for the recipe.
More Essentials to Batch-Make
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
If you tried this homemade corn stock recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Corn Stock
Ingredients
- 3 corn on the cob stripped
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 onion
- 2-3 garlic
- 2-3 cilantro stalks
- 1 teaspoon thyme
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a large pot with water over medium heat and bring it to a boil. Then, turn down the heat and let it simmer for 20 minutes.
- Take the pot off heat, allow the stock to cool down and strain everything using a fine mesh strainer.
Notes
- If you use only a few corn cobs at a time, you can freeze them for later! Just transfer them to a freezer safe bag and freeze, and once you have enough bare corns ready, you can use them to make this stock.
- I didn't add salt into this stock to keep it low sodium, but you can totally choose to season it if you want to. I love using my homemade herb salt, garlic parsley salt and jalapeno salt for that kick of flavor.
- Experiment with other additions to the stock. Herbs like rosemary, oregano and parsley are great for that subtle flavor. You can also add other spices like cumin and coriander seeds if you want a bit of an earthy flavor.
- For a deeper flavor, allow the stock to simmer for an hour on low heat and then strain the veggies and spices.
- If you have larger cobs, break them into two or three pieces and then use them for the recipe.
Just tried this and it turned out amazing. Going to make another batch soon when I have enough cobs to use!