Sweet summer corn shines its brightest in this simple recipe for corn fritter avocado toast.
I love breakfast food. Bacon, eggs, ham, toast, pancakes, waffles, the works. But in the heat of summer, when just looking out the window is enough to make me sweat, the thought of sticky, greasy breakfast food is the last way I want to start my day.
Corn to the rescue. These corn fritters, which are made from buttery, oven-roasted ears of corn are bright and fresh, their yellow kernels bursting with juicy flavor even after being cooked twice.
Mashing an avocado on top and serving them with crispy perfectly fried egg on the side? All you need is a nice cold-brewed iced coffee or glass of OJ and your day is guaranteed to be off to a great start.
One of my favorite things about a corn fritter breakfast is just how quickly corn fritter avocado toast comes together.
You basically mix everything together in a bowl, scoop it into a pan sizzling with hot oil, and mash an avocado on top. You can make 3-4 small fritters or two giant fritters, and fatty green avocado pairs perfectly with the jalapeño and scallions in the fritter.
If you're feeling fancy you can slice the avocado and arrange it neatly on top #forthegram but I don't usually have time for that. I'm a total grouch in the morning until I eat, so I mash the avocado up — a simpler version of my one-avocado guacamole — with a pinch of salt and pepper right on top of the fritters so I can dig in right away.
Practical Tips & Recipe Notes
- The recipe below includes instructions for how to oven roast corn on the cob, but full disclosure: I usually make these when I have leftover corn on the cob from the night before, rather than trying to oven roast the corn in the morning when I'm hungry and want food ASAP. You can make these with raw corn kernels right off the cob, but I prefer the flavor of the roasted kernels. It's really up to you!
- Use a very sharp knife to remove the corn kernels from the cob. If the stem end of the cob isn't flat, slice off about ¼" of it so you have a nice flat base. Stand the cob upright on a cutting board and cut downwards, removing as much of the kernels as you can. There are all sorts of "hacks" about using bundt pans to catch the kernels but since this recipe only calls for 1-2 ears of corn, it's not worth washing the extra dish, imo.
- I don't usually advocate for pre-shredded cheeses, but in this case the finely shredded Mexican blend cheeses do work best. Mild cheddar shredded cheese would also work, if that's all you've got on hand.
📖 Recipe
corn fritter avocado toast
Equipment
Ingredients
corn fritter
- 1-2 ears fresh corn (approx ¾ cups of kernels)
- ½ jalapeno (seeds and ribs removed, minced)
- ¼ cup Mexican blend cheese
- 1 clove garlic (microplaned)
- 1 scallion (thinly sliced)
- ½ teaspoon cilantro (minced)
- ½ teaspoon salt (divided)
- 1 egg
- 4 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Avocado
- 1 avocado
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- ½ teaspoon fresh cilantro (minced)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Remove husks and strings from corn cob, then rub it all over with softened butter. Season with salt and pepper. Place on parchment or foil-lined sheet pan and roast 30 minutes, rotating it every 10 mins as it cooks.
- Remove the corn from the oven, let cool slightly, and use a sharp knife to remove the kernels from the cob.
- Combine corn kernels with jalapeño, cheese, garlic, scallions, and cilantro in a bowl. Then add the egg and salt and stir to evenly incorporate. Add the flour last, starting with 3 tablespoon and adding an additional 1 tablespoon if it doesn't seem like it's holding together. The finished corn fritter "batter" should be fairly loose but should mostly stick together when you scoop it.
- Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Test if the skillet is hot enough by dropping one kernel of corn into the skillet — if it doesn't immediately start bubbling, the skillet isn't hot enough.
- Use a ¼ or ⅓ cup scoop to transfer dollops of the batter into the skillet. Use a spatula or the bottom of the measuring cup to press down on the top of the fritter and flatten them to about ¼" tall. Cook approx 3-4 mins per side. Remove to a paper towel to drain.
- While the fritters cook, mash an avocado with lime juice, salt, pepper, thinly sliced scallion, and cilantro in a small bowl. Dollop on top of corn fritters to serve.
RECIPE NOTES
- Whether you want several small corn fritters or one or two giant corn fritters, the cook time is mostly the same. If you're making a really big corn fritter, add an extra 30-60 seconds per side, but keep an eye on it — corn cooks quickly and you don't want it to burn!
Steph
Easy and delicious. Made it twice so far. I can't eat cheese, so I think I need to either add another egg or more flour so they stick together a bit better.
Rebecca Eisenberg
Ah yeah, you probably need another egg or more flour in there for binding. Glad you like them!