Alex Guarnaschelli's Grilled Corn Recipe Calls for a Secret Ingredient You Already Have on Hand

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There are some cooking hacks that are so simple, but make such a huge impact, that we can’t believe we didn’t learn about them sooner. Believe it or not, there was a time when we didn’t salt our pasta water…seemingly no one did! Thankfully, now everyone has caught on to this tip, but we’re always learning about new, seemingly obvious ways to boost the flavor in our favorite dishes. Sometimes it takes the work of a professional chef to open our eyes, as is the case with star chef, television personality, and cookbook author Alex Guarnaschelli’s summer corn recipe. It relies on a secret ingredient so common, you’re pretty much guaranteed to already have it on hand.

It seems like every family has their own way of preparing summer sweet corn, and Guarnaschelli shared a personal anecdote about her own family on Instagram. “My dad used to boil the cobs in water with sugar and salt and we would eat it (red hot!) right out of the pot,” she shared. “A pat of soft butter melting over the kernels, a pinch salt & I am on the nostalgia highway.”

But Guarnaschelli, making the most of summer, likes to grill her corn. So how does she keep tradition alive? She keeps things simple, rubbing her corn cobs with olive oil and salt, then grilling until the kernels take on a nice char. This helps bring out the sweetness within each kernel. But to really amp up the flavor, Guarnaschelli tops her cooked corn with butter, salt, and her secret ingredient: sugar!

If your corn ever seems lacking, or if you’re using out of season corn, then this is the trick for giving it that just-picked flavor. Chefs are always cognizant of balancing sweet and salty, and while plenty of us know to taste and add extra salt if needed, it’s important to remember that you sometimes need to adjust for sweetness, too. That’s what makes this recipe come to life. And if you don’t have white sugar on hand, Guarnaschelli says that honey or brown sugar can be used, too.

Now, hear us out. Guarnaschelli’s grilled corn recipe has just about everything you would want from a summer side dish, but we have one other tip to liven the flavor up even more. How can you complement the salty, buttery, and sweet flavor of this corn even more? Add a squeeze of lime juice! Acid is the final component that will make this grilled corn your new favorite summer side dish. The components are simple, and you probably have the ingredients on hand already, but the results when everything is brought together are spectacular.

In search of more summer recipes? Giada De Laurentiis has plenty:

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