There’s something magical about the creamed corn at Rudy’s Bar-B-Q that keeps customers coming back for more. This rich, velvety side dish perfectly balances sweet corn kernels with a luxurious cream sauce that melts in your mouth. After countless attempts to recreate this beloved recipe, I’ve cracked the code to making restaurant-quality creamed corn at home using just six simple ingredients.
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
The secret to Rudy’s creamed corn lies in the combination of heavy cream and cream cheese. The heavy cream provides that rich, indulgent base, while the cream cheese adds body and a subtle tang that prevents the dish from becoming overly sweet. Using frozen corn ensures consistent sweetness and texture year-round, making this a reliable side dish for any season.
Ingredients
- Heavy cream or heavy whipping cream – Creates the rich, luxurious base that makes this dish so indulgent
- Cream cheese – Adds body and tang while helping to stabilize the cream sauce
- Frozen whole kernel corn – Provides consistent sweetness and texture year-round
- Sugar – Enhances the natural sweetness of the corn
- Salt – Balances flavors and brings out the corn’s natural taste
- Black pepper – Adds a subtle warming note to complement the sweetness
How to Make Creamed Corn like Rudy’s BBQ
There are only a few simple steps for making incredible cream corn Rudy’s Bar-B-Q is famous for:
- In a medium-sized pot over medium heat, combine heavy cream and cream cheese.
- Stir whipping cream until well blended and cook until the sauce is smooth and creamy.
- Add corn kernels and stir corn in until it is distributed evenly in the cream mixture.
- Cook until the corn is warmed through.
- Add salt and sugar. Stir and cook for a few minutes, until the sugar is dissolved.
- Serve with fresh cracked black pepper if desired.
Crock-pot Variation
For slow cooker preparation, double the recipe and combine all ingredients in the crockpot. Cook on low for 4 hours, stirring every hour to ensure even heating and prevent sticking.
Tips For Making Homemade Creamed Corn
- Rudy’s Creamed Corn recipe is easy to scale up, and it makes an ideal take-along side dish for parties or potlucks. If you plan on serving a crowd, use a slow cooker set to warm to maintain the correct serving temperature.
- Taste the corn you use before adding sugar. The sweetness level of corn can differ dramatically, so you will want to adjust the amount of sugar you add to the creamed corn. I like to start with a bit of sugar before adding a lot of it. If you prefer to use Splenda, you can add a bit of Splenda to the corn.
- Don’t want to use frozen corn? You can use fresh, each corn cobb yields about 3 to 4 ounces of kernels. So you may need 4 to 6 ears to make this recipe with fresh corn.
Storage & Reheating Instructions for Rudy’s Cream Corn
- Refrigerator Storage: Store in airtight containers for up to 5 days. The cream may separate slightly when chilled, but this is normal.
- Reheating Method: Reheat gently over low to medium heat, stirring frequently. Add a splash of cream or milk if needed to restore consistency.
- Freezing: Can be frozen for up to 3 months in airtight containers. Thaw completely before reheating for best results.
Love corn? Check out these recipes
- Chipotle Corn Salsa
- Fried Mush
- Baked Corn and Cheese
- Corn Casserole
- How to Grill Corn
- Air Fryer Roasted Corn
- Easy Baked Corn Recipe
- Scalloped Corn Recipe
- Corn Chowder
Great BBQ Side Dish Recipes
Be sure to take a look at the best restaurant copycat recipes and easy side dish recipes to make for your family and friends.
Rudy’s Copycat Creamed Corn Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pint heavy cream
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 16 ounces corn frozen
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- black pepper
Instructions
- In a medium pot over medium heat, combine heavy cream and 4 ounces of cream cheese. Stir until well blended, and the sauce is smooth and creamy.
- Add corn kernels and stir them in. Heat until the corn is warmed through.
- Add salt and sugar and stir to combine.
- Serve with some fresh cracked black pepper on top if desired.
Just found this recipe. Looking to make some tomorrow for our BBQ and grandson’s birthday. He loves Rudy’s Creamed Corn! We live in the Austin, TX area so we frequent Rudy’s often.
My son worked for Rudy’s for 4 years when he was in college so I ran these ingredients by him. He said there is no cream cheese but they do make a roux with the heavy cream. I’m going to try it CopyKat’s way to see if it compares. I know Rudy’s is pretty thick so I’ll start with less cream and add as needed. I may also thaw out the corn first so I don’t have extra liquid. I plan to leave out the sugar as we don’t like our food sweet and I think between the corn and the cream cheese there will be enough sweet. I’ll get back to you after I’ve made it to give an honest review. Thanks for the recipe.
OK, as promised I’m back with a review. I made this Monday for my grandson’s family birthday celebration. My husband smoked beef and pork ribs which are the grandson’s favorite but his absolute fav is Rudy’s creamed corn.
As I looked over the recipe and the comments I decided I didn’t need 2 cups of heavy cream. I started with one and didn’t have to add any additional. But, I noticed it was still had a little too much liquid so I ran another 2 cups of frozen corn under hot water (to thaw it out) and added it to the mix. It came out perfect. Everyone thought it was pretty close to Rudy’s. I was a bit concerned the cream cheese would add too much sweetness to it but after it was all cooked it wasn’t. I didn’t add as much pepper as I normally would because of the grandson. But now that’s we’re eating the leftovers I add as I go.
Side note: I know some commented not to use frozen corn because of the added water. I thawed my corn over night then in the morning opened the bag into a strainer. There was ZERO water to drain off. I used H.E.B. brand frozen corn. So, in my opinion, use that frozen corn just make sure it’s a fresh bag that hasn’t had time to collect ice that ruins it over time. Plus canned has zero nutrients left after they boil it to death. Frozen or fresh is the way to go.
Although I will try this recipe using a roux as Rudy’s does I will use this recipe as my quick go to. I just want to try the roux to see how it makes it differently. If there is a real difference.
Maybe this is like Rudy’s.. I’ve not had it. However, a few of my family make this and use less cream because as someone else said before this is more of a corn soup than creamed corn
If you just use fresh sweet corn you cut off the cob or when that’s not in season use 3 standard size cans of golden and white sweet corn that has been drained there’s enough liquid to sop up some cream with your bread or slurp up a little bit, but it’s full of flavor and not watery. The texture is also so much better too. I add a little salted butter, more sugar, and more salt as well, in small increments. Others can always add mire salt or pepper to theirs.
Sure, cornstarch would thicken it, but who wants thick watered down corn soup that’s light on flavor? Stop using frozen corn. That’s where all the water is coming from and frozen corn is mush after being cooked. Fresh or canned kernel texture stands up better for cooking/warming in crocks for long periods and also to being reheated.
Try it. You won’t go back to watery creamed corn again.
Has anyone made this ahead of time and reheated?
This should reheat just fine, you could make it a day or two ahead of time and reheat on the stovetop in a pot over medium-low heat.
I made this and added jalapeños for a little extra kick, it was awesome. With the leftovers (there’s only 2 of us) I made creamy corn chowder and it was the best corn chowder ever. Will def use this recipe again!!
I lived in Texas for over 12 years . We had a Rudy’s on the corner from where we lived and we went there often through work and home. This recipe is pretty dang spot on from what I recall. The first couple of times I made it in my crock ot it was a little runny, but I just thickened it up , afterall, that cream sauce is the best part, right ?
SInce moving back to Ohio, I am thankful for this recipe as this is certainly one of the things I miss about Texas for sure !
Thanks for sharing !
I have been to Rudy’s several times over the years and while their BBQ is quite good this is probably the best sweetcorn recipe I know of.
Living in Wisconsin has its advantages we are just finishing up on corn season and I have a Packer Bear party tonight and ran across this.
People are going to flip over this one thank you so much for reminding me of it!
I hope everyone enjoys the BBQ!
Do you mean 1 CUP of heavy crean? Because I just made corn soup following this recipe.
Rob, I meant 1 pint, 1 pint is two cups.
Every time I go to Texas the first I do is see if there is a Rudy’s close by. I love the BBQ, but the creamed corn is what I look forward to the most. I have tried a few times to replicate it without success. Stephanie you have nailed it with this one. We made this tonight and it was awesome. Thanks for this.
I used this recipe for church picnic and increased the size. Roasted dozen and half ears of corn on the grill the day before, cut off the cob and stored in ziploc. Next day heated a full quart of heavy cream, 8 oz reg cream cheese and small tub of chive and onion cream cheese with salt and pepper on stovetop. No sugar. Mixed with corn in 5 qt crock pot for one hour on high. Lowered temp and took to the picnic. Delicious!
That sounds amazing!
This recipe was delicious and fast! It was a huge hit at the bbq I took it to, so many thanks to the cook. That said, I did make an alteration – I replaced half the cream cheese with half a stick of unsalted butter, because the cream cheese taste was a bit overpowering the first time I tried it. Very thankful for this recipe. The slow cooker recipes all take hours and I needed this in a rush
Thank you for this recipe, Stephanie! I made it for Thanksgiving in a crock pot and it was well received. We are smoking a turkey breast for Father’s Day today and decided Rudy’s corn was a must. I tried the suggestion of starting with a roux before adding the cream and cream cheese and it’s nice and thick. I’m letting it hang out in the oven at 200 degrees for a couple of hours. I have more cream on hand if I need to thin it a bit, but I think the consistency is going to be great for smoked turkey. Thank you!!
I often make this recipe for a copycat of Rudy’s Creamed Corn, and I always use Philadelphia brand cream cheese. I find that it makes a difference in the taste. Philadelphia Cream Cheese, to me, just has a fresher taste to it. I also add the unsalted butter, plus I use a bit more than 1/2 pint of the heavy cream. I plan to add some chives and onion the next time I cook this up, to give this suggestion a try.
We lived in San Antonio for awhile and we fell in love with Rudy’s.I make the corn every so often as it is awesome.i will have to try making the baked beans soon.
I love the CopyKat recipe for Rudy’s creamed corn! It was easy to make in my crockpot and it was delicious!
I have been looking for their Bar-B-Q baked bean recipe. My search online has been frustrating. I love the spicy, but not overpowering, taste of Rudy’s baked beans! We are going to have a party very soon, in Texas, hosting visiting non-Americans. I would like to serve this dish. I could cheat and buy it from Rudy’s but I would prefer it homemade, if possible.
Suggestions?
It is dead on because weve made it at home and Everyone asks for it often.
I make mynown baked beans that are sweet and savory.
Ibwill just give you what I use but Indont have any measurements because I dont measure anything when I cook. I taste as I go.
Cans of pork n beans
I add the following to taste
Brown sugar, ketchup, a few squirts of yellow mustard, a few shakes of Worchestershire sauce.
A chopped onion
Bacon cut up into pieces raw.
Mix all together and taste before you add the onion and raw bacon. Bake is pan in the oven at °375 until onion and bacon is done.
My family loves these and asks for them often.
The beans are made from trimmings from their meats. Would be too much trouble to recreate that recipe.
You could add Rudy’s rub to beans. I think it’s in there.
I wonder if the people having problems with it being too runny are using regular whipping cream instead of HEAVY whipping cream, there is a difference and it would make the final product more watery. I just made this and it is wonderful! Such a yummy treat after moving away from Austin six years ago. I ended up using only 3/4 of a pint of cream because that was just my personal preference for consistency, I started with a 1/2 pint and just added more until it got like I wanted. I also only used 1 tsp of sugar because the corn is sweet on its own.
Thank you so much!
Oh, and I also added two tablespoons of unsalted butter.
I bet that was delicious.
There is no difference. Heavy cream and whipping cream team are two names for 1 product much like fat free milk and skim milk are two names for one product. The only one that’s different is half n half.
Not at HEB. They are literally two different products next to each other…Whipping Cream and Heavy Whipping Cream. It’s probably more like the difference between Whole Milk and 2%
The difference between the two is the amount of milk fat, heavy whipping cream has 36% fat, whipping cream has 30% fat.
This is close but not the complete recipe. They use a splenda sweetner and unsalted butter
They actually use regular sugar and there isn’t any cream cheese in it either. If you ask them what’s in it they’ll tell you plus they use roux (butter and flour) to thicken it up.
So, what’s in it? Do you have the recipe, Austinite?