Cajun Maque Choux

Bacon – While bacon itself isn’t considered a traditional ingredient, cooking in bacon grease is. If you don’t typically keep bacon grease on hand to cook with though, just cook up a few slices of bacon. After that, you can choose to eat the bacon another time or toss it into the dish. Alternatively, you can just use butter or oil as well.

Onion – I prefer yellow or white onions here, but sweet or red or even shallots are also fine to use.

Bell Pepper – Along with onion, the base is made with green bell pepper. You can also use red or other bell peppers if you wish.

Garlic – Not as traditional, but I do like a bit of minced garlic added to this for flavor.

Corn – Fresh sweet corn works best in this dish so that you can also scrape the cobs and add the “milk” to the corn. When not in season, or just to make things easier, you can also use frozen corn. If not using fresh corn, I do recommend frozen corn over canned corn, however. If you have to go with canned though, I would drain and rinse it before using.

Seasoning – I keep the seasoning simple here with some kosher salt, ground black pepper, and ground cayenne. Mix the salt and pepper and season in layers as you cook, then taste before finishing to decide how much more you need. Adjust the spiciness with more or less cayenne, or swap with smoked paprika for flavor and color without the heat of cayenne.

Sugar – This is optional, but just a bit of sugar adds another layer of flavor to the dish and helps tone down a little bit of the heat from the cayenne.

Stock – The dish should be wet but not soupy. If the vegetables don’t release a lot of liquid or you cook it down, a bit of stock helps stew the corn. I also like the added flavor. Use a low-sodium chicken stock or vegetable broth, or in a pinch, just some water is fine also.

Cream – This is also optional but adds a nice flavor and creaminess to the dish. Using the “milk” from the corn cob adds a creamy starchiness that also thickens the maque choux, but sometimes you don’t get a lot from the corn cobs, or none from frozen corn kernels. Heavy cream makes a nice substitute.

🔪 How to Make Maque Choux

Remove the corn from the husk and slice the corn off the cob into a bowl. Flip the knife around and scrape down the cob with the back of the knife to release the “milk” and add it to the corn. Dice the pepper and onion roughly the same size as the corn kernels.

If you don’t have bacon grease but want to use it, start by cooking some bacon. Add diced bacon to a cold pan and turn to medium-low heat. Let it slowly cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is crispy. This will take around 10-12 minutes, but starting in a cold pan and cooking over low heat renders the most fat from the bacon before it fully cooks.

Once the bacon is crispy, remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside. Now add the diced onion and pepper to the same pan and turn the heat to medium-high. Sauté the vegetables in the bacon grease and season with a few pinches of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5-6 minutes until the onion starts to go translucent.

Now add the corn, corn “milk”, and garlic and again season with a few pinches of salt and pepper. Continue to cook for another 4-5 minutes while stirring occasionally, getting a little char on the corn if possible.

Pour in the chicken stock, a bit more salt and pepper, the cayenne, and the sugar if using. Stir everything to evenly distribute the seasonings and sugar and turn the heat down to medium or medium-low. Allow the corn to finish cooking in the stock until tender.  Depending on the corn, this could be another 10-15 minutes.

Finally, pour in the heavy cream, if using, and fold all the ingredients together until it is fully distributed. Cook another 2-3 minutes so that cream is warmed and slightly thickens the dish. If you cooked bacon for the grease and wish to add it, mix half of it back in now.

Pour the maque choux into a serving bowl and top with the rest of the bacon if using it. Serve hot or warm.

Peppers & the Trinity – While I used green bell pepper here, I also love this with red bell pepper. If you want to use the full Cajun “holy trinity” style mirepoix, you can also add in diced celery. When I do add celery, I like to use red bell pepper for the color contrast.

Creole Maque Choux – For a more creole spin, add in diced or chopped tomatoes. I don’t like the large Beefsteak type of tomatoes here, but vine-ripened or Roma tomatoes work well. You can also use canned, diced tomatoes instead, just be sure to drain them first. Fire-roasted versions go especially well here.

Other Vegetables – While the traditional base is made with just onion and bell pepper, popular and common additions include garlic, celery, tomato, okra, poblano, jalapeno, and green onion. Another common addition is a few dashes of Louisiana hot sauce or having it served on the side.

One other addition I have seen is to swap out the heavy cream and a bit of the corn for a can of creamed corn. This gives the dish a rich and super creamy flavor and texture.

Cooking Fat – Bacon grease is traditional, but if you don’t have any and don’t want to cook bacon, you can substitute that. Butter works well, but you could also use olive oil, vegetable oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, etc.

Vegetarian/Vegan Maque Choux – You can easily make this as a veggie only dish for vegetarians or vegans. For vegetarians you can swap the bacon grease for butter and the chicken stock for vegetable broth. To make it vegan instead, swap the butter for a preferred cooking oil, the chicken stock for vegetable broth, and omit the heavy cream. If swapping for a non-dairy milk, unsweetened almond or oak milk should work.

Maque Choux Meal – A popular side dish, maque choux can also be turned into a whole meal. Typically, the maque choux will be served over white rice and topped with things like blackened chicken, blackened shrimp, crawfish, or andouille sausage. Almost like a jambalaya with corn.

Once cooled completely, maque choux can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. While I prefer this dish served hot, you can also enjoy it cold, straight from the fridge. To reheat, you can microwave a single portion or two with a splash of water.

For the best flavor when reheating though, heat it in a pot or skillet over medium-low to medium heat until warmed through. You may want to add another splash or two of stock or cream when reheating.

While I’m not a fan of it, you can also freeze leftovers. Once cooled completely, transfer to an airtight container or freezer bag and freeze for 2-3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and reheat as above.