How Gordon Ramsay Adds A Bold, Spicy Twist To Corn On The Cob

Celebrity chefs help inspire us to turn everyday dishes and recipes into more restaurant-worthy meals. Whether it's Padma Lakshmi revealing her favorite food ingredient to cook with (hint: It's got something to do with pomegranates) or Guy Fieri enlightening us about how to make a delicious rendition of pork chile verde, tips from chefs can definitely spice up our everyday cooking.

Gordon Ramsay is another celebrity chef who often puts his own spin on simple dishes and shares those easy tricks with fans. Take his corn on the cob, for instance: Instead of going in with the usual butter, pepper, and salt seasoning, Ramsay suggests using chipotle butter.

Ramsay's trick is to make a compound butter first. Simply take some softened butter and fold in a few chopped chipotle chiles as well as coriander leaves into it with some salt and pepper. One or two chiles should be enough for roughly ⅓ cup of butter, but you can always add more or less depending on your taste for spice. And make sure to rehydrate and soften the chiles by soaking them in some hot water first. Smear the chipotle butter on your corn cob as usual, and the resulting side dish will go from plain and basic to smoky and spicy with a mildly peppery twist from the coriander.

Besides adding chipotle butter, Gordon Ramsay suggests grilling the corn cobs in a pan with olive oil before steaming them. This creates a beautiful smoky char that complements the chipotle butter dressing. Ramsay also serves his corn cobs with a lime wedge which you can squeeze on top to add a citrusy, tangy zing that contrasts the smoky, salty, herbaceous heat and rich buttery dressing. Alternatively, you can also just squeeze the lime juice into the compound butter itself to keep things more simple. If you really want to lean into the acidity, you could add some lime zest to the mix.

Once you give the chipotle butter a try on your corn cob, you can experiment with different add-ins to give it your own spin. Whisk in a clove or two of crushed garlic for an umami depth, or swap the dried chiles with chipotles in adobo sauce for a more tangy and savory complexity. You could even drizzle in some maple syrup (or hot honey) to give the spicy butter a hint of sweetness.

You don't have to stop just there — you can also upgrade your corn cobs with different toppings. Add crisp bacon crumble and chopped chives after slathering on the butter, or do what Ramsay does and sprinkle some Lancashire cheese on top. The possibilities are boundless.