Making homemade Corn Stock in the Instant Pot has never been easier! Reduce food waste AND have a flavorful broth on hand all the time by using corn cobs. This stock can be used for soups, pastas, risottos, and more!
If you've ever made a recipe using just corn kernels, you have probably just thrown away the corn cobs in the past. Instead of wasting food and throwing it out, you can use those cobs to make an extremely flavorful corn stock or broth!
This corn stock is so easy to make and it is so great to use in place of a normal vegetable stock. Save this in a large jar and use it in place of water or broth when making soups, chowders, and Corn Risottos, for a subtly sweet corn flavor.
Why you'll love this recipe
- Great use of leftovers - Instead of throwing away excess cobs, this gives them a new use!
- Versatile Ingredient - This stock can be used for so many different things, and its way cheaper than traditional broth. Also, it is a unique flavor!
- Easily Customizable - Add more or fewer ingredients to this recipe with ease!
What you need for this recipe
Ingredients and Substitutions:
- Corn Cobs - Fresh corn cobs with the kernels removed. You can use the majority of kernels for other recipes, but you will need to keep some for this one.
- Corn Kernels - Just a small amount of raw corn kernels will be blended and used to thicken the stock and add more flavor.
- Yellow Onion - A charred yellow onion adds such a great savory flavor to this recipe.
- Rosemary - I like to use just fresh rosemary as a flavor addition, but you can add more herbs if you like! Thyme and parsley would be good as well.
- Celery - Rough chopped raw celery.
- Water - Plain water is needed to become broth!
- Garlic - Optional! I added 2 cloves of raw garlic.
Equipment:
- Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker
- Sharp Knife
- Cutting Board
- Blender
- Tongs
- Fine Mesh Strainer and/or Cheesecloth
How to make this recipe
Step 1: Prepare the Ingredients
Start by using a sharp knife to remove the corn kernels from the cob.
Stand the corn cob upright on a cutting board and run the knife from the top to the bottom, getting as close to the cob as possible.
Put the kernels in a separate bowl.
Slice the yellow onion in half, longways. Remove the papery skin and any straw-like root pieces, but keep the root attached to the onion.
Roughly chop celery.
Add 2 cups of raw corn kernels to a blender and pulse until creamy.
Step 2: Pressure Cook
Turn the Instant Pot to sauté and allow it to heat up.
Add a small amount of high-heat oil to the pot and place the half yellow onion face down.
Press down on the onion and let it sear until it becomes lightly charred, about 3 minutes on high heat.
To your Instant Pot or pressure cooker with the onion still in, add corn cobs, blended corn kernels, rosemary sprigs, optional garlic cloves, and chopped celery.
Add 8 cups of water, then add the blended corn kernels and combine as well as you can.
Press CANCEL on the sauté function. Then, close the lid, set the vent to sealing position and pressure cook on HIGH for 20 minutes.
Step 3: Finishing Touches
After the 20 minutes are up, perform a natural pressure release for 15 minutes. A natural release means you don't do anything other than press CANCEL, and allow some or all of the pressure to release without touching the valve. I recommend setting a 15 minute timer.
After those 15 minutes, flip the valve to venting and release any remaining pressure.
Then, open the lid.
Use tongs to remove large objects like corn cobs and onion.
Place a large bowl in your kitchen sink, with a fine mesh strainer over the bowl.
Use oven mitts or towels to remove the inner pot from the Instant Pot and pour the contents into the strainer and bowl.
Remove the strainer from the bowl.
Place the strained corn stock in a large air-tight container and store in the fridge.
Expert Tips
- Feel free to add additional herbs, spices, or more onions and garlic. Things like shallots, thyme leaves, peppercorns, etc would all be great additions that add more flavor.
- Use this the exact same way you would use a vegetable broth. It will be much lighter in color and have a more subtle, slightly sweet flavor. Using it in Instant Pot Vegan Corn Risotto is my favorite method!
- This method will produce a slightly "cloudy" broth, with some fine pieces still present. To make a clear broth, use a fine mesh strainer AND a cheesecloth when straining.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! A wonderful way to preserve that great summer corn flavor for the winter months is to freeze the corn stock and use it in soups, etc in the winter!
The most important flavors in a corn stock are corn, onions, and celery. Other spices and herbs can be added as well as garlic and other alliums!
In a vegetable stock with lots of other flavors, the subtle corn taste can easily get lost, so it doesn't add much to regular vegetable stock. Additionally, corn is more likely to cloud a broth, so extra straining would be necessary. However, it certainly won't hurt!
If you enjoyed this recipe, you may also like:
Instant Pot Vegan Corn Risotto
Dairy-Free Creamed Corn in the Instant Pot
Mexican Street Corn Dip (Vegan & Gluten-Free)
Instant Pot Corn Stock
Equipment
- Knife
- Cutting Board
- Fine Mesh Strainer or Cheesecloth
- Blender
- Tongs
Ingredients
- 4 cobs Fresh Corn kernels removed
- 2 cups Kernels raw, blended
- ½ Yellow onion
- 2 sprigs Fresh rosemary
- 2 stalks Celery roughly chopped
- 8 cups Water
- 2 cloves Garlic raw
Instructions
- Start by using a sharp knife to remove the corn kernels from the cob.
- Stand the corn cob upright on a cutting board and run the knife from the top to the bottom, getting as close to the cob as possible.
- Put the kernels in a separate bowl.
- Slice the yellow onion in half, longways. Remove the papery skin and any straw-like root pieces, but keep the root attached to the onion.
- Roughly chop celery.
- Add 2 cups of raw corn kernels to a blender and pulse until creamy.
- Turn the Instant Pot to sauté and allow it to heat up.
- Add a small amount of high-heat oil to the pot and place the half yellow onion face down.
- Press down on the onion and let it sear until it becomes lightly charred, about 3 minutes on high heat.
- To your Instant Pot or pressure cooker with the onion still in, add corn cobs, blended corn kernels, rosemary sprigs, optional garlic cloves, and chopped celery.
- Add 8 cups of water, then add the blended corn kernels and combine as well as you can.
- Press CANCEL on the sauté function. Then, close the lid, set the vent to sealing position and pressure cook on HIGH for 20 minutes.
- After the 20 minutes are up, perform a natural pressure release for 15 minutes. A natural release means you don't do anything other than press CANCEL, and allow some or all of the pressure to release without touching the valve. I recommend setting a 15 minute timer.
- After those 15 minutes, flip the valve to venting and release any remaining pressure.
- Then, open the lid.
- Use tongs to remove large objects like corn cobs and onion.
- Place a large bowl in your kitchen sink, with a fine mesh strainer over the bowl.
- Use oven mitts or towels to remove the inner pot from the Instant Pot and pour the contents into the strainer and bowl.
- Remove the strainer from the bowl.
- Place the strained corn stock in a large air-tight container and store in the fridge.
Notes
- Feel free to add additional herbs, spices, or more onions and garlic. Things like shallots, thyme leaves, peppercorns, etc would all be great additions that add more flavor.
- Use this the exact same way you would use a vegetable broth. It will be much lighter in color and have a more subtle, slightly sweet flavor. Using it in Instant Pot Vegan Corn Risotto is my favorite method!
- This method will produce a slightly "cloudy" broth, with some fine pieces still present. To make a clear broth, use a fine mesh strainer AND a cheesecloth when straining.
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