Microwave Corn Garlic Butter (Printable Version)

Sweet corn on the cob enhanced with savory garlic butter for a quick, tasty side dish.

# What You Need:

→ Corn

01 - 4 ears fresh corn, husked

→ Garlic Butter

02 - 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
03 - 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
04 - 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
05 - 1/2 teaspoon salt
06 - 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

→ To Serve

07 - Lemon wedges

# How-To:

01 - Place husked corn on a microwave-safe plate and cover with a damp paper towel.
02 - Microwave on high for 4 to 6 minutes, turning corn halfway through, until kernels are tender. Let rest for 1 minute.
03 - In a microwave-safe bowl, combine butter and minced garlic. Microwave for 30 seconds until butter is melted and garlic is fragrant.
04 - Stir salt, black pepper, and parsley into the melted garlic butter.
05 - Carefully remove corn from microwave and brush each ear generously with garlic butter.
06 - Serve immediately with extra butter and lemon wedges on the side.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • You get restaurant-quality corn in the time it takes to answer a text message.
  • The garlic butter soaks into every kernel while it's still steaming, so you don't need much to make it taste luxurious.
  • It's the kind of side dish that makes people ask what you did differently, and you get to keep the secret that it was basically effortless.
02 -
  • Don't skip the damp paper towel step—I tried microwaving bare corn once and ended up with kernels that tasted like they'd been freeze-dried, so that soggy towel is actually protecting your dinner.
  • If your garlic butter hardens in the bowl (which happens if you wait too long), just pop it back in the microwave for 10 seconds; cold butter won't brush smoothly and will sit on top of the corn instead of soaking in.
03 -
  • Mince your garlic as fine as you possibly can so it cooks through and distributes evenly in the butter, instead of leaving pungent little chunks.
  • If you wrap individual ears in wax paper before microwaving, they steam in their own environment and come out juicier and more tender, though this adds a couple of minutes to the process.
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