I’m all about convenience, so it’s the microwave for me.
But how does the rest of the United States cook their corn?
In honor of National Corn on the Cob Day, we used Google Trends data to find out America’s favorite ways to cook corn on the cob.
We compared the data to the national average, so the results show which cooking styles are searched more than usual in each state.
We also looked at how popular corn on the cob is in general across the US (rather unsurprisingly, the ‘corn belt’ states really do love their corn).
Key highlights
| Cooking style | States |
| Microwaved | 15 |
| Fried | 9 |
| Boiled | 7 |
| Grilled | 7 |
| Instant pot | 7 |
| Baked | 3 |
| Smoked | 3 |
- Microwaved and fried corn dominate the eastern states but don’t appear popular in the west. And there’s a clear north/south divide in the east. The Northeast are microwave fans (they want their corn as quickly as possible). While the Southeast (plus Texas and Minnesota) love an ear of fried corn.
- North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee really love their fried corn, significantly over-indexing versus the rest of the US.
- Baking/roasting and smoking are the least popular cooking methods, with only three states each to their names.
- Roasting is favored in the deep south, while the love for smoked corn is spread across the country in California, Missouri, and Ohio.
- Instant pot corn on the cob is surprisingly popular, and it over-indexes seven states – almost all of them being in the west, which makes sense because instant pots are more prevalent in the west.
- The middle of America is where you should head if you want grilled corn. They love to barbecue there. Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas especially.
- Boiled is favored in the mid-north of America, plus the non-contiguous states of Alaska and Hawaii. Psst… if you haven’t tried corn boiled in a mixture of milk and butter, you’re missing out.
The most popular way to cook corn on the cob in every U.S. state
| State | Cooking method |
| Alabama | Baked / roasted |
| Alaska | Boiled |
| Arizona | Instant pot |
| Arkansas | Grilled |
| California | Smoked |
| Colorado | Instant pot |
| Connecticut | Grilled |
| Delaware | Microwaved |
| District of Columbia | Grilled |
| Florida | Fried |
| Georgia | Fried |
| Hawaii | Boiled |
| Idaho | Boiled |
| Illinois | Microwaved |
| Indiana | Microwaved |
| Iowa | Microwaved |
| Kansas | Grilled |
| Kentucky | Microwaved |
| Louisiana | Baked / roasted |
| Maine | Microwaved |
| Maryland | Fried |
| Massachusetts | Microwaved |
| Michigan | Fried |
| Minnesota | Instant pot |
| Mississippi | Baked / roasted |
| Missouri | Smoked |
| Montana | Boiled |
| Nebraska | Microwaved |
| Nevada | Instant pot |
| New Hampshire | Microwaved |
| New Jersey | Microwaved |
| New Mexico | Grilled |
| New York | Microwaved |
| North Carolina | Fried |
| North Dakota | Boiled |
| Ohio | Smoked |
| Oklahoma | Grilled |
| Oregon | Instant pot |
| Pennsylvania | Microwaved |
| Rhode Island | Microwaved |
| South Carolina | Fried |
| South Dakota | Boiled |
| Tennessee | Fried |
| Texas | Fried |
| Utah | Instant pot |
| Vermont | Boiled |
| Virginia | Fried |
| Washington | Instant pot |
| West Virginia | Microwaved |
| Wisconsin | Microwaved |
| Wyoming | Grilled |
Corn on the cob popularity by state
Here’s where corn on the cob is most popular in the U.S.
It may come as no surprise that corn is significantly more popular in the Midwest ‘corn belt’ region.
For example, our data shows that North Dakotans are nearly 3X more likely to enjoy an ear of corn than their counterparts in Washington D.C.
That’s a lot of corn!
- The state most crazy for corn on the cob is North Dakota, closely followed by Minnesota and South Dakota.
- Most of the corn-loving states are concentrated in the Midwest, which comes as no surprise because they’re part of the famous ‘corn belt’. These states produce more than 10 billion bushels of corn each year – and someone has to eat them all!
- The area most indifferent to corn on the cob is Washington D.C., with Louisiana and Nevada coming in second and third.
- California, Hawaii, and Texas also aren’t big corn on the cob fans.
Our methodology
First, we compiled a list of the most popular corn on the cob cooking styles in the USA (according to Ahrefs search volume data).
We didn’t include corn dishes like corn casserole, corn fritters, or cornbread.
We cross-referenced each item in the list against Google Trends and shortlisted the 7 most popular styles nationally.
Using data from Google Trends, we calculated both the national average and the state average for each style.
The overall winning style in each state was determined by how much it over-indexed compared to the national average.
For more information on our methodology, or to request access to this study’s base data, please reach out to us at [email protected].
About Pantry And Larder
Pantry & Larder exists to help normal people get the most out of their food. Whether that’s by learning the best way to store and reheat your leftovers, by discovering the most delicious pairing for your meals, or by finding different substitute ingredients.
We’ve spent thousands of hours in the kitchen, rigorously testing everything you see here. We make the mistakes so you don’t have to.