Green Chile Corn Pudding from Lewis Barbecue
Bring the flavor of Lewis Barbecue to your dinner table with the restaurant’s official green chile corn pudding recipe. John Lewis’s tips for home cooks will help you achieve its signature crispy edges and a rich, custardy interior. Studded with smoky Hatch green chiles and pockets of melty cheddar throughout, this corn pudding is a real showstopper that’s surprisingly easy to make at home!
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Spotlight on Lewis Barbecue
When John Lewis opened his restaurant in Charleston in 2016, he completely reinvigorated the local barbecue scene. While the Lowcountry has traditionally been all about whole-hog barbecue and mustard-based Carolina Gold sauce, Lewis Barbecue introduced central Texas-style oak-smoked beef brisket to town, and Charlestonians couldn’t stop talking about it. Cooked around the clock in custom-built smokers (the building was actually built around them!), that melt-in-your-mouth brisket was easily worth the 30-minute wait I spent in line years ago.
But as legendary as the brisket is, John Lewis puts that exact same care into his sides. If the meat wasn’t so dang awesome, the sides would easily steal the show. The Hatch green chile corn pudding reigns as the most popular side dish on the menu for good reason. With its crispy edges, custardy interior, and pockets of melty cheese throughout, it’s hard to forget.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the incredible opportunity to sit down with John Lewis himself at the restaurant’s 10th-anniversary media lunch. We talked all things corn pudding, digging into its surprising inspiration and his top tips for home cooks who want to replicate its incredible flavor and texture in their own kitchens. No custom smokers required — just a cast iron skillet, a blender, and your oven!
The inspiration
Given John Lewis’s El Paso roots, it’s no surprise that his upbringing on border cuisine heavily influences his menu, right down to the Hatch green chiles in this recipe. But the restaurant’s signature savory side also draws from a completely unexpected source.
“I really, really love Detroit-style pizza,” the chef explains, pointing to the crispy texture created when the dough cooks in a greased steel pan, along with the crunchy, edge-to-edge cheese crust.
The pitmaster says home cooks can achieve these same irresistible qualities in their corn pudding by using a simple cast iron skillet and a clever technique.
“You want to have that thing in the oven, hot already. And right before you’re going to fill it, throw some pats of butter in it. Let them melt all the way and start to turn into brown butter and be popping. And then pull it out as fast as you can. There’s all this popping brown butter in the middle. Pour your batter straight into it, and it starts making this crazy crust on the outside. And then we top it with cheese to do the same.”
The result is a spectacularly crispy, caramelized crust that sizzles in butter as the pudding bakes and mimics the edges of a deep-dish pie.
“It’s basically like a Southern, Southwestern version of Detroit-style pizza,” Lewis laughs.
If you love the crispy edges in this recipe, you’ll also enjoy my buttermilk cast iron cornbread, which uses a similar technique.
Corn pudding vs. Corn casserole
While corn pudding and corn casserole can look the same on the outside, there’s actually a big difference! Corn casserole has more of a creamy cornbread texture, while corn pudding is more custardy in the middle.
John Lewis’s recipe is a true corn pudding; it contains minimal flour and cornmeal, relying on plenty of cream, eggs, and blended corn for the base. What you’re left with is not a bready texture, but a creamy, custardy interior punctuated by all the delicious fillings.
“It’s supposed to be a little gooey,” Lewis says. “It’s like a souffle.”
Ingredients
What’s the big deal about Hatch green chiles?
These chiles, grown in the Hatch valley of Southern New Mexico, are prized for their earthy, smoky, and slightly sweet flavor profile, a result of the unique climate and soil in which they grow. Like champagne grapes or San Marzano tomatoes, chiles must be grown in that region to earn the name Hatch.
Substitutions and variations
Fresh chile alternatives (and tips for the spice-averse): If you can’t find Hatch chiles or want to roast fresh peppers instead, Lewis recommends using a mix of poblano and jalapeño peppers to mimic the flavor. If you want a completely mild version with zero heat, you can stick to poblano peppers only.
“It’s about the same spice level as a green bell pepper,” Lewis reassures, noting that the goal isn’t overwhelming heat. “The star of it is the roasted, smoky flavor on the chiles.”
However, don’t let the fear of spice keep you from trying the real deal. “You know when you eat something spicy and you put milk in your mouth to cool it down?” Lewis explains. “With the cheese in there and the egg and all the dairy, all those things are in there too, so it really tames the heat of the chiles.”
For a traditional, chile-free version: If you want a classic, sweet Southern corn pudding but still want to achieve that incredible Detroit-pizza-style crispy crust, you can leave the chiles out entirely. Just note that if you tell the chef, he might poke a little fun at you — when asked about skipping them, Lewis laughed and protested, “That’s the whole point!”
VIDEO: How to make green chile corn pudding
How to make Lewis Barbecue’s Hatch green chile corn pudding at home
A hot pan and foamy butter are key to replicating this crispy-edged restaurant icon in a standard kitchen. Here is the workflow to get it perfect:
Roast the chiles: If using fresh chiles, roast them over an open flame until blackened, steam them in a bag to slip the skins, remove the seeds, and dice. (Lewis's tip: Leave a few blackened flecks on the chiles for extra smokiness!)
Preheat the skillet: Place your 8-inch cast-iron skillet on top of a rimmed baking sheet and slide them both into the oven while it preheats to 375°F.
Blend the base: Whirl the defrosted corn, cream, eggs, dry ingredients, and spices in a blender until smooth (images 1-2). Transfer to a bowl and gently fold in your mix-ins: the chiles, cheddar cubes, green onions, and fresh corn (images 3-4).
Brown the butter: Drop the butter into the screaming-hot skillet (image 5). Let it foam and sizzle for about another minute in the oven until the milk solids are lightly toasted.
Pour and bake: Pull the pan out, swirl the brown butter up to coat the sides, and quickly pour the batter straight into the center without stirring (image 6). Top with shredded cheddar all the way to the edges and bake for 30 minutes until set with a slight jiggle (images 7-8).
Enjoy with your favorite Southern entree!
Tips from the chef and testing notes
- Don't overfill! Resist the temptation to use "heaping" measurements. This batter is precisely scaled for a standard 8-inch cast-iron skillet; extra volume will result in extra butter splatter or cause batter to spill over the sides.
- Use the pan you have. Don't worry if you don't own an 8-inch cast-iron skillet — a 10-inch or 12-inch one will work too! Just remember to scale up the batter so the pudding keeps its signature deep-dish crust (see the recipe card notes for exact pan conversions). The 30-minute baking time stays exactly the same. Plus, making a larger batch makes it the perfect size to feed a crowd for Thanksgiving or a summer potluck.
- Avoid the fire alarm. When adding the batter to the pan, the butter will sizzle aggressively around the top edges. To prevent a smoky kitchen from rogue butter splatters hitting your oven floor, place your skillet on top of a rimmed baking sheet and let them preheat together.
- Protect the butter layer. When pouring the batter into the hot skillet, pour it directly into the center and let the foaming butter naturally rush up the sides. Do not stir it! That untouched exterior butter layer is the secret to the Detroit-pizza-style crispy crust.
What to serve with green chile corn pudding
This is the quintessential side for your Southern barbecue dinner!
If you have a smoker, serve it with smoked meat like brisket for a true Lewis Barbecue experience at home. You can also grill some ribs or make my slow cooker pulled pork with mustard-based Carolina Gold BBQ sauce.
For a second side, consider something fresh or green vegetable-based, like braised collard greens, cucumber onion salad, or a fresh carrot and purple cabbage coleslaw.
More Southern sides you'll love
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Lewis Barbecue Hatch Green Chile Corn Pudding
Equipment
- 1 8 inch cast iron skillet see note
Ingredients
- ½ cup chopped roasted Hatch green chiles about 2 or 3 chiles (see note for sourcing and substitutions)
- 1 ½ cups frozen corn kernels or ½ lbs
- 3 large eggs
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup yellow cornmeal
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ cup mild cheddar cheese cut into ½ in. cubes (see note)
- ¾ cup corn kernels freshly cut (about 1 ear of corn)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup shredded mild cheddar cheese (see note)
- 2 green onions sliced (plus more for garnish, if desired)
Instructions
- Roast the chiles, if starting from fresh. Roast the Hatch green chiles over a hot open flame until the skins blacken and separate (about 1-2 minutes each side.) Place the roasted chiles in a ziplock bag and allow them to steam in their own heat for 1 hour. Peel the skins and remove the seeds. Hand cut the chiles into ½ inch dice.If using frozen or jarred chiles, drain in a sieve first. We don't want to add any extra liquid to the batter.
- Preheat the skillet. Preheat the oven to 375°F with a medium (8”) cast iron pan on top of a sheet pan to catch any butter splatters. The skillet should stay in the oven until the batter is prepared to fully heat.
- Prepare the corn. Defrost the frozen corn kernels. Spreading them out on a plate at room temperature will thaw them fairly quickly. Cut fresh kernels off the corn cob — this does not need to be cooked first.
- Blend the batter. In a blender, combine the defrosted corn kernels, eggs, heavy cream, flour, yellow cornmeal, granulated sugar, kosher salt, baking powder, and garlic powder. Blend until homogeneous, about 5-8 seconds on high.
- Add the mix-ins. Transfer wet mixture to a mixing bowl and fold in the diced Hatch green chiles, cubed mild cheddar cheese, green onions and fresh corn kernels with a spatula.
- Brown the butter. Take the heated cast iron pan out of the oven and add the butter, which will quickly start sizzling and foaming. Pop it back in the oven for about one minute until milk solids are lightly toasted.
- Add the batter. Quickly remove the pan from the oven once again and swirl the butter around the pan to fully coat the bottom and the sides. Pour the corn pudding batter right into the center of the hot cast iron pan with the foaming butter. Do not stir, as you don't want to incorporate the butter into the batter. Sprinkle the shredded mild cheddar cheese over the top of the batter, all the way to the edges, and return to the oven.
- Bake and enjoy! Cook for 30 minutes at 375°F. The edges should be nicely browned and the pudding should be set (a minimum of 165F internal). If you give the pan a shake, it's okay to see a slight jiggle. Allow to rest for 5 minutes and serve.
