Grilled Corn With Spicy Miso Butter Recipe

Updated March 31, 2025

Photographs: Joshua Bousel. Video: Vicky Wasik

It's around this time of year that corn is so seasonally cheap that I can't help but add it to each barbecue at my house. Of course, the same thing each week, year after year, isn't much fun, so I'm always thinking of new ways to gussy up these golden ears, which led me to making them with chile-lime butter, Italian-style, and now my current favorite, with spicy miso butter.

Beautifully blistered grilled corn was slathered in a compound butter with miso, Sriracha, and cayenne. While this mixture tended toward the spicy side, when coated on sweet corn, it becomes a nice balance. The distinct and salty flavor of the miso provided a base that become more prevalent when you hit a pocket of heat from the Sriracha and cayenne.

It was an excellent way to finish corn and inject some new life into a tried and true backyard staple.

The Best Basic Grilled Corn

Recipe Details

Grilled Corn With Spicy Miso Butter Recipe

Prep 10 mins

Cook 20 mins

Active 35 mins

Cooling Time 5 mins

Total 35 mins

Serves 4 servings

Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

8 tablespoons (110 g) butter, softened, divided
2 tablespoons (30 g) white miso paste
1 tablespoon (15 ml) sriracha
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 ears corn, shucked
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Whisk together 4 tablespoons (55g) butter, miso, sriracha, and cayenne in a small bowl. Set aside.
Butter corn with remaining butter, season with salt and pepper, and wrap ears individually in aluminum foil.
Light one chimney full of charcoal. When all charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, pour out and spread coals evenly over entire surface of coal grate. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill, and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Clean and oil grilling grate. Place foil-wrapped corn on grill and cook until tender and slightly charred, about 20 minutes, turning 4 times during cooking. Remove from grill and let cool for 3 to 5 minutes.
Open foiled corn, slather each ear in spicy miso butter, and serve.

Special equipment

Grill

This Recipe Appears In

The Food Lab: Three Ways to Grill Corn

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
293	Calories
24g	Fat
20g	Carbs
4g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories	293
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 24g	31%
Saturated Fat 14g	72%
Cholesterol 59mg	20%
Sodium 835mg	36%
Total Carbohydrate 20g	7%
Dietary Fiber 2g	9%
Total Sugars 5g
Protein 4g
Vitamin C 6mg	29%
Calcium 15mg	1%
Iron 1mg	4%
Potassium 214mg	5%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.