My original concept for this was actually a corn chowder ravioli — I wanted to stuff fresh pasta sheets with a heavily thickened, lightly pureed vegan corn chowder. I knew I could get all the deliciousness out of that idea with something far more streamlined. Seven ingredients later, here we are. Think: the creamiest, super buttery, lightly sweet, and concentrated corn chowder vibes, but make it pasta.
The First Mess Cookbook
My cookbook features some excellent vegan and seasonal pasta inspiration as well!
The technique is simple but specific. Half the sautéed corn gets blended with pasta water, non-dairy creamer, nutritional yeast, lemon zest, and lemon juice until completely smooth. That silky purée goes back into the pan with the remaining whole corn kernels and the pasta, creating a sauce that’s thick, glossy, and deeply sweet from the corn itself. One reader described it as “surprisingly extra delicious” — and that tracks because seven ingredients have no business tasting this good.
I try not to be exclusive about ingredients, but fresh summer corn really is the move here. The quality of each ingredient stands out when there are so few of them. You could add some chopped hearty greens (kale, chard, arugula) to bulk it out — several readers have done this and love it. Finish with vegan parmesan, extra chili flakes, and a good grind of black pepper.
Creamy Corn and Lemon Pasta with Thyme
Ingredients
- 8oz (226 grams) shaped pasta of choice
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 medium shallots, small dice (about 1/2 cup diced shallot)
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
- 4 cobs fresh corn, kernels removed (about 4 cups corn kernels total)
- sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ cup unsweetened non-dairy creamer of choice
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- vegan “parmesan”, for serving
Equipment
- Blender
Notes
- There are so few ingredients in this pasta, so the quality of each will really stand out. Fresh, summer corn really is best here.
- I’ve been using the nutpods unsweetened original creamer for savoury dishes lately and it’s really great! You could also quickly blend ¼ cup of raw cashews with ½ cup of water for some “cream” here.
- Don’t forget to save at least one cup of pasta cooking water!
Instructions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup of the salted, starchy pasta water before draining.
- Place a large skillet over medium heat. Pour in the olive oil and swirl it around. Add the shallots and stir. Keep sautéing and stirring the shallots until they are very soft, about 4 minutes. Add the thyme and cook for an additional minute, being careful to not allow the shallots to brown on the edges.
- Add the corn kernels to the skillet and stir. Season the corn liberally with salt and pepper. Keep sautéing and stirring until the corn is tender and bright yellow, about 8 minutes.
- Transfer half of the sautéed corn mixture to an upright blender. Pour in ½ cup of pasta cooking water, non-dairy creamer, nutritional yeast, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Blend this mixture on high until completely smooth and creamy.
- Pour the pureed creamy corn mixture back into the skillet with the remaining corn. Add the drained pasta to the skillet as well, along with some more salt and pepper. Stir to evenly coat the pasta. Bring the pasta up to a strong simmer, adding more of the pasta cooking water if it seems to be drying out a bit. Taste the pasta to check for seasoning and add more salt, pepper, or lemon juice to your liking.
- Serve the pasta hot with vegan “parmesan,” extra ground black pepper, and chili flakes.
This was super good! I added some zucchini when cooking the shallots and was feeling lazy so didn’t blend the sauce just mixed everything together at the end. Still great, would have been even better made as directed! Can’t wait to make the bbq tahini quinoa to use more summer corn!
Love the idea of adding zucchini to this! And I’m thrilled that the corn pasta was still delicious without the blending step. Thanks for this comment and review, Amanda!
-L
Fantastic, easy recipe. I used oat milk for the creamer. And to amp up the lemon profile I used lemon torchiette from Trader Joe’s (I just saw that Costco is also selling this at the moment). Roasted some broccoli to pump up the veg :)
Love that you pumped up the veg!! :) Thanks for leaving this review, Bianca.
-L
So delicious. I actually did half the amount of corn, added sliced mushrooms and 1 tbsp of Italian seasonings and an extra half a lemon juice.
Honestly sensational! I added a bit extra zest and loooooved it
Thrilled to have found this pasta recipe!!! Fresh summer flavors in a bowl of pasta. A handful of spinach or kale when warming this up is a great addition for a pop of green. Love every one of your recipes, Laura.
we love this recipe! we always add roasted zucchini or arugula (or both) to bulk it up… and occasionally parm-reg because we’re not vegan but this is SO satisfying, especially with a little yellow miso in the sauce. today we actually morphed it into a risotto for GF guest and it was still absolutely stellar. thank you so much for this!
Your risotto remix sounds incredible! Thank you for sharing this idea with us! :)
-L
Hey! Tried tonight and it’s a very good pasta recipe! Thank you for the idea!
Delicious! I made it with canned corn (about 2 cans worth is the 4 cups for anyone in my situation) since my normal grocery didn’t have fresh ears in stock so I can only imagine how delicious it is with fresh. I topped it with a little bit of red pepper flakes and some dried basil just for a little extra flavor. Might add fresh basil at the end if (when) I make it again! Thanks for another great recipe, Laura!
Looks amazing — what do you think about trying gnocchi in this dish?
Another hit for our household. I added roasted mushrooms and zucchini at the end. Never a miss with your recipes!
This was super yummy and a big hit with our family. I used cashew cream and put in some spinach. Thanks so much for this recipe Laura!
O. M. G. Sweet. Salty. Spicy. Creamy. Carb-y. This was a winner! If I closed my eyes my kids sort of faded away and this dish could have been in a fancy restaurant. Just kidding but truly this was surprisingly extra delicious! I decided to make it because it was something I wouldn’t have thought up on my own and I’m glad I did because it’ll be repeated before summer’s corn bounty is over. Bonus that it’s easy enough for a week night. I used canned coconut cream- yum! Thanks again!
This was totally delicious! Made it for 4 other people, so doubled the recipe and added in extra thyme. Thank you for sharing!
Hello! Having issues finding fresh thyme for some reason (been to three markets and nada!)… any tips on either substitutes or how to incorporate dried thyme?
Hi Shannon!
Just use half the amount of dried thyme!
-L
Delicious! I made the recipe as is. Perfect use of fresh corn. Thank you!
My household loved this, thank you! I was really surprised at the depth of flavor with such simple ingredients. I’m sensitive to allium and subbed dried for fresh shallot successfully.
Thank you so much for this recipe, it was delicious! Five stars! I couldn’t find shallots so I used yellow onion and it turned out great.
This looks absolutely delicious!
Quick question, yeast of any kind create an inflamatory reaction in my system. Can I skip it or do you have any replacement to suggest?
Hi Emmanuelle!
The nutritional yeast just provides a very savoury, almost cheesy flavour. You could substitute it with 2 teaspoons of a light miso and still get that deep savouriness. Or even a splash of soy sauce/coconut aminos would be great in its place.
-L
I just made this tonight and it was delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m over the moon excited to try this recipe! As an American living in Ireland, corn isn’t utilized enough… I’m still showing everyone the wonders of cornbread. So this will be a lovely addition to the dinners!