Recipes › Fresh bowls & lunches› Grilled corn with whipped feta butter
Fresh bowls & lunches · Easy · Serves 6

Grilled corn with whipped feta butter

Sweet corn charred straight on the grates, slathered with a whipped feta butter with lemon and dill. The upgrade plain butter has been waiting for.

Anna Lind Harper
by Anna Lind Harper
Tested twice · Published 2026-07-02
A rustic ceramic plate stacked with grilled corn on the cob on a wooden outdoor table: the kernels deeply charred in places and golden elsewhere, slathered with whipped feta butter melting down the rows, scattered with chopped fresh dill and flaky salt, with lemon wedges tucked beside the cobs. A green backyard blurs softly behind the table in warm evening light.
Prep
10 min
Cook
12 min
Serves
6
Difficulty
easy

Grilled corn needs almost nothing, which is exactly why the one thing you add should be good. Here it is a whipped feta butter: feta and soft butter beaten together with lemon zest and dill until fluffy, then slathered onto hot charred cobs where it half-melts into every row of kernels.

The corn itself goes straight on the grates, no foil, no soaking. Deeply browned kernels are not a mistake, they are the flavor.

“Char the corn hard, slather it hot. The feta butter does the rest.”
Why this one earns a weeknight

What you'll love about it

  • 01Twenty minutes and one bowl, and it upstages whatever the main course was.
  • 02The feta butter keeps for a week and belongs on radishes, rye toast, and baked potatoes too.
  • 03No foil, no soaking, no husk tricks. The grates and some patience do everything.
  • 04Naturally gluten-free and vegetarian, and it doubles for a crowd without any extra thinking.
Six ears of corn charring directly on the grates of a black kettle grill in a green backyard, kernels browning in patches with light smoke rising, while a hand with long stainless tongs turns one cob in warm evening light.
No foil, no soaking. Straight on the grates, and turn as each side takes color.
Ingredients

For the corn

  • 6ears sweet corn, shucked
  • 1 Tbspneutral oil
  • kosher salt

For the whipped feta butter

  • 4 ozfeta
  • 4 Tbspunsalted butter, very soft
  • ½lemon, zested, plus 1 tsp juice
  • 2 Tbspfresh dill, chopped
  • a few cracksblack pepper
  • to serveflaky salt and more dill
Method

How I make it

  1. 01
    Whip the feta butter.
    Blitz the feta, soft butter, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a small food processor until fluffy and nearly smooth, then stir in the dill and a few cracks of pepper. No processor? Mash everything with a fork instead; you get a chunkier, saltier-in-spots butter, which is honestly its own kind of good.
  2. 02
    Oil and salt the corn.
    Rub the shucked cobs with the neutral oil and a light sprinkle of kosher salt. No foil and no soaking; the corn goes on naked so it can actually char.
  3. 03
    Grill hot, turn as it colors.
    Set the cobs directly on the grates over medium-high heat. Grill 10 to 12 minutes total, turning a quarter-turn every 2 to 3 minutes as each side takes on color. You want scattered deeply browned, almost blackened kernels next to bright golden ones. Pale corn is undercooked corn.
  4. 04
    Slather while hot.
    Move the corn to a platter and spread the whipped feta butter generously over each hot cob so it starts to melt into the kernels. Finish with more dill, flaky salt, black pepper, and a squeeze of lemon. No grill? A dry cast iron pan or the broiler will char the cobs almost as well; same timing, turn as they color.
    Hands in a fitted white tee spreading whipped feta butter onto a hot charred corn cob with a small knife, a linen square guarding one hand and faint steam rising, with the bowl of feta butter, more grilled cobs, and a lemon wedge on the wooden outdoor table.
    Slather while the cobs are too hot to hold. The melting is the point.
A close macro of whipped feta butter in a small speckled stoneware bowl, fluffy with a soft swoosh from the back of a spoon, flecked with lemon zest and chopped dill, with a butter knife resting across the rim and a squeezed lemon half behind.
A note from Anna

The miss with grilled corn is always timidity: pale, gently warmed cobs that taste steamed. Char is the flavor, so leave each side down until it genuinely browns before turning. And make the full batch of feta butter even for fewer cobs. It keeps a week in the fridge, and finding it there on a Tuesday changes the fate of some toast.

What to serve with it

Round out the table.

  • ·01
    Grilled lemon-herb chicken thighs
    They share the grill and finish at the same time.
  • ·02
    Cucumber tomato salad with dill
    Something cold and sharp next to the rich butter.
  • ·03
    A pile of napkins
    This is not a fork dish. Commit.
Storage & reheating

Keeping the leftovers good.

Fridge: The whipped feta butter keeps for 1 week sealed. Cooked corn is best the same day but keeps 2 days; slice the kernels off and fold them into a salad.

Make ahead: Make the feta butter up to 3 days ahead; pull it out 20 minutes before serving so it spreads.

Freezer: The butter freezes for 1 month. The corn does not need to; it takes 22 minutes.

Recipe card

Grilled corn with whipped feta butter

Sweet corn charred straight on the grates, slathered with a whipped feta butter with lemon and dill. The upgrade plain butter has been waiting for.

Prep
10 min
Cook
12 min
Serves
6
Total
22 min
Ingredients
  • 6 ears sweet corn, shucked
  • 1 Tbsp neutral oil
  • kosher salt
  • 4 oz feta
  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, very soft
  • ½ lemon, zested, plus 1 tsp juice
  • 2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
  • a few cracks black pepper
  • to serve flaky salt and more dill
Method (short version)
  1. 01Whip the feta butter.
  2. 02Oil and salt the corn.
  3. 03Grill hot, turn as it colors.
  4. 04Slather while hot.

Nutrition information is an estimate. See full nutrition disclaimer.

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