Baked Miso Polenta (vegan, gluten free)
Mar 29, 2022 • Updated Jun 20, 2023
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Make Baked Miso Polenta with fresh corn for double the sweet corn flavor in a hands-off, super easy vegan and gluten-free side dish.
I love paring flavors from around the world together. In this recipe for miso corn polenta, I’m bringing you a fusion of Southern and Japanese flavors. It’s sweet, savory, salty and so delicious.
How to Make Baked Polenta
Most recipes for polenta are cooked in a pot on the stove and take a long time and a lot of work. You have to constantly stir the cornmeal to prevent lumps, burning, or drying out. It’s a labor of love, but when you make it polenta in the oven, it’s just love.
All you need to do to make baked polenta is to combine your corneal, liquid, and any seasonings in an oven-safe dish. Then simply bake uncovered until the grains are soft and creamy and the liquid is fully absorbed. It’s that easy! In the meantime, you have plenty of time to prepare other meal components or simply chill.
Ingredients
This baked miso polenta gets its bold flavor from a combination of dried and fresh corn. Here’s what you need to make the recipe:
- Cornmeal. I like to use a medium-ground coarse meal for my polenta.
- Garlic. Use fresh garlic for the best flavor. IT’s going to be blended, so no need to chop or grate it. Corn. You will use canned and fresh.
- Plant milk. Feel free to use your favorite unsweetened dairy-free milk, such as almond or coconut.
- Nutritional yeast. For the cheesy polenta flavor with no dairy.
- Miso paste. Choose white shiro miso for the recipe.
- Vegan butter. You can also use olive oil if you prefer.
- Rice vinegar. This adds a nice tangy flavor.
- Soy sauce. For savoriness.
- Sesame oil. This adds nuttiness.
How to Serve Baked Miso Polenta
You can serve this oven-baked corn polenta as a small plate or a side dish with a larger meal. I like to serve it alongside tofu ham or herb-crusted tofu for a complete vegan meal that’s high protein and high flavor.
If you want an extra dose of sweetness in your corn polenta, drizzle each serving with maple syrup. Yum!
More Corn Recipes
- Miso Butter Furikake Popcorn (vegan, gluten free)
- Vegan Corn Risotto with Roasted Shallots (gluten free, nut free)
- Creamy Vegan Corn Chowder (gluten free, nut free)
If you make this Baked Miso Polenta with Corn, be sure to let me know what you think with a comment below!
Baked Miso Polenta (vegan, gluten free)
Ingredients
- Baked Corn Polenta
- 1 cup medium coarse cornmeal stone ground
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 can corn 2cw
- 2 cups plant milk
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 ears fresh corn
- chives for garnish
- Miso Butter
- 2 tsp white miso paste more to taste (shiro miso)
- 2 tbsp vegan butter softened, at room temp
- Miso Butter Sauce
- 1 tbsp white miso paste
- 2 tbsp unsalted vegan butter melted
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp tamari or gluten free soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F. Lightly grease an oven safe baking dish or skillet.
- Next, add garlic, corn, plant milk, nutritional yeast and salt to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour the cornmeal and the liquid content from the blender into the dish or skillet, add salt and stir to combine.
- Bake uncovered for 25 minutes, then stir the polenta.
- Cut corn kernels off the cob and sprinkle on top of your polenta, return to the oven and bake for an additional 5-8 minutes.
- While the polenta is in the oven, you can prepare your miso butter dressing, if using. To a blender add melted butter, miso paste, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil and maple syrup. Blend until combined.
- To finish, you can torch your corn to char it and add flavour! Then, serve your polenta with a generous drizzle of the miso butter sauce and chives.
- Alternatively, serve with a pat of miso butter! To make miso butter, whip together softened vegan butter and miso paste until smooth.
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
