Unless you are from Louisiana or have been there enough times, you may have no idea what “Maque Choux” is. Well, I am married to a man who grew up there and I had no idea what it was until this month. He started asking me to create a recipe for the blog, but how do I create something I’ve never heard of or eaten?
Maque Choux is a classic southern Louisiana dish made from corn, veggies and spices/herbs. Some versions have sausage or bacon, but the one he always ate was vegetarian. Awesome. To create it, I simply asked my husband what it was and took his guidance and of course, his tastebuds. It’s a very simple dish, but it is incredibly full of flavor. There are many different varieties I saw online, so based on what he said and what I wanted, this is what I came up with. He, the Louisianan approved, so that’s enough for me.
I hope you all enjoy this Vegan Corn Maque Choux! Leave me feedback below after you make it. You can also tag me on Instagram with your pic and make sure to put my tag #thevegan8 in your caption so it’s saved to my page and I see it!
Vegan Corn Maque Choux
Ingredients
- Half of a large white or yellow onion finely chopped 145 g, you will need 1 heaping cup chopped
- 1 red bell pepper chopped (145 g, you will need 1 heaping cup chopped)
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning crucial ingredient for flavor
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic 2 extra large cloves
- 3 cups super sweet corn kernels I used organic super sweet frozen from Trader Joes and let it thaw beforehand
- 1/2 cup lowfat coconut milk or you can use cashew milk or soy milk if you prefer, just make sure you are using a creamy milk
- 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme
- 4 sprigs chives finely chopped (optional for garnish)
Instructions
- Add the onion, bell pepper, old bay seasoning, black pepper, salt and water to a large pan and turn to medium heat. Once it starts to boil, let it cook about 8 minutes until veggies are tender. All of the water should be gone by then.
- Add the garlic, corn, coconut milk and fresh thyme. Keep it at medium heat and cook about 10 minutes more or until it has thickened up from the milk. You want it thickened and no more liquid remaining. Taste and add anymore spice if desired depending on how spicy you want it.
- Add freshly chopped chives for garnish if desired and serve immediately. This as a side dish will serve about 3 people. As more of a main dish, you will only get 2 servings. I served it to the 3 of us as a side dish with roasted potatoes.
Going through your older recipes to see what I haven’t tried yet and came across this gem! Old Bay seasoning isn’t something I have used much other than vegan crab cakes, but love to try new things, so this looked easy enough and we love sweet corn. I only buy my corn from Trader Joe’s as well! I loved this recipe! I made it a main dish with savory waffles. Eating it with cream cakes actually sounds good too!
This was delicious! Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Yoooooo this is so good. Thanks for this recipe! I didn’t change a thing other than that I couldn’t find Old Bay so I had to make my own. Amazing. So easy! Will definitely make again.
So very happy to hear this, thank you Eryn!
Would almond milk work in this? I have three quarts. 🙂
Is it homemade? Store-bought almond milk is much more watery and less fat, so not sure it would work so well here.
Love, love, love this recipe. So good. Thanks.
So very happy to hear that!
Brandi, I finally got Old Bay seasoning and made this and it was really delicious. The flavor really evolves and has many wonderful layers. So good! I have a pot of fresh thyme on my deck and I was so happy to have such a great recipe to use it.
I am so happy to hear you loved this Georgia! I loved the photo you shared on Facebook! Thank you so much for making it and letting me know!
Another version of maques choux that I learned from the Junior League of Lake Charles “Pirates Pantry” cookbook that I’ve cooked for years adds okra to the mix… from 50-25-25 corn-okra-tomato to 1/3-1/3-1/3. You can mix the ratios to any way you want to suit your taste.
Awesome, thank you for sharing!
Wow, that sounds amazing, Brandi! So fresh and flavorful. I totally didn’t expect the coconut milk in there as an ingredient just based on the photos {plus I’m so unfamiliar with maque choux!}, but I can imagine it being really tasty. Will definitely have to give this a try! Is a maque choux traditionally only made with corn? Or can you use other beans or peas? I mean I love corn and the pretty color it gives this dish, but just curious about whether it’s a corn-only kind of dish?
Thank you so much Audrey! Yes, it’s definitely a corn focused dish. The main ingredient is always corn 🙂
This is the fist time I’m hearing about Maque Choux but I am so intrigued! I love discovering new foods and this looks so darn flavorful!! 🙂 I love how incredibly simple this is too!! I am definitively going to be trying this soon and tagging you on insta!! I might have to wait until I’m in Canada though because I’ve never seen Old Bay seasoning here!! Saving this to make for later girl! It sounds absolutely wonderful 🙂
Thank you so much Ceara! It was totally new to me! I mean, I’ve been with him 13 years and until recently, he has never mentioned it, lol! I love, LOVE corn though, so I just loved the simple but very tasty flavors!
Making this for a side to take to a BBQ this weekend. Would it work just at room temp and how about doubling (tripling) the Old Bay?
Yes, definitely double the Old Bay if you want. It has a decent amount of heat, but I left it on the milder side for my daughter, but by all means, kick it up if you like. Maybe scale back a little on the salt though, since Old Bay has a lot of salt in it already. I think it’d be fine at room temperature as well. It’s kind of like those summer corn salads. 🙂
Wow, old bay seasoning AND coconut milk? So summery – I have to try this!! Lovely as always, Brandi! xo
Thank you so much Alison! It’s so good!
How have I not heard of this dish before? I mean besides the obvious I’ve never set foot near Louisiana. But seriously, this dish has all of my favorite things. My life was seriously incomplete and now I know why.
Lol, life now complete 🙂
Oooh! I live in TX, and sometimes a few of those Louisiana dished make their way over here. I haven’t had maque choux in years, and your looks wonderful! I love the edition of coconut milk 🙂
Thank you so much Hannah, you are so sweet! Let me know if you try it!
I’ve never heard of this dish but it looks amazing! Can’t wait to try this, I love corn 🙂 Thanks for the inspiration!
Thank you so much Lucie!! I love corn as well, so I especially loved this!
Hi! Thanks so much for this recipe! My daughter and her friend just became vegans about three months ago. We are Cajuns, however, and it is hard to re-learn how to cook our favorite foods. This is one of them. Thanks for this! She will be delighted!
Brandi, could you tell me how this is pronounced, please? Is the coconut milk from a can or from a carton? Thanks.
Hi Jan! Yes, it is pronounced “mock shoe” 🙂 I used a canned “light” coconut milk. Let me know after you try it 🙂
I’ve never heard of this before! In fact, I’m not quite sure how to even pronounce it, LOL. I love that you let him be your taste guide. You’ll have to go have it sometime and compare! It looks so colorful and yummy. And if you made it, I know its good!
Haha I know, I hadn’t either until he asked for it! No lie, I asked him to spell it to me probably 50 times, lol! He said it tasted just like he remembered and that it was delicious, so a big pat on the back to me, haha! He has no reservation when something tastes nasty.
What a beautiful salad dish, Brandi! I eat so much corn in the summer months, and I have so much of it at home at the moment, so making this delicious salad with it will be perfect! Love the coconut milk addition!
Totally never heard of the dish…but o do I want it!! Perfect way to use the lovely summer corn abundance!
It’s new to me too, lol, but boy is it delicious!
This dish is so easy and simple to make! The addition of coconut milk is delicious, it adds a lot of creaminess to the dish, while the herbs and the vegetables add flavors to it. I bet this is a perfect appetizer at a party and I’m pretty sure I and my friends would just love this. I like the sound of this – it sounds so majestic and elegant, never heard about of it. But for now I really know what it is and I really like the story behind this recipe. It is always a pleasure when we all learn from our family. For me eating is not just creating a recipe, it’s something different. It is about the story and the minds behind a recipe, dishes put all the people together, it’s a social event and an experience together.
Looks like summer in a dish! How nice that you could make something by-request for your guy. My first husband was 100% Cajun and many of our meals were based on what he loved and ate growing up. In those days I still ate meat, and boy – were they meat-centric! Interestingly, I don’t remember him ever asking for or making maque choux – probably because it had too many veggies in it, hehe!
Annie it’s crazy because he’s NEVER even mentioned this dish until recently, I guess because it’s simple, few ingredients and he knows that is my blog’s focus so that’s why he suggested it, lol!
This is so similar to a corn salad that I make. Who knew it was cajun! 🙂 I love the addition of coconut milk, Brandi. It sounds like the perfect summer dish.
I know, I was surprised at how simple it is because I use these ingredients all the time as well in my cooking, lol! But the thyme and spices are what set it apart. I’ve seen some with meat and cream, but my hubby always ate the vegetarian version and even though not all versions contain cream, I decided to add coconut milk to make it a bit richer. So good!
A big bag of chips along side this masterpiece would do me juuusssttt fine.
Oh yes, I bet it would be so good with chips! Great idea girl!
Looks delicious! I love corn salads and corn and peppers are such a natural combo! I bet the creamy coconut milk just takes it over the top! Yum!
Thank you so much Jenn! The flavors all together were truly amazingly delicious. I will make twice as much though next time so there are leftovers. It was gone in minutes, haha!