Gordon Ramsay Sweetcorn Fritters Recipe

Gordon Ramsay’s sweetcorn fritters are crispy, butter-fried corn pancakes loaded with green chilli, spring onions (scallions), and cilantro (coriander), served with a roasted red pepper relish and avocado. They take about 40 minutes and most of that is hands-off while the relish roasts.

This recipe comes from Gordon Ramsay: Bread Street Kitchen, where he calls it “a Bread Street Kitchen brunch favourite.” He serves the fritters with three accompaniments: a roasted red pepper and cherry tomato relish, a smooth avocado purée with lemon juice, and a spoonful of crème fraîche. The relish can be made days ahead, which makes this a practical choice for feeding a crowd.

The technique that makes these work: he fries them in butter instead of oil. Butter browns faster and gives the outside a nutty, caramelised crust that oil alone can’t match. The pan needs to be sizzling before the batter goes in, so the base sets immediately and you get a clean flip without the fritter falling apart.

FAQs

Why does Ramsay fry the fritters in butter instead of oil?

Butter contains milk solids that brown and caramelise at a lower temperature than oil, which gives the fritters a nutty, golden crust in just 2-3 minutes per side. Oil produces an even colour but the flavour is neutral by comparison.

The trade-off is that butter burns faster, so the pan temperature matters. Medium-high is the sweet spot: hot enough to sizzle the batter on contact, but not so hot that the butter turns black before you flip. If you’re nervous about burning, use half butter and half olive oil, which raises the smoke point while keeping most of the flavour.

Why does he pat the sweetcorn dry before adding it to the batter?

Tinned and frozen sweetcorn sits in liquid, and any extra water dilutes the batter. A wet batter spreads too thin in the pan, so instead of a thick, crispy fritter you get a flat pancake that steams rather than fries.

Ramsay specifies draining and patting dry on kitchen paper (paper towels), which takes about a minute but makes a noticeable difference. His Quick and Delicious version goes even further: he strips fresh corn from the cob and chars it in a hot pan first, which removes moisture and adds a smoky sweetness that tinned corn can’t match.

How does the Bread Street Kitchen version compare to his other sweetcorn fritters?

Ramsay has sweetcorn fritters in five cookbooks, and each one takes a different direction. The Ultimate Cookery Course version is the simplest: just flour, egg, milk, sweetcorn, and a chilli-lime yoghurt dip. He gives his key ratio there as “one-third batter to two-thirds filling.”

The Quick and Delicious version adds grated zucchini (courgette), three cheeses, and whipped egg whites folded in for a lighter texture. His Ramsay in 10 version mixes polenta into the batter for extra crunch and serves them with fried eggs and chorizo. The Bread Street Kitchen version sits in the middle: more refined than the basic recipe with its three accompaniments, but not as complex as the cheese-and-courgette version.

Can the red pepper relish be made ahead?

Ramsay specifically suggests making a double batch and keeping the extra in the fridge. He recommends it alongside cooked chicken, steak, sausages, or cheese and crackers, so it works as a standalone condiment beyond just the fritters.

The relish holds well because roasting concentrates the tomatoes and peppers, reducing the water content. Fresh relishes break down after a day or two, but this one thickens as it cools and keeps for several days in a sealed container. Making it the night before also means you only need to mix the batter and fry on the day, which cuts your active time down to about 10 minutes.

What can you serve alongside these fritters?

Ramsay plates these with the relish, avocado, and crème fraîche as a complete brunch dish, but they also work as a side. His Ramsay in 10 version pairs them with fried eggs and chorizo, which turns them into a full meal.

For a lighter option, a rocket salad with a sharp lemon dressing cuts through the richness of the butter-fried batter and crème fraîche. If you’re building a brunch spread, his scrambled eggs on the side would round things out.

Why green chilli instead of red?

Green chillies have a sharper, more vegetal heat than red ones, which tend to be sweeter and fruitier. In a batter that already has sweetcorn in it, you want the chilli to cut through that sweetness rather than add to it.

The Bread Street Kitchen recipe uses one large green chilli deseeded, which gives a gentle background warmth. His Ultimate Cookery Course version uses red chilli instead, and the flavour profile shifts noticeably toward something warmer and rounder. If you like more kick, leave the seeds in, but taste the raw chilli first because heat levels vary wildly even within the same variety.