This Mexican Street Corn Salad is quick, fresh, and totally addictive! Summer is here and that means before you know it the grocery stores and roadsides will be full of fresh corn on the cob. One of my most favorite summer corn recipes is Elote, or Mexican style corn on the cob. It’s hot corn off the grill, slathered in a tangy and creamy lime-chili dressing and then rolled in Mexican cheese. The cheese melts into the sauce from the hot corn and it’s just all kinds of delicious. But it can also be a bit messy to serve. So a long time ago I started cutting the corn off the cob and turning the whole thing into a salad. I’ve seen recipes like this floating around lately and I thought I’d add mine to the mix! This is one of those recipes where if you have all the ingredients, you can kind of eyeball and add more or less of things depending on your tastes.
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Fresh corn – This salad is at its best when fresh, in season corn on the cob is used, but you could certainly use frozen corn kernels in a pinch. Avoid canned corn.
- Olive oil or butter
- Fresh garlic
- Mayonnaise – Regular or low fat. Avoid fat free.
- Sour cream – Full fat is best.
- Fresh lime zest and juice
- Chili powder
- Smoked paprika
- Black pepper
- Kosher salt
- Mexican cheese – Such as queso fresco or cotija, which both come in round blocks. Feta, or even parmesan, would also work.
- Cilantro
How to Make Mexican Street Corn Salad
- You’ll cut the corn off the cob and cook it in a hot skillet and it will kind of pop around like popcorn. Since corn is so sweet, it tends to char easily. You want those nice blacked spots, but you don’t want it to burn so just keep an eye on it. You’ll toss some garlic in there at the last minute.
- When that’s off the heat you’ll mix up a quick dressing of sour cream, mayo, chili powder, lime zest and juice, salt and pepper, and a little smoked paprika for smokiness.
- When it comes to cheese, look for Mexican cheese like cotija or queso fresco at the grocery store. You’ll mix all of that into the hot corn, along with some chopped cilantro, and mix it all up.
Storing and Other Tips
- The great thing is that this salad can be served right away, warm, or it can be chilled in the fridge and served cold. I personally like it warm, but it’s great cold as well!
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoy within 3-5 days for best results.
- This is such a great summer side dish to go along side grilled meats, or taken to a pot luck for something unique.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, feel free to make the salad up to 12 hours in advance. I’d recommend adding the cheese right before serving, along with an additional fresh squeeze of lime juice.
Toasting the corn brings out the sweetness of the corn and adds overall depth to the flavors of the salad. Traditional Mexican street corn is grilled as well! That said, if you prefer to just toss everything together, I’m sure it would still be delicious. You may want to blanch your corn to cook it a bit, or use thawed frozen corn, which has already been blanched.
Nope, you can just put it in your pan frozen; it defrosts really quickly! Frozen corn won’t get quite as caramelized/charred as fresh corn (sometimes not even a little bit) but it will still taste great!
Mexican Street Corn Salad
Ingredients
- 5 ears fresh corn about 4 cups corn
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil or butter
- 1 large clove garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons mayo
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- zest from 1 lime
- juice from 1 large lime about 2 tablespoons, more if desired
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- kosher salt to taste
- ¾ cup crumbled Mexican cheese like queso fresco or Cotija
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Cut corn from cobs. Heat an extra large skillet to medium heat and add butter or oil. Cook corn, tossing occasionally, until toasted and slightly brown, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds. Remove from heat.
- Combine mayo, sour cream, lime zest and juice, chili powder, smoked paprika and pepper. Toss to combine and then gently stir in cheese and cilantro. Taste and then add kosher salt to taste. Optional: Add additional lime juice to taste.
- This salad can be served warm, or chilled and served cold. If served cold, I find it usually needs an extra squeeze of lime juice right before serving.
Notes
- If you don’t have access to the Mexican cheeses (which should be available at most normal grocery stores) you could use feta, or even fresh Parmesan. If you use feta, you may want to do a little less than the recipe calls for since it’s so strong.
- The great thing is that this salad can be served right away, warm, or it can be chilled in the fridge and served cold. I personally like it warm, but it’s great cold as well!
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and enjoy within 3-5 days for best results.
- This is such a great summer side dish to go along side grilled meats, or taken to a pot luck for something unique.
Questions & Reviews
I love this recipe but always use fresh corn and now I am using frozen fresh corn. Do I need to thaw the corn before cooking it in the pan?
Nope, you can just put it in your pan from frozen, it defrosts really quick! Frozen fresh corn won’t get quite as caramelized/charred (sometimes not even a little bit) but it will still taste great!
I used frozen and I was able to get some of it charred, but it took a lot longer. I’m definitely trying fresh next time, but it did turn out really good.
I love this salad recipe. I’m wondering how to go about making it a warm salad? Would you please help me figure out how to make it a warm salad?
You’re cooking the corn and mixing it warm- so it’s naturally warm! Just skip the chilling step 🙂
Fantastic flavor! It’s so good. Great balance between tart and savory. You could use it as a dip as well.
Can I use frozen corn. If so, will 4 or 5 cups of corn be the same
Yes, feel free to use frozen fresh corn! You can eyeball, but 4-5 cups should be great.
How much would it change the flavor to use more sour cream instead of mayo?
It would change it, but would still be delicious 🙂
Made this for Memorial Day and it was a huge hit! Totally under estimated how much fresh corn I would need, so I ended up using a mix of fresh and frozen and doubled the sauce to make a bit batch. I ended up bringing maybe half a cup back. So delicious, making it again next week!
When you make this, how many servings does it usually make? I’m guessing 6-8 as a side dish? I’m serving it as part of a burrito buffet for 30 and trying to decide how much to make… Thanks! By the way I also have a bunch of your chicken taquitas in the freezer for one of the appetizers. I love your recipes!
Ya, it’s about 4 cups corn so if you figure 1/2 cup per person that sits you at about 8 servings. A burrito buffet sounds fun, great idea!
I’d like to make this for a big fiesta party. I wanted the street corn flavor as a side but isn’t practical for the party, so I was so excited to see your recipe!! Could I make it a day or two ahead of party or best morning of?
I wouldn’t make it too far ahead of time, but the morning of would probably be just fine.
If you use frozen corn, how much would be similar to 5 ears?
My husband and I made this corn salad tonight to accompany our pressure cooker shredded chicken (also from this website)! We followed the recipe except had to omit the lime zest since we used bottled lime juice. My husband must’ve asked at least 3 times during the meal if we could start making this corn salad often! Yep, it’s SO good!
So glad you loved it!
i must try this today….looks very delicious