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A Mexican inspired Street Corn Salad
This Mexican street corn salad (also known as elote salad) is made with fresh or frozen corn, lots of aromatics and creamy cotija cheese. It’s a great salad to make during warmer months because it goes so well with grilled dishes!
Street corn, or Elote, is a popular Mexican street food. It is usually made with grilled corn served on a stick that is slathered in butter, mayo, chili powder, and lime juice. This recipe is inspired by that but in salad for and mayo-free!
Happy Cooking!
– Yumna
Mexican Street Corn Salad Ingredients
- Corn: Use frozen corn for a time-saver. Make sure to let it thaw and drain before cooking, to avoid waterlogged corn. You can also make this recipe using grilled corn especially if you’re already firing up the grill! You can use canned corn, but I don’t recommend it. The flavor and texture is always off to me, and it’s hard to get the moisture out.
- Cotija cheese: Cotija is a Mexican cheese that is salty, crumbly, and tangy. You can easily substitute it for feta cheese for a similar look and flavor.
- Cilantro: Cilantro goes so well with Mexican food, but if you’re not a fan, feel free to swap it out for parsley.
- Green onions: They have a milder flavor than regular onions, so I prefer them, but you can also use regular white or yellow or red onions.
- Jalapeno: You can leave it out or substitute it with a milder pepper, such as Anaheim or poblano. For more heat, try leaving the seeds in the jalapeno or swapping it out for a serrano pepper.
- Lime: Use fresh and add some of the zest if you want it extra tangy.
- Garlic: Use fresh for a stronger flavor but you can also swap with ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- Oil: Avocado oil or olive oil for cooking the corn as long as it can take high heat.
- Spices: Just chili powder and salt, but feel free to also add ¼ teaspoon of cumin and/or coriander if you’d like
How to Make Mexican Street Corn Salad
One of the things I love about this elote salad recipe is how easy it is. You can have the entire salad ready to go in under 20 minutes.
To start, you will need to thaw your frozen corn. I like to do this by placing the corn in a colander and running cold water over it. Once the corn is thawed, drain it well, pat it dry and set it aside. You can also microwave it and drain out the liquid.
Recipe Tips
- Chop everything small. When prepping the green onions, cilantro and jalapeno, chop them smaller than the corn kernels if you can so that the corn stands out and each bite has a little bit of all the flavors.
- Dry the corn as thoroughly as possible before cooking. This is especially important if you are using corn thawed from frozen. If the corn is wet, you will need to cook it for a few extra minutes to dry it out before it will start to char.
- Don’t overcrowd the pan. You want to give the corn plenty of room to move around so that each kernel has a chance to char. If you crowd the pan, the kernels will steam instead of char.
- Cook over high heat. This is key for getting a nice char on the corn without overcooking it. You want to make sure your pan is hot and the oil is heated before adding the corn.
Serving Ideas
Recipe Help & FAQs
This salad is best enjoyed fresh, but will keep in the fridge in an airtight container up to 3 days. If you are making it ahead of time, I recommend storing the corn salad and the cheese separately and tossing them together just before serving. This will help to prevent the cotija from getting soggy.
No, I don’t recommend it. The texture of the corn and other ingredients, especially the cheese will change when you freeze and thaw it. Plus it won’t taste as good.
Elotes are ears of corn that are grilled or roasted and then topped with a variety of toppings like mayonnaise, sour cream, cheese, chili powder, and lime juice. Esquites is the same thing, but it’s served in a cup, and the corn is cut off the cob first. This recipe is essentially esquites, but since most people are more familiar with calling it Mexican street corn, I went with that.
More Salad Recipes:
- Southwest Quinoa Salad
- Avocado Mango Salad
- Mexican Style Chopped Salad
- Avocado Shrimp Salad
- Ground Beef Taco Salad
- Corn Tomato Avocado Salad
- Chickpea Couscous Salad
- Shirazi Salad
If you try this Mexican Street Corn Salad recipe or any other recipe on Feel Good Foodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe. I would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots, share it on Instagram so we can repost on Stories!
Mexican Street Corn Salad
Ingredients
- 20 ounces frozen corn thawed and patted dry
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- ½ cup scallions thinly sliced, both white and green parts
- ¼ cup cilantro roughly chopped, plus additional for topping
- ¼ cup cotija cheese crumbled
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 jalapeno seeded and finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large cast iron skillet or heavy pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the corn and cook, tossing often, until charred and starting to pop, 5-6 minutes.
- Pour the charred corn into a large bowl and add the scallions, cilantro, cotija cheese, lime juice, jalapeno, garlic, salt, and chili powder. Toss thoroughly to mix.
- Serve topped with additional cilantro and cotija cheese.
Equipment
- 10" Cast Iron Skillet
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
I was looking for something different to bring as side dish for a picnic & this was perfect!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Can I used canned corn instead? My daughter accidentally put my frozen corn in the fridge when I bought it 🥲
Yes! Just make sure you drain it well after cooking it according to the package directions.
I made this with 6 ears of fresh corn. It was fabulous!
Thank you so much, Sandy!
I really enjoyed this recipe. It was tasty even without the mayo and I felt good serving it to my family. LOVED the authors suggestion to use feta as a substitute, worked great. Also loved the suggestion to add in peppers for color and crunch, which I did. Also accurate that you need a large cast iron so the kernels can blacken, I had a smaller one and it didn’t work as well. I would suggest to double the seasoning, I found it a little bland with the measurements given here. Overall, fantastic and tasty recipe!
Thank you! I’m glad you found the suggestions helpful and enjoyed the recipe!
I was looking for a quick and easy salad to make. I tried this the other day and I absolutely LOVE it!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Made this tonight quickly and missed some ingredients, like the chili powder and left out the jalapeño cause hubby is ok without it and it was DELICIOUS! This will definitely be a Summer treat with fresh Jersey corn! Love your Instagram posts. Thank you!
That’s amazing! I love it. Thank you so much!!