Mexican Corn Salad is a wonderful fresh corn salad made for summer BBQ’s and Mexican feasts! It’s a giant salad form of Esquites, a corn street snack sold in cups on the streets of Mexico. Corn kernels are sautéed in butter and garlic until golden brown, then dressed in a creamy lime dressing and finished fresh coriander/cilantro and a hint of zing from Jalapeño. It’s outrageously and insanely good!
Mexican Corn Salad
This recipe generated a tizzy of excitement among my group of friends when I first started making it a few years back! Something a little different to the usual steamed-butter-slathered corn on the cob (and there is nothing wrong with that!!), it’s bright and colourful, and it’s a brilliant dish for sharing.
Mexican Corn Salad is essentially the giant salad form of Esquites which is a popular Mexican Street corn that is sold in cups by street vendors. And in fact, Esquites is the “off the cob” version of Elotes, the famous Mexican Street corn where cobs are grilled over charcoal before being slathered in a creamy-spicy sauce then rolled in crumbled cheese!
What goes in Mexican Corn Salad
Here’s what you need to make this corn salad:
The creamy dressing for Mexican Corn Salad
The dressing is a creamy mayonnaise based dressing with a lovely tang from lime juice and a savoury flavour boost from parmesan (this is the secret ingredient that gives this dish the wow factor!!).
You’ll find many versions use a lot more mayonnaise than I do. I prefer to use a mix of mayonnaise and sour cream to lighten it up a touch whilst still have a good amount of creamy dressing. This way we get the best of both worlds – lots of dressing but not overly rich! I use this for most of my mayo-based dressings, such as Coleslaw, Macaroni Salad, Broccoli Salad.
Fresh corn vs canned and frozen corn
This recipe will work with any type of corn BUT it is definitely best made with fresh corn because it browns the best when you sauté it in the butter and garlic.
How to cut corn off the cob
Here’s a tip for an easy way to cut corn kernels off the cob without the kernels flying everywhere! Just place an inverted ramekin in a large bowl OR use a bundt pan. Stand the corn cob on the ramekin then use a knife to cut the kernels off. The walls of the bowl / bundt pan will stop the kernels flying all over your counter!
How to make Mexican Corn Salad
This recipe starts off by pan frying the corn in butter and garlic until it’s tinged with gold, at which point you will need to summon the strength to not shovel spoonfuls of it straight into your mouth because golden brown buttery corn? YES!!!
But WAIT! It gets even better! While the corn is hot, add in the parmesan, mayonnaise, sour cream and lime and give it a good mix so the dressing melts and mingles with the butter on the corn and coats every kernel beautifully…
And lastly, we give it a hit of freshness with onion and coriander/cilantro, and jalapeño if you want a touch of heat, and finish with a sprinkle of Cotija (Mexican cheese like feta) if you happen to be fortunate enough to get your hands on it (which I am not) or feta, parmesan or goats cheese as a fallback.
Serve this as a side dish for all things Mexican. Take it to summer BBQ’s, potlucks, casual lunches, a side dish for dinner tonight.
Just find any excuse to make it! Because honestly, to say my friends love this corn salad is an understatement. Whenever it makes an appearance, we’re in a situation where you have to eat fast, or miss out.
Literally. You snooze, you lose.
– Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Mexican Corn Salad
Ingredients
- 5 cups corn cut from the cob (~4 large ears) (or frozen corn, not thawed, Note 1)
- 2 tbsp / 30g butter
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise (can cut down to 2 tbsp)
- 1/4 cup sour cream (or yoghurt)
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese , finely grated (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp Jalapeno , deseeded and finely chopped (optional)
- 1 cup coriander / cilantro leaves , roughly chopped
- 1 cup green onion , finely sliced (~2 stems)
- 1/2 red onion , finely chopped
- 2 – 3 tbsp lime juice , fresh (plus more to taste)
Garnishes
- 60g / 2 oz Cotija or Feta , crumbled (optional) (Note 2)
- Jalapeno slices, coriander/cilantro leaves, lime wedges , optional
Instructions
- Cut off kernels: Cut the corn off the cob (see photo in post or video for how I do this without getting corn everywhere!) If using frozen, do not thaw.
- Brown corn: Melt butter in a large skillet over high heat. Add garlic and stir for 10 seconds. Add corn and cook for 5 minutes, stirring every now and then, until you get lovely golden brown bits and the corn is cooked and sweet (don't stir constantly, harder to brown).
- Season corn: Add salt and pepper halfway through cooking corn.
- Toss with dressing: Transfer corn into large bowl. Add mayonnaise, sour cream, lime juice and parmesan. Toss well to combine – heat will "melt" dressing. Add coriander/cilantro, red onion, green onion and jalaepno. Toss again.
- Serve: Transfer to serving bowl. Crumble over cotija/feta and garnishes of choice. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published March 2017. Updated with new video and photos!
Life of Dozer
Keeping this from the original publication date because it’s an adorable photo of him!
Whenever I take a photo of Dozer running, all I can think is that there’s a lot of flapping. Ears, giant tongue, mouth flap, that feathered tail.
I know how he feels. I have quite a bit of flappage when I run too….. 😂
Made this recipe yesterday for a Mexican dinner at a friends house. Everyone loved it! I did substitute ff plain yogurt for the sour cream and cut back the cilantro to a little over a 1/4 c chopped fine. Used about 4 stems of green onions. Excellent side!!
You call for one cup of green onions and then say 2 stems, one cup will be a lot more then 2 stems!
Can this be made a day ahead of time? Do I refrigerate it then heat it up or let it sit out to room temoerature? Or serve cold?
Hi Patricia – you can definitely make this in advance, I’d just take it out of the fridge an hour before serving to let it come to room temperature. N x
Hi! I tried this recipe with a few minor tweaks to my preference. Yum! I added some black beans and used some whipped cream cheese because I was out of sour cream. Added in some heat with chipotle seasoning and paprika. So tasty!!
black beans!! What a great idea I must try that.
Oh my, I’ve just finished eating half of the bowl, now I have to lie down for a moment.
I just finished up the corn, I haven’t even added the topping yet. It is SO good. I had to back away from the spoon. I wanted to eat the whole bowl myself!
I have this problem ALL the time Nikki 😂 N x
I made this tonight for my sister baby shower tomorrow. I didn’t read the recipe before making it 🤦🏼♀️ Will it be okay to put it in the refrigerator and serve It tomorrow?
Yes 100% Jaclyn!! N x
Just made this and it is truly the most delicious thing ever, couldn’t wait for my family to have it for dinner and my 10mnth old Great Dane puppy just pulled the bowl onto the floor and it smashed 😭😭😭all went in the bin!
Can I make this a day Or two ahead?
Yes 100% Rhonda! N x
Does the corn on the cob need to be cooked first? Or just scrape raw?
Hi Amy, it needs to be browned as per step 2 in the instructions 🙂 N x
I could honestly eat this every single day. Sooo good.
This was very nice & tasty & decadent! (And I only used 2 Tbsp of Mayonnaise)
Next time I will probably try the same method of frying the corn but I might use garlic powder as I found my garlic went very dark.
And I would like to try this with a bit of butter, garlic powder, smoked Paprika, dash cayenne & salt as a very (different) but lighter alternative for a weekly side-meal for the family.
I had never fried corn in a pan before and it is such a great idea!
I also used my measuring cup in a big bowl and your ‘method’ of cutting the corn off the cob worked very well!
Thankyou Nagi
Cathy x
I have made this several times and I always get asked for the recipe. Luckily I have 12 cobs of corn in my fridge right now. Thank you so much for a delightful recipe.
Absolutely delicious! Thank you for yet another great recipe.
You’re so welcome Allie! N x
Simply delicious!
I have been following you for awhile now. Love the variety and Dozer (of course). I made this today and it is very good. I had no Jalapeños on hand so used a bit of Cajun spice. I have bit of a correction: I follow written recipes, probably because of my age. The printed ingredients list is missing the garlic. Either that or I am getting older than I think.
Nice, tasty recipe, Nagi. I saved some time by taking the corn off the heat and finishing the dish in the still very warm pan. I used Costco’s house brand of canned corn, which I always thought highly of, dumped it into a strainer, and finished by drying it a bit with paper towels. No problem sauteéing it.
Garlic is missing from the ingredients list. And in a pinch, parsley works instead of cilantro, and a yellow onion is OK instead of red.
And finally, the rating stars do not stay on before posting.
Dozer is First, Picture perfect. As for corn love The idea Of crying IT with garlic must try and Would add extra to my soups. Thank YOU so much. Oh, love sour Cream. Be good/ heee, heeeOk Stay healthy.
This was such a tasty and satisfying salad. Thank you Nagi for tinkering with it until you created something that’s super easy, healthy and delicious!
You’re so welcome Anka! N x
We made this tonight and everyone loved it (as usual with your recipes). Step 2 in the directions says to add garlic, but garlic isn’t listed in the ingredients; we minced two cloves and it was fine.
Great recipe… thank you!
Thanks for picking that up Rick – I’ll fix it now! N x