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….. 😂
One of the best salads ever! Made it 3 times now. I have substituted tinned jalapenos and just sliced them finely and this works, I have made it with both sour cream and the yoghurt substitute (this makes it slightly more acidic so I add 1 to 1.5 tabs of lime juice instead. We also chose not to serve it with feta as some in our family don’t like it and it’s still delicious and packed full of flavour.
Hard to find fresh corn in CT-USA in Feb. Used frozen per Nagi’s instructions. Delicious! Big hit at dinner tonight! No leftovers.
Amazing!!! Would not change a thing! The whole family loved it!
I love your site Nagi, and find myself gravitating toward it more than any other recipe site. This salad was such a hit with family and friends, it quickly became the requested dish for get togethers. I wanted a way to serve as a canopè, so I now make tortilla cups in a mini muffin pan and fill with the corn salad, and top with a little crumbled fetta and chives/parsley . They are a massive hit, and look so pretty too.
Fantastic idea!! I can’t wait to try it this way too! Do you use corn tortillas? And do you cut them to make the smaller for mini muffin pan?
Hi, i just used store bought flour tortillas but corn ones might work too. If you warm them slightly they are more pliable. I then use a circle cutter to cut tortilla circles and line the mini muffin cups with them. Bake at about 170C and in less than 10 minutes they are golden. When they cool they are crunchy and hold their shape well and can be filled easily with the salad.
Thanks so much for this great tip! I’ll have to try these as canapes soon.
Oh yum – this was fantastic. Is definitely a keeper!
I added red capsicum as I had a few and as a good balance.
My entire Xmas menu was drawn from Recipe Tin Eats this year (with the exception of Grandma Maisey’s trifle). I did I a couple of dry runs the week before just to make sure they were as delicious as they sounded.
This Mexican Corn Salad is WEAPONS GRADE, the BOMB.com!!!!
There was none left over for me to hog on Boxing Day. Sad.
Luckily I still had some of Grandma Maisey’s Trifle.
I LOVE HEARING THAT!!! Especially that you still use Grandma Maisey’s Trifle 🙂 N x
Love this salad! We made it twice last week even in the middle of a UK winter.
Live in San Antonio Texas and love this never knew how to make it, very very good thank you very much
This is one of the best salads ever! My family and friends went crazy over it! Everytime I make one of your recipes, they all rave about it! Thank you so much Nagi!🌷
I am so glad you enjoyed it Vihara! N x
Amazing flavour … all I can say is u rock my cooking world with all these AWSOME dishes . Thank you so excited to try the next dish .
This is one of the best salads ever! My family and friends went crazy over it! Everytime I make one of your recipes, they all rave about it! Thank you so much Nangi!🌷
Hi Nagi. Another delicious recipe. It was wonderful. everyone loved it and it will be on our table over Christmas.
That was delicious 🙂 and it is very easy to make.
Will most definitely be making it again
Thank you for this wonderful recipe. We don’t have Cotija cheese so I used feta cheese. Personally I don’t think you need it. What is divine even without it. I made it a few times with fresh corn and few times with canned corn both came out amazing. If there is any left over, which is almost impossible, it is as delicious serve the next day cold.
Deserves all the stars!
I am so glad you enjoyed it Ada! N x
Can I make this ahead of time?
I have made this salad countless times. It’s hard to explain how delicious it is!! I pair it was Nagis pork carnitas and corn tortillas. It is spectacular.
I love love love the mexican corn salad! The smell of the butter and corn cooking together is literally to die for! Delish dish that is a great side for the enchilladas!
I added diced ham and tomatillo.
Amazing flavor in this corn salad!
Can you use corn that had already been cooked? Boiled on the ear?
I made it from boiled corn and it worked well! Just try to get it as dry as possible before you put it in the pan with the butter. And brown the butter a little bit before you put the corn in. And it won’t need to cook as long.
also would this recipe be enough for serving 20? or will i have to double…. thanks nagi.. love your recipes
how far ahead can this be made??
This is one of my kid’s favourite salads and one of my go to salads when attending a BBQ. Thank you!