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….. 😂
Love this, as all your recipes, ive told so many people to follow you, did I read ,this tastes better the next day ?
Love this, as all your recipes, ive told so many people to follow you, did I read this tastes better the next day ?
I just made this dish and we absolutely loved it, my husband kept going back for more! Thankyou so much
What an absolutely gorgeous photo of Dozer!…such a flap-ulous boy!🤣🤣🤣
😂 Thanks Kristy!! N x
How long will this keep if made in advance?
Hi Jenna, up to 3 days is fine. N x
I had a question. Am I supposed to boil the corn before I toast it or do i just the corn raw right off the cob and toast?
Hi Nellida, no boiling required as it cooks in the pan – you can see the steps in the recipe video as well 🙂 N x
Excellent recipe! Delicious! I have made different variations of this dip depending on what I have on hand. I have used cream cheese instead of sour cream (I prefer sour cream, but in a pinch, cream cheese works). I use paprika instead of chili powder (personal preference). The cojita cheese makes a big difference. Feta works as well, but the cojita cheese is more authentic and provides more flavor. Thank you for yet another outstanding recipe, Nagi!
Should leftovers be heated up or can it be served cold?
Hi Rhonda, you can serve it hot, cold or room temp 🙂 N x
I added broken Chili Cheese Corn Chips just before serving. Not that this salad needed it, but since I cut back on the onion I wanted another level of crunch. Thanks for this recipe Nagi!
Full disclaimer: I don’t even really like corn.
I mean, I’ll eat it if it’s in stuff and it’s OK in burritos or enchiladas where there’s loads of other flavours to add a hint of sweetness and to be honest, I could probably quite happily live the rest of my life without ever eating corn again… OR AT LEAST I COULD UNTIL TODAY.
This is phenomenal – creamy, tangy, fresh, sweet with a subtle hint of heat and if I was a terribly greedy person, I would consider skipping my sister’s BBQ lunch that starts in 90 minutes and just stay home and eat the entire bowl myself, but (siiiiiiigh) I guess I won’t…
I can’t handle any sort of fresh chilli (it’s very sad, I know) so I used chipotle powder and I had some Greek yoghurt open so I chucked that in instead of sour cream and I have to say, this absolutely knocked my socks off! It does need a decent amount of seasoning with salt and pepper but I’m 99.9% sure I will be buying more corn on the way home this afternoon 😀
I made this for a Fathers’ Day BBQ and received so many compliments. Many of my in-laws went back for seconds. It is such a refreshing side dish to accompany the tri-tip. You make me look good, Nagi! Thank you!
This is definitely 5 stars! An easy way to make this is to get the frozen roasted corn from Trader Joe’s. I added extra lime juice and Penzys Arizona Dreaming spice which added a nice smokiness. Will make this again. Can’t wait to share this with friends!
Tracy-Are you from Wisconsin? Your name and comment makes me think so.
I am going to make guacamole and beef enchiladas on the weekend. What salad do you suggest. I have considered Mexican corn salad. Is it ok to use bottled lime juice?
Thanks,
Ann
Hi Ann, Mexican corn salad would be amazing or even this one here: https://promotown.info/cowboy-bean-salad/%3C/a%3E I always prefer fresh lime but if bottled is all you can access then that will be fine 🙂 N x
Thanks so much. The Bean salad looks great.
Made this to go with some chimichurri steak. Everyone loved it!!!
Amazing loved it! Had it with steak. What else could I serve this with??
This may have already been asked, but can you omit the Mayo completely?
Can this be made in advance and chilled??
Yes 100% Shelley! N x
This stuff ROCKS! You can’t get enough of it!
I tweaked quite a bit: much less onion, more jalapeno, added cumin and chili powder, and a LOT more lime to the dressing, which was good anyway, but the extra lime took it over the top. Thanks, Nagi!!! xo to Dozer.
This was super yummy but I’d probably cut the onion down substantially. I used maybe a quarter of an onion and it was too overpowering. And I LOVE cilantro but a cup seemed to be too much as well. The dressing was perfect though. I’ll definitely make this again with these minor tweaks.