This Mexican Street Corn Salad recipe (also known as Esquites) is packed with fresh flavors and cotija cheese! This is the perfect side dish that turns the classic Mexican street food into a delicious and easy to make salad!
Friends, meet my new FFS... No, not FF Sake. Favorite Freakin' Salad: Mexican Street Corn Salad. Mexican Street Corn Salad, meet your new friends. Colorful. Flavorful. Fresh. What else could you ask for in a salad?
Ingredients Needed
Fresh, that's the name of this salad. This salad is also known as an Esquites recipe, which is a Mexican corn salad.
Fresh or Frozen Corn? Well, there are benefits to each. You can get frozen any time of the year. Fresh is, well, fresh. Either will work for this dish. The most important piece is to be sure you add a little char to the corn from a nice pan fry. That'll add the necessary flavor to mimic the classic Street Corn.
What ties it all together? The dressing.
Also this is totally customizable. Like it cheesier? Add more cheese? Want a little more heat? Add a touch more chili powder? Want it creamier? Up the mayo and sour cream!
Did you know you can make your own Mayonnaise From Scratch?
Other Great Ways use Mayonnaise From Scratch
Step-by-Step Instructions
- The first thing that really is key to this salad and is what elevates this salad is a giving the corn a quick char by pan frying it.
- Then add all your fresh veggies into a large bowl.
- Mix all of your dressing ingredients (except the cheese) into another bowl.
- And then finally mix the dressing with the veggies and half of the cheese and give a good mix.
- Finally, add the rest of the cheese on top with some more fresh cilantro and serve!
This Mexican Street Corn Salad recipe is such a hit; I recently made this on a girls trip to the beach for a taco bar night and it received rave reviews. Thumbs up from 15 diverse women AND a 3 year old? Yup; this one's a keeper.
Other Favorite Side Salads
Other Mexican Inspired Dishes
Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Tacos
Fresh Green Salsa From Scratch
Fresh Easy Pico de Gallo From Scratch
Crock Pot Chicken Carnitas Tacos
FAQs
It is a delicious salty, crumbly, Mexican cheese from cow's milk.
Totally! Parmesan, Romano, or feta are great substitutes (but Cotija is defintiely the best).
No, not necessarily, but it really does make a difference.
Not only did all the women of my girls trip love this esquites recipe, but my toddler inhaled it. So if that isn't a glowing review, I'm not sure what else is!
By the way, if you loved this recipe, try out our Mexican Street Corn Chicken Tacos, too!
Enjoy, friends! Don't forget if you make this salad or any other recipes from the site, please be sure to let me know on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or Twitter. I love hearing from you!
Mexican Street Corn Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups corn approximately 24 oz frozen
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 red pepper diced
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro minced, a few leaves left for garnish.
- 1 jalapeno diced
- 1/2 large red onion diced
- 2/3 cup cotija cheese shredded/crumbled
Dressing
- 3 tablespoons sour cream
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 4 tablespoons fresh lime juice approximately 2 limes
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a saute pan on medium high and add corn. Cook until slightly charred, approximately 7-10 minutes. Add to large bowl and set aside.
- Add pepper, jalapeno, cilantro, and onion to large bowl with corn and mix well.
- In a small bowl, add all dressing ingredients and mix well until smooth.
- Add dressing to large bowl with corn and mix well. Add 1/2 cotija cheese and mix well.
- Add remaining cheese and some cilantro.
- Serve or cover and store in fridge for up to 8 hrs before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe adapted from Jo Cooks.
Should this be served warm or cold?
Either! I usually serve it cold because I like to prep it in advance and just add the dressing and cheese right before serving.
I added some black beans to this dish and it really elevated it!!! Love it!!!
Ooh black beans. Great addition!
Love it!! Super simple to make.
So glad you enjoyed it as much as we do!
Can I use smoked paprika?
Totally!
Do you boil the fresh corn first, then pan fry? Or just pan fry it raw?
You can just pan fry raw! Or I also like to use this for leftover boiled or grilled corn on the cob.
Can this be made a day in advance?
Definitely! Prep the veggies and dressing separately and then mix and add cheese right before serving. Enjoy!
Is this better mixed up same day your eating it or one of those that is even better the next day???
Same day! 🙂
Is it ok to put the corn on grill instead?
Totally!
I married this recipe with a corn chowder recipe and made some really delicious soup. I sautéed the vegetables, made the spice mix which I added to the broth, and cut the lime back to 2 tablespoons. Added potatoes and the broth, roux and half and half from the chowder recipe. When I served I used the cilantro and cotija cheese as a topping. Definitely a keeper recipe!
Wow, Tamie that sounds incredible!!! Thank you so much for sharing!
This soup sounds amazing! I added diced avocado to my salad yum!
So so good! I cannot wait to have Mexican again so I can have this with it! The whole family really enjoyed it. It was good to dip our chips in, also.
Thanks so much for sharing, Stef! You're right - it makes a GREAT dip, too!
If I refrigerate this, do I warm it In the microwave before serving or just serve at room temperature?
No need for the microwave, room temp or even a little cool is fine! 🙂
Really good! We added chopped tomatoes and a bit of habanero sauce to ours. Yummy!
Yum!
This was amazing! We will definetely make this again. Printing it out right now to have on hand. Delicious!
Just finished making this for our little July 4th celebration. Just delicious. The corn was sweet and plump. Flavors are amazing.
What a GREAT salad for 4th of July! So so so glad you enjoyed it - thank you for letting me know!
This was delicious! I didn't have a jalapeño so used a dash of cayenne. I also used some tomato.. Will make again
Yum! That sounds great, Maureen!
This was super good and Easy! Was a hit at party! Will make again!
No mention in the ingredients of the purple onion you can see in the photos. How much onion?
Oh Gosh thank you, Lisa! It's 1/2 a large red onion! Thank you so much for pointing that out! Enjoy 🙂
This was a hit at our family Christmas Dinner! We went with tacos this year and I made this as a side to round out the meal. Everyone loved it and it was so easy to put together.
Oh that's so awesome to hear Christy!! What a fun Christmas dinner; I'm so glad you all loved it!
I made this salad for my friends a few days ago and it was a big hit! Five people wanted the recipe! There were no leftovers! Thank you for sharing this with us!
That's so great to hear!! Thank you so much for letting me know!!
This salad is one of our FAVE things to make in the summer when corn is fresh in season. It's just so sweet, salty, and amazing. Gotta be fresh corn IPO and definitely needs that char as you mention in this post. This has me dreaming of summer!
My mouth is watering looking at this Mexican street corn salad. This will be delicious as a side for any dinner or served on top of bbq and fish!
This salad is a DREEEEAM. I've never gotten to try actual Mexican Street Corn, but we had some friends bring over a salad just like this to a potluck and it was unreal. Even better than the real thing maybe? No need to gnaw the goods from off a cobb—just shovel it into our mouths 🙂
I was going to say that eating it Elote off the cob is heaven but when can just shovel it in - well, there's nothing better than that!!
Can this be made ahead of time & kept in the fridge? (I was thinking I’d add the cojita cheese and cilantro just before serving it!)
Totally!!
This is one of my favourite things to make especially during grilling season. Always a hit with the guests. Easy to make...and perfect for when corn is in season.
My mouth is watering just looking at this gorgeous salad. It would go great next to a piece of grilled chicken or steak, but honestly, I think I'd dive in with a handful of tortilla chips and snack to my hearts content. Seriously, this with a cold cerveza and a football game... That's my kind of "salad". I always have cotija on hand, because we love that salty, crumbly vibe -- I'm making this one for the family this weekend.