Elote Skillet Pasta

an overhead of a pan of pasta with cilantro, cheese, corn and a creamy sauce.

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5 from 23 votes

Everything you love about Elotes (Mexican Street Corn) but in a creamy dreamy pasta!

Course Main Course, Pasta

Cuisine Mexican

Diet Vegetarian

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 25

Total Time 30

Servings people

Calories 467kcal

Author Tracy

Equipment

3 qt skillet

Ingredients

2 ears corn or 1.5 cups of corn. Or 12 oz of corn
6 oz egg noodles
1 jalapeno diced
1 red bell pepper diced
1/2 red onion diced
2 teaspoons cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons salted butter divided
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk 2%
2 oz cream cheese of 1/4 cup
4 oz sour cream or 1/2 cup
2 teaspoons lime juice
4 oz cotija cheese or 3/4 cup + more for finishing with
1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped + more for finishing with

Instructions

Prep Water and Seasoning: Heat a pot of salted water on high to bring to a boil.
Add cumin, paprika, chili powder, and salt to a small bowl and mix well, and set aside.
Sear Corn: Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan and heat over high to melt. Add the corn and jalapeno to the pan with the butter to let it char. Cook for 1 minute, stirring often as it chars. It's ok if the bottom of the pan burns a little, you'll want that char later! Cook for another minute on high and then turn the heat down to medium-high and let it cook for another 2-3 minutes. (If using frozen, this may take a couple extra minutes)
Saute Veggies: Lower the heat to medium, add the red onion and bell pepper with 1/2 of the spice mixture, and mix well. Saute for 4-5 minutes, or until the onion begins to soften.
Create Cheese Sauce: Meanwhile, add 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of flour to a saucepan and heat over medium. Melt and whisk to create a roux. Slowly add milk to incorporate it all with the roux. Add the other half of the spice mixture to the milk, sour cream, and cream cheese and whisk until all of the cream and cheese is well combined, approximately 2-3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low before adding to the corn and veggies.
Cook Pasta: Add pasta to the now boiling water and cook for 6 minutes (or 1 minute less than noted on the package or only 2 minutes for fresh pasta). Drain pasta and add to the pan with corn and veggies.
Sauce: Add cheese sauce to the pan and mix with veggies, and add lime juice and mix well so it's all well coated. Add cotija and cilantro and mix well.
Serve and Enjoy! Add more chopped cilantro and crumbed cotija then serve and enjoy!

Video

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id="uRYMAt2T" upload-date="2023-04-07T19:53:40.000Z" name="Elote Skillet Pasta.mp4" description="Everything you love about Elotes (Mexican Street Corn), but in a creamy dreamy pasta. This Elote Skillet Pasta is our new favorite take on this classic street food and it can be ready and on the table in just 30 minutes! " player-type="default" override-embed="default"]

Notes

Storage

Fridge: Store in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Freezer: Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Make Ahead

You can make the milk and cheese sauce a day ahead and char the corn and saute all the veggies a day ahead as well, storing both in the fridge. Add another tablespoon of butter to the pan before adding cooked veggies, then add cheesy sauce to reheat and add freshly cooked pasta.

Substitutions

Corn: Fresh, frozen, or canned works for this recipe, and you can add frozen right to the pan, but it may add a little cooking time.

Red Bell Pepper: You can use another sweet bell pepper like yellow or orange.

Onion: White or yellow work great too.

Milk: 2% is our go-to, but you can of course use 1% or whole, too. Whole will make a much richer sauce and 1% a slightly less rich sauce.

Charring the Corn

This is what gives this dish the "grilled" flavor that a classic elote has. You can also grill ears of corn first before removing the corn. In that case, melt butter over medium and add grilled corn and diced jalapeno.

The bottom of the pan may burn a little, and that's ok! That's all flavor that you can scrape up as everything cooks. But if you think it's burning too much, you can always add a little more butter to deglaze the pan or a couple of tablespoons of stock or pasta water.

Nutrition