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….. 😂
This recipe looks like major comfort food Nagi. To make it even more comforting, lol, I’m thinking the addition of some freshly cooked pancetta might be a nice touch.
I find myself wanting to save and try all of your recipes. I’ve been a fan of yours for some time. Maybe it’s time I splurged and order your cookbook.
You definitely should Cheryl once it becomes available!! Also I agree – everything is better with bacon! N x
This is so good!! I have made it as listed in recipe as well as without feta when I did have any on hand. I now make it to use as a dip with chips to go with several different meals!!
That’s great April!! I am glad that you liked it!! N x
Tasty AF! My entire family devoured this salad—including my more discerning husband. It even got the stamp of approval from my MIL, lol.
I omitted the cheese because I didn’t have lactose free feta on hand.
Woo hoo Dajana! I am glad that you liked it!! N x
I made this last night as part of my husbands birthday dinner. He REALLY liked it and asked where I got the recipe, I told him and his reply was, “she’s a real goldmine of recipes!” We love all your recipes. Thanks for working so hard at perfecting them.
I made this last night for our family who came over for dinner. Wow, it was a true showstopper! I made it as a side dish with carnitas. Everyone ate it and also put it in their tacos and said it was so yummy. I made a double batch, and my brother-in-law ended up taking all the leftovers. So now I need to make more for me and the hubby! Also, as a side note: I can’t handle the dairy, so I subbed non-dairy sour cream (Kroger’s Simple Truth brand) for regular sour cream and no one was the wiser. Thanks for a great recipe.!!!
That’s a great tip Kerri! N x
Oh wow was this good!!! I used canned corn, it turned out great but just took longer than 5 minutes to get charred/caramelized because of all the liquid in the can. I had to do some substitutions based on what I had on hand, but it was still good enough to make my husband’s eyes pop when he tasted it! Can’t wait to try this with fresh corn and make it exactly as written.
(For the record, if anyone else uses the CTRL+F feature to search through the comments for substitutions that others have used, I can report that yes, you can use Miracle Whip if needed.)
Thanks again for a fun and tasty recipe!!!
Thanks for the Miracle Whip info Alyssa!! And for the details on canned corn – woo hoo!! N x
Made this as one of two sides for lunch today. A keeper of a recipe. Thanks Nagi.
Woo hoo I am glad you liked it Sharon!! N x
So easy to make and so delicious. Whipped it up in no time with a combination of fresh and frozen corn.
Isn’t is a great one to make even if you don’t have fresh on hand!! N x
Love this!
This is fantastic! I have trouble finding side dishes that everyone in my family will like since they all have some strong dislikes but they ALL love this corn! It’s always gone with no leftovers! Make it often.
I am happy that you enjoyed it Janice! N x
Wondering if corn salad can be made ahead How many does this feed as a side and does it taste good not heated
Can you make this salad ahead of time (up to a day before)? Will it still hold well?
This is lovely but much better without the Parmesan, much fresher and cleaner
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.
Oh yum – this was fantastic. Is definitely a keeper!
I added red capsicum as I had a few and as a good balance.