Sharing is caring!

Mexican Street Corn Salad is a delicious dish with corn, jalapenos, bell peppers, cotija cheese, scallions, and red onions tossed with a spicy and creamy dressing. This corn salad recipe is low-carb and keto-friendly, and ready to eat in just 20 minutes. 

Mexican Street Corn Salad

This corn salad recipe is the perfect side dish for a Mexican fiesta or weeknight dinner. This homemade dressing is made with mayonnaise, sour cream, garlic, spices, and fresh lime juice. It’s a quick and easy street corn salad that is cream and tangy and a dish your whole family will love.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Sauté the corn until heated through.

Season with salt and pepper, as needed.

Transfer the cooked corn to a bowl and allow to cool for a few minutes.

When the corn is cool, add the jalapeno, red bell pepper, Cotija cheese, green onion, and red onion.

Stir to combine.

While the corn is cooling, prepare the dressing.

Mix the mayonnaise, sour cream, garlic, chili powder, cumin powder, paprika, lime, salt and pepper in a small bowl until well combined.

Add the dressing to the bowl and stir to coat all the ingredients.

Serve immediately or chill until ready to serve.

Garnish with more cheese and fresh cilantro before serving.

Tips For Sucess/Variations 

This Mexican corn salad recipe is made from scratch and is easily adaptable to fit your tastes and preferences. You can add other vegetables or leave out what you don’t like. Here are some alternatives that you can play around with. 

Corn: This recipe calls for frozen corn kernels but you can use fresh corn on the cob or canned sweet corn instead. 

Cheese: You can substitute the Cotija cheese with queso fresco, crema Mexicana, Oaxaca, or even feta cheese. 

Vegetables: While this is a Mexican recipe, you can use other vegetables in your fridge. Try mushrooms, eggplant, zucchini, poblano peppers, or fresh cilantro. 

Seasonings: This recipe uses chili powder, cumin, and paprika in the dressing, but you can also add cayenne powder or other whole chili powders.   

How to serve 

This gluten-free Mexican corn salad is just one side dish that you can serve at dinner. Here are some other side dish options that are just as tasty:  

Egg Salad, Caesar Salad Bacon Cups, Bacon Cheddar Ranch Potato Salad, or Simple Pasta Salad.    

How to store 

Store any leftover Mexican street food salad in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. You can eat it cold right from the fridge or allow it to come closer to room temperature before eating it. 

However, this salad isn’t a great option to freeze if it’s already tossed with the dressing. The mayo and sour cream don’t thaw well. 

If you make the salad and keep the dressing separate, feel free to freeze it. Make the sauce the day you’re ready to eat the salad. 

This is a great way to make it ahead of time and be prepared for a rainy day.  

FAQs

What does elote style mean? 

Elote is a style of Mexican street food made with roasted corn and covered with mayo, sour cream, and topped with chili powder served in a cup. 

Is Cotija cheese the same as queso fresco? 

These two kinds of cheese are slightly different. Queso fresco is wetter and milder, while Cotija cheese is saltier and drier. 

Why is it called street corn? 

This dish is called street corn because it’s a popular dish served from carts or trucks on the street in Mexico.