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Mexican
Mexican Street Corn Salad
20 min total10 prep10 cook4 servings260 cal
VegetarianClassicContains dairy
An off-the-cob take on Mexican esquites — charred corn tossed in a creamy lime dressing with cotija cheese, chili powder, and cilantro. Bright, smoky, and a little spicy, this salad is just as good warm or chilled.
Ingredients
frozen
- 4 cupcorn kernels
pantry
- 0.33 cupmayonnaise
- 1 tspchili powder
- 1 tbspvegetable oil
dairy
- 0.25 cupsour cream
- 0.5 cupcotija cheese
produce
- 2lime
- 0.33 cupfresh cilantro
- 0.25red onion
- 1jalapeño
Steps
- Pat the corn kernels dry with a towel if using frozen or thawed corn.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat until very hot.
- Add the corn in a single layer and let it sit undisturbed for 2 minutes to char, then stir and repeat until lightly charred all over, about 6–8 minutes total.
- Transfer the charred corn to a large bowl and let it cool for 5 minutes.
- Finely dice the red onion and jalapeño, and chop the cilantro.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, juice of 1 lime, and half the chili powder.
- Pour the dressing over the corn and stir to coat evenly.
- Fold in the red onion, jalapeño, and most of the cilantro.
- Crumble the cotija cheese over the top and dust with the remaining chili powder.
- Garnish with the remaining cilantro and lime wedges from the second lime, then serve warm or chilled.
Tips
- Let the corn sit undisturbed in the hot skillet for a minute at a time to build real char without steaming it.
- Fresh corn cut off the cob gives the best texture, but frozen corn works well too — just pat it dry first.
- Taste before adding extra salt, since cotija cheese is already quite salty.
- For make-ahead lunches, dress the salad just before eating so the corn stays crisp.
